Keeping your tires healthy and your battery happy is a lot easier to do when you're actually driving your car on a daily basis. If you haven't gotten behind the wheel in a while, now is a good time to give your vehicle a once over, and take some preventative measures to ensure when you are ready to take it for a spin, your belts aren't cracked, and no rodents have made a nest under your hood. (This happened to me once when I was gone for just a weeklong vacation.)

How to Maintain Your Car When You’re Not Driving It Much (or at All) was originally published on MotorTrend

If you're like the rest of us, there very likely is a car in your garage or driveway that hasn't moved much for a few weeks now, if at all. Whether by pandemic, seasonal downtime (such as winter for those of you located in the snowy North), or extended travel, there are plenty of ways your car could sit idle for long periods of time. Cars don't like this. New or old, when your car isn't racking up miles, it still needs regular maintenance and at least occasional attention to prevent problems from metastasizing later when you return it to the road.

Here are some tips for keeping your parked vehicle in tip-top shape, courtesy of Steven Greenspan, instructor and education manager at Universal Technical Institute, and an ASE certified master technician with an L-1 certification, plus a few from the MotorTrend staff.

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