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Any Thoughts on This Advice for Long-Term Storage? 
Scarlett, the 04 Merlot, sits for as long as 3 months as a time so I found this information particularly relevant.
From Road & Track December 2009 Tech Correspondence Column
Idle Thoughts
I would like to know how often an auto�mobile needs to be driven to keep everything working properly. Specifically, I want to know if driving every three to five days is enough to prevent any type of mechanical problem related to standing. Our two Miatas, mine and my wife's, are driven year round only under clear skies and are rarely left standing more than five days at any given time. Occasionally in the winter they may have to sit longer until the roads clear of snow or salt, but they have never sat longer than 10 days. Is there a general rule of thumb for how to avoid issues from standing?
Bradley Jones
Fort Knox, Kentucky
There are so many mechanical and environmental factors in this question that no blanket answer suffices. The big issue is moisture, the killer of camshaft lobes and consumer of bearings, so the more often a vehicle is operated for 20 minutes or more the better. Obviously a dry climate helps, along with about 20 other things.
Oil drain back and the resulting "dry" starts are another issue. Again, so many variables affect this that no rule of thumb has evolved, other than to say the more often you use the car, the better.
Still, "standing" damage is very real. Boaters and aviators fight this constantly due to the weeks or months between their engine starts, and always, the more frequent the operation, the better. Unfortunately, it takes downtimes of months or years to have "mothballing" or "pickling" engines make any sense, so unless a year layoff is planned there is little to do other than keep the battery charged and the oil clean.
To take a wild automotive swing at this question we wouldn't sweat a three-day layoff, and the occasional 10-day to two-week idle period due to business trips and vacations probably doesn't hurt enough to matter. If a several-month layoff is planned, then just let the car sit with fresh oil and the battery removed, then accept one cold, dry start at the end. The damage is cumulative, so engines run daily will return the most hours of useful operation.
Scarlett, the 04 Merlot, sits for as long as 3 months as a time so I found this information particularly relevant.
From Road & Track December 2009 Tech Correspondence Column
Idle Thoughts
I would like to know how often an auto�mobile needs to be driven to keep everything working properly. Specifically, I want to know if driving every three to five days is enough to prevent any type of mechanical problem related to standing. Our two Miatas, mine and my wife's, are driven year round only under clear skies and are rarely left standing more than five days at any given time. Occasionally in the winter they may have to sit longer until the roads clear of snow or salt, but they have never sat longer than 10 days. Is there a general rule of thumb for how to avoid issues from standing?
Bradley Jones
Fort Knox, Kentucky
There are so many mechanical and environmental factors in this question that no blanket answer suffices. The big issue is moisture, the killer of camshaft lobes and consumer of bearings, so the more often a vehicle is operated for 20 minutes or more the better. Obviously a dry climate helps, along with about 20 other things.
Oil drain back and the resulting "dry" starts are another issue. Again, so many variables affect this that no rule of thumb has evolved, other than to say the more often you use the car, the better.
Still, "standing" damage is very real. Boaters and aviators fight this constantly due to the weeks or months between their engine starts, and always, the more frequent the operation, the better. Unfortunately, it takes downtimes of months or years to have "mothballing" or "pickling" engines make any sense, so unless a year layoff is planned there is little to do other than keep the battery charged and the oil clean.
To take a wild automotive swing at this question we wouldn't sweat a three-day layoff, and the occasional 10-day to two-week idle period due to business trips and vacations probably doesn't hurt enough to matter. If a several-month layoff is planned, then just let the car sit with fresh oil and the battery removed, then accept one cold, dry start at the end. The damage is cumulative, so engines run daily will return the most hours of useful operation.
All I did was park it and close the garage door... oops.
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