Would bad valve seals affect cold start? thats what the mechanic told me...

Probably not. "Bad" valve seals are evident by high oil consumption.

Duke

Often bad valve seals are evident with a puff of blue smoke at cold starts and when warm on sustained trailing throttle, such as coming off a freeway.

Pull a couple of sprak plugs, if you are burning oil, the plugs will tell you.

Haasman

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