Fuel Injector Problems-2000 Chevy Malibu

[LindaSue]

My mother owns a 2000 Chevy Malibu with on 11,000 miles - it's mostly garaged, driven by me maybe every two weeks about 50 miles at the most. This is the second repair on a clogged fluel injector - a very expensive repair. The dealer says it's not driven enough. I buy fuel at one of the two leading gas stations and have little choice to change where I buy fuel if that is a problem. I can do little about driving it more, only sell it, which my mother is not willing to do. What can I do to stop problems with a car that is garaged? I have added fuel additives and injector cleaning product which do no good. I own a 98 Chevy Metro 3cylinder and never have problems with it sitting. It has been suggested to me I sell my car and keep the Malibu and drive it more...but I hesitate to get rid of a car that runs well for one that has recurring problem. If I sell this car, I need to buy her something else but wonder if I will still have this problem with any car that is sitting weeks without driving. If another make/model car would sit better, suggestions would help me. Any suggestions or help is appreciated. The Chevy dealer says there is no solution. Thanks, Linda in Florida

[1badPT]

Why not give her the metro? Then it can sit and it won't have problems, and you'll get a more powerful car to boot. And if it turns out the problem is not caused by the car sitting doing nothing then you can switch back to the metro.

Mileage hurts cars but not nearly as much as cars sitting not being used. What's happening is the gas is getting precipitants in it (garbage essentially - think coffee that has sat for a while and little piece of crud start to form) from sitting so long. Your fuel line filter is doing its job of filtering out the crap, but if there's enough there to actually clog it, the car is either sitting way too long or you have bad gas or possibly even someone could be tossing crap into the gas tank.