Re: Is servicing a car worth it?

snip

120000 miles on 5 litres of oil? I find that hard to believe. Alan.

I sort of agree. The fact that it didn't let go is in it's favour (and our accountants books).

The whole point of the experiment was to see if poor quality oil, blocked filter (probably), dirty air, etc, would make a significant difference in the running costs. It did, saving of around £1800 and nothing failed, just very lucky maybe?

I'm sure there are many people out there who have their cars dealer serviced and still have had 'major' failures on the vehicle.

I drove Car 2 (non serviced). I'm not a 'gentle' driver, but then I don't thrash cars like a lot of company drivers do - I get paid per mile, so the less fuel I use, the more money I make.

Clive

Heh! I'll pass on the one that hasn't had an oil change in 120,000 miles, thanks!

Peter

Makes a mockery of the service intervals - although IIRC new vectra is now

20k between oil changes. Sounds fair enough really, servicing (apart from cambelt) is only wear items and really nothing is replaced until about 60k, air filters just become more restrictive, no big deal as airflow is metered and fuel balanced to match you'll just lose top end power. Plugs get less efficient (although on an LPG car they probably last longer due to the purity of the fuel) Oil / oil filter would be worrying to me,. would have to at least change it once to make sure decent stuff was in in the first place, £90 at dealer prices but still less than £1850. Fuel filters again probably less critical on an LPG car.

The sooner the law changes tying waranty to dealer maintenance the better, my local garages are still

Dave Baker waffled on in a quite bewildering manner to produce...

weirdly,. from my own experience with an LPG Transit van, the oil never seems to get contaminated in that either.. and that's done about 150000 miles on LPG, and is serviced in the usual Transit manner (clear copies of the Mirror, remove empty Embassy filter packets from the dash, check tyre pressures, change cambelt every 60000) and it's still running sweetly.

An employer has a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work Act and also the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, they must look beyond the saving money by skipping services issue and consider the greater implications of this. If a major component responsible for driver or other road users safety fails, e.g. brakes, and an accident occurs the company would get hammered by the HSE. It is reasonably forseeable that the brakes may wear and other components fail. It is purely false economy.

Andy

Andy

Hi Good point Andy, and what about MPG. The MPG may be affected by poor engine efficiency and wheel bearings, brakes ect. Nigel

manufacturers

This was not an ad-hoc 'game' to save a couple of thousand pounds. Both vehicles were inspected at 6 month intervals by external DOT examiners. Both vehicles also passed an MOT at the end of the 3 year experiment.

I for one (a qualified vehicle examiner), would not drive any vehicle that was not roadworthy. I suspect there are thousands of 3 year old vehicles that have never seen a garage, let alone have such thorough examinations every 6 months.

Clive

Thank you for sharing that. I can believe every word. I generally buy a car as a disposable item. The threat of a big bill and it goes to the scrap yard. I've never had one for 120k though!

I would be interested to know if the "full service history" makes a difference to the value. Could you possibly divulge the auction proceeds for each car?

I'd had similar thoughts, after one of my technicians 'forgot' to have his car serviced for 60,000 miles. The oil was awfully watery, but other than that you couldn't tell the difference between it and the other cars.

Ten or twenty years ago, most people would be wary of buying a 100,000 mile car, but ironically it would be the body which would disintegrate first. We now have better bodies on most cars, but they're worthless after 6 years because the market for 6-year old cars is on the floor regardless of the mileage.

I think that the cheapest motoring might be buying ex-fleet cars at three years and running them as disposable?

I'd be very interested in knowing what the engine is like on the non-serviced car.

Here is the reason that cars should be forced to have MOTs from year one.

I assume you're pretty confident all the suspension bushes are OK?

I question your qualification as a vehicle examiner. Are you one of the same examiners who check HGVs?

Many people won't touch a car without one.

A better test would be to sell them privately. I bet =A31000 you'll have=20 a hell of a job selling a Vectra with 120k on that's never had a=20 service.

--=20 ________________________ Conor Turton conor snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com ICQ:31909763 ________________________

I'd go with that - I've had cars on fleet that are shagged after year one

Just so. It must be reassuring to know that you are not the only f****it about, and it must be said that I am basing my judgement here on only 1days worth of your opinionated inaccurate drivel.

Not that have anything against such FSH people, after all they pay my wages, just for stamping their little books and wiping a greasy rag over the steering wheel ;-} or summat.

(service history)

Well I'm basing my judgement on many months of Coners s**te but I have to agree with you, he's a f****it.

John

My guess is there wont be a big difference. People who buy cars with 120k on the clock expect a few owners and not many documents. I generally like to get some documents but how the car sounds and what it looks like underneath are much more important. FSH and a twisted chassis are not unheard of.

Thanks again.

A better test would be to sell them privately. I bet £1000 you'll have a hell of a job selling a Vectra with 120k on that's never had a service.

-- ________________________ Conor Turton conor snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com ICQ:31909763 ________________________

For Christ sake if you're going to have a go at least have the decency to spell my name right and have a go at me for something I'm guilty of. I said many, not all or even most. Surely you've noticed how Quentin Willson et all ram "Must have history" down peoples throats at every opportunity?