Is car servicing really necessary ?

unrich

I had a car but cycled to work. The car did about 3k a year. So instead of 6 monthly services I just took it in every year (or so). I don't think it did any harm. I checked the oil,water and tyres when I went on a long trip. The car was an old one but it never broke down on me.

If you're not super confident I suppose you have to pay for any expertise.

So "no" is the answer, servicing (to the manufacturers specs) is not necessary, but only the owner can decide.

jrrowleyws

Conor wrote: »

AN MOT WILL NOT TELL YOU THAT YOUR BRAKE PADS ARE LOW

Mine did, I had an advisory notice.

An MOT won't tell you your cambelt is about to fail which can wreck the engine.

Neither will a service. Never met any garage that dissasembles the cambelt housing each year to have a look! Plus a cambelt can fail at any time even if its brand new -called sods law!

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.

Most people get their car MOT'd and serviced at the same time so a knackered CV gaitor would still have to wait.

Balls to paying a few hundred quid for someone to have a poke about my car, ill poke it myself and use common sense.

-Oil change £20
-Air filter £15
-Plugs £5 each ~

Some people change their spark plugs every year when they are doing hardly any miles, whats the point!

jammin_2

jrrowleyws wrote: »

Balls to paying a few hundred quid for someone to have a poke about my car, ill poke it myself and use common sense.

-Oil change £20
-Air filter £15
-Plugs £5 each ~

Some people change their spark plugs every year when they are doing hardly any miles, whats the point!

Precisely.

Conor_3

Because they corrode...

A car that is seldom used needs servicing simply because components seize, corrode and rubber components start to crack.

Conor_3

jrrowleyws wrote: »

Balls to paying a few hundred quid for someone to have a poke about my car, ill poke it myself and use common sense.

Can you tell me how you check a track control arm for wear? Can you tell me how you check a balljoint for wear? Can you tell me how you check your suspension bushes for play? Do you strip your brakes down and clean the muck out of the pads sliders on the calipers?

Oh and you got an advisory for your pads because the tester could see them - which is exactly what I said.

A service will tell you if your cambelt is worn and brand new ones don't fail. It'll definitely tell you if your power steering pump drive belt is worn or perhaps you don't mind losing power steering when driving down the road.

Please tell me what experience and qualifications you have as a mechanic seeing as you're telling a mechanic who was apprentice trained with main dealership experience about vehicle maintenance.

I find people like you who think that an MOT and a short engine service is sufficient quite frightening. You're the ones likely to be broken down on the hard shoulder putting a poor recovery drivers life at risk or causing an accident from mechanical failure just cos you couldn't be bothered to look after a machine properly that weighs over a tonne and can do 100MPH.

I take it then that you have absolutely no problem with lorries that are maintained to the same poor standard as your car then. Or are you a hypocrite who comments about how disgusting it is that lorries found with defects are poorly maintained whilst driving round in a car that is just as bad?

moonrakerz

Conor wrote: »

I find people like you who think that an MOT and a short engine service is sufficient quite frightening. You're the ones likely to be broken down on the hard shoulder putting a poor recovery drivers life at risk or causing an accident from mechanical failure just cos you couldn't be bothered to look after a machine properly that weighs over a tonne and can do 100MPH.

I take it then that you have absolutely no problem with lorries that are maintained to the same poor standard as your car then. Or are you a hypocrite who comments about how disgusting it is that lorries found with defects are poorly maintained whilst driving round in a car that is just as bad?

You really are as subtle as a kick in the ***** ! but I must agree with you.

I have been driving for more years than I care to remember, I have always had my cars serviced iaw the schedule, usually by a dealer. I can say with my hand on my heart that I have never "broken down" on the road.
Every Bank Holiday, without fail, the AA & RAC report record numbers of breakdowns, nearly all caused by lack of even basic maintenance.

I also believe that there is a direct relationship between the amount of "car stuff" in the boot of a particular car and the likelihood of that vehicle breaking down.
For example: why carry jump leads ? Either you wish to act as an unpaid RAC man (whatever turns you on !), or you have constant doubts as to your car's ability to start. In that case a new battery or a check of your starting circuit is called for.

Banana23

Conor wrote: »

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 split CV boot £300???

You can buy a really good CV boot for £10 (I should know I sell them), well and then you pay your labour on top but that doesn't come to £300. Not in a million years. You don't cause a significant amount of damage to the drive shaft if you drive around for 10 months with a split CV boot!!

MOT's are designed to pick up all faults! If a service was that important it would be obligatory. I have never had a service done on any of my cars and all my cars have always been running like clockwork. In my eyes services are a money making scheme.

cowbutt

moonrakerz wrote: »

I also believe that there is a direct relationship between the amount of "car stuff" in the boot of a particular car and the likelihood of that vehicle breaking down.
For example: why carry jump leads ? Either you wish to act as an unpaid RAC man (whatever turns you on !), or you have constant doubts as to your car's ability to start. In that case a new battery or a check of your starting circuit is called for.

Some of us just like to be prepared for the most common eventualities!

For example, if your alternator goes, and drains your battery, a jump start might be enough to get you home again. Not having the leads means a recovery will definitely be necessary. Not all faults are easily predictable (even with regular servicing) or occur in the comfort of one's own driveway!

I routinely carry coolant concentrate, screenwash, oil, jump leads, spare bulbs and fuses and a Haynes manual, just in case. With my previous two cars, I've also had spare auxilliary drive belts (I probably wouldn't be able to fit them myself, but an RAC engineer or similar might well be able to, I hope).

rikbar

Banana23 wrote: »

An split CV boot £300???

You can buy a really good CV boot for £10 (I should know I sell them), well and then you pay your labour on top but that doesn't come to £300. Not in a million years. You don't cause a significant amount of damage to the drive shaft if you drive around for 10 months with a split CV boot!!

MOT's are designed to pick up all faults!

It seems that although you sell parts you are not a mechanic. Driving around with a split or completely damage gaiter will accelerate wear on the drive shaft and CV joint thus leading to approximately £250-300 of work at your local garage, which wouldn't need doing as often if the car was regularly maintained. As with all servicing, it is there to maintain and prolong the life of the car as well as ensure it is kept in optimum condition which is both safe for the driver and others around him/her.

The MOT checks whether the car passes the minimum requirement for being on the road, it most definitely does not check "all faults", a suprise to many ill informed people. A service is a check up on the health of something which you put your and your families safety in the hands of. While some garages may use this as an excuse to charge for unneeded work, others are honest, like in every profession. You just need to find one you trust

Servicing becomes more important as a car gets older as damage caused through corrosion is more likely to become an issue. Older cars however are slightly easier to maintain due to the lack of complex computer and electronic devices.

While we all hate paying out money for what appears to be doing nothing, prevention is always better than cure, and a bit spent now might save a lot later.

My thoughts anyway

Rikbar

Aliktren

spiritus wrote: »

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.

The trick is to find a garage that actually does the service properly, get recommendations from friends at work, we use a local garage and have done for the last 14 years, no matter how new or old the car, we know they do a good job, the cars always feel superb, and our bills for intra service maintenance are almost nothing as they've spotted most problems before they are issues.

Same with any tradesman, you simply need to find the good honest ones who dont just see you as a potential pound sign