Servicing.... do you bother?

[xtriple]

When I was but a sprog/skint and older, servicing was done on as needed basis, basically if it breaks, fix the ungrateful bastard.

 

But since I got old(er) and more responsible I have been a bit of a servicing evangelist! Always serviced at least once a year even though the sods only do very low mileages - less than 2500 per year. Oh, and I always insist on really good oil, usually Mobil 1 fully synthetic and I even check the specification matches what my maker of vehicle says it needs!

 

With my bikes I was always over zealous and the dirt bikes used to get serviced on the hours run - usually every two rides!

 

The Mazda has been serviced up to date and I am happy that it is fine for a while and the Bentley has just been done... but, it didn't have its plugs changed (£16 each according to Flying Spares etc) but I can get the correct plugs (BKR5EVX - how sad that I know what it needs by heart!) for a lot less so when it gives me a break from constant assaults on my wallet, I'll get a set and fit them. Same with the air filters though it looks like I'm stuck with genuine parts there at £70 odd as I cannot find any alternatives. The pollen filters probably need doing as well but they look a reet faff to get at so will have to wait until it can go in its new garage home...

 

But, I think I would be very dubious of buying an ex PCP car. I know loads of (usually girls) people round here with new cars/3 year old cars and they are never touched. Most don't seem to even know how to open the bonnet and never check anything... scary! It astounds me how many people think an MOT IS a service and call you a liar if you try to correct them.

 

Lad over the road got a new Corsa VXR ltd edition thing (now 13 reg so had it a while) to replace a Subaru. Never been touched by a garage after the main dealers refused a warranty claim when it caught fire in the centre console so he has said 'fuck 'em!' it'll be going back soon with no servicing ever done and he thrashes the tits off it from cold daily...

 

Laura has a Peugeot 30? now as she blew her Corsa up after never checking anything for two years - it sounded awful and I even offered to check things for her... 'it's just been MOT'd so no need'.

 

I despair.

[robinmasters]

My planned servicing schedule tends to be far more comprehensive than what actually gets done. 

 

The road to hell is paved with good intentions. And they've got all oil drips and that on them. 

[Landy Mann]

The land rover is behind on servicing, although the service kit is on the passenger seat and the rover gets treated to an oil and filter change once I've collected the MOT certificate. The rover also plays cambelt/coolant leak roulette for the ultimate kettle series thrill....

 

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[strangeangel]

Yes.

[PhilA]

Yeah, even down to the labels stuck on the inside of the windscreen to remind me what needs done at how many miles.

 

It still breaks in between times, but the number of breakages are getting fewer as the number of new parts fitted increase. Guess it goes to show that maintenance does help. The most recent failure (wheel bearing) was down to not changing it the first time round having been deemed "ok" but given the state of the one on the other side, it had probably done 28 years and 133k. I keep track of things on Fuelly.com also, their note-taking thing works quite well.

 

 

--Phil

 

 

Edit: I even washed it today. Got wet feet rinsing the mud and crap out of the wheel arches where it collects, but that seems to be worth it for lack of rust there.

[MarvinsMom]

the rover 75 gets fresh oil and filters every 10,000 miles (should be 15k) and other things attended to when required. it will be getting new drop links at the end of the month when payday comes!!

 

the jaguar goes to Simons (the local Jag specialist) for a service about 10,000 miles or annually-ish as per jaguar said. it goes there cos opening the bonnet makes my blood run cold, and as he knows what he is doing, it is then done right ()well i hope so anyway)

 

the mini and metro both get oil and filters changed and a squirt of grease into the suspension points around 5,000 miles which will be close to what BMC always said, with again other issues attended too as and when needed. simple stuff i can do with Kerry's help, but stuff such as the mini's clutch hydraulics will need to do done by someone more mechanically competent than us, that is the next job once the Jaguar is all sorted....

 

i like to think that i do look after the cars and keep them in as good condition as i can. it may be mad, but its omething that i do take a pride over.

[JayW]

Mechanical repairs get done as and when required.

 

Servicing, well it depends on the car. Cars I like and intend to keep long term get a proper flush and full service when i buy them and oil & filter as soon as it's dirty. After all, decent oil is only £20 a go.

 

Others, like this jag just get a top up and only the bare necessities.

[stripped fred]

Thinking about this a bit more I am quite sad as I keep a spreadsheet of everything I do on each car, date, mileage, cost etc. It helps me to see what they're costing me and reminds me when things are due. I also list 'things to do'. I print it off for the next owner so they can see it's been looked after. What's more i enjoy it! It doesn't take up much time to be fair.

