# How long could I leave a car alone and expect it to start?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-could-i-leave-a-car-alone-and-expect-it-to-start/541490>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 1, 2010, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-could-i-leave-a-car-alone-and-expect-it-to-start/541490 "2010-06-01T13:24:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-could-i-leave-a-car-alone-and-expect-it-to-start/541490/21 "2010-06-02T02:29:27Z")

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> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#):
>
> Reading through Cecil’s article, I get the impression that the fact that you left the tank full may have prevented a lot of oxidation and probably prevented water from condensing out of the air and mixing in with the gas too (no air in the tank, no water to condense out of it).

and

> [@Nametag](#):
>
> Of course it ran like crap – it was _half a tank._ Gasoline, _stored properly_, will not go bad in two years, but intimate contact with moisture and oxygen is the opposite of proper storage.

I made it a point to store it as topped-off as I could.

I start/drive my truck at home every three months or so (and plan to do it when I get home tomorrow!). It still has gasoline from July. I’ll report back on how it goes (and maybe top it off before I come back here).

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**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\
**Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-could-i-leave-a-car-alone-and-expect-it-to-start/541490/22 "2010-06-03T17:53:56Z")

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there’s an [entire industry](http://www.achidatex.co.il/apage/12486.php) devoted to storing stuff in perfect condition for a long time, ready for use.  
Important Stuff.  
Like [military jet planes](http://www.owenmills.com/mil_aircraft.php), for example.

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**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-could-i-leave-a-car-alone-and-expect-it-to-start/541490/23 "2010-06-05T01:26:55Z")

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> [@Balthisar](#):
>
> I start/drive my truck at home every three months or so (and plan to do it when I get home tomorrow!). It still has gasoline from July. I’ll report back on how it goes (and maybe top it off before I come back here).

Seems to run just fine on the old gasoline. Of course we’re talking 10 months and not multiple years. All the same, I topped it off before parking it in the garage (I’ll use the rental car for the rest of my trip home).

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**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-could-i-leave-a-car-alone-and-expect-it-to-start/541490/24 "2010-06-05T01:31:34Z")

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My father left a car in a barn for 12 years. We brought it out, changed the oil and the fuel filter, hooked up some jumper cables and it started right up…on the same gas that had been sitting in the tank for 12 years.

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