Service or not service?

adriandilly

Hi

I've had a 2002 Focus Ghia 2.0l since last year and it is the newest car I've owned.

The service history was full from 2002-2007 and it had one service in 2009. It is hasn't been serviced since.

I've never taken a car to a garage to be serviced.. only for repairs after MOTs etc.

I regularly change the oil, have changed all filters and regular basic DIY maintenance.

It's MOT time next week and I asked them on the phone how much a service was out of interest.. £180!

Question is... am I really gonna benefit from getting it serviced as well.. bearing in mind I do the filters etc myself??

(I would value the car at around £1200)

Thanks

tim9966

Up to you. Bear in mind it's now due a cam belt change if it hasn't already been done, and the brake fluid is meant to be changed every 2-3 years.

The oil and filters are the main thing which you are doing yourself.

King_Nothing

If you check the Ford Etis site it will tell you what needs to be done on the service then you can decide if it's worth doing it yourself or paying the £180.

bigjl

MOst garages will simply change the oil and oil filter, perhaps the air filter and then call it a service.

And yes I did work in the trade for a couple of years.

Personally I would continue with what you do but consider getting the cambelt done by a garage to ensure long term reliability, do the water pump at the same time.

Te ETIS site is very good with lots of info, but it all comes down to keeping the fluids topped up and renewed regularly with good quality stuff, and personally I always use manufacturers own oil filters, normally little more than the cheap stuff.

Once a year you can pull the wheels off and have a look at the brakes, if you have the tools you can take out the pads and clean everything up putting back together with some copper grease. Othe than that I would just fix anything the breaks and replace or repair anything that comes up at MOT time.

Though considering how reliable modern Fords are I wouldn't expect any big bills, I only use garages for big stuff and brakes if I don't have the time.

My Mondeo did massive miles with just regular oil and filter changes, it now has well over 180k on it in the hands on my mate that I sold it to last year.

The only thing that is not original during my and first owners period of ownership was the brakes and rear handbrake cables. Mate had to replace the alternator a few months ago however.

Wishbones, clutch , dmf, rear subframe bushes, shocks, engine, camchain, injectors are all still original and still drives pretty much as it did when I bought it, not as tight but smooth and comfortable.

And the cheapy Sava tyres I fitted last year now have over 25k on them and have hardly any wear! They are still not the best tyre in the world, certainly not a premium tyre, but hard wearing and safe enough.

I suspect the car will drive better if those tyres ever wear out and are replaced.

adriandilly

bigjl wrote: »

MOst garages will simply change the oil and oil filter, perhaps the air filter and then call it a service.

And yes I did work in the trade for a couple of years.

Personally I would continue with what you do but consider getting the cambelt done by a garage to ensure long term reliability, do the water pump at the same time.

Te ETIS site is very good with lots of info, but it all comes down to keeping the fluids topped up and renewed regularly with good quality stuff, and personally I always use manufacturers own oil filters, normally little more than the cheap stuff.

Once a year you can pull the wheels off and have a look at the brakes, if you have the tools you can take out the pads and clean everything up putting back together with some copper grease. Othe than that I would just fix anything the breaks and replace or repair anything that comes up at MOT time.

Though considering how reliable modern Fords are I wouldn't expect any big bills, I only use garages for big stuff and brakes if I don't have the time.

My Mondeo did massive miles with just regular oil and filter changes, it now has well over 180k on it in the hands on my mate that I sold it to last year.

The only thing that is not original during my and first owners period of ownership was the brakes and rear handbrake cables. Mate had to replace the alternator a few months ago however.

Wishbones, clutch , dmf, rear subframe bushes, shocks, engine, camchain, injectors are all still original and still drives pretty much as it did when I bought it, not as tight but smooth and comfortable.

And the cheapy Sava tyres I fitted last year now have over 25k on them and have hardly any wear! They are still not the best tyre in the world, certainly not a premium tyre, but hard wearing and safe enough.

I suspect the car will drive better if those tyres ever wear out and are replaced.

I had never seen the ETIS site until now; yes, lots of information on there although I got the message...

"Outstanding Field Service Actions
MAX NUMBER OF LOGON SESSIONS REACHED, ACCESS TO GOASIS DENIED"

is this normal?

Anyway, checking out the service schedule, £180 seems a lot of money to pay for such simple checks.

At present I have a Cat issue and a subtle knocking when clutch is engaged while out of gear. I'll see what the MOT kicks up and go from there.

On a side note, I have an engine light which I have to clear every couple of weeks.. if I clear it just before the MOT will it reset the 'TESTS READY' status preventing a MOT to be completed satisfactorily?

benham3160

adriandilly wrote: »

I had never seen the ETIS site until now; yes, lots of information on there although I got the message...

