Mechanic talking rubbish? "You don't use your car enough"

[LookatmyFatArseDP]

I have a 10 plate BMW 3 series M Sport (included that wanky M Sport as may be relevant). Shes my pride and joy and whenever she so much as squeaks she's in the garage to be checked. She's immaculate.

A while ago I had "low oil pressure warning stop immediately" warning flash up then disappear. Obvs I cried (nearly anyway).

Took it to my proper German specialist garage. They replaced the oil sensor as it was covered in crap, all good.

Except, it happened again a few months later 😩 warning on then off straightaway. DP took it back and mechanic clocked it had only done about 5k miles in 1.5 years 😳 he asked DP about my driving habits which are rather Miss Daisy - few miles to work, mway for about 0.5 mile, never really get up to 70mph expect maybe once a month for a few mins.

He said he'd love to take our money but the problem isn't the car, its because I never get it fully warmed up with my pootling about and if it was genuine low pressure the warning would appear a lot more regularly and stay on for a while. His fix was for us to ensure it goes on a "spirited drive" at least once a month on solid mway driving for 30 mins to clear stuff out as that's causing the oil sensor to, I dunno, get covered in shit or whatever?

Now cars been fine for about 8m. It did it again a few times last week. No i hadn't "spiritidly driven" it for ages. DP took it out for 40mins. Its been fine since.

While mechanic seems to have been right I guess (he's really old school, loves BMWs, in particular, is always doing training etc). I just find it incredible that a car can throw out such a scary warning every now and then because I don't drive it much??

Does this sound right or do I need another mechanic? I'm so worried about my prize possession 😩

Sounds reasonable

Sounds right

I thought it was common knowledge that losts of short journeys and not using a car often were really bad for cars and you need some long journeys

Yep take it for a decent spin on the regular.

Yep sounds reasonable to me too. They are meant to be driven.

It's underdriven and that can cause problems as you've found out.

We each have our own cara but also a couple of fair weather cars and every now and then we take one for a really good run.

I thought this was common knowledge. I mean I don't even drive and yet somehow I know this. Just make sure it's getting a decent drive every now and again and it will be fine.

Yes, engines really do need a good run sometimes.

Me too. Especially after lockdown. People were always going on about it!

You’ve been told by a mechanic you trust, you’ve seen the evidence first hand- problem stopped when you followed advice, came back when you didn’t.

And you still don’t believe it?

Give your head a wobble 😂

This. Sadly lots of short, pootling around journeys are bad for various parts of the car, inlcuding the battery.

I’ve heard this said re. particulates.

Mechanic is correct.

It's definitely a thing and can be particularly costly in diesels to fix. A few years back, my employer had recurrent issues with a work truck that only ever really pootled around the (fancy posh rather than council, for context) estate we worked on dropping materials between jobs. The problem was solved by letting one of the younger boy racer employees use it for his commute 1 week a month 😂

This is more common in diesel cars too.

Basically you need to give your car a good run through, some of the filters work better when they reach higher temps, which needs the engine running at full whack, which takes normally you driving for a little while down a duel carriage way.

It doesn't need it everyday, but it slowly builds up over time as they aren't fully cleaning themselves each time on a small drive

I believe it can be the same with other parts of your car, that it's better to give it a chance to run fully for a while to fully flush through all the pipes, injectors, cogs etc

Yes, he’s right. It’s a known issue.

I am the least car person ever, as long as it gets me from A to B I don't care, but I have always though this was pretty common knowledge?

I have a 14 year old diesel that sails through its MOT, touch wood! But to stop it going into limp mode I have to blast it every now and again.

I've known this since i was a small child - but I'm curious why you have such a wanky (sorry) high spec car and barely drive it?

This is why you should never buy a car that's being flogged as "belonged to one elderly lady driver who drove it to the shops every week". Like any mechanical device, they need running regularly and properly to stay in good working order. And any car salesman who doesn't know that shouldn't be selling cars, so using it as a selling point that the car has been barely driven for its age is a massive red flag. Your mechanic sounds like he's giving you good advice. Take the car out regularly and you'll have far fewer issues with it.

I used to have VW golf diesel and was advised to give it a good thrape down the motorway to keep the filter unblocked - they are no good for city driving as the filters clog easily.

😩 now see i know cars are made to be driven and its their destiny, I just didn't think that would affect the low oil pressure thing.

I don't hugely trust mechanics tbh. My last car, an Astra, every time I took it in it came back with something else wrong- diff garage tbf - so I'm a bit distrusting 😬

I can admit on here - I've avoided driving it since the last warning last week. DP has been enjoying "spirited drives" as it makes a nice change from his crappy van I think.

Right ill relax a bit and might pop to the shops at weekend 🤣

I rem roads being littered with broken down cars after lockdown!

My car used to be parked up for 2 weeks at a time as I rarely used it (it was barely costing anything and my drives were long/late night).

This caused all sorts of issues I rem having to replace some rubber somethings at one point as weather + lack of use meant they crumbled.

My tyres struggled too…

It can also hide the age of the car, its tempting to think this cars only done 20,000 miles for example but that doesn't undo the fact that it's a 13 year old car. Or that you've only done 2000 miles since the last mot

Some parts perish quicker when they do more miles, but ultimately some parts just age even when sitting. Rubber and metals do rust and degrade even when not used much simply by exposure to air

Yep combustion engines are a bit bollocks in this respect. Your habits would suit electric car better next time round.

Friends nephew is a mechanic and he calls cars like this Miss Daisy cars.

Cars need a good long drive to warm up properly and let the engine clean itself cos it is warm enough.