Frequent short trips: Ill effects on vehicles?

Zed · 26th February 2018, 18:56

My wife's three yr old Ford Fiesta - covered a Grand total of 1500 kms last calender Yr. This included a four week vacation when the vehicle was parked. I was apprehensive about battery getting discharged / tyres pressure drop but not a sqeak till date. Modern cars are well equipped to handle duty cycles of all sorts as Jeroen has indicated in an earlier post. Just stick to recommended maintaince schedules even if youve clocked low kms between Service intervals.

Living2Drive · 27th February 2018, 15:19

My wife's i10 Auto had clocked less than 30K in 7 years, first 3 years it did less than 7500 on the odo (5 kms a trip 2 to 3 times a week), we had spark plug failure, fuel pump failure (twice), shift shock, delay shift, brake noise, belt noise, rat bite and brake spongy issues.
Dealer could not do much and beyond a point Hyundai wash hand as well. later started maintaining minimum fuel level and let at least 2 to 5 min min idle with out AC every time before driving. Engine, transmission and fuel related issues did not occur. changed brake fluid every year and spongy issue was gone, however the brake noise persisted owing to rust on rotors.
Old fuel and cold oil are the prime contributors for engine damage/ performance issues, once taken care the rest is relatively manageable.

devansn · 27th February 2018, 16:27

I am guessing that your car is an i10, looking at your profile picture. For a non-turbo petrol, may be your short trips may cause lesser issues compared to a turbo diesel.

I have a slightly different suggestion - if its just three kilometers one way, you could try cycling to office. It will probably take less time for you. But this will work best if you start early to office, like before 8-8:30 AM - or else you may sweat by the time you reach office.

This way you can use the car over the weekends only and may be on Fridays too.

I do this: My work place is 130Kms away from home - so I park the car at office on Monday mornings and use a bicycle to go to my home which is 6 Kms from my office. This way I get at least some physical exercise on weekdays.

Jeroen · 27th February 2018, 16:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Living2Drive

Old fuel and cold oil are the prime contributors for engine damage/ performance issues, once taken care the rest is relatively manageable.

Yes, but they are not specific for cars doing short trips. In fact if you have very poor fuel with a lot of contamination and you do a lot of mileage your fuel pump is likely to fail earlier in time at least.

Cold oil is a problem irrespective of a long or a short trip. If you drive 10 minutes or 10 hours, and lets assume the car is driven in an indentical way for the first 10 minutes on both the 10 minute and the the 1o hour trip, the wear and tear down to cold oil is identical, obviously.

Jeroen

26th February 2018, 18:56	#31
Zed BHPian Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Germany Posts: 516 Thanked: 489 Times	Re: Frequent short trips: Ill effects on vehicles? My wife's three yr old Ford Fiesta - covered a Grand total of 1500 kms last calender Yr. This included a four week vacation when the vehicle was parked. I was apprehensive about battery getting discharged / tyres pressure drop but not a sqeak till date. Modern cars are well equipped to handle duty cycles of all sorts as Jeroen has indicated in an earlier post. Just stick to recommended maintaince schedules even if youve clocked low kms between Service intervals.
	(1) Thanks

27th February 2018, 15:19	#32
Living2Drive BHPian Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Chennai Posts: 60 Thanked: 132 Times	Re: Frequent short trips: Ill effects on vehicles? My wife's i10 Auto had clocked less than 30K in 7 years, first 3 years it did less than 7500 on the odo (5 kms a trip 2 to 3 times a week), we had spark plug failure, fuel pump failure (twice), shift shock, delay shift, brake noise, belt noise, rat bite and brake spongy issues. Dealer could not do much and beyond a point Hyundai wash hand as well. later started maintaining minimum fuel level and let at least 2 to 5 min min idle with out AC every time before driving. Engine, transmission and fuel related issues did not occur. changed brake fluid every year and spongy issue was gone, however the brake noise persisted owing to rust on rotors. Old fuel and cold oil are the prime contributors for engine damage/ performance issues, once taken care the rest is relatively manageable.
	(1) Thanks

27th February 2018, 16:27	#33
devansn BHPian Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Covai/Kottayam Posts: 219 Thanked: 139 Times	Re: Frequent short trips: Ill effects on vehicles? I am guessing that your car is an i10, looking at your profile picture. For a non-turbo petrol, may be your short trips may cause lesser issues compared to a turbo diesel. I have a slightly different suggestion - if its just three kilometers one way, you could try cycling to office. It will probably take less time for you. But this will work best if you start early to office, like before 8-8:30 AM - or else you may sweat by the time you reach office. This way you can use the car over the weekends only and may be on Fridays too. I do this: My work place is 130Kms away from home - so I park the car at office on Monday mornings and use a bicycle to go to my home which is 6 Kms from my office. This way I get at least some physical exercise on weekdays.
	() Thanks