"Outstanding Field Service Actions
MAX NUMBER OF LOGON SESSIONS REACHED, ACCESS TO GOASIS DENIED"

is this normal?

Anyway, checking out the service schedule, £180 seems a lot of money to pay for such simple checks.

At present I have a Cat issue and a subtle knocking when clutch is engaged while out of gear. I'll see what the MOT kicks up and go from there.

On a side note, I have an engine light which I have to clear every couple of weeks.. if I clear it just before the MOT will it reset the 'TESTS READY' status preventing a MOT to be completed satisfactorily?

What do you mean by a "cat issue?" If you've got that from a fault code treat it with a pinch of salt.

Which code is reoccurring?

Regards,
Andy

Calleja

Sorry to gatecrash this thread, but it seems like some people who have posted on here will be able to give me a sensible answer to my question.

Unfortunately, I haven't really been taking care of my car, although the mechanic last year told me it was in fairly good nick for its age, and should last a few more years (if I look after it...). Its a 2003 Fiat Punto. The only thing I do each year is put it through its MOT, which in the last couple of years has cost me £50-£100 to get through (cost of test included). But I have never had it serviced, changed the oil, filters etc. And I'm not confident to do it myself, so I do want to get it serviced (i got quoted approx £100 last year).

So my question, which may sound a little stupid, but anyway... its due its MOT next month. Should I ask for a service and MOT together or service it now and then MOT later? My main issue is that I don't want to pay for a service only to later find out it fails its MOT and not worth fixing, therefore looking for a new car and £100 down for the service? Or should I just do it together and hope the mechanic is trustworthy enough before servicing it to tell me if its a write off or not?

This probably does sound a bit silly, but I'm a little confused the best way to do it, so any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Mr_Thrifty

Service = expensive oil change

Paperbird

[QUOTE=adriandilly

On a side note, I have an engine light which I have to clear every couple of weeks.. if I clear it just before the MOT will it reset the 'TESTS READY' status preventing a MOT to be completed satisfactorily?[/QUOTE]

Don't worry about the engine light for the test. As long as the system has not gone into limp home mode the tester should ignore it.

adriandilly

benham3160 wrote: »

What do you mean by a "cat issue?" If you've got that from a fault code treat it with a pinch of salt.

Which code is reoccurring?

Regards,
Andy

It is P0420 Catalyst efficiency below threshold. I've posted another thread about this with more detail but members of MSE forum and I have concluded it's not likely to be a faulty O2 sensor as according to my Android Torque app *both* O2 sensors are fluctuating at same frequency. I'll wait for emissions results from MOT (this saturday) and go from there. It may just sail through. I just dont wanna take it in with the engine light on so I was hoping to clear it just before.

adriandilly

Calleja wrote: »

Sorry to gatecrash this thread, but it seems like some people who have posted on here will be able to give me a sensible answer to my question.

Unfortunately, I haven't really been taking care of my car, although the mechanic last year told me it was in fairly good nick for its age, and should last a few more years (if I look after it...). Its a 2003 Fiat Punto. The only thing I do each year is put it through its MOT, which in the last couple of years has cost me £50-£100 to get through (cost of test included). But I have never had it serviced, changed the oil, filters etc. And I'm not confident to do it myself, so I do want to get it serviced (i got quoted approx £100 last year).

So my question, which may sound a little stupid, but anyway... its due its MOT next month. Should I ask for a service and MOT together or service it now and then MOT later? My main issue is that I don't want to pay for a service only to later find out it fails its MOT and not worth fixing, therefore looking for a new car and £100 down for the service? Or should I just do it together and hope the mechanic is trustworthy enough before servicing it to tell me if its a write off or not?

This probably does sound a bit silly, but I'm a little confused the best way to do it, so any advice would be appreciated, thanks.

The benefit of getting an MOT with a service is that they may give you a discount because they can combine the two. The problem is, what I'm coming to realise that services are just an expensive oil and filter change.
As I see it, services are good for new cars that have a high present value, although just to get the stamp in the book. If two of the same car have a present list value of 10,000. Car 1 has FSH and car 2 has no SH, which one are you gunna buy? Car 1. Car 2 is then likely to be flogged at 8,000 at a later date when it doesnt sell for example. Apply that to cars of 9-10 years old and the difference (if any) the cars will sell for would be say £200. You need to weigh up the price of a service with the age of the car and how long you plan to keep it. It may be worth getting a service if you can't do your own oil and filters, but they really aren't too difficult. Ask someone to help you and give them £20. Dont ignore the oil and filters though. Also check your tyres


EDIT: buy a Hayne's manual from Halfrauds or somewhere cheaper like ebay. It will guide you through step by step and tell you how to do other basics to keep you car in good shape