Wife's new commute, what would you do?

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My wife just accepted a new job that is 0.7 miles up the road from us. Clearly this is going to be tough on the car especially in winter. I suggested she bike to work as much as possible, but in the end it's her car and she can do what she wants with it. But all winter it will get driven as i don't expect her to bike.

My current oci's for her car are 5k on mobil 1 afe. I don't really plan on altering this yet, but i have pondered going to a shorter OCI (3500mi?). I will need to do a UOA. I also plan on getting it out on the highway a couple times a month if she doesn't naturally.

What would you do in this situation? The car is the 2018 spark in my sig. Port injected, non turbo. Makes 98hp. So it's no technical marvel.
 
Is it stored inside?

in winter, allow engine to warm up 5 min with heater OFF. Then the water will be hot and you can turn on heater and rapidly thaw windows. That small engine will be very slow to warm with heater on from cold start, it might never warm enough, I have no experience with spark. I have had others that would never get warm at idle during very cold winter.

Rod
 
Outside of the work commute. How often/far/long is the vehicle driven for?

Regardless of those variables, I would simply stick to the OLM. You'll see it drastically decreases the interval in the conditions you've described. At least it did in a Monte Carlo I used to have as a daily driver.
 
The car is parked in a reasonably warm garage (not heated) overnight. Most of what we do is within 10 miles so it wont see much other regular highway use.
 
Bike or electric bike to work.

Winter ?? Nothing you can do, Winter will kill it fast and she may even have hard restarting.

Cant you drop her off and pick her up? OR Have someone at "work" pick her up for some weekly repayment ? $$.

___________________

Perfect instance to trade for cheap electric car like an old Corbin Sparrow
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IMO, I would not worry about the OCI on her car.

There are a lot of other problems that may need your attention.
 
If we had similar work schedules I'd certainly drop her off. It's even on my way. But i leave for work at 5:15 am and she leaves at 7:30.

As far as the battery goes I will trickle charge it once a week overnight in the winter to try and keep it healthy. I'm not massively worried about the whole thing since the car has 9k miles on it. It's very unlikely we'll keep it past 100k. If little old ladies can drive lincoln town cars with big v8's up to church and back I think this little spark can do OK.
 
My wife's route changed about a year and a half ago. From 40 miles a day mixed, to 10 city. I changed the oi. From 5k mile max to 3k miles.
 
Short trips in freezing cold weather are very hard on cars. My mother wrote the book on how to ruin a car with short trips in cold weather. She had nothing but problems with her cars from never warming them up. Fouled plugs, rusted exhaust systems that required almost yearly replacement. Constant cooling system leaks. Failed batteries. Name it and she experienced it. I would certainly increase the oil change intervals. Unless you regularly drive the vehicle long enough to get the oil hot enough to burn off the moisture.
 
I would love to live that close to work! I'd walk every day.

If you're going to keep the spark, highly recommend a block heater for the winter months. But really, the short trips in the cold are going to be really hard on the car.

Seems like a PERFECT case for an electric car. Leaf or Bolt would be great for this.


Do you have a longer commute? You both have the same car. Swap them out a few times a week so hers gets out on the highway.
 
I have almost the same commute: about .9 miles.

I walk when snow/ice is a concern, and bike the rest no matter what the temp.
 
For your OCI, I'll bet you can keep it at 5000 miles, especially with you getting it on the highway several times per month.

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on the UOA, that will help in the decision making process.
 
My daughter's car had the same short trip to work. I had the used oil tested and it turned out fine. However, this was in a warm climate.

Get it tested and then you'll know.
 
.7 miles up the road. I'd walk or ride a bike when the weather/time allowed. Then follow the severe service OCI and try to get the car on a long run, 20-30 minutes or more once or twice a month if possible. I'd also invest in a UOA or two.
 
Originally Posted by wemay
My wife's route changed about a year and a half ago. From 40 miles a day mixed, to 10 city. I changed the oi. From 5k mile max to 3k miles.

I wouldn't think 10 miles city driving would be that hard on the oil?
 
Just take her car on an errand once a week that requires a little bit of a longer drive. No need to make drastic changes to any maintenance plan, imo.
 
Originally Posted by JMJNet
IMO, I would not worry about the OCI on her car.

There are a lot of other problems that may need your attention.


I'm with this sober mind.
 
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