# Any benefit to letting a car “rest” during a long drive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 28, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253 "2024-02-28T21:14:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/1 "2024-02-28T21:14:49Z")
I’m about to leave for a long car trip of about 1,500 miles over 2 days. My original plan was to drive my new truck down, but due to space limitations where I’ll be parking, I am forced to bring my much older 2009 car. The car has less than 150k miles and is about as reliable as a car that old can be. My concern is that, due to the new truck, I very rarely drive the car long distances on highways (which will be the case for the majority of the long trip). Being used to long drives, I usually can drive a full tank (about 400 miles) without stopping. This means driving 6-7 hours straight. Since the car isn’t used to that type of “long haul”, is there any benefit (in terms of preventing any mechanical failure) by stopping more frequently to let the car “rest”? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/2 "2024-02-28T21:18:50Z")
Nope. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/3 "2024-02-28T21:25:39Z")
I definitely think there is a health benefit for you to rest every couple hundred miles. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/4 "2024-02-28T21:49:49Z")
I doubt it. In fact I would guess it’s probably a little bit _worse_ for the car, in that stopping, shutting off the engine, starting it back up, and accelerating back onto the highway would probably cause more wear and tear than just driving at a constant speed for a long time. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/5 "2024-02-28T21:54:01Z")
Just for the module normally connected to the steering wheel, usually located seated in the driver’s seat. Yes I do feel that you may be pushing this module beyond safety limits, but for the rest of the car, if it’s moving it’s better to keep it moving. Stopping increases the likelihood of getting stranded, though perhaps in a friendly parking lot. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/6 "2024-02-28T21:55:21Z")
I’m not exactly a car person, but I’ve always heard that driving a car for long distances (at highway speed) once in a while is good for one that’s usually only used for short distances. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/7 "2024-02-29T04:11:33Z")
Thanks everyone! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/8 "2024-02-29T04:54:13Z")
No reason not to drive it like a newer car. But I would give a good inspection to the belts and hoses, and also the spare tire. If you haven’t neglected the maintenance on the car, then it should be good. I drove my 91 Ranger 800 miles on the interstate two weeks ago. I had recently replaced the water pump, including the hoses, belts, radiator cap, and coolant, so I had no worries, even though the truck only gets about 500 or 600 miles per year these days. ---
**Author:** ![Apodder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apodder/32/17727_2.png) [@Apodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apodder)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-benefit-to-letting-a-car-rest-during-a-long-drive/998253/9 "2024-02-29T19:48:46Z")
Exactly my thought when I saw this post. That’s a really long time to sit in that position. Not good.