Is There Any Need

[teacake44]

When you look at most cars that are on the road now, lots of electronics, fuel injection, sealed units of all kinds, does it really make any sense paying out £200/ £300 for a so called service.

Years ago when all cars had spark plugs, ( I know many do now) put they last a lot longer, points that wore out, or needed adjustment, most of the joints on cars had grease nipples to fill, so you could say it was worth paying out to have a service. Apart from an oil change, and filter, plus air filter, its just a case of keeping an eye on, break fluid, water, and oil levels, steering fluid. so is it really value for money. I don't think so.

[teacake44]

Hello bf, that's just the point I'm trying to make. :)

[banker_frank]

Sorry, I thought you were suggesting a service wasn't necessary.

Since I bought my car I get an email every year from the Dealership inviting me to arrange an appointment for a service, special customer rates £350. Needless to say the independent garage up the road gets my custom. A few months ago I got a warning light and had to take my car to the dealership for diagnostics . They charged me £120 to plug it into a computer then advised an £800 fix. Went to independent garage who bought the parts and fitted for £250.

[Ryzen]

tea...there ARE many 2 year old death traps on our roads.

[dannyk13]

I no longer drive, but when I did I had my car serviced at my local Volkswagen dealership at a cost of £99 which included collection and return of my vehicle.

[teacake44]

^^^ Can you tell us all what ones, then we can get in touch with the manufactures, and let then know.??

[KARL]

Frequency of attention is the crux of this matter, modern cars are extremely reliable and compulsory inspections have all but completely done away with structural failure in traffic. You may find you must have an "official" service at regular intervals if you want to maintain the validity of your guarantee, now several years long. I am inclined to agree with you beyond that, although lots of people evidently like the thought of the sign of the spanner being made over the bonnet and sprinkles of holy fluid administered. And then having paid out the money must mean the car is fine - keeps people employed.

[teacake44]

15.15 ^^

[Ryzen]

tea....only affects cars with tyres :-)

[teacake44]

Ryzen, URGENT!! Your post at 15.15, we need to know which 2yr old cars are death traps.

[10ClarionSt]

As mentioned by others, the old type of service has gone. Now it's mainly just a check that you're paying for.

[Ryzen]

..ONES WITH DEFECTIVE TYRES!!!

[bhg481]

Ryzen - and brakes and lights.

[Ryzen]

..and suspension issues due to potholes..

[bhg481]

and windscreens and windscreen wipers. Remember the Lancia Betas several years ago - failed the first MoT on rusty suspension mounts.

[teacake44]

Any of the three you mention, would be picked up by an experienced car owner/ driver,or the police, and very unlikely on a two year old car, unless it as covered more than average yearly mileage.

[teacake44]

bhg481, we are talking todays hi-tec car.

[bhg481]

teacake - apart from rusty suspension mounts, how does high-tech affect the condition of the car - windscreens crack, wiper blades wear out, brakes and tyres wear out, suspension suffers damage. How do you check the braking efficiency without proper equipment and how many people bother to check their lights, even just before an Mot, as it's one of the main causes of failure.

[teacake44]

If the car you have is in that much of a state and you are driving it and you don't know, you should have your licence taken off you, if your car is in that state, then it will fail an M.O.T. like it should do. If you say you can't check your own lights, before an M.O.T then you should not be driving, its dead easy to check your lights, one of the easiest things to do, you turn them on, get out of the car and check them, to check your brake lights, just ask someone to stand behind the car when you put your foot on the peddle, or if on own, back up to a wall the night before the M.O.T, PRESS BRAKE ( OR YOU WILL HIT THE WALL) and you will see both brake lights come on, job done. OMG

[bhg481]

I agree absolutely, teacake; I do all those checks and it's 20+ years since I had a MoT failure. It's a fact that many people just can't be bothered to check the basic things - you can't tell me you've never seen a car with a blown bulb, bald tyre, cracked windscreen, worn blades etc. The MoT is there to protect us from people who can't be bothered to do the checks and three years is ample time to find any one of those faults appearing in a new car, so making it fail its first MoT.

[Ryzen]

Many cars now have 20,000 mile service intervals and many tyres need changing within that mileage..especially on the pot hole infested roads of today. Ask any MOT tester what the biggest point of failure is on the first test and he will say tyres. Not all tyre damage can be seen without crawling beneath the car.