Will car be okay if I let it sit for three weeks without driving it

Tiny
INMYHEART28
  • MEMBER
  • 2010 HYUNDAI ELANTRA
  • 4 CYL
  • 4WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 17,000 MILES
I have this car that I don’t really need. I should sell it but I haven’t. I take it out for a drive every 14 days and drive about 15 miles (about 8 miles on the highway at 60-70 mph) and that had kept it okay. I’m concerned because I’m going out of town for 3 weeks so it won’t be driven for 3 weeks. Will it still start up after 3 weeks (when I usually only drive it every 2 weeks and it’s fine?)
Thursday, September 17th, 2020 AT 3:22 PM

4 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
This is hard to tell because a vehicle is meant to be driven. However, if you just drive it on occasion I would recommend leaving the vehicle on a trickle charger. This is a battery charger that is meant to very slowly charge the battery and keep it properly charged. However, even with this, the battery will eventually fail. A normally used battery can last many years but if the vehicle is not driven frequently then I would expect the battery to only last a couple years as inactivity just causes it to go flat. With a trickle charger it will prolong that.

If you can't get one now for this trip, I would just unhook the negative battery cable of the vehicle and I am sure the battery will last until you return.

Here is an article that talks a little more about this:

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-a-trickle-charger-534853

Let me know if you have other questions. Thanks
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Thursday, September 17th, 2020 AT 3:38 PM
Tiny
INMYHEART28
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  • 223 POSTS
I think understand that it will prolong the battery but if I have no problem replacing the battery every couple of years should the car still start up after the 3 weeks? And even if it doesn’t would it be otherwise fine except for the battery after the 3 weeks?
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Thursday, September 17th, 2020 AT 3:50 PM
Tiny
INMYHEART28
  • MEMBER
  • 223 POSTS
It’s been fine for this time every 2 weeks.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2020 AT 3:52 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Yes. I don't expect you to have any issues. However, the battery would be the thing that is most likely to be effected of sitting that long and eventually it will need to be replaced but clearly it is hard to predict when that will be. It could be after sitting for these 3 weeks but the likely hood is low.

As for the rest of the vehicle, it is just fine to sit for that long.
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Thursday, September 17th, 2020 AT 5:01 PM

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