OT: Leaving a Car in the Garage for Years
 

Sorry for the off topic question but I had no idea where else to ask.

In late 2013, my father-in-law passed away. He had an '08 Saturn Vue at the time. They never sold the car and no one drives it (longer story on why) so it just sits there. They did nothing one needs to do to store a car (stabil gas, parking brake off, battery tendered, etc.)

Other than batteries running out and tires going flat, what happens when you just leave a car sitting there? Can you simply charge the battery, fill the tires and drive away care free after several years?

Change the oil, flush the brake fluid, replace the belts, hoses, and coolant; the tires are probably toast and need replacing as well.

Thanks. That doesn't sound too bad.

How about the gas? Doesn't it hurt the engine to cycle several year old gas?

The gas is a wild card; if it was E10 then there is a chance you'll need to flush the entire fuel system. That said, if the engine starts and runs, even if poorly, new fuel will gradually flush out the stale fuel and the system will self-correct.

Thanks again. Good tips.

Drain the fuel and add some BG fuel treatment to a new tank. Will take some maintenance to make the vehicle road worthy. The car is most likely valued under $5k.

Gave all this advice to the brother in law who just shrugs off anything we say as the weird part of the family who buys foreign cars instead of superior American products. He says all this is nonsense and that they will just put plates on it and give to one of my nephews (his son) this summer so he can have a car at school next year.

Sad part is that he will pay for the car at the value it is when he gives it to his son and my mother-in-law basically threw away thousands of $$$ here not divesting herself of this asset when it was appropriate.

We have a sports car that only comes out for five months in the summer. In addition to meticulous maintenance, we go through a whole process (detailing, stabil gas stabilizer, change oil, no brakes, chocks under the wheel, trickle charger and assorted other actions). The family thinks that this is all nuts but the car is now 15 yrs old and every spring, we take out a brand new car and drive it hard until the season ends and we repeat the process.

Just venting here. It's been frustrating dealing with this.

I just took a look-see at the Saturn Vue; if the vehicle is a 4-Cylinder motor, then it runs with a timing chain and so you're good to go, however, if the Vue has a V6 then it runs with a timing belt. Typically belts are good for ~100,000 miles and ~7 years, whichever comes first.

Said another way, if the Vue has a V6, tell your brother-in-law the timing belt will fail sooner than later as timing belts have no idea whether they are in "superior American products" or "crappy furrin' thangs", and a time limit/mileage limit applies to all. If he decides to ignore you, given the V6 motor is an "interference" engine, a broken belt WILL yield bent/broken valves and WILL require the removal and reconditioning of both cylinder heads.

While on the topic of American versus Import, brake fluid is agnostic as well, it will absorb water just as fast in the brake lines of an American car as it will in any other car. The problem with water in the brake lines is, you never really notice any difference in pedal feel or braking efficacy, errr, until you REALLY need the brakes, then suddenly the water in the lines boils, the pedal goes to the floor, and braking forces go to crap.

Am I saying your brother-in-law is a idiot? Yeah, I suppose I am. :p

Sure he can push it onto the road, but does he want to put his kid at risk of having an incident due to equipment failure? It's tough enough driving out there, but if there is a catastrophic failure it could cause serious injury or death.

Sounds a bit like Darwin's theory at work...