Servicing

Woolwich_Kim

My car mot is due soon.

It's 10 years old this year and only got about 32k miles on it.
I don't drive much as I work locally. I have thought about giving up the car but that's a different story.

What is the standard rule (if there is one) for servicing your car?

I've owned it for 3 years now (this will be my 3rd mot with it) and the previous 2 I didn't do a service and it passed mot both times.

When I have asked around friends and colleagues, some say it should be done every x amount of miles but others say every few years or even with every mot.

Servicing is just checking oil levels and little bits like lightbulbs, wipers right?

Turn_to_Grey

As a minimum, car servicing is every 12000 ( some cars are less than this ) miles or every 12 months, whichever comes first. Your car manual will advise exactly. And as a minimum, fresh oil and filter at each service. Air filter every 2 years and coolant and brake fluid every 3 years plus the usual checks every year, belts, brakes and lines, plugs, wheel bearings, linkages, steering, tyres etc.

FreddieFrugal

What's included depends on the type of service. But you should be having a yearly oil change, even if only doing small mileage it still degrades.

Brake fluid usually needs changing every two years.

An MoT is simply checking the car is safe/legal to drive on the road, not whether it is in good mechanical condition.

Should be at least checking things yourself as things like brake discs can rust and if you're barely running the car it never heats up enough to burn it off, so they corrode and become dangerous.

Worst thing apart from overuse without proper maintenance is underuse without proper maintenance.

victor2

Find a local independent mechanic you can trust if possible, and see if he can do an an annual service and arrange the MOT for each year. As well as things mentioned above, tyres will perish over time (although the MOT should pick that up) along with other essentially rubber parts.

If I am buying a second hand car, I will leans towards one that has done an average mileage rather than a low mileage, as that can indicate low maintenance too.

Yolina

Checking oil levels and other little bits is something that you should be doing regularly (and no, that's not like having it serviced )

I do keep my cars until they're just over 10 years old and I do below average mileage (about 4000 to 5000 miles a year - and that's not a stack of 2 miles trips), they still get serviced without fail as per the maintenance schedule. I also keep *all* the paperwork from the garage, as well as having the book stamped so that when I sell it, people can see it's been looked after though it was a moot point for my previous car as one of the lads from the garage that had been servicing it for years asked to buy it :rotfl:

And I certainly wouldn't recommend going 3 years without an oil & filter change.

Ultrasonic

Woolwich_Kim wrote: »

I've owned it for 3 years now (this will be my 3rd mot with it) and the previous 2 I didn't do a service and it passed mot both times.

I believe that the most important part of a service is the oil change. Doing this is about the long term health of the car, not things which would cause an MOT fail.

Get your car serviced once per year by a decent independent garage, or do it yourself.

AnnieO1234

This is goin to sound like a flame, I don't understand how anyone can own a car and know so little. Sorry OP but at minimum take a look at your cars handbook which will have recommended service intervals of so many thousand miles or 12 months whichever is sooner. You get major services plus interim services. Interim services are pretty much just about oil changes.

Ignore servicing at your own peril. The life of the car will be shortened and I imagine it will be running as rough as a buzzards behind. Your fuel consumption is likely to also be suffering.

A

ballyblack

Another good reason to avoid buying a very low mileage car

Most likely they are not serviced annually

Strider590

Woolwich_Kim wrote: »

My car mot is due soon.

It's 10 years old this year and only got about 32k miles on it.
I don't drive much as I work locally. I have thought about giving up the car but that's a different story.

What is the standard rule (if there is one) for servicing your car?

If your doing low mileage, you need to service it more often, low mileage is the worst thing you can do to your car. The oil will become contaminated with fuel, the piston rings will wear (due to the oil), it won't shift water/moisture, so the exhaust will rot and this is just a few things off a mile long list.

Minimum in 12 months, but at really low miles i'd be changing the oil at minimum 6 months and taking it for a 50 mile run once a month.

ballyblack wrote: »

Another good reason to avoid buying a very low mileage car

Most likely they are not serviced annually

Exactly, whislt many people mistakenly think that low mileage is a good thing, actually I wouldn't go near one with a barge pole...... That is unless is something a bit more specialist (like a kitcar), because that will have done big miles instead of short journeys.

Woolwich_Kim

Hey, thanks for the tips guys. I shall be booking a service with the next MOT then.

I know how to check for things like oils, water, widow washer, lightbulbs and wipers but not other mechanical bits that can't be seen (belts, discs and whatnot).

I got the car at a time when I had a partner and was driving all the time to care for him until his death. Back then I had another car but it got written off (another story) and a friend was selling hers as she was brought a brand new car as a surprise bday gift. As I found going to view and test drive cars to be very stressful especially if you haven't got a car to take you there and back, it was more convenient to buy it off her. Not my ideal car but I needed a car then and trusted the seller.

Since my partner passed, the need for me to drive has reduced. I kept the car anyway as I needed it to look for work. I found a job that had a car park so I drove to work each day. It's also handy for the weekly shopping trip too. Now though, I have a different job more local that I can walk to but I'd like to move homes in the next year or sooner so want to keep it to take me viewing.

Another thing that has made me want to keep it is that I know a few people who, when given up driving they have lost their confidence and can't drive anymore.

mad_rich

Do you have an ATS Euromaster near you?

They do a free Vehicle Health Check - I had one done when I bought a new car this year and was really impressed. I got a sheet of paper at the end with quite a comprehensive inventory of the car (tyre tread depth, brake disc thickness, battery charge, exhaust health. They even noticed that the rear washer wasn't working!). Probably more helpful than any service I've had done. There was no hard sell - they didn't recommend any work other than 'rear pads & discs in 'fair' condition and keep an eye on the exhaust'

http://www.atseuromaster.co.uk/vehicle-health-check.htm

It's certainly not a replacement for a service, but it's a quick, no-obligation way to see if anything needs attention.

Even though you're getting a service & MoT done soon, I would go for a health check or something similar. It's always good to have a second opinion.

The question of keeping the car or not is difficult. They're expensive things to own and maintain (for me, £700 a year before I've driven a mile, insurance, MoT, servicing & breakdown - and that's not including repairs or the actual cost of the car!). But the flexibility you have makes them worthwhile. As you say, getting rid of it might make you lose confidence (and may well cause your premiums to jump in the future).

EIther way, a well-maintained car will be easier to sell if you do decide to get rid.