Service

[reeree1805]

Hi i always get a full service with my mot. Was wondering what everyone else does as this yr i could do with saving some pennies so thought i might get a basic service with my mot ??

What does everyone else do x

Depends on the age of your car, or, more truthfully the 'value' of your car.
I've never had any sort of services, but then I've always driven older cars.

All cars need servicing, regardless of how okd they are

It is possible to be selective about what is serviced thereby saving some money. Depending on it's age you could just have the MOT. The manual probably lists a schedule of what should be looked at at various time periods so if it had a full service last year you can probably ignore or only do an 'interim' service. If you are planning to sell it eventually you should probably go 'by the book' as purchasers like to see the stamps in the record card. If you are making sure that the oils etc are properly filled then it is less likely you will have a problem. The MOT will highlight any 'dangerous' issues.

Well that's weird Lonicera, I've managed to survive over 35 years of driving (as have my cars) without paying for "services". What is it you think they 'need' ?

Do you do things like oil changes yourself, regas the aircon etc?

I admit that I know very little about cars, but know that they all need a bit of TLC, which is why I have mine serviced as I haven't a clue.

Its 2013 car .
Maybe just the basic service will do . Thanks guys x

There’s different types of servicing as different things wear out at different times. Each is individual to the car and you should have a service schedule with the car. What that means for example is every year you need the oil and oil filter changed and every 3 years you may need the air, pollen filter changed (this is just an example). Firstly, you need to clarify what services you have had annually to date and also what is required this year. A service also checks for things like wear on tyres and condition of brakes, but equally as you’re having an MOT at the same time basic road worthiness is checked then. Also, smaller local garages are usually much cheaper than the Brand garages (Honda dealer for example) and buying after market parts cheaper than the Honda (example) genuine parts. You may find this year you can get a basic oil/filter service for about £100 (roughly) plus the cost of the MOT. Look for offers and get a quote first.

And there’s no such thing as a different service for a more expensive car... yes the parts might be more expensive to buy but the work required is generally the same (filters, belts, brakes etc) and the labour the same. Some cars might require 2 hours labour to fit a cam belt, some might require an hour. That’s got nothing to do with the purchase price or age of the car..

If you do the basic checks yourself, such as oil level, water and tyre wear then you can probably skip a service for now. The MOT would tell you if there was anything unroadworthy (safety) but they wouldn't check oils or water. Unless you really thrash your car it will probably run for years without much attention. If you look at Top Gear on things like the runs across Africa once you get over the sub school kid mentality you get an idea how much you can abuse a car before it actually stops.
Seriously low on engine oil and loss of radiator water are the things that would make a car 'uneconomic' to repair if taken to an extreme as they could cause serious engine damage but most else can be fixed relatively cheaply IF they were to fail.

Good advice @outabout.

Oil and water. Get these checked.

The basic oil and water checks and the necessary filling points often have bright colour caps to show where they are. The manual, or youtube will show you how to do these sort of things. The hardest bit might be getting the bonnet open!

I’ll be making sure I never buy a car from BackforGood. Cars need basic maintenance, even just a oil/filter change.

As others have said OP have a look at the service book in your car, it will tell you the service intervals and what order the minor/major services should go in and what is included. Are you using a main dealer? If so switch to a small independent. A minor service which will probably just be oil/filter and a check over will be around £100. A bigger service on a petrol for example would usually include oil/filter, spark plugs, cabin filter, air filter, fuel filter. You should probably get your brake fluid changed every 3 years and coolant every 3-5 years. Some cars will also specify gearbox oil change intervals but if not it’s probably a good idea to get it done every 8 years/80,000 miles. Regular servicing will obviously keep your car reliable for longer, maintain its fuel economy and keep its value and saleability. When buying a car, if it hasn’t been serviced according to schedule, walk away.

Exactly Outabout.

Lonicera _ I've never had a car with aircon, so that's not relevant.