Servcing your own car, the ironic truth?

Wig

Well, when buying a car, I go for a 3 year old at auction, usually lease cars so usually has been serviced, listen to the rostrum about the service history. I then run it till it it is uneconomical to repair, takes a long time. I'm hoping to have the current Corsa for 10 - 13 years.

Service history for me when buying is not important. If I was buying privately and the seller said he did it himself, I might ask him some prying questions to test his knowledge, but I would rely on a thorough (self) inspection mostly.

I hope it goes without saying I service everything on my cars myself, except changing tyres. even that, I might change to doing myself in some circumstances, for example I have 5 spare tyres perfect for my car but I need to buy 2 more 13" steels to make a set of 4, and then I will swap them over myself, and take them for balancing (if needed).

jase1

If I see a car that has been self-serviced, as long as the owner has a big pile of receipts I'm happy to take that. What I would probably do is go to see the car, but at the same time have a conversation about cars with the owner to get an idea of whether he knows what he is doing. If he comes across well, I'm perfectly happy to take that pile of receipts.

I service my second cars myself, with faults seen to as they arrive (early fixes as soon as something doesn't feel/sound/look right), but the first car gets done in a garage. I never go to main dealers; I have an indie whom I trust completely who always sorts me out at a fair price. For tyres though I will choose the type of tyre I want, look around for the very best deal and get my indie, or a tyre shop close to work, to sort it, and keep the online receipt -- typically for jobs like this the fitting is done on an "under-the-counter" basis, no receipt.

Butterfliesarepretty

I replaced my spark plugs myself on my 18 yr old mx5, got my garage (mx5 specialist and friend) to change my oil and filter by removing sump nut and draining out and I supplied my own oil (millers synthetic). dont need to replace air filter as its a K & N cone filter that is cleaned with oil.

I check my own tyres, fluid levels etc because I know how the car works but any engine work such as belts I get my friend to do while I watch.

Belts changed early last year so will change them again this year.

To clean your engine get some TFR (traffic film remover) off ebay and dilute it using gloves on your hands and spray over engine and rinse off carefully. you can use this on your wheels too to clean them of grime.

And im a girl!!

mikey72

Butterfliesarepretty wrote: »

Belts changed early last year so will change them again this year.

That's a bit keen.
Mine are 6 years or 10 years depending on which one.

vikingaero

For every person that has had an issue with a garage servicing a car, there are probably 10 people who drive around in self serviced or never serviced cars.

Would I trust a garage. Yes. More than an unknown self serviced seller. At least the garage has a reputation and standards to maintain. With safety critical items such as brakes would you trust a private seller? Remember the story of that guy whose car ended up in a ditch drowning his own kids because he bodged his own DIY servicing?

cyclonebri1

There's actually 2 issues here, the most important is not the question asked but it's what most of us are arguing.

ie, would you sooner do your own servicing or trust a garage to do it??

I'm sure I can answer that as almost every single person who is capable of doing their own work would DIY. Why?, to save money and because I simply do not trust anyone to look after my car to the same standard I do.;)

The question that was actually asked, which was roughly does home service history V dealer SH affect the decision to buy, well yes it probably does, but only for relatively new cars.
If like me your car will get sold on to probably it's last owner, usually at about 9 yeaars old in my case, it simply doesn't matter, the wad of receipts is adequate.;)

mikey72

Mine had the dealer stamps for the warranty. Now I service it myself, and fill in the book, so there's a record, but obviously no stamps any more. I keep the cars until too many bits have fallen off, then buy another. Usually about 10 years.

Butterfliesarepretty

vikingaero wrote: »

For every person that has had an issue with a garage servicing a car, there are probably 10 people who drive around in self serviced or never serviced cars.

Would I trust a garage. Yes. More than an unknown self serviced seller. At least the garage has a reputation and standards to maintain. With safety critical items such as brakes would you trust a private seller? Remember the story of that guy whose car ended up in a ditch drowning his own kids because he bodged his own DIY servicing?

As regards brakes my 18 yr old mazda mx5 had the brakes done by my mx5 specialist friend. I sat chatting with and watched him do it. Also I have a enthusiasts manual and take time to get to know how my car works. If more owners actually took the time out to have a manual and read up about their car they would save time, money and cash.

I get all my parts from people I know and trust and also check the new prices and the used prices.

Its only like understanding how to work a washing machine.

A lot of people dont even know how to change abulb in their cars headlights or know where he oil cap is simply cause they cant be bothered to find out and then complain when garages charge extortionate prices.

optimus_primera

Trouble with modern motors is the fact there are now less owner 'serviceable' parts.
Probably why most dealerships technicians need computer skills more than basic mechanical knowledge.

dannymccann

I have to say I dont care where I buy it from, I listen to the engine and gearbox, feel the clutch, and look at the receipts they've got. I only care about those 3 bits, anything else is minor when it comes to replacing it (cost wise, eg all new brakes are what £150, but an engine rebuild/replacement is circa £1000??)

My Y plate 2.0dti Astra (93k) only has things replaced when they need doing, apart from engine oil which is changed every 6 - 8k (National Tyres do a Castrol oil + filter change for £25 in 20 minutes drive in drive out, why the hell would I do it myself?!), tyres are changed for the cheapest ones because everytime you put decent ones on its sods law you run over a nail and its knackered straight away anyway.

Some people I say this to look at me strange, but I'm only 23 and its the most reliable car I've had, and its lasted on this maintenance schedule for nearly 3 years and I bought it with no service history, in my naivety even the service manual is from a different car (its not a ringer, Ive checked), so there's nothing there to change my tune...