Started a long car commute. Car maintenance?

Noctu

I've started a 35 mile (one way) commute using a diesel car. Majority of miles are motorway miles but half the journey, time wise, is city driving - getting in/out of Newcastle at rush hour! The journey takes about an hour all told, 50 minutes to get back.

I'm not too used to a long commute and am quite aware that I need to pay more attention to checking my car is up for it regularly. I have the car serviced every year but am doing well over double the mileage I used to now.

Can anyone give me the top things you would assess regularly on a car doing long journeys?

I guess the first things that came to mind were tyres, brakes, oil - anything else?

Just want to make sure I don't inadvertently neglect it... it's a good car otherwise (Fiat Bravo 58 reg, 1.9 diesel).

Thanks!! :beer:

foxy-stoat

Just change the oil and filter every 5-6,000 miles and keep on eye on the tyres on top of the annual dealer servicing.

motorguy

I would say

=> Get it serviced and checked every 6,000 miles.
=> Check fluid levels and tyre condition at least every week.
=> Any clunks / rattles untoward noises get them looked at immediately
=> In your new role, ask around with your colleagues as to a cheap, good mechanic nearby. It would be easier to get the work done in working hours than have to take time off.
=> Keep the car as long as you can. Depreciation is a big factor on high miles cars. Reduced changes = reduced depreciation.
=> Stick a Millers Diesel additive in every time you refill. 50ml from a 500ml bottle works out at maybe £1 a fill. Keeps everything internal nice and clean

When i did those sorts of mile (93 mile return commute) i did all of the above and washed it / cleaned it out weekly.

Keep on top of problems throughout the year - dont let them amount into one big bill come MOT time.

AdrianC

Give us a rough clue as to what mileage the car's done.

Service it to the manufacturer's intervals - at least. They are always time-or-mileage, and you should be going with whichever occurs first. For your car, it seems that the manufacturer recommended 2yr/18k intervals.

That 1.9JTD engine has been in a lot of non-Fiat cars, not least Vauxhall/Opel Astras and Vectras, and has gained a reputation for EGR valve problems, if I remember right.

bigjl

Is it possible the fuel injection system, inlet manifold/swirl flaps and EGR valve setup is different on Vauxhall/Opels than the Fiat/Alfa fitments of the same engine?

You never seem to here as many issues with the Fiats. Or maybe hat is down to number sold?

Since my old work went back to the old school 3000miles or 6weeks servicing regime the Zafiras have got an awful lot more reliable, to be honest after nearly 10years of maintaining the 1.9cdti lump with a DPF they likely know all the problems by now.

To be honest the only common issue was the DPF problems that caused oil dilution and then engine failure.

I remember the BMW 6 cylinder diesel was fitted to Range Rovers, Vauxhall/Opel Omegas aswell as BMWs back in the 90's

But the fuel injection system and EGR setup was different in the Omega, never looked at a Range Rover of the time.

Not sure about the turbos.

One common issue with the Omega was fracturing of he EGR pipe, mine snapped twice at the same place when I worked the car doing about 50k a year, never gave many problems when I joined the NHS and I sold it a year after, with nearly 190k on it.

As far as the OPs servicing schedule goes other have suggested basically what I would do.

6k oil and filter

12k air filter

18 fuel filter

Weekly check on tyres, rotate the tyres every 12k and have a good check of the brake pads at the same time.

I have done hundreds of thousands of miles using a similiar service routine and never had many problems

I would avoid the manufacturers 2yr 18k rubbish unless you like broken cars. That is fine if you are a fleet manager looking to run the car for 3 years when under warranty.

If you want to extent your OCI then do some use oil analysis, common in the USA, Blackstone Labs will send you a lot over form the US to take a sample and send to them.

But as it costs not far off an oil and filter change why bother.

No car has ever worn out prematurely doing 6k oil and oil filter changes that I know of. There are plenty of cars that have suffered engine wear and sludging as a result of extended oil change intervals.

Not sure what age the OPs car is but Castrol advise a 10k km or 1 years interval on the 1.9 JTD engine from 98-01 with Castrol Magnatec.

If you select 1.9cdti Vectra without a DPF then it is 30k km or 12months with Castrol Edge. There is also mention of a Flexible interval which is 50k km or 24 months on the same oil. Can't say I would be overly comfortable with either.

Ebe_Scrooge

Lots of good advice posted so far. The only thing I would reiterate is regular oil + filter changes, every 6000 miles ( in addition to the scheduled servicing ). Oil changes are even more important on a diesel than on a petrol, and it's probably the single most important thing you can do to extend the life of your engine - and not expensive to do.


I don't know your car in particular, but on most cars changing the oil & filter is a dead easy DIY job ( though I know some cars can be a right fiddle ). But if yours is one of the "easy access" versions, learn how to do it yourself, buy the parts online from CarParts4Less or from a local motor factor and save yourself quite a bit compared to Halfords.


Other than that, weekly checks on fluids, tyres, brake pads etc. and that's about it. To be honest, the fact that you're doing higher mileage doesn't really affect the service regime - you should be doing weekly checks anyway, and the scheduled services are always "x miles or y months, whichever occurs soonest".

Noctu

Thanks al. It's done approx 62,000 miles, and I had to replace the EGR at about 50k miles. No DPF (as standard).

bigjl

Noctu wrote: »

Thanks al. It's done approx 62,000 miles, and I had to replace the EGR at about 50k miles. No DPF (as standard).

What age is it?

If it has not been done I would be looking at doing the Cambelt when your first pay packet comes in.

As your car is fairly low value have a look on eBay for set of wheels already fitted with good tyres as a good way to save money.

Wether you wanted to have a set of winters aswell as summer tyres on seperate wheels that's your own choice, but 70miles a day all year round I would certainly consider it.

With good regular servicing there is no reason that car won't see the other side of 200k.

Even if you buy a nicer car there is nothing wrong with keeping a car like yours to take the commuting miles and have something nice for other use if you ever wanted to have a nice car for social and domestic use.

BeenThroughItAll

bigjl wrote: »

What age is it?

If it has not been done I would be looking at doing the Cambelt when your first pay packet comes in.

As your car is fairly low value have a look on eBay for set of wheels already fitted with good tyres as a good way to save money.

Wether you wanted to have a set of winters aswell as summer tyres on seperate wheels that's your own choice, but 70miles a day all year round I would certainly consider it.

With good regular servicing there is no reason that car won't see the other side of 200k.

Even if you buy a nicer car there is nothing wrong with keeping a car like yours to take the commuting miles and have something nice for other use if you ever wanted to have a nice car for social and domestic use.

Why on earth would they want to buy another set of wheels? Wheels with winters, maybe, but Darlo to Newcastle will not need winter tyres. I know you Southerners think it's grim up North, but even up here they clear and grit the trunk roads and city centres.

OP, if you need local advice regarding places to get things done, parts, etc, drop me a PM.