Is car servicing really necessary ?

goldspanners

pingu wrote: »

i was told by an insurance estimate man(the ones who come to check your car when you had an accident)

that as long as you change oil and filter regularly you don't need service etc...

i understand that for new cars its different!

please bear in mind this was an insurance inspector that told you this,not a mechanic.
whats different for new cars?

Optimist

goldspanners wrote: »

no you dont,you can get it done by an idependant garage,as long as they use the correct oil and genuine toyota parts and are VAT registered your warranty will still be intact.

If I can just add. You should get a receipt which should include the serial numbers of the parts used to prove they used genuine parts, Plus get your servicing booklet stamped

Note this is only for servicing, not work to be done under warranty that still needs to be done at a franchised garage

Conor_3

pingu wrote: »

i was told by an insurance estimate man(the ones who come to check your car when you had an accident)

that as long as you change oil and filter regularly you don't need service etc...

i understand that for new cars its different!

You were told wrong. Changing oil and filter doesn't inspect the brakes or the suspension components or the steering and it doesn't change the brake fluid, the pollen filters, the antifreeze, the air filter, the spark plugs, the fuel filter etc etc etc etc.

That's why he's getting paid £250 a week to go look at cars and a mechanic is getting £500 a week to repair them.

D_e_n_i_s_e

my honda civic 1999 last had it service when it had 70,000 on the clock. since then iv managed to get it up to 120,000 miles. all i have in the boots is a 5L can of Castrol GTX magnatec and some coolant. when i need to i simply add it.

In rip off britain a service would end up costing more than the car, furthermore having gone without one for 50,000 miles just proves servicing is just a money making scam.

my other half has a flashy car and every now and again summut always goes wrong and he gets it fixed at the cost of an arm and a leg. I sometimes think the BMW manufactur have deliberatley set up things to fail on a timer, a warning or an error message flashes, car has nothing wrong and he pays somthing into the hundreds to get the random fault code erased. Why else do they not include servicing as part of there exorbitant purchase cost?

On the other hand i seriously think that most young people should stay on in education till they are 18 and between 16-18yrs they ought to be taught useful stuff, that is beneficial to themselves and there families stuff such as organising finances (so that they dont end up in masses of debt), basic plumbing, electrical wiring, healthy cooking, buying your first home, first aid course and basic servicing of cars - In general the stuff that most people usually have no idea of and hence get ripped off on.

goldspanners

D_e_n_i_s_e wrote: »

my honda civic 1999 last had it service when it had 70,000 on the clock. since then iv managed to get it up to 120,000 miles. all i have in the boots is a 5L can of Castrol GTX magnatec and some coolant. when i need to i simply add it.

In rip off britain a service would end up costing more than the car, furthermore having gone without one for 50,000 miles just proves servicing is just a money making scam.

I seriously think that most young people should stay on in education till they are 18 and between 16-18 they ought to be taught useful stuff, that is beneficial to themselves and there families stuff such organising finances (so that they dont end up in debt), basic plumbing, electrical stuff, healthy cooking, and first aid course and basic servicing of cars (which is usually stuff that most people get ripped off on)

i wonder if it will go another 50,000 without one faultlesly???

so you think 2 years at the age of 16 is enough time to learn even the basics of 5 trades?
are you time served at anything?
with comments like these i doubt it.:rolleyes:

anewman

D_e_n_i_s_e wrote: »

In rip off britain a service would end up costing more than the car, furthermore having gone without one for 50,000 miles just proves servicing is just a money making scam.

Wouldn't like to buy your car off you. I suspect the brakes would go soft under heavy braking due to having old brake fluid in there. An obvious safety issue. I also suspect your engine will conk out when you least expect it and be unrepairable.

I got my car for nothing. It doesn't mean I don't check the condition of as many things as possible and change the oil, air filter etc as needed. I have a fuel filter, new air filter and brake fluid ready to do the jobs. Maintaining a car costing more than the car is the way things are.

If you are really concerned about being ripped off, buy yourself a Haynes manual and some tools, then give things a go yourself.

Surprisingly there are some garages around that don't rip you off. Got a centre exhaust fitted nearly a year ago for £40 which was the cheapest price around, and cheaper than buying the genuine part alone from dealer. Went back a few days ago as I could feel a leak I thought was coming from the rear exhaust, expecting to pay £36.95 for a rear exhaust. They checked it and it was coming from the clamp, they remembered fitting it (which I am surprised at given it was nearly a year ago) and renewed the clamp and sorted a snapped exhaust hanger for free. They even noticed a suspension rubber bush was out of place and levered it back into place with a screw driver and didn't ask for any money (when he showed me the suspension rubber bush I was wondering if he was going to try sell me a shock absorber).

