Hello! Long time lurker on another account that I always hated the name I chose for it. I am about to get a lot more active on these forums because my old daily driver is coming out of storage this week!
About 4 years ago I bought myself a 2011 Chevy Cruze after driving the Aveo (which I bought used in 2009) for a few years. I put the Aveo in outdoor storage on my Grandmother's property because I expected to put it back on the road as a second car for my Fiancee. Unfortunately it was not financially feasible to have the second car on the road until now so it sat for the past 4 years.
I tried to take as good care of it as possible while it was in storage, starting it every so often, driving it around a little in the small space it had and changing the oil a few times over the course of the 4 years.
I went down to start it up last week for the first time in a few months and although I had to jump it because the battery was now toast it fired right up and ran perfectly. I am going down tonight to install a new battery I bought, replace the ratty windshield wipers, check tire pressures and lubricate everything that got stiff. Thursday night we are getting plates and bringing it home.
I bought the car at about 60,000km and currently it sits at 129,000km. Over the course of my ownership I have done the following:
- Thermostat and housing
- Alternator
- Ball Joints
- Brakes and rotors
- Timing belt at 120,000km
- Spark plug wires
- One transmission fluid flush
- Upgraded radio and rear speakers
I plan to change the oil when I get it home, replace the air filter, change the valve cover gasket because it is leaking and probably flush/change the transmission fluid again. I was wondering if anyone had any other suggestions for maintenance on a vehicle that has sat for 4 years?
Oh and here is a picture of her pulled up to the top of the driveway last week once I freed her from the piles of snow at the bottom of the driveway.
One of the best things about pulling her out of storage now is there is finally a abundance of Aveo's in my local scrap yard whereas when I was driving the car they were scarce.