Can you drive your car too little??

[GrayMK5GTI]

I'm no engineer but how does the oil getting up to running temp, negate the wear on the internals during those first few miles when cold? Surely you will always have that initial wear whether your doing a 7 mile or a 27 mile journey.

But as I said Im no engineer

It wont negate it, but look at it this way; every mile that car does is in the high wear band.

This is why a lot of us on this forum (I'm sure Robin is one of them), would rather buy a car with higher mileage knowing its been used properly than buy one with ridiculously low mileage that's sat standing, and doing small trips to the shops. Cars are designed to be driven 

[Edition30]

We have just got an SL500 in at work on a 04 plate, only 17k miles....absolutely spotless.


Get out and enjoy it more

[Tinytim]

Very interesting thread, I've always wondered about this.
What I can't understand is how short journeys cause engine wear.
As someone else mentioned above a long joirney still consists of starting from cold and running at cold temperatures.
Take this little scenario and hopefully someone can explain.

If I do 5 miles to work each way per day that's 50 miles a week all done before everything has gotten properly warm.

Let's say it takes 10 miles to get properly warm.

If on the other hand I do 50 miles each way over 5 days that's a total of 500 miles per week.
100 of those miles are done before the car gets warm and the other 400 are done with a nice warm engine.

So the big question is how can the 2nd option be ok for the engine and the first option cause premature wear?
The long journey has to do double the cold miles and it's not as if once warm the engine can repair itself.
It's doing the same amount of cold starts.

I can see how the battery will be in better condition.

[rich83]

I think the point is that 10,000 miles accumulated on a car doing very short trips is worse for engine wear than a car that's done 10,000 miles sat at 70 (80) on motorways.

[andrewparker]

Is there a car that is suitable for short journeys?

[stealthwolf]

Electric cars?

[jhtrophy]

I may have just given you a thankyou by accident Andrew lol, the theory is probs true, but lots of low mileage cars kicking about

[andrewparker]

I would have thought that as long as you are gentle with the car whilst cold, wear on the engine would be minimal. I'd have also thought that with modern engines, low emissions etc would dictate that engine warming is pretty quick. Of course that doesn't eradicate the condensation issues, but regular oil changes and T&D servicing should ensure that that doesn't become an issue.

[andrewparker]

I may have just given you a thankyou by accident Andrew lol

I'll take it!

[Greeners]

I saw this thread title and knew exactly the way it would go!! 

If the guy wants to do 5 miles a year in the damn thing then good for him!! It'll certainly be losing less money than the next car doing 20k per year!!

Even if I used my car twice a year it would be worth having, as I would be miserable as sin on those two occasions I was bored and didn't have it to use! Plus if you don't drive the thing day in day out it makes it more special on the rare occasion you do get to enjoy it!!

But I suppose, haters will always be haters!! If people don't do things the same way I do then they are weird and have to justify themselves to a bunch of strangers!! 

[rich83]

Hardly haters... we all have essentially the same cars (give or take a few hundred bhp)  

[Greeners]

What does the car we drive have anything to do with it?

It's all the 'its a car bloody drive it' comments that amaze me! Sure we'd all say no to a MK1 GTI with 2k on the clock because the engine would be knackered!! 

[rich83]

What does the car we drive have anything to do with it?

It's all the 'its a car bloody drive it' comments that amaze me! Sure we'd all say no to a MK1 GTI with 2k on the clock because the engine would be knackered!! 

Why does it amaze you? Whats the point in owning a car and not using it, to then post a thread saying theres a problem with it when the problem is that is not being run often enough?

Or I'm i just being totally retarded? Or missing something? Shall i go away? 

[Greeners]

So everything you own you use frequently? I certainly don't..........

Why should a car be any different? Is J Leno weird because he collects cars and couldn't possibly drive them all frequently? Or am I being weird/retarded? 

[Kalpsn2000]

300 miles a month isn't a lot but that also aint just 'sitting around'.

I have had my GTI for a year now and I probably only did about 3-4k in it (pretty much as the OP) but I have to say I enjoy every moment so its worth it for me.

I mostly do only short trips but usually also 2-3 longer trips per month (30 miles plus). I would hope this means the car should be fine.