So I'm in the Navy, My time has come and my tour is over in Japan i will be coming back to the States this week. However, my 2013 Subaru Legacy with 100,500 miles has been sitting for about 3 years with no one driving it. My dad said the battery was completely dead, I believe he replaced it already. What concerns should you have with a car that has been sitting for so long, what preventative maintenance would you take to make her roadworthy again?
thing i plan on doing would be testing the coolant and brake fluid with a multimeter to ensure its not over the 3%
possible oil change, and filter change, and when i get the money spark plugs, timing belt water pump and thermostat. Im no mechanic as im an electrician but i would like to have my car last up to 300,000 miles if i can. I would like to learn how to do most of these things myself. most thing I've found out how to do on youtube. i even just bought an xtool scan tool to monitor my car for its performance.
a multimeter is not a reliable fluid checker.
Coolant should be changed MINIMUM every 5 years regardless of miles. Brake fluid can last a long time so no panic, but 10 years seems like a good time to replace it too.
It might even be worth it to squirt some lube through the spark plug holes and rotate the engine by hand a few times.
Here are some similar questions and answers to them.
https://carkiller.com/scottykilmer/postid/179029
And since it is Subaru, you will be happy if you make it to 200k miles trouble free.
Besides the stuff you listed. Gas. Gas has probably gone bad. Get rid of the gas. Get some fresh gas in there.