[dieselassist]

...oil is actually quite cheap; comparatively to what was being paid in recent years, so I have oil changed the disco with new filter - had the water pump bearing go- 2 months back, so the coolant is all new - steering box was flagged up, 2 weeks ago, as a leaker SERIOUS FAIL, so a 2nd hand box was bought (also a leaker - new seals were sourced from the local bearing place) - refilled with all new ATF n magic 'stop leak; expensive 500ml gloop,  fluid n bled, so I consider my 99 Discovery 300TDi 'fully serviced' now - tho I didn't actually, initially set out to give it a 'full service' - fate took over... I even bought a €50 'bottom of the ladder'/does all models cheapest of the cheap exhaust back box for it, as I didn't have the time to weld up the holed tube sections of the exhaust.... I think this is the first actual new exhaust Ive bought for one of my own cars in 5 or 6 years... 

[captain_70s]

The Doloshites get new oil/filters every 4,500 miles or so, both have electronic ignition so no points to faff about with, the carbs are tinkered with on a semi-regular basis. Other than that there isn't much need to be done, nothing that can't be done on the driveway anyway.

 

The moderns get serviced by the book(ish), I have been known to miss a service by a few thousand miles, to be honest I rarely keep a modern long enough for it to need work!

[Jikovron]

Oil and a good quality filter is the only thing that bothers me, the dolomite gets 'formula 20w50' swapped almost monthly to keep the blow by from gunking it up, and the elaborate engined carriages recieve fully synthetic water.

Half the battle is the cost when adding up the parts costs forces a priority first mechanism,,swap the brakes out over replacing legal but hardened old tyres that month ,then a tyre pair per month untill sorted etc.

[derskine]

Try to service my daily every 6 months.

Oil, oil filter, fuel filters, air filter.

I do regularly inspect it on the 4 post just to make sure everything is alright.

[Angrydicky]

One of the drawbacks to running my Austin Somerset every day is that every 3000 miles, according to Austin, I need to crawl under the car and grease up eight (IIRC) nipples on the front steering and suspension, the rear spring shackles, the propshaft UJ and the clutch pedal (the last two always get forgotten about). Oil and filter changes are every 3000 miles too, and although I will admit to going slightly over occasionally, I always try to stick to the servicing schedule.

 

Most breakdowns with old cars are due to a lack of maintenance, or a lack of use. My Somerset is still suffering from the previous, previous owner who did about 150 miles a year in it, leaving it sat idle on his drive for much of the year. The petrol tank is full of rusty sediment necessitating the use of an inline fuel filter under the bonnet. I had my first 'fail to proceed' moment in over a year on the way to Brooklands recently. The day before, it had started misfiring, so I changed the fuel filter. Unfortunately, the old one had let some crap through, which blocked the jets and forced me to stop on the hard shoulder of the M20 and clean it out. It was right as rain afterwards though.  

[cros]

I do bother even on worthless cars, but it tends to be on a continuous rolling basis rather than being on a set date. Partly due to time constraints more than anything. Despite all the potential for hot oil trickling up my arm etc for some reason I find oil changes very therapeutic. I did have a Merc w126 that I never changed the oil on as it burnt so much it was probably effectively had a whole fluid change over the time I had the car.

I always changed oil more often than specified until I asked a ship's chief engineer how often he did his, and he told me 'never'. He said that these fussy environmentalists never let you hear the last of it if you drop the contents of the sump into the ocean these days, so they pump the oil through filters and stick some new additives in.

Armed with this info and given that I own nothing high tech I just do it at the recommended intervals- I understand that oil is much better than it used to be. Frequency of greasing is tempered by the knowledge that if it wears out it'll be a lot harder to replace  than a few shots with the gun.

 My Rover P4 has, in my opinion, a horrible 6 cylinder engine and came to me last year with new oil. It uses quite a bit so I'm up to 8000 miles without changing- should be done every 3000. With more than 8 pints tipped into it over that time, I suppose I'm just changing it slowly. I have a much nicer 4 cylinder one to replace it with and when its in I will look after it properly.

[fordperv]

I do mine twice a year, the mileage gets written down on receipts for the parts

[beko1987]

3 times a year with whatever oil and filter is cheapish, so sometimes it's valvolene, sometime's it's castrol fancy bollocks.

 

Everything else as and when it needs really, just checked regularly

[dollywobbler]

One of the drawbacks to running my Austin Somerset every day is that every 3000 miles, according to Austin, I need to crawl under the car and grease up eight (IIRC) nipples on the front steering and suspension, the rear spring shackles, the propshaft UJ and the clutch pedal (the last two always get forgotten about). 

