My nans car has been sat in her garage pretty much unused since she had it. It’s only got 3k on the clock, (60 plate) it’s been started every so often and my Dad and I occasionally take it out for a spin.
It has been serviced regularly and MOT is due next week. Apart from the odd flat battery the only problem I’ve noticed was some white smoke a couple of weeks ago when I started it and revved it once warm (there was some water coming out the exhaust) but this was fine on Sunday when I started it last.

I’m looking at using this car now, is there anything else I should look out for/be wary of?

Petrol goes off after a while, door and window seals can perish and leak, mice can eat wiring and stuff..

Starting a car and warming, but not driving, is about the worst thing you can do to it I was taught… It needs a proper, good drive, regularly.

Check the fluids and the tyres, then drive it.

I would be checking all the engine / radiator hoses for signs of failure, on a 5 year old car it they shouldn’t be old enough to perish however if they have been sat unused I’d check them.

I’d look at replacing the fluids in particular the oil and brake as a matter of course.

Bearings can get dry if stood and the grease / lubricants can migrate due to not being distributed by driving.

Door and window seals are ok (I wash the dust and cobwebs off every month) tyres are starting to look a little ‘old’ so will keep a close eye on them and replace if needed. Think I’ll get a basic service sorted at the garage for them to sort all the fluids and check other bits

I’m afraid I’d be looking at part-exing it and letting someone else suffer the issues it may well develop in the coming months, all mentioned above. Nothing worse than an OAPs car that has never been revved or driven properly and only has a few k on the clock.
Water from the exhaust is the by-product of combustion and nearly a gallon will come out (mainly as steam when the whole lot of nice and hot) for every gallon of fuel…so warming it up in the garage simply produces water that sits in the exhaust…so factor in a new one of those in the coming months as well. (in the 70s and 80s people used to paint their exhausts with silver exhaust paint to try to prolong life little knowing that they rot from the inside.)

Check the fluids and the tyres, then drive it.

This. It’s a modern car that’s been garaged. It’ll be absolutely fine. The white smoke and water is condensation.

Over the years, I’ve barn stored a lot of cars, of varying ages. A quick once over and a general check and off they go.

Take it slowly round the block, get it warm, then give it a good brisk drive down to the MOT station.

Take it slowly round the block, get it warm, then give it a good brisk drive down to the MOT station.

via a thrash up and down the nearest motorway. It’ll probably sound like a dog for the first hour, after that it should be fine.

I borrowed a mate’s van which had seen very little use and what it had seen was very short runs. That’s no good at all for diesel but after it had had a good long run at steady revs on the motorway, it was running beautifully.

I’m afraid I’d be looking at part-exing it and letting someone else suffer the issues it may well develop in the coming months

Do not do this. You have an almost brand new car there, take advantage of the fact that it’s likely to give you trouble free motoring due to it’s relatively young age and lack of miles. It’s a machine, kept dry and serviced as you have done it will not fall apart. It’ll just wait patiently to be used.

Tyres go hard and crack (I changed them on my rareoy used car after 7 years for that reason). Can develop flat spots if left parked for long periods
As above all oil / brake fluid
I suspect engine will be more worn thN mikage suggests due to it being started having saylt idle (all oil drains ro sump and when first started there. Is a oot of wear)
Brakes may be somewhat ceased/rusted, ditto discs (although with a bit of use they are probably still good)
Handbrake can jam on
Spark plugs have a shelf life

Having said all that I think the car should be a good one

Check the tyres haven’t hardened, or you will have a bit of a shock the first time you take it out in the wet.

My wife took out an old person’s car we inherited a while back, went to go round a corner at a normal speed and it just plowed straight on! Tyres were around 9 years old and visually looked fine.

If the garage is properly dry then it’ll be mostly fine. Rubber perishes and goes hard so suspension bushes/mounts need to be kept an eye on, and exposed timing belts possibly, but it sounds too new for that, maybe if it was 10+ yrs old. Discs can get pitted if they rust too much and they’re not used for some proper heat-inducing braking.

It’s true that not using a car is about the worst thing for it though. Engine needs a prolonged run with usage across the rev range 🙂 Brakes also need some panic braking from speed too!

Edit – A tip if you continue storing it: leave it in gear but with the handbrake off to prevent binding.

Rubber perishes and goes hard so suspension bushes/mounts need to be kept an eye on, and exposed timing belts possibly, but it sounds too new for that, maybe if it was 10+ yrs old

Does rubber on a car sat in a dry garage perish any quicker than rubber on a well used car?

It’s just that people are making out that a barely used 5 year old car with 6 month’s worth of mileage is worse than a well used car of the same age. When actually, it may well just be the same as any other 5 year old car, but not quite as tidy as a 6 month old car on the same miles.

It’ll be reet, gentle 15 mins drive to get engine to temperature then give it some revs for an hour on the motorway. Add in a bit of hard braking and you’re good to go. Get a local garage to give it a quick once over whilst they do the MoT and it’ll be spot on.

