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I am leaving my car (2016 Toyota Rav 4 XLE) to go on vacation. This will be during the winter so December to January. It will be under covered parking, but I am worried about what the cold will do to it if it isn’t going to be driven for 1 month. Any tips on what I should do to protect it before I leave?

Abbey Greene
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    Maybe increase the air pressure in the tires by about 0.5 bar (and check the pressure of the spare tire at that opportunity). In addition to the recommendation regarding the battery (disconnect the minus, typically black or sometimes blue) that was already posted. – Dr. Manuel Kuehner Oct 21 '19 at 12:34
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    From experience: Don't leave the parking/emergency brake engaged. Mine "fused together" with the wheel after only about 10 days parked at an airport once. – Jeff Y Oct 21 '19 at 14:02
  • @JeffY I incorporated your useful suggestion into my answer and referenced your name. – Dr. Manuel Kuehner Oct 21 '19 at 14:15
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    First of all, there's no such thing as "Winter in Texas". It's nearly November and my A/C unit is still struggling to maintain 68 degrees (F). Second, if modern cars can't sit static for a month without encountering problems (which I don't doubt), then this should be the biggest Buyer-Beware on new cars right there. Modern electronic junk. (Sorry, just had to say it). – Josh Campbell Oct 21 '19 at 19:56
  • There is time between now and your vacation to do a test run of not using your car for a month, using whatever preparations you want. Then you get to see what the end result is after, and you can be prepared instead of surprised. This is more relevant if you're leaving your vehicle at a park 'n fly than at home though. – studog Oct 22 '19 at 13:15
  • @JeffY How is that possible? Did it just get really(x10) hot somehow? – GrumpyCrouton Oct 23 '19 at 13:56
  • I left 2 vehicles sitting for 3 weeks last summer (in IN, so not far off from today's weather in Houston) and had absolutely zero problems when I returned. Fill the gas tank so you don't have to worry about that when you get back and are tired from all that traveling. – FreeMan Oct 23 '19 at 14:04
  • @JoshCampbell What part of Texas are you in? Near Austin, we have fairly cold (<50 F) all the time... – Radvylf Programs Oct 23 '19 at 15:35
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    @Redwolf the "coldest" January in Austin barely went under 5 Celsius.... that's not "winter". If my car can sit for a week in -20C..... I am sure a month at roughly 5 isn't critical... – Patrice Oct 23 '19 at 16:09
  • @Patrice Fairly cold. Compared to >100 F temperatures in summer. – Radvylf Programs Oct 23 '19 at 16:44
  • @Redwolf oh I know. In comparison, it's night and day. My point is, if that's what you call "winter", yet I can leave my car at -20C without thought.... + 5C shouldn't be a problem – Patrice Oct 23 '19 at 16:47
  • @GrumpyCrouton I don't know the "how". Only that not all the surfaces disengaged from each other, because upon moving with the engine there was a sharp pop and a jump forward, and pieces rattling around in there until I got it repaired. – Jeff Y Oct 23 '19 at 17:14
  • First off, "Wreck'em" (Class of 2016).

    Second, I agree 100% with the other answers to "prep" your car. But just to give you a little confidence, I left my car over 3 winter breaks at Tech in an outside parking lot (1 at the airport) and had nothing wrong with it when I returned.

    I may have gotten lucky, but just wanted you to know not to get too worried.

    Wreck'em

     – DevelopingDeveloper Oct 23 '19 at 17:38

9 Answers9

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Your vehicle will be perfectly fine. You don't necessarily need to do anything before leaving.

user53211
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    Agreed. I often left a vehicle in the canadian winter cold for extensive period of time. The only issue I had was a car covered of snow, ice or whatever precipitation was when I was away. I always made sure to a full tank to minimize condensation. – Gabriel Mongeon Oct 21 '19 at 19:31
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    1 month is just too short to cause real problems, assuming everything is in proper conditions to start with. 3 months+ and you may need to do some preventative work like disconnect battery. – Nelson Oct 22 '19 at 04:19
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    Concur - my car only gets driven once every 2-3 months normally. One month and its not cold will be absolutely fine. The main risk will be vandalism/burglary.. – Criggie Oct 22 '19 at 10:47
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    Agreed, a month as a one off is absolutely nothing for a modern car – Dan Oct 22 '19 at 14:58
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Clean out the interior first; make sure there's no food or anything that could spoil or attract a hungry animal. You don't need to disconnect the battery unless you already need a new battery.