 

3000 mile grease intervals? That surprises me. They're every 1000 miles on the 2CV - kingpins, driveshafts and knife-edges. I'm not necessarily very good at remembering to do it...

 

Anyway, I've just ordered the filters for the XM (already have the oil) so I should soon be able to make amends to the poor 500-mile-overdue XM.

[HMC]

Most of my cars are on 10/40 semi synth. For 5l worth you can pay from 10-30 quid. Where do you guys stand on oil " quality" vs change frequency? If I'm doing it 12 monthly and covering a low mileage is it worth bothering with more expensive stuff?

[twosmoke300]

The problem i have is getting customers to understand that an oil and filter change is not a service 

Its the things im looking for during a service that can make a vehicle last much longer or be more reliable - sticky caliper sliders - greasing scabby brake /fuel pipes , check belts , spotting that chafed wire etc etc 

[dollywobbler]

Most of my cars are on 10/40 semi synth. For 5l worth you can pay from 10-30 quid. Where do you guys stand on oil " quality" vs change frequency? If I'm doing it 12 monthly and covering a low mileage is it worth bothering with more expensive stuff?

 

I've always just sloshed in whatever I can get my hands on. 2CV has 3000 mile intervals, so it seems a waste to bother with fancy oil. S'pose I could technically run to wider intervals with better oil, but I'm happier changing more often. XM doesn't get 'owt fancy either, though with that I do try to stick to at least a semi-synth due to the turbocharger.

[skattrd]

Most of my cars are on 10/40 semi synth. For 5l worth you can pay from 10-30 quid. Where do you guys stand on oil " quality" vs change frequency? If I'm doing it 12 monthly and covering a low mileage is it worth bothering with more expensive stuff?

 

I generally get whatever is on special offer. Sometimes Castrol in Tesco/Asda but currently it's TripleQX from ECP on their BOGOF special, 4x5l delivered for £36.

 

If changes are done frequently i don't see the point in expensive oil. I change quite frequently on all motors.

[cros]

3000 mile grease intervals? That surprises me. They're every 1000 miles on the 2CV - kingpins, driveshafts and knife-edges. I'm not necessarily very good at remembering to do it...

 

Anyway, I've just ordered the filters for the XM (already have the oil) so I should soon be able to make amends to the poor 500-mile-overdue XM.

I never did 2cv king pins anything like that often, nor any other king pin for that matter. I can't believe that they got attended to at that frequency when they were regular service, but its probably a good idea if the car is used less often.

[HMC]

^ Thanks for the heads up Chris, 20L 10w40 semi synth duely ordered for a great price.

[Junkman]

Although I like my cars to look scruffy and consider restoration an act of vandalism, they are meticulously maintained and should be able to pass a German TÃœV or Japanese Shaken any day. With one exception. I just can't be arsed to look after gearboxes. I drive them until they start playing up, then do a panic fluid change, and then a gearbox rebuild soon afterwards.

[Parky]

Oil and filter every six months or maybe a bit more if not much mileage covered. Most other things like pollen filters and air filters when they look shabby. Probably every three years for them.

 

most of my friends don't bother, I usually have far fewer car troubles. Go figure....

[Pete-M]

I keep my stuff serviced. If anything, I go over the top with it.

[djimbob]

^ Thanks for the heads up Chris, 20L 10w40 semi synth duely ordered for a great price.

 

All the oils available in the Uk have to pass certain British Standards as far as I am aware, so they are all as good as each other as far as I'm concerned.

 

Also most garages use fucking big barrels of the same oil round the back they use for most vehicles - I bought a 25 litre barrel of multifleet oil one time and used it for everything from a Leyland roadrunner to motorbikes and all inbetween, with no perceived ill effects

[sierraman]

20 years ago though most stuff ran on 10w40 multi grade.

[Bstardchild]

All my cars

 

Good quality semi synth oil every 3000 miles (Filter every 6000 miles)

 

Air filters get replaced at time of purchase with K&N

 

Spark Plugs I do at or around manufactures recommendation (or normally just after purchase)

 

Trans & Diff Fluid - Every 60,000 miles (or normally just after purchase)

 

Brakes and tyres as required

 

Brake Fluid every three years (normally it's when I need either pads or pads and discs anyway)

 

Did I miss anything?

 

Everything else - If it's broken buy what I need to fix it as soon as I can, sometimes however I don't fix it straight away but use something else (the 7 has £350 of suspension bushes and arms in the boot - been there nearly a year)

[Bstardchild]

Actually I did - I need to change the supercharger oil on the Merc - must have a hunt for the oil!!!