£1500 car - priorities for maintenance

mad_rich

Joe_Horner wrote: »

First things first, I'd find a new garage.

How right you were about this! When I totted up the list of things they'd done wrong on a simple service, I decided to go and see the manager about it.

- All 4 tyres at wrong pressure
- Pollen filter not removed & checked as per schedule
- Antifreeze strength not recorded
- Antifreeze above Max level (like that when I took it in, but I rather hoped all the levels would have been checked)
- Query over brake fluid

All small things, and not at all costly, but I began to think 'If they can't be bothered to do these things correctly, how am I supposed to believe they did the rest of the checks (checking PAS fluid, for example, requires removal of the battery and bracket. It's a right pig of job).

The manager was very apologetic, and promised everything would be double-checked. Gave me the car back half an hour later, with a promise to pay for the filter and a discount on future work. Handshakes and smiles all around.

Ten minutes later, I double checked the tyre pressures, just to make sure the petrol station machine was on the same hymn sheet as Halfords. All 4 roadwheels bang-on but the spare hadn't been touched. :mad:

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. I told them if they can't get the tyre pressures right in two attempts, I've totally lost faith and needed a full refund.

To give them credit where it's due, they didn't argue. The regional manager phoned me back within the hour and a cheque is in the post. I'm starting again. Future work will be by me or the VW specialist (Volkscentre in Blyth) who seemed very decent and have a good reputation.

forgotmyname

If the engine was slightly warm the coolant level would be higher.

Petrol station gauges are not accurate either. Get yourself a decent reliable gauge and adjust your pressures until the tyres wear evenly and it doesnt float and tramline on the road.

Then stick to that pressure and your gauge.

bigjl

I had a little browse of this thread.

Definitely cambelt and water pump as mentioned then buy a Haynes manual and some basic tools and do the oil changes yourself.

As advised, don't worry too much about the heavy clutch, they were never know. To be that light with a few miles on them, I believe they are hydraulic as you suspect.

You definitely need to use the correct oil as if you don't you will wear out the top end, the diesel pumps, one for each cylinder, run off the cam, exactly how I don't know as I have never stripped one down to look.

But it is apparently the cam lobes that wear out leading to running problems.

This is the engine fitted to the 115bhp and 130bhp Galaxy back when it got the reputation as the vehicle to have for minicab work.

Change the oil and filter every 6k, air filter when it needs it and fuel filter every 24k.

Apart from that I would leave everything else till it needs doing.

Find out the oil you need from the Shell, Castrol or Mobil lubematch sites, or Morris oil or Comma.

Likely one of the cheaper oils to fit your specs would be Comma Diesel PD 5w40.

There wil be others look for a minimum of 505.01, but 505.01 and 507 will also work but are for the PD engines with a Dpf.

If you wanted to use a more expensive oil then Comma Prolife 5w30 is the one for the long life, extended drain schedule.

I would leave that in for 12k miles without hesitation but not the 18k or 20k that VAG advise.

Opieoils sell oils at decent enough prices, but then so do EuroCarParts, Euro have special offers all the time, spring20 was the last one I was emailed but they change every month and give you anywhere between 15 and 30% off, you need to order online for local collection and enter the code.

Don't just turn up at a shop and buy as you don't get the discount that way.

Euro are also a good place for filters, German & Swedish used to be the better choice but they no longer stock the oils and filters they used to and aren't that cheap when compared to other places.

Halfords are ok for oil if you find a special offer but I wouldn't buy their filters unless I had no option.

mad_rich

Thanks. I don't intend to skimp on oil, but will it really benefit from changes at 6,000 miles if I'm using the good stuff?

I'll be doing 6-10k a year, so I had planned on oil & filter once a year, with fuel filter/ pollen filter/ air filter every other year.

Eurocarparts and Carparts4less (sister company) do seem to have some very good prices.

