I have a very short commute (around a mile or two). It's not stop and go, and the engine is generally warmed up by the time I get to the office. I know it's probably quite bad for fuel economy (I think I get around 20mpg doing this), but is it putting undue wear and tear on my car, and if so what extra maintenance should I be doing to compensate? All the fluids are flushed on schedule and the oil is changed every 4,000 miles with Mobil1 full synthetic.

 

get a damn scooter

 

I should probably mention that it's a mile or two down the highway.

 

This commute doesn't hurt your car. It might not be a bad idea to get a scooter though.

If you do this commute for very long it would be smart to replace your thermostat to make sure it warms up as fast as possible.

I'd like to know how you're getting 20mpg for this commute. My I30 is getting 17mpg city and my tripes are usually at least 5 miles and mostly driven at 45-60 mph speeds. I've replaced my O2 sensors, knock sensor, MAF, fuel and air filter, oil is 5w30, plugs and coils are new, thermostat is new, TB and IACV are clean as new, EGR is clean as new, tire pressure is at 40PSI and I've done injector cleaner twice and am about to swap out injectors to see if I have a leaker.

I'd just about kill to get 20mpg city.

 

^^^^ hell yeah me too i would kill to get 20mpg. if im lucky i get 15mpg in city. i dont even go past 2k rpm and keep my tires at 35psi. anything higher in staten island, ny streets will brake me teeth. you are lucky and if im doing that commute like 2 miles a day i would get a car with a bigger engine so i can at least have a lil more fun. even though that sound stupid.

 

a mile or two is not a commute... its like a 15min exercise

 

The short distance is hard on your oil, suggest you change every 3,000 miles if regular oil. Also be good idea once every 2 weeks to run it for a longer trip i.e. an hour to allow all components to fully heat up and burn off moisture (oil, muffler...etc)

 

Psshhh...It'll be fine. It's a car not a child...I know we all seem to forget that sometimes.

Cars were made to be driven. Do your regular maintenance as you always would and all should be fine.

 

It will definately get longer trips at least once a week, and it runs on Mobil1 full synthetic oil which I would hope would last longer.

 

i say huge +1!!!
until recently i treated my car like its a delicate flower. i kept the revs at or below 2k rpm's for like 8 months now but it still gave me problams and i still got like 15mpg so now i dont even care. now i get to enjoy the mid range power our engines have and i got to say it is pretty fun and i think after my lil problems are fixed a drop or a intake would be fun.

maybe the o.p should just let the car warm up for a min or two just to be sure nothing wrong happens.