It’s bad enough that I have to remember to go somewhere in my car at least once a week but Vince left his car here and I have to use it at least once every 10 – 14 days. There’s not as much electronic stuff on his car to run the battery down. Vince left me a battery minder that I would have to hook up to the battery, then plug it in and leave it on overnight or til the green light stops flashing. Before he left, we went outside and he wanted me to prove to him that I know how to do it on my own. I opened the hood and said “No! I am not messing around under the hood of the car! I’ll just go somewhere once a week!” I decided I’ll either pick up fish at Culver’s or get Pho to go at the new Vietnamese restaurant once a week in my car and schedule my every other week grocery pickup at Walmart and do that in his car. That should keep them both running. I do not like being responsible for keeping those two vehicle batteries charged.
When I pick up my groceries this morning, there should be a small dry erase board and markers with my order. I will put the board up in the garage and write down the date when I use each vehicle.
Laura says
The board is a great idea! My car has been slow to start a few times because I don’t drive much these days … and I don’t miss it!
Judy Laquidara says
The mechanic told Vince that with all the electronics, they need to be driven 10 – 15 miles at least once every 7 – 10 days or put on a battery minder to slowly re-charge the battery. I so dislike having to leave and especially in winter when it’s cold. Now, even though I don’t need to go out, I have to go out just to keep the cars running. Vince told me that if the battery goes down, even if I charge it back up, that diminishes the life of the battery. I don’t know . . just saying what he told me.
I’m sure newer cars have more electronics than my car has and my car has more than Vince’s car.
vivoaks says
Since I retired, my car hasn’t had 5,000 put on it in a year. In PA (well, parts of PA) we have emission testing, but if you don’t use your car more than 5,000 miles, you don’t have to pay for an emission test. (Something like $65 for the test!) I pretty much DO drive it every week, but don’t make any long-distance drives in my car. At least I only have one vehicle to take care of…hubby deals with his car!! 🙂
JustGail says
So far my car has still started even though I only drive it every 10-14 days now. And yes, it does need to be driven long enough to charge the battery back up fully – short trips will not do the trick. Long drives also extends the life of the exhaust system by getting it hot enough to get rid of any moisture in it. If you’d rather not deal with switching vehicles, there are battery maintainers for long term idle times that you hook up and leave on. Maybe that’s what you have already?
Judy Laquidara says
Yes, that’s what we have but you have to take them off when you do want to use the car and I didn’t want to mess with that.
Nelle Coursey says
The cold will make the battery go down faster. So that is why Vince wants you to start it and drive it around the block or something.
Susan says
Hi Judy,
I have to ask…what do you think of the Walmart grocery pickup process?