Nationwide Winter Check - £5 off

BristolBoy23

Nationwide are doing £5 of their 11-point winter vehicle check.

It also includes:

Duxback windscreen treatment (worth £24.95)
FREE Winter Essentials pack (incl ice scraper, windscreen frost shield and a de-mister pad) (worth £10)

Does anyone have any experience of these 11 point winter check things??
Are they any good?
Do they just get your car in and scam you saying you need this, this and this etc??

Also what 11 things do they look at??

Many thanks,

BristolBoy23

Ebe_Scrooge

I'm always a bit dubious of these checks. It's really just common-sense items - here's an idea :

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/what-car-guide-to-winter-motoring/car-care-checks-for-the-winter/217477

Basically, check that your car is in tip-top condition, the sort of things you really ought to be checking regularly anyway ( tyres, lights, fluid / oil levels, etc. etc. ). Add the correct amount of screenwash additive ( usually a higher concentration than you would use in summer, to prevent freezing ). Make sure you've got the correct amount of antifreeze in your radiator. If you've had the car regularly serviced, and have not had to add any water to the rad, then it should be OK. If it' more than about 3 years or so since you checked it, it's probably worth draining and refilling with the correct mixture anyway. This is a simple enough job to do yourself.

Really, for these checks you're just paying for their time, to check things you can check yourself anyway.

LandyAndy

BristolBoy23 wrote: »

Nationwide are doing £5 of their 11-point winter vehicle check.

It also includes:

Duxback windscreen treatment (worth £24.95) Buy a bottle of Rain-X or similar and do it yourself in 10 minutes for 25p.
FREE Winter Essentials pack (incl ice scraper 99p, windscreen frost shield old sheet = free and a de-mister pad more trouble than they're worth if the heater/aircon in your car works as they tend to smear the screen in my experience) (worth £10)

Does anyone have any experience of these 11 point winter check things??
Are they any good?
Do they just get your car in and scam you saying you need this, this and this etc?? They look at stuff you can look at yourself. You don't need to be any sort of expert to know if your washer bottle is full, tyres have tread on them, wiper blades are in decent condition etc.

Also what 11 things do they look at??

Many thanks,

BristolBoy23

I wouldn't use them personally.

[Deleted User]

This reminds me of the service I had done on my car last April. The garage recommended that I change the coolant before this winter. Said that it currently only protects down to -17c. Wonder if it's worth it?

Also said to change brake fluid before the winter too.

Strider590

Free check will end up costing you 3 new tyre's, new brakes, new shock absorbers and anew exhaust system.

If it seems to good to be true, it normally is.... These places do such deals to get potential punters in through the door.

jd82

Haha I might take my Panda in to see what problems they find with it. It is just under 6 months old and has a whopping 1400 miles on the clock

Personaly though I won't go near the place as the staff in my local branch are rude.