In a few weeks time, my younger son (who is in the RN) will be off on deployment for a considerable while and will be leaving his 2006 BMW 330i (which he loves) at home for me to look after and keep ticking over and I don't want that to become a mouse/rat home during the winter.

Lets forget about rats, what about insurance. Obviously it will be SORN'd and thus insurance will not be needed as long as its parked off the pubic highway but unless its in a secure garage or yard its possible it could get stolen or vandalised. Would they be happy taking that hit even though a £13 year old 330i will not be worth a fortune?

As for keeping it "ticking over" that is just about the worst thing you can do for an engine. Many Caterham owners I knew used to do that (and some probably still do) over the winter months but in reality it unless you leave it idling for ages the engine does not really get up to temp and the low temp running will do the car no favours. I put the Caterham away late October and take it out early April. Keep the battery charged occasionally using my old Gunsons "smart'ish" charger and it always starts first time.

Obviously if its taxed and insured take it for a decent drive every couple of weeks, other than that pump the tyres up hard, take the battery off and keep a look out for rodents.

Agreed - last year I had a 10 month medical driving ban - managed to persuade my insurer to keep the policy running but without me as a named driver - and got a couple of friends to take me out for a ride on their "driving other cars" - risky as that was only third party.

IMO an engine/transmission should be run up to full temperature, not just a warm up.

For the OP, suggest your son adds you to the policy as a named driver so you can exercise the car properly - might even reduce his insurance.

Cat?

Jack Russel?

You could maybe borrow.

Here in Taiwan I've considered a King Snake (quite common) but it'd be cruel to shut one in the car, difficult to keep it there, and itt'd probably die.

Frequent disturbance helps, as does not parking near drains, and replacing plastic floor drain plugs with flattened cans, though that doesn't apply to the engine compartment.

.Moving the vehicle frequently also deters Bivouac Ants, since they loose any patrols they have out and get into unpredictable geopolitical conflicts with static nest territories. Eventually I think they get tired of taking the casualties.

Edited by edlithgow on 29/07/2019 at 05:23