fiesta first service

Get it done at a dealer although you could try working on them about the price.

They will also use proper Ford oil and not some cheap stuff.

They will validate the warranty and also check for recalls etc. A proper main dealer service history is not necessarily important for the car but it is important if you want to keep the p/ex value up.

Pay the money, and next time you buy a new car work out the costs of servicing before you buy it, not after.

cheers, clive

Oil change. 10 mins work, oil costs them b*gger all. Very easy money for them.

You are tied in by the warranty - although, I have been told that, technically, you are allowed to get the work done elsewhere - can you imagine argueing that one if you need to make a claim ?

Steve

That's not a horrific price. They'll change the oil, perhaps drop the water out of the fuel filter or whatever it is they do with a diesel, and check things like tyre pressures / tread depths. Won't take them long but you can guarantee that £99 includes £50 worth of labour when it probably only takes them 10 or 20 minutes to do. IMO the combination of warranty and service history is probably worth £99 a year, whereas I wouldn't bother on an older car.

Tosh, there's _far_ more than a simple oil change!

Try using Ford Rapid Fit.

They are usually on the same site as the dealer & carry out servicing without the frills (i.e. no car valeting, no offer of a courtesy car etc), but the servicing is carried out to Ford standards. The work is also registered as an official service on the Ford system for warranty purposes & your service history is stamped up.

It won't save you a fortune, but will reduce the costs by about 20% in my experience.

Maybe, but will they use the correct grade? Maybe, maybe not. When I went into my Ford dealer for oil on my Fiesta Van (TDI, 2000 model, not the latest TDCI), I always insisted on 5W/30, as that was what was specified in the handbook (the same stuff that they recommend for Zetec engines). Once I settled for 10W/40. The parts bloke told me that 10W/40 was the stuff that they filled up all their oil tanks with for the servicing department, so that's what it'd get put in it if it got serviced there. Bloody great - so a Ford main dealer is putting 10W/40 in every vehicle they service, completely regardless of what it should have put in it.

I'm glad I service my own vehicles.

Peter

Go on, tell us what they do. Incidentally, even if some checks are scheduled, you only have to work on a main dealer serviced car to see that they very often dont get done. However it is good ( for main dealers ) that you hold such opinions :-)

Steve

At Kermit's 30K service, my dealership told me that the front discs were getting a bit thin, "with your use, Dervy, you should be changing them just before the next service is due."

"The brake fluid doesn't need changing yet, although there's a tiny amount of water in there, so at the next service."

Okay, well I have a small trusted Ford dealership that I use, which helps. They know my name, the car's name, and they're honest enough to point stuff out that doesn't need doing yet. They know how Kermit's driven, and so can reliably tell me when a certain component is likely to need replacement.

The first summer I had the Mondeo TD, they checked the glow plugs told me that she'd dropped one of the glow plugs, but since I'd not notice until the autumn, I could get away with replacing them later in the year. So she ran for July, August and September on three glowies, and I had the set replaced in October. Sure enough, in late September, she was behaving as though she was missing a glowplug (or two).

I've used this place for ten years. They're not the cheapest (Ford dealership, after all), but I trust them and they do a fine job that I can tell.

However, unfortunately all too many main dealerships are truly appalling! :(