grandma barely drives corolla

R

Robscoe

Joined
Apr 15, 2021
Messages
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Hey guys, so my grandma recently moved nearby my parents, and since our grandpa passed (he was a mechanic and body shop owner, very meticulous and knowledgeable about maintenance) i tend to change her oil for her and check her plugs etc, well, anyways point being she has a 2012 1.8T VVT Corolla, it only has 32,000km on it and gets driven about 1-2 thousand km per year and basically goes a few kilometres per trip and thats it. I’ve got it right now and i’m going to change the oil, i’m going to run an engine flush through first (either LiquiMoly Proline, or maybe just a GumOut or Redline (one with high PEA) pour the rest into her tank, and drive around heavily and refill the tank, and put another bottle of the gumout regane, and was even considering driving it around, THEN putting the Redline or Gumout remaining in her gas tank and filling it up. So when she does drive atleast she’s getting some cleaning done? Also considering doing an intake spray as i’ve heard lightly driven cars can gunk up quite badly, and i know with my 2007 Audi, the CeraTec really helps keep the engine lubricated as it only goes about 6-7k per year (soon to drastically increase) sounds like a lot for a corolla that barely gets driven but i wanna make sure my gran can just not worry about stuff and when she wants to drive she can without issue.

thanks for your time

TL dr: grandma drives 1.8 2012 corolla 1000-2000km per year and only short distances, wondering if i should give it an oil flush, add some engine cleaner to tank and possibly even add ceratec or an intake spray as i know that type of driving can gunk up motors, thanks.
 
Drive it.

Fill it up with fresh gas.

Change the oil.

Done.

It’s a waste of money to solve problems that don’t exist.

Pouring various concoctions in the fuel tank and sump likely won’t make any difference to the car, but will certainly clean out your wallet.

Figure out what it needs, based on maintenance history and condition, before guessing and spending money m
 
Just follow Astro14's advice.

My mother has a 2004 Malibu with 18,000 miles. It has had one oil change in the past 5 years and 1000 miles.
All I do is keep a battery minder on it.

Starts, runs and drives fine.
 
Astro14 said:
Drive it.

Fill it up with fresh gas.

Change the oil.

Done.

It’s a waste of money to solve problems that don’t exist.

Pouring various concoctions in the fuel tank and sump likely won’t make any difference to the car, but will certainly clean out your wallet.

Figure out what it needs, based on maintenance history and condition, before guessing and spending money m
Click to expand...
I think your looking for problems that do not exist !
Agree with you Astro14 100%
 
My in-laws drive a 96 Corolla with 60k miles on it that they bought new. They used to drive slightly more when it was new but it only goes to the doctor's and grocery store now. It runs fine. The paint is fading, it's starting to rust, and it got side swiped while parked in front of their house so they might buy another Corolla this year. I don't see any need for extraordinary measures for your grandma's car.
 
yeah okay thanks guys, i was gonna poke my borescope into one of the spark plug holes and the valves are super easy to look at as far as i can tel they are right at the front
 
oh and i should’ve mentioned that, where i live, gas is like equivalent to 6.50 a gallon, but if i drive 15km east nice straight drive with lots of times to rev it hard, i can get gas for like say, 5.75 a gallon, and up the street my parts guy gives me 40 percent off so i figured it wouldn’t kill me to get a bottle of something that works in both tank and oil, pour in oil, then pour in tank drive and refill type thing. Also the oil if i’m not mistaken is like 3-4 years old lol, and takes the same as my mum’s which is 0w20, her car is a 2015 mazda, 80,000km, due for an oil change at 84,000…. it’s 31 dollars off of a 5quart bottle of Liqui moly 0w20 top tec right now too, and that would have me drive 45-60km altogether cause that’s at Napa and i thought some hard driving might be good for the thing, but i’m one of those preventative maintenance type guys i make like 5k a week in the film industry up here so with my audi i’ve been doing a spray every 20k, a high pea GDI cleaner in the tank every 3rd fill, and a oil flush every 3rd oil change plus a ceratec every 40k and my valves have stayed immaculate while everyone else has been having carbon issues i’m at 160k and still have clean valves n that car is known for carbon **** issues so idk, i’m also adhd asf and overthink everything lol.
 
Robscoe said:
yeah okay thanks guys, i was gonna poke my borescope into one of the spark plug holes and the valves are super easy to look at as far as i can tel they are right at the front
Click to expand...
A borescope look in the combustion chamber isn’t going to tell you much about the oil condition.
 
Robscoe said:
oh and i should’ve mentioned that, where i live, gas is like equivalent to 6.50 a gallon, but if i drive 15km east nice straight drive with lots of times to rev it hard, i can get gas for like say, 5.75 a gallon, and up the street my parts guy gives me 40 percent off so i figured it wouldn’t kill me to get a bottle of something that works in both tank and oil, pour in oil, then pour in tank drive and refill type thing. Also the oil if i’m not mistaken is like 3-4 years old lol, and takes the same as my mum’s which is 0w20, her car is a 2015 mazda, 80,000km, due for an oil change at 84,000…. it’s 31 dollars off of a 5quart bottle of Liqui moly 0w20 top tec right now too, and that would have me drive 45-60km altogether cause that’s at Napa and i thought some hard driving might be good for the thing, but i’m one of those preventative maintenance type guys i make like 5k a week in the film industry up here so with my audi i’ve been doing a spray every 20k, a high pea GDI cleaner in the tank every 3rd fill, and a oil flush every 3rd oil change plus a ceratec every 40k and my valves have stayed immaculate while everyone else has been having carbon issues i’m at 160k and still have clean valves n that car is known for carbon **** issues so idk, i’m also adhd asf and overthink everything lol.
Click to expand...


This sounds familiar. Hard to read as well.

You seem to be set on doing this so you don’t need our advice.
 
Give the battery a good testing. Low use is hard on a battery, and if you want it to be reliable for her and want to be preemptive about anything, putting money out for a new batter if the existing one is questionable in any way would be what I would consider a high priority.

And of course, if it is used where the winters get very cold put one of the highest CCA batteries that will fit in it.
 
I have to agree with the others. Put a decent oil and filter in it, check the battery and the tires and belts. At its current age I might be tempted to change the brake fluid and check all the others and put an air filter in it while I was checking to make sure nothing built a nest in the air box.

Edit: I think it might be time for an antifreeze change too, your right at the 10 year limit of most of them and they do age out.
 
Regarding the antifreeze, just do a drain and fill. Flush introduces ions into the system and that leads to electron transfer between the metals and that causes corrosion in many parts of the cooling system. Premixed coolants are worth much more than the extra cost because they are pre-diluted with de-ionized water, and therefore do not introduce ions into the cooling system.

BTW, the original of many cooling systems now days is good for 10 years, but from then on it requires a drain and fill every 5 years because you do not drain out all the old each time.
 
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