One thing I'm struggling with is whether to fit Skoda parts or the cheap stuff. For example the Skoda fuel filter is £35, but compatibles are £10-£20.

bigjl

A lot of owners of diesels can be a little "precious" when it comes to the oily stuff.

If you use a good quality oil to the correct VW specs then you could easily leave it to 10k or 1 yr.

I don't know which make of filter you have found the price for.

But EuroCarParts tend to stock decent stuff like Hengst or Bosch.

I did a quick check on Euro for a 2003 Fabia 1.9 diesel and they listed a couple, Gutmann was £15, Hengst £20 and CRosland £18

Don't forget that Skoda don't make filters, Hengst are the OE supplier for many makes of car as are Bosch, the trick is buying it in a OE supplier box and not a Skoda box.

Most Hengst filters are German made, which is good enough for me.

I have used them for many years, both oil and fuel.
There is currently a 25% off offer, midmonth25.

Those prices are not definate as I don't have your vehicles full details and they may be for the sdi version rather than the pdi version.

But the schedule you suggest seems decent enough, though with only one service a year you might want to do the air filter every oil change, they are cheap enough and may help a little with your efficiency.

I didn't know Carparts4less were a sister company to Euro, never seen a branch of Carparts4less.

If there is a branch of Euro near you order online with a code for collection only.

Euro do oil aswell, but not a huge selection, they do an own brand oil called TripleQX or something but I don't know who makes that for them, may be Tetrosyl.

But I would rather pay the little extra for Shell, Valvoline, Mobil, Comma or Castrol. Though there are many good oils, Fuchs was very popular in the VW scene for many years.

N.B.

New code is "midmonth25"

The Triple QX oil comes with a free oil filter at the moment the PD version is £34 and a free filter.

But Shell Helix is £38 but is likely a much better oil.

For something that is so vital and is going to give you a years service why not spend the little extra.

Though the engine in your Fabia is one of the last really long lived VW diesel lumps as they dropped the ball for a while with the 2.0 diesels.

With the proper PD oil your engine will last lots of miles, not uncommon for minicab drivers to put 200k on the 1.9 pd lump in the Galaxy, the 115 was the most common.

mad_rich

This is the original part.

http://www.skodaparts.com/product/fabia-fuel-filter-1-9-sdi-tdi-2000-2005-34684

£35, although reduced to £25 at the mo.

In terms of part manufacturers, I've seen advice to avoid Eicher (ECP's own brand which sounds German but isn't). What about Pagid? Conti tech? Lucas?

It's weird. I think CP4L is the same people as ECP. The websites are almost identical, but they only do mail order. Cheaper than ECP, but the range is slightly different. Very odd.

Flying-High_2

5 Litres of VAG 5w/40 Quantum can be had for £28ish delivered off ebay....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Audi-VW-Quantum-PLATINUM-PD-Oil-5-Litres-5-40-5w-40-/390529237737?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item5aed5b42e9

mad_rich

Thumbs up to Eurocarparts.

Just been in to pick up a couple of bits and pieces which I ordered last night.

They couldn't find the £2.99 300ml PAS oil I'd ordered, so gave me a litre of better stuff for the same price. RRP £16.

ostell

mad_rich wrote: »

They also inflated all the tyres to 22psi rather than 32!

Give that garage a miss!! They can tell the difference between BAR and PSI. 2.2 BAR is 32 PSI They just used 22 PSI instead.

techspec

I bough a £2000 car for £450 on Ebay.

First thing i did was buy a cambelt. It will now never need one while i have it.

Get it out of the way - for worry free driving.

Its the main item on the car - as if it goes - the car is usually knackered.

P.s mine was £180 with all pulleys. Probably due to different make of car - but shop around.

Ive noticed Nationwide Autocenters have gone downhill since becoming Halfords. The guy who serviced my car was about 12. I used Tesco Clubcard vouchers, so no cost - but the garage was full of 'kids' working.