Servicing a car with low annual mileage

Ectophile

snowmen said:

comeandgo said:

I would never buy such a low mileage car unless I could see evidence of the yearly services.  

Good thing I plan to run it into the ground then and not sell it!

If you keep servicing it late, you may be running it into the ground sooner than intended.

I also do low mileages.  But both my cars get serviced every year without fail, however low the mileage.  It may be a minor service, but the basics such as changing the oil get done.

Mutton_Geoff

Low mileage, definitely worth doing oil & oil filter for reasons mentioned, but air and pollen filter not needed as they won't have sucked much through them in a year.

Bigphil1474

OP, it's worth noting that 5k miles a year isn't particularly low mileage these days (unless it's a company car). Most sources will tell you that average mileage for a petrol car is now around 5-6k a year, and on the way down e.g. :- 

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts09-vehicle-mileage-and-occupancy 

They have 2021 mileage at 5,300 per year. 

I used to drive older cars (my current car is the first one I've bought that didn't need an MOT when purchased), and annual servicing is likely to mean your older car lasts longer. Find a good local independent garage who can do the basics for you.

Grey_Critic

Not really that many years ago Diesel 5,000 miles or 6 months - Petrol 6.000 miles 6 months.

Then they changed to 12 month intervals - then along came 10,000 mile 12 month intervals and is one reason labour rates started to go up.

Today they say 18/20,000 mile 2 year intervals but somehow manage to get people to have an oil change every year. 18 minutes is the time allowed and that includes drive in do the oil change and drive it back out plus fill in the jobcard all for the very reasonable price (in their eyes) of £200.

Only thing wrong with all that is the labour rate the technicians receive for doing the job. Back in 1985 it was around £2.50 per hour whilst the charge out rate was as much as £10.00 hour

Ebe_Scrooge

snowmen said:

As I don't have a massive amount of spare money with everything that has been going on in the last 12 months I was wondering if I could stretch the service out any.
Good point about the oil needing changed regardless.

On most cars, changing the oil and filter is a very simple DIY job (some, I know, can be a real wotsit to get access to!).  But if yours is one where access is simple, then at the very least you could look at doing an annual oil/filter change yourself.  Even if you do nothing else, this is arguably the single most important job to extend the life of the engine.

snowmen

Thanks for all the helpful comments.
Much appreciated.
I will definitely look to book my car in for a service soon (and try to save money in other ways!)