Hello everybody!

So my husband is deployed and I decided to go to germany for 5-6 months. I will be back in 2 weeks and have some issues...
We have a Dodge Caliber 2007. Never had any problems! It has been in NC, in a garage for 5 months now without it beeing operated. I am kind of worried that it wont work anymore by the time I am back or the transmission might not work anymore. I will most likely have to charge the battery again with a friends help, bring the Dodge to a dealership and get it fully checked out. Does anybody has experiences with such a long period of time? I have also heard about staling fuel, what do I have to do to take care of that when Im back? usually my husband always took care of the cars maintenance, and since it will be the first time doing it by myself i need some help please. Did anybody had a dodge caliber 2007 stored in the garage for 5-6 months without it beeing turned on once and it wont work anymore, like transmission damaged???

Thanks for all answers.

 

The transmission will be fine. The 2 things that are going to be your problem will be the battery and MAYBE the gas.

I would almost bet that the battery will be dead if you did not disconnect before leaving. If not, not a big deal, a few minutes on a friends car with jumper cables or a battery charger and you'll be fine there.

Now for the gas. Hopefully you left the tank not empty, but as near to empty as possible. You are most likely going to be dealing with bad gas. The safest thing to do would to have the tank drained and put new gas in. This is where having little gas in the tank will help if you are going to have someone do it at your house. If not, have the car towed to a garage that will drain it for you and take a 5 gal. can of gas with you to put in when they are done.

Draining the gas is easy so it should take anytime to do at a garage, just make sure you call the garage first to make sure they'll do it. It won't be that expensive either (depending on how far you are from the garage). Think about $75 for the tow to the garage and $75 for the drain. Better to be safe than sorry.

For future reference, and to keep this in the back of your mind, gas starts to break down after 30 days. The gas will normally still be good to use for another 30 to 60 days after that with out harm. After the 90 day mark of sitting, you begin to take a risk of damaging something. There are preventive measures that can be taken before storing too. You can buy gas stabilizer at the store and add it to your tank. This will make the break down period longer. I can't tell you exactly, but have seen cars start up after 6 months of sitting that has had the stabilizer added to it. You would also want to disconnect the battery as well. You'll lose all your programmed stations, but they are easily reprogrammed... LOL!!!

 

Hello,

first I want to thank you for your reply! It helps alot!

I was wondering if I could get some premium gas and some fuel system cleaner and put it in the tank so I can get to the next dodge dealership to get it fully checked, or would that just damage it more? The Dealership it only like 20 minutes away.

Thank you very much for your time =)

Stephanie

 

How much gas is currently in the car now? The more gas that is in the car, the bigger the gamble with running it with bad gas. If you are near 1/4 tank or lower, it might be a risk worth trying, but you have to remember the gas most likely is already shot and your car may run like crap, even stalling at times. If you have half tank or more, I would pay for the tow to get it there.

Most tow yards charge about $75 to hook up and includes 10 miles or so. After that, they charge around $1.50 a mile. You can also call the dealer and see if they have a tow yard that they can recommend, or have them tow it in. Then they will just tack on the tow charge to the final bill.

I want to let you know though, that I highly do not recommend you even start car until you have the gas swapped out. It is better now, to pay $75 to $100 to have the thing towed to the dealer, than spending a couple thousand to have it rebuilt or even replaced.

If you had the additive in the tank prior to the long term storage, I would say go for it on putting gas in and going, but since not, I wouldn't advise. It is a HUGE gamble to attempt.

 

My husband said there should be a quarter still in it. so you recommend not even trying to turn it on?! i was told from other people i could get new gas and bring it with the fuel system cleaner home to my car and put it in my car, let it run for a few minutes and than drive it to the dealership. but ok, i will try to find a mechanic i can bring it to, so they can check it out. at least doing the fuel issues, for all other issues i would like getting it checked out from the dodge dealership.

 

If it wasn't a Dodge, I would take the gamble on the putting new gas in, however, our computers are very touchy and one wrong ping, flow, flaw or anything and our cars whack out. Heck even our radios are tied to the computer since 2004. Weird.

And I understand you wanting to take it to a dodge dealership, but this is a simple drain and refill. I don't know where you are located at, but I know alot of the metropolitan places have mobile mechanics. They'll come to your door and have everything done real quick.

 

i called a thowing company and they said they would pick it up for 100$ and take it to the dodge dealership. i think thats what i am most comfortable with. so they can check out everything at once. tired, oil, the fuel...everything. do i need to take my own gas with me to put it in after they drain the fuel or can they do it?

 

Call the dealership and ask if you need to bring it. Not all dealerships have pumps there on the lot. My dealership does, but when I owned Fords, that dealership did not. So your best bet would be to call.

As far as the rest of the stuff they will be looking at, be careful that they don't try and take advantage of you because you are a woman. If you got questions, come back and ask.

Your tires should be fine, except maybe some air. Your oil, they will tell you that it needs to be changed because of the 6 months. Dealerships recommend that you follow the 3000 mile/3 month rule on oil changes. If your car is under the lifetime power train warranty, then you will pretty much have to do it. Either way, like I said, got a question, just ask.

 

Hello,

well the problem is, because the tag expired I have to get an inspection done in order to get a new tag for my car.
How would they try and take advantage of me? I think all it really needs is the fuel drained and new fuel, oilchange and maybe tire rotation. how much should that cost on average?
I will take a friend with me, so she might notice when they are trying to make me pay more than I should.
Do you know the average amount they would charge me for a complete inspection? Since I doubt there is more wrong with the car than listed above, how much do those repairs cost in average? So maybe I have an idea of whats okay to charge me.

Thank you, Steph

 

The fuel swap should take no more than an hour. The oil changes are pretty much a set price and can be from $25-$45 dollars, the tire rotation maybe $20. Nothing you are getting done is real expensive. The thing that about getting ripped off is if they come out and tell you something insane like all 4 tires need to be replaced because of it sitting, or your transmission needs rebuilt or whatever.

The reason that I mention this, is that everytime my wife goes to the dealer or even Jiffy Lube for an oil change, she is calling me telling me that the garage wants to do all kinds of things to the vehicle. Yes it is 2010, but garages still look at females as a quick buck and naive when it comes to cars. Unless the garage shows you something that is physically broken, don't worry about it.