Is it bad for the engine if you don't turn your car on for a long time?

[jcboy]

Originally Posted by Altitude

Not always. My Yaris has abnormally low miles and I drive it every day.

I guess he forgot the word "generally".

but yeah, if you drive it everyday and you have unusually low miles it means you are doing really short trips. short trips are not as good for the engine as average length trips. the cyclic temperature shifts from cold>hot>cold isnt good for any material actually. it's called thermal fatigue. in engines it's thermo-mechanical (there's stress combined with temperature change)