Car maintenance for when your car is parked for a long time

Are you parking your car because of COVID-19? With the order to stay at home unless running an essential errand placed on the City Beautiful, you may find yourself not getting behind the wheel as often. However, that doesn't mean you can put your car in park, walk away, and forget about it. Even if you're not driving your ride often, you still have to perform certain car maintenance to keep it in running shape. Toyota of Orlando has tips from our auto service experts - check it out! 

4 car maintenance tips for when you're social distancing 

Tip #1: Fill your gas tank before you park your car. 
You should fill your car's gas tank before you park it, believe it or not. This prevents condensation from forming inside of the gas tank. Moisture inside the gas tank can cause major and expensive issues with your vehicle, so you want to do everything you can to avoid it. Our Orlando Toyota service techs recommend filling your gas tank to the top and if you're going to be storing your car for a long period of time, considering a fuel additive to help preserve the fuel. 

Tip #2: Choose the right parking spot. 
Part of car maintenance is protecting the vehicle from the elements. After all, harsh sunlight, dust, and rain (or even ice and snow if you live up north) can do a number on your car's paint, leaving the metal below vulnerable to rust damage. It's important to choose the right parking spot - our Orlando auto service techs say a garage is best, but if nothing else, try to park your car under a carport or some other covered parking, or at least under some shady trees to try and protect it from the elements. 

Tip #3: Move your vehicle around to avoid tire problems. 
When your car sits in one spot for a long time, you can develop soft, flat spots where the tires touch the pavement. This leaves you vulnerable to flat tires and blowouts. Our Orlando Toyota techs recommend that as part of your car maintenance, you go outside and roll your car back a few feet, and then go out a few days later and roll it forward a few feet. This ensures that your tires aren't always touching the pavement in the same spot and will help prevent flat spots. 

Tip #4: Don't let the battery go flat. 
If you don't run your car regularly, it's easy for the car battery to go flat or die. It's important to go out once a week and start your car to give the battery some juice - you don't want to have to replace it when it's time to hit the road again. Our Orlando auto service experts say that it's even better to take it for a short drive to juice up the battery, so go run an essential errand (and take a break from your quarantine mates). 

Let Toyota of Orlando help keep your car ready to roll 

Want more tips about car maintenance when it comes to keeping your car off the road? Toyota of Orlando is here to help. Call us today - we're open and ready to assist at (407) 298-4500. You can also swing by to see us at 3575 Vineland Road, just off I-4 across from the Millenia Mall.