I suspect "building your own home" would be a better eucational experience, given the state of the house market. Growing vegetables and being self-sufficient would be good too. Or even how to emigrate to another country to try even out the numbers.

D_e_n_i_s_e

my car passed its MOT in January 2008

According to Vehicle and Operator Services Agency my car was roadworthy on the date of inspection (and hopefully still is)

VOSA is a part of the Department of Transport and subsequently the UK GOVT

servicing does not prove roadworthiness only a MOT does that.

my car passed the MOT hence its roadworthy.

'Brakes - condition, operation and performance (efficiency test). Suitable vehicles will be tested on a roller brake tester. Vehicles such as those with permanent 4-wheel drive will be tested either on a suitable road using a properly calibrated and maintained decelerometer or, if one is installed at the test station, a plate brake tester'

source http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Motoring/OwningAVehicle/Mot/DG_10016070

the following was only a suggestion Goldspanner!!!
Its suprising in this day and age with all the technology so few people have even an understanding of the basics of anything. it would be good if schools and colleges could warrant some time to help them appreciate the BASICS of things such as plumbing/electrical/car servicing etc.

'On the other hand i seriously think that most young people should stay on in education till they are 18 and between 16-18yrs they ought to be taught useful stuff, that is beneficial to themselves and there families stuff such as organising finances (so that they dont end up in masses of debt), basic plumbing, electrical wiring, healthy cooking, buying your first home, first aid course and basic servicing of cars - In general the stuff that most people usually have no idea of and hence get ripped off on'

anewman

There are many many things an MOT does not check, and most MOT test centres are not equipped with rollers to test braking efficiency so cars often do not receive such a test, and it is not a legal requirement of the test.

The fact is, if your brake fluid is a good few years old it will have absorbed lots of water and it will look very dark when it is meant to be clear. It will be prone to boiling under heavy stress, which is not good for braking effciency if the brakes are used alot in a short time.

An MOT also does not remove the wheels and brake drums etc that would be done when getting a service. The first you are probably likely to know that your brake friction material isn't that good is you'll hear scraping noises when braking. This is likely to take the drums/discs along with it costing far more to repair than if had someone checked them properly as part of a service.

Also 50k miles on same oil will kill the engine.

Images of same type of engine. Top one has oil changed properly. The bottom one hadn't had oil changed in 20k miles and lots of short trips. As you can see thick sludge has built-up inside the engine.

Keleva

I take my car for a service once a year whether it needs it or not!! (joke)

Seriously, I do 10,000 miles a year max. I have a Japanese car and bought it partly because of its reliability. Apart from consumables expected ina 5 year old car, I have had one sensor replaced (something to do with the air/fuel mixture?) The main dealer wanted mega bucks to do it (but it was cheaper to get them to diagnose the fault) so I took it to my usual "back street" garage who charged half the price.

As for servicing at a main dealers (when it was still under warranty - thatnks for the advice for when I buy a new car in future BTW), when I took it in at 3 years (and 1 month) for a service, I was told I needed £1200 of work on the steering arms (or something, don't ask me, cos I can't remember ) Told it had to be done asap or risk long term/expensive damage. Straight down to the local guy who took wheels off and did full inspection ..... nothing needed doing and 2 years later on, it is still the same as it was. My mechanic always checks when I go back too, just to keep an eye on the slight knocking noise. He says that he will replace it (whatever it is LOL) when necessary and not before.

However, I am savvy enough to check my own fluids, types, wipers etc. Still, modern cars are a lot more complicated than the TC Marina I had the joy of helping maintain 20+ years ago :rotfl:

tomstickland

In rip off britain a service would end up costing more than the car, furthermore having gone without one for 50,000 miles just proves servicing is just a money making scam.

I bet I could transform your car after that length of time with:

new spark plugs £12
oil filter £4
oil change £6
air filter change £5
clean out inlet system £4

total £31

I could probably also transform the handling with new suspension bushes, track rod ends, top mounts etc.

I always do the above to cars when I buy them and they run a lot smoother afterwards.

Also brake fluid turns green as it absorbs water and braking performance is affected.

Brake discs and pads wear out.

Clutch wears.

A car is a mechanical system and naturally wears out with use. All the parts that wear are easily replaceable. Servicing is called "preventative maintenance". ie: it stops expensive and serious problems building up for the future. I once read an article written by Vauxhall tuner Bill Blydenstein in which he said that well maintained engines had less wear at 150,000 miles than poorly maintained engines at 50,000. It's because oil becomes contaminated with combustion debris which then forms a grinding paste.