ZepiZepiZepi
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    yeah, disconnecting the battery seems a bit extreme - I would be pretty worried if anything was drawing enough current with ignition off that it would ruin the battery that fast! – Michael Oct 21 '19 at 18:46
  • @Michael some alarm systems can drain the battery relatively quickly – purpleACR Oct 22 '19 at 23:04
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    @purpleACR Ah... especially if the alarm is set off! Err, wait... – Michael Oct 23 '19 at 01:01
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I would disconnect the battery, apart from that all else will be fine.

Most cars have circuits, like the clock, that consume power at all times. Disconnecting the battery stops this drain, but it won’t stop the natural discharge of the battery.

Solar Mike
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  • And just in case, I'd borrow a pair of jumper cables, leave them in the car so you are ready when you return, and find the battery voltage down enough to not start the car upon your return. – zipzit Oct 21 '19 at 06:17
  • @zipzit perhaps your comment is slightly more relevant for the other answer? As that will be happily discharging its battery... – Solar Mike Oct 21 '19 at 07:10
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    @zipzit Really, a set of jumper cables is just a thing you should own anyhow, regardless, in case of emergencies. (Unless you've got an electric or hybrid vehicle, that gets a bit more complicated...) – Darrel Hoffman Oct 21 '19 at 14:31
  • @SolarMike Batteries self-discharge even when they are not connected to anything. Since they are not made from 100% pure chemical compounds, there are always internal chemical reactions going on. The rate of self discharge depends on the temperature but it may be a few percent of the charge per week. – alephzero Oct 22 '19 at 02:34
  • @alephzero last line of my answer “won’t stop the natural discharge of the battery”... I stored a car for 3 months and took the battery off as it was winter - fitted it mid-decenber having kept it in my room so it was at room temperature and it started fine... – Solar Mike Oct 22 '19 at 04:17
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    Keep in mind that disconnecting the battery will mean that some settings may be lost: clock time, radio station presets, stuff like that. – studog Oct 22 '19 at 13:12
  • @studog some cars loose all those settings just because the battery gets low - I have one ... – Solar Mike Oct 22 '19 at 15:34
  • Unless there are already issues with the battery, I wouldn't even bother disconnecting it. If there are current battery issues, replace it before leaving. I left 2 vehicles sitting for 3 weeks last summer while on vacation and they both fired up on the first turn of the key. – FreeMan Oct 23 '19 at 14:06
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    I definitely WOULD NOT disconnect the battery on a 2016 Toyota. If there was a poster for "starts reliably after a few months" that would be a poster of a recent-model Toyota! – Fattie Oct 23 '19 at 14:35
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For one month I think that you are just fine without any extra precautions. But if it's for a longer period, then you may consider the following ideas.

I recommend three action points, one on them is stolen from the comment of user Jeff Y.

  1. Maybe increase the air pressure in the tires by about 0.5 bar (and check the pressure of the spare tire at that opportunity).
    • This helps prevent the tires from getting a flat deformation.
  2. In addition to the recommendation regarding the battery (disconnect the minus because it is safer from electrical point of view, typically black or sometimes blue) that was already posted.
    • Disconnecting the battery will prevent that the battery slowly gets empty because there is typically always a (very) small energy consumption in a car even if it's parking. When you reconnect the battery then reverse the order. But I think that it's enough, if you just disconnect the minus and put some textile around it (it's covered with grease typically).
    • Maybe you need to input a code into your radio after reconnecting the battery. If that's the case, better prepare the code before you leave so that you don't need to look for it after you return.
    • Disconnecting the battery may be the single most important point regarding "being able to drive immediately after you return".
  3. No not use the parking-brake (if possible) because it can get stuck (especially it it's an old one).

Update

I found an related article online from the website https://driving.ca: https://driving.ca/porsche/auto-news/news/storing-your-car-for-the-winter-follow-these-eight-tips. The topics are:

