Service on a very old car

pulliptears

I had a 99 clio which I sold on earlier this year. I'd had it for about ten years. The little garage down the road would do oil and filter for a tenner if I provided the kit. He did the occasional gearbox oil change and I'd do pollen filters etc. It was very low mileage having only done about 28k when I sold it but it ran like a dream and still is for its new owner.

Whether you do lots of miles or very few servicing will always be worthwhile.

colino

I think the problem is with the word servicing. You should look after any car, someone did for yours to get to 14, but servicing has too many connotations. Checking all the levels and regular oil and filter changes are the bare minimum. There are still some chains that have their own fleets of hire and lease vehicles and the most they get are replacement tyres when they are really, really, needed and some white grease on the door hinges to keep the drivers happy. They don't care, they will be sold at 12, 24 or 36 months as freshly valeted cars as retail.
Your car is in its middle age and depending how you approach it, it could limp from MOT to MOT with fingers crossed, or be a pleasant, low cost runabout.

bigjl

In all honesty even at Main dealers a service can be little more than an oil and filter change. With every other service including an air and fuel filter. Spark plugs these days can last the thick end of 100k miles.

If you can find a good old school mechanic who actually takes the brake pads out, cleans them up then refits with some coppaslip and gives the car a proper once over then that would be handy.

Though for any car over 3 or 4 years old I would do all the simple stuff myself. Which is the only way to really save money imho.

But the OPs father is not far wrong. Keeping the oil and filter regularly changed is half the battle.

I have not had a car without brake pad wear indicators for over a decade, either acoustic or sensor.

If you father can help with routine checking of fluids, tyres etc then I would just change the oil. KwikFit are actually notthat expensive for that sort of stuff just ignore any upselling.

fivetide

If you think it will pass no issues (or no major ones) then another vote here for oil and filter plus air filter change just to help with the emissions and general running. The rest they should advise you on. If you trust the MOT place, just ask how much meat is left on the brake pads, even if it isn't an advisory, they should be able to guide you on what might want looking at in the near future.

pelo_2

My '68 Land Rover gets oil, plugs, filters, brake shoes and ignition system changed/cleaned every year, regardless of miles covered. I did a full strip down/rebuild 14 years ago and it rubs sweet as a nut still.
Looks shocking but is sound.
It's only failed mot one on a split tyre.
It's already worth it to spend a few squids to look after it...it'll repay you.

System

Thanks everyone for the additional advice. To be fair to my FIL, he did say I should get the oil and oil filter changed, and I check all the levels regularly, so he wasn't suggesting I just do nothing. I had my tyres changed today, and picked up a leaflet from the garage about servicing. The full service is described as a 50 point multi-check for £155 - I guess this is the sort of thing I should be looking at getting? Sorry for the very basic questions; this is my first car and I really don't know much about cars beyond what they teach you to pass your test.

gilbert_and_sullivan

As above, you need a recommended small garage, if the car is good and has been well looked after there's no reason it won't go on for many years yet, but it does need a bit of TLC and preventative maintenance to do so, and as BigJL mentions, as well as normal engine servicing and other levels checking, the brakes do need proper looking after, not this peering through the wheel and pronouncing all well rubbish that comprises too many 'services' these days.

Whatever the make its got more chance of making 20 than most cars made in the last 5 years.

poppasmurf_bewdley

x-caitlin-x wrote: »

The full service is described as a 50 point multi-check for £155 - I guess this is the sort of thing I should be looking at getting?

That is an horrendous price to pay for a service. I wouldn't pay it for my 3 year old Mondy.

All they will do is check things, not adjust or service anything except maybe change the oil/filter, and then tell you what needs attention in their opinion. For which they will charge extra.

All most cars need is an annual oil/filter change, air filter every other year. Petrol cars need spark plugs maybe every two years. Most other things will be picked up at the MOT - brake linings need replacing, tyres nearing replacing, shock absorbers leaking, etc.

Try and find a reliable home mechanic with whom you can build up a rapport and work from there. Try friends and neighbours to see if they know of one.

forgotmyname

50 point check = mostly what you should be checking weekly anyway.

And their check is just a look to see what work they can say you need and hopefully get the job to do it.

Its probably an oil and filter change and little else.

You should already know the state of your tyres and whether your lights work etc. So why pay for a garage to check them?

mcjordi

jimjames wrote: »

Full service with all filters and oil cost me under £40 for my Golf doing it myself.

It is 12 years old and has done almost 250,000 miles but servicing it routinely will help ensure it keeps going for many more.

Avoiding servicing is a completely stupid idea when it's such a low cost way of keeping the car going.

i never bothered with air and plugs siimply because my BIL changed them 8 months prior and id only done 3k. they will get done next service in may/june