Ask an expert

Hi Jack

My flatmate (who isn't a mechanic) has said to me that by running my car for short trips to the train station twice a day on weekdays is going to "kill" my car from cold starts. Is this a problem with modern cars? I have a 2009 model Mitsubishi Lancer VR.

Thanks :)

While short, cold trips are not ideal, if this is the need you have for your car, there's not much you can do about it. It's a bit of an exageration to say it will "kill" your car, but a cold engine does wear quicker than one that's warmed up.
You don't say exactly how short the trips are, but it's more likely that the battery won't get fully charged rather than wearing the engine out. A flat battery is not going to kill the car, although it can be an inconvenience.
Yes, in and ideal world, it would be preferable to do more warm running, so hopefully you get the opportunity in the weekends to go further afield.
On a late model, low mileage car it will be a long while before short, cold trips will "kill" your car.
I wouldn't worry too much about it.

It's about 3km each way, and I always travel quite a few kms around that in the weekends (approx 500 a month) and then cross country trips.
The car has 90,000 on the clock as it was a fleet car that did quite heavy kms in the first 2 years of it's life.

I could avoid doing this if it was hugely detrimental, it is more a convenience factor, so I thought I'd check the likelihood of it being a major thing.

That sort of use should not cause any problems.