  1. Get things clean
  2. Storage places
  3. Fuel up (--> Fill the fuel tank)
  4. Avoiding flat feet (--> Tire pressure)
  5. Oil and water
  6. Maintaining a charge (--> Battery)
  7. Unwanted car guests
  8. Tuck and cover
Dr. Manuel Kuehner
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  • The parking brake would be a "problem" if you have a modern automatic parking brake. But I think you'd be fine with that. Have no real winter experience with that. One of my former cars was parked in -18 Celcius for about a week in 199x and we had no issues with that - apart from it being all frozen over on the outside. – Paul Palmpje Oct 21 '19 at 19:37
  • @PaulPalmpje Thanks for sharing your experience. As usual with general advice, it's about statistics and probability ;). In general there is no harm in not using the parking brake if there is no need for it. – Dr. Manuel Kuehner Oct 21 '19 at 19:47
  • well this was mostly about the automatic parking breaks. I forget about that when I take my wife's car (also it's not a stick shift car) and I sometimes forget about it in my own car…. In general with a car in good maintenance a normal freezing of about -15 Celcius should not be a problem, key word here is 'good'. – Paul Palmpje Oct 21 '19 at 19:54
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    My tires were fine for 3 months without use.. And the pressures were correct when I checked them when I started to use it again... No need to add air... – Solar Mike Oct 22 '19 at 06:50
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    If there's an alarm/anti-theft system in the car, it might also need to be deactivated after reconnecting the battery. – user24582 Oct 22 '19 at 12:46
  • @user24582 Good point. – Dr. Manuel Kuehner Oct 22 '19 at 13:43
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    If you go through any of the trouble of dealing with tire pressure, battery, and parking brake, you can just as well fill up with fuel having less ethanol content (typically premium in NA). Ethanol has more affinity for the water deposit at the bottom of your tank and will promote rusting if left undisturbed for a long period of time. – Jeffrey Oct 22 '19 at 19:30
  • @Jeffrey I get your point. Do you think this is also necessary for tanks made of plastic? I also added a preamble to distinguish between a short and long parking period. – Dr. Manuel Kuehner Oct 22 '19 at 19:47
  • Fooling with a battery on a modern car simply causes more trouble than it can prevent The amount of current used by the "clock" is incredibly small - don't forget that just sitting there disconnected, the battery will lose charge anyway. It's simply not clear that you are helping by disconnecting it. Again, fooling with a battery on a modern car simply causes more trouble than it can prevent. Modern battery/electrical systems are *sophisticated*. If you screw-up and short it or cause another problem, very bad news. – Fattie Oct 23 '19 at 14:39
  • "disconnect the minus because it is safer from electrical point of view" that is just not necessarily true! if you disconnect, which? What must the disconnected cable touch or not touch? Should disconnect both? What touches what during the process? Setting aside "the clock" on that particular model what do you have to do after changing a battery (there'll be a procedure, possibly complex, these days). Take care! – Fattie Oct 23 '19 at 14:43
  • @Fattie Here are some references regarding the "disconnecting the minus first": (1) https://www.focus.de/auto/praxistipps/autobatterie-abklemmen-darauf-muessen-sie-achten_id_8504193.html (2) https://www.focus.de/auto/praxistipps/autobatterie-abklemmen-darauf-muessen-sie-achten_id_8504193.html (3) https://akkusbatterien.de/autobatterie-abklemmen/ (4) https://praxistipps.chip.de/autobatterie-abklemmen-die-wichtigsten-tipps_100150. They are in German, you can use Google translator. – Dr. Manuel Kuehner Oct 23 '19 at 15:21
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A full tank of gas will minimize condensation in the fuel tank.

BillyBarbarIan
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    and a full tank of premium (or other non-ethanol content) fuel will result in less corrosion potential – Jeffrey Oct 22 '19 at 19:32
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Lock your doors . . .

. . . and have a safe trip.

Weather is quite mild in Lubbock.

With the presumption that your vehicle is in good running condition, and has no charging system issues (like a bad alternator / battery, or an aftermarket alarm that constantly pulls 300mA,) you should have no issues electrically nor mechanically.

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MrWonderful
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The main thing I can think of is to make sure that there is antifreeze in your radiator and not simply water. You don't want the water in your radiator to freeze and expand and damage the engine.

AndrewM114
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  • The odds of freezing weather in Lubbock, TX are fairly low. Not non-zero, but close. Good advice for more northern climes, however. Of course, if the vehicle came from the factory* with water, not antifreeze, in the radiator, that's a discussion to have with the dealership. Antifreeze help keep it cooler in the summer, too. *The car is a 2016 - highly unlikely to have had a radiator flush/fill in < 3 years of ownership unless an owner buys into all the services sold at the local quick-change oil place. – FreeMan Oct 23 '19 at 14:11
  • Keep in mind that corrosion is also a problem in a water-only environment. https://mechanics.stackexchange.com/a/3575/57 – Bob Cross Oct 23 '19 at 18:51
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It should be fine for a month, as-is, in a covered parking garage. Make sure you disconnect all devices from power ports. Things like phones and other accessories.

Fattie
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user53226
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I'll add an alternative. Why not take public transportation to/from the airport?

Leave your car in your garage, hooking up a battery tender if you want. Give a friend the keys and ask them to take it out once or twice before your return.

Fewer problems with vandalism/theft/odd things due to an exposed vehicle. Almost certainly less expensive than a month's worth of parking fees.

In any event, enjoy the time off!

Scott Peterson
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