Future shiter advice

[504GL]

In a way this is completely the wrong forum to ask this but in my opinion the sorts of people on here are exactly the sort of people I want to hear from.

 

Basically the wife and I bought a Fiat 500 on scrappage a little under 2 years ago and the plan is to keep the car for as long as possible and do billions of miles. Just wondering what people would recommend doing to keep the car purring along for as long as possible?

 

The service intervals are 18k miles or 2 years but I'm aiming to get it serviced more often than that, would there be any real value in doing an oil change every 6 months or will I just be chucking good oil out? The coolant is the red OAT long life stuff which is supposedly good for 5 years, is there any worth in changing this more often?

 

Will be interesting to hear what people think

[dollywobbler]

Ugh. Scrappage.

 

I'd do annual oil changes. Can't see the point in doing anything more regular than that with a modern. Wouldn't bother changing the coolant more often.

[AeroNautiCal]

Routine servicing and maintenance apart, I think that corrosion may well be your greatest challenge to longevity.

[tonedepear]

Is there a way to over-service all the electrics?

 

Can you get wiring waxoyl or sommat?

[Cavcraft]

Can't see anything wrong in changing the oil every six months. What sort of mileage are you doing (or planning to do) in it?

 

Oh, giving the bodywork a really good clean and waxing it on a regular basis should help a lot as would keeping it in a garage overnight/when not being used, ideally a wooden one.

[dieselnutjob]

I bet Fiat say that the transmission is "sealed for life". Their definition of "life" might not be the same as yours. I change mine every 50,000 miles or so.

 

Also it might be worth taking the door panels off and painting the insides with wax, and spraying wax inside the sills and door posts/roof pillars.

[fiatdaft]

get waxoil sprayed everywhere? i have done this with the 2 abarths,modern fiats don't really rust but it all helps if you want to keep it for a while.

btw the service interval on the fiat 500 is 12k miles or a year.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

I bet Fiat say that the transmission is "sealed for life". Their definition of "life" might not be the same as yours. I change mine every 50,000 miles or so.

 

Are you talking only about autos, or do you also change the gear oil on a manual every 50k?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I would defo change the oil more often than Fiat say, something between every 6 and 10k depending on what sort of oil you're using, spesh if its a turbo.

 

As for rustproofing, are these things galvanised? I bet the body lasts for yonks. I would just wash and wax it regularly and jetwash all the nooks and crannies.

[Justin Case]

Completely neglect it and it will achieve shite status even before the warranty has run out.

[504GL]

Ugh. Scrappage.

 

I'd do annual oil changes. Can't see the point in doing anything more regular than that with a modern. Wouldn't bother changing the coolant more often.

 

I scrappaged a majorly tatty 406 with dodgy electrics and its 2nd blown head gasket in 12 months for it so I don't feel nearly as guilty as the people who scrappaged mint cars!

 

 

Is there a way to over-service all the electrics?

 

Can you get wiring waxoyl or sommat?

 

Don't joke! A few people have had issues with bits of the wiring loom breaking because they've not made it with enough length on the wiring and it puts the wiring under tension.

 

Can't see anything wrong in changing the oil every six months. What sort of mileage are you doing (or planning to do) in it?

 

Oh, giving the bodywork a really good clean and waxing it on a regular basis should help a lot as would keeping it in a garage overnight/when not being used, ideally a wooden one.

 

Routine servicing and maintenance apart, I think that corrosion may well be your greatest challenge to longevity.

 

 

Can't see anything wrong in changing the oil every six months. What sort of mileage are you doing (or planning to do) in it?

 

Oh, giving the bodywork a really good clean and waxing it on a regular basis should help a lot as would keeping it in a garage overnight/when not being used, ideally a wooden one.

 

Well the mileage hasn't been consistent. It did 15 and a half thousand miles in the first year and a bit and it's done 10k miles since its last service. Unfortunately a garage isn't an option at the moment, but the car is generally kept very clean and washed and waxed regularly so hopefully that and the fact that it's galvanised should keep the tin worm at bay. Oil change it is every 6 months then

[Polystratus]

 

Well the mileage hasn't been consistent. It did 15 and a half thousand miles in the first year and a bit and it's done 10k miles since its last service. Unfortunately a garage isn't an option at the moment, but the car is generally kept very clean and washed and waxed regularly so hopefully that and the fact that it's galvanised should keep the tin worm at bay. Oil change it is every 6 months then

 

I do mine at six monthly intervals - during the spring and just before winter with a slightly thinner grade for winter, for the other bits - spark plugs at 10k and the air filter usually same time as oil change even though these items supposed to change at five years according to the 'offical' info.

