Do cars really need servicing every year?

mystic_trev

I'm interested to know peoples opinion. I bought a year old Peugeot 307, six years ago, which only needs servicing every two years. I do about 8k a year, and the cars been problem free. Of course when I replace it, and the next car need annual serving, I'll stick to that. I'm just curious why my Peugeot serving interval differs to most other modern cars?

colino

Long life oil, antifreeze and filters are there to allow manufacturers to sell to fleet buyers. A lot of people complain that a lot of service items are "just checks". That is right, you check to see that nothing is wrong instead of waiting for it to fail, just like you should do your weekly checks yourself -your not expecting the oil to drop, but if it does, you can do something about it.
Bi-annual servicing is too long, even squirting a bit of grease about every six months will help, don't fall for the fleet managers wet dreams.

TeamPlum

No car NEEDS servicing. You can do everything yourself. It's just a "catch all" solution that is convienient to people who don't want their heads under the bonnet.

That and not having it will affect resale value.

Netwizard

They don't need servicing every year. I was friends with a chap at work whos wife hadn't changed the oil in their motor in 4 years! A lot of people see their cars as white goods and even know how to lift the bonnet let alone top up the oil / screenwash etc.

I get my car serviced every 12 months. Its an old banger, but its a bloody good reliable old banger. It doesn't NEED to be serviced every 12 months, but its false economy not too, its so cheap, why wouldn't I do it, especially if it keeps it mechanically bulletproof. Car owns me !!!!!! all, so the least I can do is treat it to some oil, filters and spark plugs every 12 months

[Deleted User]

Walk around the car myself and check everything I can. Air filter, pollen filter, wipers can all be changed, and screenwash, coolant, oil can all be topped up myself. I can also check tyre tread depth myself while checking tyre pressures, don't need a "service" to tell me if they are near the limit.

I only take car to garage for an oil and oil filter change which is a lot cheaper than a "full service"

You only really need to take a car for a service and get the book stamped if it is a new car. An old or bangernomic car than do it yourself and save the money.

jimjames

TeamPlum wrote: »

No car NEEDS servicing. You can do everything yourself. It's just a "catch all" solution that is convienient to people who don't want their heads under the bonnet.

That and not having it will affect resale value.

No car NEEDS servicing but if you want it to last long term then having servicing done regularly will help ensure that happens.

Mine has 240,000 miles on the clock and I'm pretty sure that would not be the case if the servicing had been neglected. Over time oil absorbs moisture from the air as well as contamination from combustion so even doing a low mileage it's worth servicing routinely. If it's £100 for a service or £2000 for a new engine or major repairs I know which I'd prefer.

motorguy

Netwizard wrote: »

They don't need servicing every year. I was friends with a chap at work whos wife hadn't changed the oil in their motor in 4 years! A lot of people see their cars as white goods and even know how to lift the bonnet let alone top up the oil / screenwash etc.

They do NEED servicing though - people just chose not to do it.

motorguy

TeamPlum wrote: »

No car NEEDS servicing. You can do everything yourself.

But thats servicing it then, isnt it?

londonTiger

I'm out of this forum due to constant bullying by forum members

Stoke

The only thing that needs changing strictly and regularly is oil. Worth checking and topping up every so often.

Oil Filter - 9,000 to 12,000 miles (depending on manufacturer) OR once a year if you do less.
Air Filter - Some manufacturers say 60,000 miles but I really wouldn't go above 40,000 miles. I'm going to change mine this summer where it'll have about 37,000 miles on.
Fuel Filter - Some manufacturers incredibly say you never need to change these but I would change them at least once every 50,000 miles. Again, I will change mine this summer with about 37,000 miles on.

Best way to maintain your engine is using good quality fully synthetic oil and keeping on top of your changes + filters. Air filters and fuel filters are less important.

Oh, and MAKE SURE you buy good quality parts. None of these cheap eBay jobs. Aim for OEM spec.

TeamPlum

motorguy wrote: »

But thats servicing it then, isnt it?

The OP was talking about taking to a service centre. I was not. So in this instance, no.

No car NEEDS servicing but if you want it to last long term then having servicing done regularly will help ensure that happens.

Mine has 240,000 miles on the clock and I'm pretty sure that would not be the case if the servicing had been neglected. Over time oil absorbs moisture from the air as well as contamination from combustion so even doing a low mileage it's worth servicing routinely. If it's £100 for a service or £2000 for a new engine or major repairs I know which I'd prefer.

Yes I'm well aware of the hygroscopic properties of oil thanks. I was making a point that a car doesn't need to go to a service station, and that oil changes, spark plugs and so forth are easily done on the drive. Hence the "you can do it all yourself" portion of my previous post.

Between paying for a service, and doing it myself at a fraction of the cost, I know which I'd prefer.