Is car servicing really necessary ?

spiritus

Apologies for writing such a mischievous title but I wanted to provoke a healthy debate on this subject.

I've come to the conclusion that when I take my car to the garage for it's service the garage will invariably tell me that this and that needs doing and that I should really agree to having all the work done as it makes the car more efficient and safer......... blah blah blah

I also realise that it's clearly in the garage's interests to recommend work needs doing as they make more money that way.

So why don't we service other things in our lives ? I am certain that if I took my computer for an annual service then an engineer would tell me what he could do to improve peformance and no doubt he would be right. The question is can my computer run satisfactorily without it being serviced and I would have to answer "yes".

The same with televisions. I'm sure if I gave my TV to an engineer and asked him to service it then he would clean it up, maybe replace a few parts and then tell me it's better to service it than not to service it (and again he would be right) but is it really necessary ??

And for those who are about to reply by saying our safety is at risk if we don't service our cars then let's go down that road and ask why do we not all take health checks once a year ?

I don't have a problem paying for something that needs to be replaced but garages are biased in their opinion.

Would it not be better for an independent diagnostic centre to give your car a thororough check and then provide you with a list of essential and non essential repairs ? The important thing being that the diagnostic centre would NOT carry out repairs or recommend any garage who could.

iltisman

I own 3 vehicles 2 are classics and 1 from 2007 I service all 3 myself the 2 old vehicles require lots of work to keep in top condition but it is easy straight forward jobs that I can easily do.The 2007 car is a more complex issue but the safety critical areas are similar, brakes steering tyres etc.I have only once taken a car for a service as it had a complex electrical system and warning lights on the dash demanded a service.What a mistake that was £700 for an oil change etc (£96 for oil) and they made a mess of everything else they touched.
A new trend I have noticed is changing hydraulic fluid every couple of years, what next replacing all rubber items seals etc every 2 years like they do on helicopters.
If you must go to a garage for service go to a small independant that others have recomended but dont forget to do a weekly check yourself on tyres fluids etc.

Badger_Lady

I've never been led to believe that servicing was necessary, just beneficial. My parents would get their cars MOT'd every year and that was it. In my history, I've only owned cheap, old cars which I did minimum work on - therefore no servicing.

Now, for the first time, I've actually got a rather nice little convertible and I want to keep it nice and reliable - so I get it serviced in between each MOT. Funny enough, I've never so far been recommended extra work, they've just changed the lightbulbs / oil / aircon etc and given it back...

Jamp

If your TV or computer were subjected to the same conditions your car is (lots of vibration, left out in the rain, coated in salt in winter, etc) then yes, I would suggest they would need servicing very regularly! Cars have many moving parts which means friction which means wear, therefore they need inspection to assess the level of wear and need for servicing. It is, however, quite a wasteful business when you have to replace things like brake pads and disks or tyres in pairs or fours when only one has worn out. You could argue things like that are unnecessary but if you want good predictable (safe) performance from any dynamic system you need balance. For what it's worth, a good garage will be too busy to mess about doing unnecessary work.

DKLS

Comparing Cars and computers isnt really a valid one, Its cheaper and easier to replace my PC every 18months than to "service" it.
However my car does need servicing, in order for it to function in the way it should, I have just had a major service with cambelt, and yes the cost was high. But not as much as replacing a dead engine.

Badger_Lady

DKLS wrote: »

Comparing Cars and computers isnt really a valid one, Its cheaper and easier to replace my PC every 18months than to "service" it.
However my car does need servicing

Depends on the car - my computer is more expensive than any of my previous cars were! :rotfl:

Bob63

If you didn't have a car serviced how would you know when spark plugs, oil and filter, air filter etc needed changing? How would you know that your brake pads were dangerously low or the discs were getting thin and in need of replacement? Ditto wheel bearings, track rod ends, CV gaiters, etc.

Apart from changing consumables, most of what goes on in a service is checking whether items on the car need replacing. I can't see why anyone would think that isn't necessary.

Having said that, certain consumables changes can be avoided by changing to long-life items. A K&N air filter for example is good for years and probably only needs cleaning after 50,000 miles. Splitfire sparkplugs are good for 100,000 miles. I use both of these on my bikes.

Badger_Lady

^^ MOT

jammin_2

spiritus wrote: »

Would it not be better for an independent diagnostic centre to give your car a thororough check and then provide you with a list of essential and non essential repairs ? The important thing being that the diagnostic centre would NOT carry out repairs or recommend any garage who could.

It's called an MOT.

moonrakerz

jammin wrote: »

It's called an MOT.

An MOT only checks safety items (allegedly !), it wont tell you anything about the state of your clutch, gearbox, most of the engine, air con, etc, etc. It doesn't even check things like the quality of the brake fluid in your braking system.

Conor_3

jammin wrote: »

It's called an MOT.

AN MOT WILL NOT TELL YOU THAT YOUR BRAKE PADS ARE LOW OR THERE IS NO OIL OR WATER IN THE ENGINE. AN MOT CHECKS A SMALL AMOUNT OF THINGS RELATED TO SAFETY AND IS A VISUAL INSPECTION ONLY WITH NO DISMANTLING OF PARTS TO INSPECT.

It is perfectly feasible to take a car in to an MOT with shot brakes (worn out pads or leaking rear wheel cylinder) and it pass because the components can't be seen without dismantling and it passes on the rolling road tester.

An MOT won't tell you your cambelt is about to fail which can wreck the engine. An MOT could be 10 months after your CV gaiter has split by which time, it's fallen to bits and you're paying £300 for a new one. An MOT won't tell you your brake fluid is shot. An MOT won't tell you the oil in your engine is knackered. An MOT won't read all the fault codes your dashboard is telling you there are.

In short, those who think an MOT is sufficient obviously don't give a toss about the safety of everyone else using the road.