If its still gonna be lightly used after this when you do go round in the future take it for a drive, about 10 miles should do it. It gets all the oil up to temperature and all the other moving parts. Don`t put the handbrake on in the garage just leave it in gear.
If you look on the sidewalls of the tyres theres a little box with 4 numbers in, like 0215, thats the week ,02, and year,15, the tyres were made, more relevent for people with older cars than yours.
When you get new tyres for the worn fronts put those on the back and rotate them that way, that stops you having ancient tyres rolling on the back and getting hard and dangerous over the years 🙂

Get it out on the flat realease the handbrake and try pushing it, it should move easily, or the handbrake cable may be seizedalong with the brakes, when on the road when safe to do so do a few emergency brake tests, to clean the discs, fill up with clean new fuel,check nothing has climbed into air filter opening,look in boot at spare tyre if kept in a tyre well may be full of water, had all these things on an old relatives car.

there was some water coming out the exhaust

Also OP this is completely normal, look at any petrol car it’s a by product of the ignition (from memory it doesn’t happen with diesels so much)

There will be nothing wrong with it.

Possible issues:

Rubber hardens/perishes, this includes the cambelt and aux belt so it may be due for replacement despite the mileage. Most other rubber things that might fail would be less serious. suspension bushes should be Ok, most new car’s are polyurethane which doesn’t degrade like rubber.

Cylinder wear, usually one valve in the engine is always open, which means one cylinder is exposed to the air, which means rust. The usual advice for laying up cars for long periods is to squirt oil into each spark plug hole and turn the engine over to distribute it. Not much you can do about that now that you’ve started it.

Fuel goes off, diesel gets bacterial infections, unleaded evaporates leaving varnish like deposits in the injectors. Red-ex and the like might help if you get problems as a result. Either way I’d drain the fuel tank and refill it with some premium grade stuff which will have higher doses of detergents etc.

Tyres, at 6 years old I’d probably change them.

The water in the exhaust will be acidic. Good chance the exhaust will rust out prematurely. Battery might be shot. Apart from that, it should be fine. Rubber will perish whether you use the car or not. An oil change and a good thrashing for an hour or two should sort the engine out, then you have a nearly new car.

Not sure what people are going on about door/window seals etc. If anything they will perish more if the car is used.

Some rubber seals under permanent load may suffer, as would tyres.

Thisisnotaspoon has it right

Its a long time to wait for page 2 here isn’t it? A 60 plate will probably be just fine if you just start driving it again – it’s new!

Otherwise, lots of good advice here. If the battery has spent any length of time flat, just replace it – it’ll save you effort in the long run. Check oil level.

Start it, open the bonnet, put a hand on the top water pipe to the radiator. If it’s getting warm, your water pump is probably working. If the bottom water pipe to the radiator is also now getting warm, you rad is working and you have some decent circulation.

Hand on the oil filter, if that is getting warm, your oil pump is working.

White smoke out of the exhaust is just water. Fuel absorbs water when sat in a half empty tank. Black/blue smoke is oil, and problems, which may rectify itself after an Italian tune-up (see later).

Check lights, indicators, electrics, tyre pressures. Give the tyres a visual inspection. Lock to lock helps check inside sidewalls on the front if you don’t have a trolley jack.

Drive it somewhere quiet for a few miles trying not to use the brakes much, let it roll to a stop up a hill. Jump out, put a hand on each wheel. If any wheel is warm or hot, you have a binding wheel bearing.

Give it a good booting and stamp on the brakes repeatedly (again, somewhere quiet). If it’s tracking in a straight line on the brakes, your brakes work.

Check your gauges etc, if it all seems warm and happy, take it down the motorway for a cruise at 3-5 thousand rpm (depending on where your red line is at).

Try to drive it until all your stale fuel is used up, then fill it to the brim with fresh fuel. You can get tank treatments to clean injectors etc, but I tend to just fill it with a tank of super unleaded (in an unleaded car …) and give it a good booting.

Once cold again, check oil levels etc again.

If you do that, and it passes an MOT, it’ll probably be absolutely fine.

If you want to go all belt and braces, I’d change engine fluids, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and timing belt. If it has been stood a long time, your timing belt and ancillary belts will have hardened, even if it isn’t at the correct interval for replacement, if it goes pop, you have big problems.

If it is sat for a long period of time again, then disconnecting battery and hooking it up to a solar trickle charger helps prevent self discharge. Brimming the tank with super unleaded helps prevent fuel water absorption and build-up of fuel algae in the tank (normal unleaded has 5-10% bioethanol in it, which can grow algae and mold all over your tank filter element; most superunleaded does not). Handbrake off to prevent binding. I use a brick to stop it rolling.

It’s only got 3k on the clock, (60 plate) it’s been started every so often and my Dad and I occasionally take it out for a spin.

It hasn’t been left abandoned for years, just not driven daily.

Make sure the skyhooks under the flux-carb are fully cleaned and connected.

Insert key, turn, drive.

You are going to MOT it, so say to the tester that you are re-comissioning it and tell him any worries you have and ask him if he can let you know what he thinks after.
They will test the wheel bearings, check for binding brakes etc.
You will probably find that it goes straight through the MOT and that it is generally fine. Give it a good service inc brake fluid change and check when the cambelt is due (normally so many miles OR a set amount of time, whichever is sooner) and get it changed if needed.
Fill up with some premium petrol and go enjoy. (& keep an eye on the tyres due to their age – though they will probably be fine as they have been out of the sun).

Just drive it and see if there are any issues, I wouldn’t expect any for a 60 plate car.

60 plate car. Nothing at all. Get in and drive.