I shut up the vehicle first and make myself scarce (6)
I believe the answer is:
vanish
'make myself scarce' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.
'i shut up the vehicle first' is the wordplay.
'shut up' becomes 'sh'.
'the vehicle' becomes 'van' (van is a kind of vehicle).
'first' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'i'+'sh'='ish'
'ish' after 'van' is 'VANISH'.
'and' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for vanish that I've seen before include "Evanesce" , "Disappear without trace" , "Disappear (in a puff of smoke?)" , "Go missing" , "make go" .)