 

As for the bodwork - regular washing and jet washing in winter, with modern cars its not so much the bodyshell that rusts, it's things like the suspension arms and subframes that need checking, my suspension arms need a good rub down,repaint with zinc primer then a repaint. Also clean out the engine bay every year.

[ashmicro]

I put about 2500-3000 miles a year on the Rover, and change the gear oil every service, ie, once a year. I use Mobil 1 engine oil. As a result, it spins like a turbine, produces plenty of shove and doesn't use shocking amounts of fuel. BUT I am rather obsessive about that car.

[dieselnutjob]

I bet Fiat say that the transmission is "sealed for life". Their definition of "life" might not be the same as yours. I change mine every 50,000 miles or so.

 

Are you talking only about autos, or do you also change the gear oil on a manual every 50k?

 

Both. And I put in the best oil I can find, not some cheap s##t. Some parts of a transmission suffer some pretty extreme forces.

[504GL]

get waxoil sprayed everywhere? i have done this with the 2 abarths,modern fiats don't really rust but it all helps if you want to keep it for a while.

btw the service interval on the fiat 500 is 12k miles or a year.

 

It's 18k miles or two years, the early cars were 18k miles or a year. 2 years without a service is just ridiculous and I'd never do that. But I guess when people look at the cost of owning a car over 3 years and it only needs one service in that time then it makes it cheaper even.

[504GL]

I would defo change the oil more often than Fiat say, something between every 6 and 10k depending on what sort of oil you're using, spesh if its a turbo.

 

As for rustproofing, are these things galvanised? I bet the body lasts for yonks. I would just wash and wax it regularly and jetwash all the nooks and crannies.

 

They are galvanised yup.

 

I always make sure to give it a good spray underneath during and after the winter with the pressure washer . It's only an 8v 1.2 normally aspirated petrol so maybe I'll stick to 10k as a guide when it comes to oil changes. It uses fully synth Selenia 5w40 which has a ACEA C3 rating http://wiki.seloc.org/a/Oil_Labelling_Explained#ACEA which not being heavily into my oils seems to mean that it's fairly good stuff.

 

Thanks for all the advice and if anything thinks of anything please do say!

[504GL]

 

Well the mileage hasn't been consistent. It did 15 and a half thousand miles in the first year and a bit and it's done 10k miles since its last service. Unfortunately a garage isn't an option at the moment, but the car is generally kept very clean and washed and waxed regularly so hopefully that and the fact that it's galvanised should keep the tin worm at bay. Oil change it is every 6 months then

 

I do mine at six monthly intervals - during the spring and just before winter with a slightly thinner grade for winter, for the other bits - spark plugs at 10k and the air filter usually same time as oil change even though these items supposed to change at five years according to the 'offical' info.

 

As for the bodwork - regular washing and jet washing in winter, with modern cars its not so much the bodyshell that rusts, it's things like the suspension arms and subframes that need checking, my suspension arms need a good rub down,repaint with zinc primer then a repaint. Also clean out the engine bay every year.

 

[sarcasm]Well luckily enough Fiat have integrated the balljoint into the suspension arm so to change the balljoint you have to change the whole arm which is nice of them and not at all wasteful[/sarcasm] and because the balljoints are crap you'll be changing them every 3 years if you buy genuine! If there's one thing I'll say about modern Fiat's, it's that the engines and boxes seem solid, but the suspension is completely rubbish and I reckon in 5 years there'll be very little original Fiat left in the suspension and steering.....

[504GL]

I put about 2500-3000 miles a year on the Rover, and change the gear oil every service, ie, once a year. I use Mobil 1 engine oil. As a result, it spins like a turbine, produces plenty of shove and doesn't use shocking amounts of fuel. BUT I am rather obsessive about that car.

 

I want to be obsessive so I think I'll do the same or perhaps change the fluid in the box every 2 years at least.

 

The service schedule doesn't even list an interval for changing the gearbox fluid! Just says to check the level every 54k miles! Almost makes me consider starting a thread to ask whether manufacturers DON'T want their cars to last much past 10 years if that....

[dieselnutjob]

transmission oil lasts a lot longer than engine oil because it isn't under chemical attack from the biproducts of fuel combustion. Personally I use a fully synthetic gear oil and change it at 50k and so far I've never had a gearbox issue

[gtd2000]

I'd suggest simply using commonsense.

 

The manufacturers intervals probably err on the side of caution for the average user and this (IMNSHO) would be the best start point.

