Rat nests, dead batteries and brittle wipers: Letting your car sit idle during the pandemic can cause a host of pricey problems

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Has your car been sitting in the garage, on the street or in the parking lot for the last eight months? It might be time to take it out for a ride.

Consumer Reports recommends driving your vehicle at least once a week for 20 minutes or more to keep the battery charged.."You can plug your vehicle into a battery tender if you have one. Or if you know your car will be sitting for a long time, you can always disconnect the battery.""If you park outside, this will also provide a chance to wear the rust off the brake discs and keep the calipers from seizing by using them," the magazine says.

"The biggest concern with tires is flat-spotting, which is when the weight of the vehicle sitting on one spot flattens out a portion of the rubber on the tire," according to Edmunds."A month of being stationary might be enough to cause problems. Low tire pressure and very cold weather can both contribute to the development of flat spots."

Edmunds recommends"starting by checking your tire pressure and inflating them to factory specification. You can find manufacturer recommendations for tire pressures either on the placard attached to the doorsill of the driver's door or in your car's manual."Certainly use the parking brake if you need to store the vehicle on an angled surface. But don't use it for long periods of time on a flat surface.

"When left unused, brake rotors can begin to develop rust on the surface of the rotors," Edmunds says."If you leave your parking brake engaged for a long period of time, it can actually cause the brake pads to bind to the rotors. While this shouldn't be a concern over a few weeks, if you know your car will be parked for a month or more we recommend leaving the parking brake off."Vermin have a way of spotting vehicles that have been sitting around for a long time.

 

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If it's been sitting for eight months, you're not going to take it anywhere, because it's not gonna start.

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