I'm in HI for college and because I am 2600 miles from home I am not able to fly home often.

Car is sitting in the garage under a cover and it is not at where my parents live so they do not start or drive it.

I won't be home until may and it has been sitting since Jan. Should I be starting it?

Mahalo

 

IMO, simply starting it is fairly useless, if not counterproductive, if it doesn't get up to normal operating temps for 15 min or so to heat up the oil and burn off any residual gas/water from starting it and having it sit.
More important, the battery should be disconnected at a minimum, or (preferably) on a trickle charger.
At least it's covered in a garage...

 

mine sat outside in a driveway in Kentucky from late November 2011 till March 1st 2012, started up first crank, and ran fine. Only thing I can see going "wrong" is the battery may be dead when you get back, but other than that it should be fine, just don't rev it when you first start it lol.

 

+1 on Battery tender/trickle charger

 

Since it's already been 3 months & your looking at just another 2, just leave it as is. I would however put it on a trickle charger for at least 12 hours before starring it, and IMO the earlier post is correct, either start it & drive it, or leave it be, just starting it, even if it does get to temp, is counter productive, engines & parts are designed to be "worked".

Honestly 6 mos. isn't really a big deal, worse that will happen is an early grave for your battery from non use, so if this situation does come around again, pull the battery & put it on a trickle charger with a timer for the power so that it comes on for about an hour a day or a couple of hours a week.

**Make sure you either pull the battery or pull both cables when trickle charging, esp. for longer periods of time, last thing you need is a simple charger glitch damaging your ECU**

 

+1 for the trickle charger. MINI does have an OEM Advanced Battery Charging System.

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/82110150930/

 

I also agree that occasional starts during long term storage can be more detrimental to the engine. After 2 to 3 weeks of sitting, vital lubricants have drained from critical engine components. This would result in what's called a dry start and cause more wear to these parts than if it were started more frequently. Also, change the oil before storage so that contaminants and moisture are minimized while the car sits for that long period of time. Car & Driver magazine has written articles on the subject of long term storage.
As mentioned by others battery maintenance is very important. I have had good luck with "Battery Tender" brand products. Also, after that last car wash before you store it drive the car enough to heat up the brakes to dissipate any moisture on the pads and rotors. This will help minimize corrosion on the rotors during storage.
Sorry for the lengthy post but I have stored several cars and boats over the years and these techniques have worked for me.

 

I use a battery tender, which monitors the battery condition and only charges when needed. IMO it's cheap/easy insurance rather than using a 'dumb' charger and a timer.

 

Yup, he could go either way, I always felt like throwing a little Charge & Heat into a battery at regular intervals more mimiced normal use....besides it gives me something to do with my christmas light timer the othrr 11 months of the year....

 

My "winterizing" regime is to pull the battery and keep it in the basement on a trickle charger. But also, because my garage has had mice periodically over the years, I stuff an old shop rag into the exhaust pipes so they don't crawl in there to roost. Same with the intake opening. I also put dryer sheets all around, because mice are supposedly not fans of "Summer Meadow" scent or something.

One on the engine block, one in the foot wells, one in the boot.

 

don't forget fuel stabilizer

 

+1 for fuel stabilizer, personally I like to use sea foam to stabilize fuel, it has the added benefit of cleaning the fuel injectors, but something like sta-bil is fine too. Also I think it's a good idea to have the tank full to minimize the possibility of rust. (not sure if that's an issue on our cars, I've got more experience winterizing old motorcycles)

If you wanted to get really fancy, next time I'd wash it, change the oil, stabilize the fuel, take a bit of air out of the tires, and trickle charge the battery.

But I think you should be fine, maybe charge the battery, and make sure all your fluids are good before you start it.