 

Of course you can change things more frequently, however, (unless you are doing the work yourself) this simply serves to produce an opportunity for some "service tech" to fuck something up on your car when they make an error.

 

I'm a great believer in the philosophy of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

 

I would, however, as suggested earlier, pay much more attention to the chassis & bodywork as well as the interior of the car.

 

The car will probably be worth the square root of fuck all in 10 years anyway....

[Polystratus]

I'll say about modern Fiat's, it's that the engines and boxes seem solid, but the suspension is completely rubbish and I reckon in 5 years there'll be very little original Fiat left in the suspension and steering.....

 

The 1.2 8v engine - you need to keep an headgasket in stock if its still based on the FIRE type engine, the 8v in the Mk1 Punto is notorious for HGF, mine went at 85,000 miles, other people had HGF at milages around 30k, guess regular servicing/coolant changes did help prolong the eventual failure. Also heater matrix can rot and leak eventually, again thats based on a late 90's Punto, maybe Fiat have improved build quality since. As for suspension I replaced a rear suspension arm on the Punto after five years, the rest of it was ok. It lasted another 5 years since when I sold it- looked liked it was weighed in as part of that scrappage scheme.

[504GL]

I'll say about modern Fiat's, it's that the engines and boxes seem solid, but the suspension is completely rubbish and I reckon in 5 years there'll be very little original Fiat left in the suspension and steering.....

 

The 1.2 8v engine - you need to keep an headgasket in stock if its still based on the FIRE type engine, the 8v in the Mk1 Punto is notorious for HGF, mine went at 85,000 miles, other people had HGF at milages around 30k, guess regular servicing/coolant changes did help prolong the eventual failure. Also heater matrix can rot and leak eventually, again thats based on a late 90's Punto, maybe Fiat have improved build quality since. As for suspension I replaced a rear suspension arm on the Punto after five years, the rest of it was ok. It lasted another 5 years since when I sold it- looked liked it was weighed in as part of that scrappage scheme.

 

The newer FIRE's seem to be better. Not heard of a HGF in a Panda or a 500 yet. But perhaps I won't leave the coolant in the 5 years it's meant to stay in

[oldford]

I suspect that they are still making brake pipes out of steel, a good coating of Waxoyl or grease on them and the flexible brake hose ferrules may save you expense after 5 years. It may also help after a couple of years to have the brake pads removed and the slides cleaned and greased which may save you getting corrosion on the inner brake disc faces.

[504GL]

I'd suggest simply using commonsense.

 

The manufacturers intervals probably err on the side of caution for the average user and this (IMNSHO) would be the best start point.

 

Of course you can change things more frequently, however, (unless you are doing the work yourself) this simply serves to produce an opportunity for some "service tech" to fuck something up on your car when they make an error.

 

I'm a great believer in the philosophy of "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

 

I would, however, as suggested earlier, pay much more attention to the chassis & bodywork as well as the interior of the car.

 

The car will probably be worth the square root of fuck all in 10 years anyway....

 

Well it's not about making the car worth more as such because I very much doubt we'll ever sell it. It's just that as we want a car that's going to be as reliable as possible and minimise time off the road. Plus I feel there's value in treating the car as well as possible, I guess I'm just a mechanically sympathetic person

 

I suspect that they are still making brake pipes out of steel, a good coating of Waxoyl or grease on them and the flexible brake hose ferrules may save you expense after 5 years. It may also help after a couple of years to have the brake pads removed and the slides cleaned and greased which may save you getting corrosion on the inner brake disc faces.

 

Looked at the brake pipes and they're made out of steel like you said so I'll be giving them a liberal coating of waxoyl.

[gtd2000]

 

Well it's not about making the car worth more as such because I very much doubt we'll ever sell it. It's just that as we want a car that's going to be as reliable as possible and minimise time off the road. Plus I feel there's value in treating the car as well as possible, I guess I'm just a mechanically sympathetic person

 

A good example from personal experience would be the '93 Mazda 121 that I bought for my mother in 1997 (in Hong Kong) and shipped back to Scotland for her.

 

The car was flawlessly reliable and she'd still be driving it today if I'd had the foresight to get it properly undersealed...it succumbed to rust in the end - nothing drastic but I can't weld.

 

My mother isn't the type to fuss over her cars - she just gets in them and drives them, the car only really ever had oil changes once a year (usually if I was at home) and that was good enough for 11 years use in her care - not even a cam-belt change either (non-interference engine anyway).

 

I did eventually change the front shocks and brakes (calipers & discs) in it's last year but couldn't grumble about that at all really.