For the car gurus: Will my car start in this situation?

[dez1978]

That depends on where your airport is and where your house is. I agree if someone was going to park at Parking Spot or something similar for 3 weeks but not necessarily other options. It would be cheaper to park in Economy Parking at my home airport for 3 weeks than it would be for uber RT. The airport is more than 40miles from my house.

I could park in the garage for cheaper than an Uber RT do people forget that millions of people don’t live near an airport? Heck we don’t even have Uber/Lyft/instacart where I live.

 

[barkley]

I could park in the garage for cheaper than an Uber RT do people forget that millions of people don’t live near an airport? Heck we don’t even have Uber/Lyft/instacart where I live.

i'm closer to an airport but also have none of these available to us. our literal neck of the woods isn't worth traveling to or from for any of these companies.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I could park in the garage for cheaper than an Uber RT do people forget that millions of people don’t live near an airport? Heck we don’t even have Uber/Lyft/instacart where I live.

Yup. We do have rideshare and companies like Ztrip (formerly 10/10 taxi) but it's not heavily used I'd say in the 'burbs. You'd be more likely to find people taking it around Downtown (which is going to be a pretty penny as well) mostly for drinking I would say but to the airport it's not all that widely used by locals. We're a sprawling metro with an airport at the northern most part of it.

I looked up a post from my neighborhood's social networking site and about 3 1/2 weeks ago someone was asking the question. The person had $75 to get to the airport and $110 to get home. The issue for them with home was a late flight (about 2am) no real uber drivers around so surge pricing happened. I'm sure depending on the time of day and the day itself you can get cheaper rideshare pricing but that's the nature of rideshare that it fluctuates in both pricing and availability.

When my husband was on field assignments coming back home just about every 2 weeks his company at the time gave him the option of a rental car or uber and we always took the rental car (his personal vehicle was in the state where he was working at that time) because the uber RT was more expensive if taking a rental car for 1 1/2 days and just about the same price as a rental car for 2 1/2 days and then we'd get the usage of the rental car instead of having to use my car. Now for the OP it's 3 weeks so that's going to make the comparison different but "just use uber/lyft" is a little more nuanced for some of us

 

[LynnTH]

I was going to recommend the same thing. I've used mine a few times to help others but never myself yet, but they really are great little devices to have just in case.

I agree. We have the car starters in all 4 of our vehicles. My 21 year old daughter used hers many times when at school for others when their cars wouldn't start. So, very easy to use and you don't have to have another car with jumper cables. I have used mine a few time (when really cold... at work). And I am technology challenged!!

 

[Colleen27]

Lol I live 90 miles from an airport. That would probably cost more than parking fees

You might be surprised. I'm about 70 miles from our airport and the break-even really is around 10 days, with how airport parking prices have gone up in the last few years. Sometimes I do still drive for convenience, with odd-hours departures or returns, or because fenced, monitored airport parking is probably a safer place for my car than on the street in front of my house if we're all away, but I was surprised that a car service wasn't more expensive given the distance and the lack of competition (no Uber/Lyft or cabs out here, so scheduled service is the only option).

 

[RogueX]

I'm sure you'll be fine. My husband's Honda Civic, which will be 25 years old in a few weeks has been sitting in our driveway for a few years untouched (he's got to work on body work and other repairs, plus he rides his bike to work). Despite not being used, sitting in the New England weather, the battery still works.

 

[dez1978]

You might be surprised. I'm about 70 miles from our airport and the break-even really is around 10 days, with how airport parking prices have gone up in the last few years. Sometimes I do still drive for convenience, with odd-hours departures or returns, or because fenced, monitored airport parking is probably a safer place for my car than on the street in front of my house if we're all away, but I was surprised that a car service wasn't more expensive given the distance and the lack of competition (no Uber/Lyft or cabs out here, so scheduled service is the only option).

Lol I just looked at car services here and the cheapest is 425 one way and that’s picking me up in town, not at my house

 

[tvguy]

I have an overseas flight scheduled in a couple of weeks.
Thinking about parking my vehicle at the airport for... almost 3 weeks.
It's a fairly recent car: a 2020 Toyota SUV. Weather is mild, not overly cold or hot, and it's a covered parking garage.
Will it start after being parked for close to 3 weeks? Or will the battery be drained?
TIA

I used to work at the airport and the company that runs the parking lots has someone on duty around the clock to give jump starts, so even if you have an issue, you should have no trouble getting a jumps tart.

 

[Colleen27]

Lol I just looked at car services here and the cheapest is 425 one way and that’s picking me up in town, not at my house

Wow! Here, r/t is about half that... and with parking in the airport garage up to $20/day, it doesn't take a super long trip to hiring a car worthwhile. And after headlines this week about wheel thefts - as in, car owner returning to find his vehicle up on blocks with no wheels at all - I don't know that I'd want to park there anyway.

 

[mom2rtk]

My sister came home from a 10 day trip to Hawaii to a dead battery. The parking attendant got someone to jump it and they were on their way.

This. I'm sure it happens from time to time. I bet there would be someone around to jump it.

 

[John VN]

When we fly out and leave the car at Long Term Parking Lot, I remove the cable from the negative terminal of the battery so -- no drain = no pain of having to deal with a discharged battery upon return. p.s. - having a booster device in the trunk also helps.

 

[bcla]

Depends on the car, the condition of battery, the weather, etc. The worst might be if map/dome lights are accidentally left on, although newer ones might be LEDs. Some cars have really high parasitic draws. My parents would ask me for a jump on their car after a 3 week vacation. After a while I got them a maintenance charger, but that won’t work in a parking lot.

After two years there’s a chance a battery could be shot, especially if it’s in a hot area and/or it’s been drained completely several times. Think forgetting to turn off the headlights or the map lights I mentioned. I’ve seen the latter happen when the warning chime didn’t work because the door sensor (most only work when the driver door is open) failed or even once I messed up and forgot the lights were on when I parked and sat there for 20 minutes.

I wouldn’t worry about it. Just make sure that the lights are completely off. At the very least there should be someone who can provide a jump at an airport parking lot or at offsite airport parking.

 

[_19disnA]

If you park at one of the "park & fly" type places near most large airports, I would imagine they have someone to give your battery a jump since this is probably a common occurrence. On airport parking likely has someone to do that as well but you likely have to go find them. Off-site parking is also cheaper and their buses run 24/7, so there is no need to drag your luggage through some dark/deserted parking garage at the airport.