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I have a vacation rental investment in another state. A couple times a year I head out there when it's not rented for a little R&R. But every time I go out there I end up spending $300-$400 on a rental car.
I'm thinking about getting a $5,000 used car to use when I'm there. But how bad is it if the car sits for 6 months at a time and is used only a couple weeks per year?
Location: Unlike most on CD, I'm not afraid to give my location: Milwaukee, WI.
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All I can tell you is that twice, when going on one-year long oversea duty assignments, I let cars sit for an entire year. Didn't drain gas tank, no-one drove them at all, nothing. Came home and they started right up and I was back to driving them. Now this was in California, so no extreme cold that could cause condensation to form in gas tank, or kill battery. All I did was change oil and filter, and get 'em washed within those first few days back.
Yeah, it doesn't hurt them. I spent 9 years in the navy, gone for months at a time. Come home, start them up.
It's much better to store them inside, though, where sun, squirrels, rats and other critters can't get to them. Sun will deteriorate your tires in a few years....
We leave one car 'sleeping' in a very cold garage at our 'summer' house for 5+ months per year...
While I haven't done the park it and leave it with no 'put it to sleep process' method, the few simple steps I take have always provided for whatever or our cars is parked to fire right up and run well:
-I put in a blt of Stabil on last fill up, pump the tires to max, and run a Battery Tender low amp maintenance charger through an old style mechanical appliance timer, with BT connected to charging lugs under hood. The mechanical timer provides 12+ hrs of low amp charging a few times per week. I do tape the alligator clips to prevent accidental disconnect as we have mice roaming around when gone.
Even in our garage, I lock it via fob, as locking provides for most cars fully 'shutting down' after a few mins so nothing is staying 'on'.
I return to our summer mtn house, unplug BT, adjust tire pressure, turn key and go. It has worked flawlessly for 16 years on a couple different & older cars. I do make sure that first drive is more than down the mtn, e.g. a good 30 min run to warm up all internals.
There are dozens of threads on letting cars sit here on C-D, and the net, and opins will range from the meticulous '20 steps', to 'park it and start it'.
My 50Cts...
GL, mD
I have a vacation rental investment in another state. A couple times a year I head out there when it's not rented for a little R&R. But every time I go out there I end up spending $300-$400 on a rental car.
I'm thinking about getting a $5,000 used car to use when I'm there. But how bad is it if the car sits for 6 months at a time and is used only a couple weeks per year?
IMHO, I'd continue to rent. Don't forget the cost of insurance, registration, and maintenance - oil changes would be needed every 6 months to a year. That $5K initial cost will pay for 5+ years of renting a car. Further, there will be that one time that the car won't start when you arrive and it will be a pain.
Location: Danbury CT covering all of Fairfield County
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I'd probably rental, considering the cost to insurance, tax, maintain and if you are enjoying a stay away from home, you don't have to invest some of your time at a mechanic shop if the vehicle needs serving vs renting a relatively new car.
I have a vacation rental investment in another state. A couple times a year I head out there when it's not rented for a little R&R. But every time I go out there I end up spending $300-$400 on a rental car.
I'm thinking about getting a $5,000 used car to use when I'm there. But how bad is it if the car sits for 6 months at a time and is used only a couple weeks per year?
Let's say you go 3 times a year. That's $900-1,200 a year. You are still probably better off renting over owning. Maintenance, insurance, taxes, registration plus the initial cost of the car means you will have something like a 10 year period before you break even. With a rental there is no maintenance hassles while you are on vacation.
I think rodents would be the biggest issue, especially if there are any oak trees or other nut producing trees around. If neighbors leave pet food outside they'll put that into your car as well.
A couple of years ago I broke my ankle and my truck sat in my garage for two months, and at the same time my area experienced a drought. I did not realize I had left a bottle with some Diet Coke in it on the passenger floorboard, and a rat chewed into it, drank it, and then crawled up into the dash and pee'd everywhere. I had to have the whole dash pulled out and all of the ductwork cleaned. I was not a happy camper!
In rereading this thread, and having listed my 5 easy pieces of batt maintenance, I agree with the posters that rec'd just doing the rental car deal a couple times per year...
Unless the OP needs a junk Jeep or specialty vehicle at their other house, a cheap azz car that sits for 10-11 months and only gets used a couple weeks a year makes little sense, imo.
Keep doing the rental: low cost in the scheme of things, you get to drive different cars, and no junker car ownership concerns.
GL, mD
OP, where is the car parked, with respect to your rental property? Is it potentially "in the way" for those who rent your property? If so, do you think the renter(s) might turn the place "inside out", looking for the keys, so they could drive it?
How far away is the rental property? Too far to drive there, and back, with your current car?
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