Modern Vespa

I see many posts about how to car for your scoot when storing or winter comes but what about my car...cuz I'm riding like crazy and my cage is sitting.

No, I don't plan on getting rid of it but I definitely don't plan on driving it regularly...do I need to perform the scheduled maintenances at the mileage in the service manual (though I won't be raking up very many miles) or at so many months?? What else can I do to make sure it works when I need it.

I already have a battery tender purchased and plan to hook that up.

What else??

Just drive the car once a week or so. Be sure to drive it long enough to allow the engine to reach normal operating temperature.

My car (a VW EOS) will be a year old in Nov. It has less than 6k miles. The dealer says that the synthetic oil has to be changed every 6 mos because it turns acid. I do drive it some each week and will drive it during the worst weather. (It looks like we will have a cold winter in Texas this year.)

Drive the car for at least 30 minutes each week and get a yearly service where all the belts, fluids, hoses and what have you are looked at... It would be the kind of service you would ask for of a mechanic to check out the car if you were about to embark on a long road trip. He checks are the vitals to make sure you are good to go...This kind of service can be done when you get your yearly inspection sticker. At that time, change the oil (if you are NOT using a synthetic as Jerry W said.) Make sure your radiator coolant fluid is proper. This particularly important in Florida as you well know.. Since you are in Florida, keep your Cager's engine prepared to Bug out of there before Hurricane begins... Since you don't use it much, it's nothing to keep small hurricane kit box in it,too.
I lived on the Texas coast and went through a few and evac-ed even more. So I know how it can get...Stay prepared and you can coast the rest of the way...

For you and many others who have reduced usage of a cage, call your cage insurance agent. If your primary transportation is now your scooter, the insurance on the cage could be much less due to less use and not the primary vehicle.

+1....very good point

Any other safe alternatives to storing my cage other than to needlessly drive it around every week or so when I don't need to??

Yes, Fuzzy good comment about the insurance.

No need to drive it needlessly. Transport food for a soup kitchen or some such.

My g/f almost freaked when we sold the last car we owned with more than 2 seats about 3 yrs ago. I told her when we needed a bigger car, we'd call Hertz or Avis, At roughly $39.95/day, I think we've spent all of about $200 total on car rental.

That's great you're all scaling down driving your cars! I applaud you all for doing this. Less demand on oil makes OPEC nervous.

I wish I could cut down more but I think my scooter will only be practical for commuting during the summer. Temperatures in the teens or lower on morning commutes (at 60 mph) just don't make me want to get out of bed lol. And it's a long commute (30-40 minutes) so that makes for a long cold ride. Lisa = icicle.

So I just keep turning down the thermostat to do my part. At this rate, I'll find it warmer to sleep outside before long

Smrf, do you have a friend you could "share" the car with in exchange for helping to defray the costs of upkeep on the car?

Well the cage is a 2002 and paid off so selling it wouldn't get me much nor do I wish to get of it. There are times when needed like last night for a big Costco (think Sam's club for you east coasters) run but that's like once every few months.

All my friends own/lease their own vehicles so no one to share it with and split costs...and the costs aren't really the issue since it is paid off...but I don't want to ask the dealer how to upkeep it since I'm sure they'd waste me money and say bring it in every several months for scheduled maintenance even if it sits. I was hoping to get honest non-money driven asnwers on how to keep my car in shape so when I need it, it'll work...without needlessly doing extra stuff...like waste gas/time to just drive it each week..or kill our environment with needless poolution if I don't need to drive it.

Soup kitchen delivery... hmm...needless as I could do that on the Smrfmobile...but nice thought. I already do volunteer work weekly..but nice thought...in fact me and my three pups do weekly volunteer work and YES we get there via Smrfmobile!

Thanks for the input so far... I'm open to more.