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Daily Driver Converted To Once A Week Driver

13K views 13 replies 9 participants last post by  kismetmiss 
#1 ·
I just bought a 1996 Jaguar XJS swith about 54,000 miles. It will become my daily driver. I am keeping my 2000 Taurus SE-S (Duratec) with 167,000 miles.

Will my reliable Taurus become less reliable now that I'm driving it once a week versus every day for 50 miles round trip? Do I need to pay any special attention to this Taurus now that it becomes a secondary car? I promise to drive it at least 50 miles once every other week, probably more in the winter.
 
#6 ·
What about the oil? Now that I'm reduced to changing oil once or twice a year, should I consider synthetic, or will the good old dino stuff suffice?

If I'm only putting a few thousand on it every year, the current oil will likely be in use for 6 months or more.

Thanks.
 
#7 ·
What about the oil? Now that I'm reduced to changing oil once or twice a year, should I consider synthetic, or will the good old dino stuff suffice?

If I'm only putting a few thousand on it every year, the current oil will likely be in use for 6 months or more.

Thanks.
You should consider synthetic regardless. And now that you're only changing it every 6-12 months it will be that much cheaper to use better oil.
 
#8 ·
I'm confused, what bad happens to the car when it sits? And the gas? My car just sat about a year and a half while I saved for the repairs, ran it around the block about four times in that period to test the engine (illegal to actually drive it any great distance), she seems fine and the gas works, it's over a year old. Before I had it it sat for 6 years in an airplane hanger, the tires went sort of kaput but it wasn't too worse for wear, a little rusty. Taurus seems pretty durable when you let it sit.
 
#9 ·
My Bull sat off and on for 14yrs. It had 56k miles on it when I got it. So far the coolant tank cracked and leaked, the rear brakes exploded and had to be totally replaced, the cam synchro failed, the engine belt, the end links are rattling over bumps. Other than that the car gets 25.9 mpg on the last tank (I drove it like a grandpop).


:lurk:
 
#11 ·
A lot of sitting you will want to flush the brake fluid once a year if you can.

Synthetic Oil is a good idea no matter what; especially when sitting a long time.

Just put as much gas as you need in it at a time and keep it around 1/4 - 1/2 so you don't have to worry about the gas going bad to quickly, a month old gas isn't that bad but its not going to help being older and older.

If its not driving a lot i wouldn't be filling the tank up full only once every 2 months or however long it takes.
 
#12 ·
Most gas stations use up to 10% ethanol in their gas. Ethanol absorbs water which will separate from the gas and fall to the bottom of the tank. The engine won't like trying to run on water. It's best to use a tank a month, but the self life of E10 is 90 days.
 
#13 ·
You have a 167K on the car. I would research switching to a synthetic at this time. The problem that most people encounter when switching a high mileage car to synthetics is due to the detergents in the synthetic oil. The conventional oil "gunk" accumulates around the gaskets and other places, often times preventing leaks. The synthetic oil begins to remove this "gunk" and things like oil pan gaskets, main seals, and valve cover gaskets beging oozing oil.

I would stick to dino-oil and plan on a change every 6 months regardless of mileage. I am a fan of synthetic oils, but not needed for your situation.

Also remember that when you do drive your car make sure you drive it long enough and far enough to get to proper operating temperature and burn off any accummulated moisture. This is most important. As far as fuel, whenever you fill up I would just add a little Sta-Bil to be on the safe side.
 
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