Do you service your car yourself?

Soldato
Joined
6 May 2004
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5,991
Location
Fareham
I did all the servicing on my old 320d myself. Was rated for 20k oil changes but I did it at around 12-15k. Took it from 58k to 165k with no problems at all and the only reason I ditched the car was because the gearbox went and potential risk of the camchain going (which those engines were well known for) didn't make it a sensible investment to repair in my opinion. Also did all the servicing on my wife's old S-Max myself at every 8-10k but only because it did relatively low mileage so I was doing it yearly rather than on miles driven. Took it from 138k to 171k miles and the engine was still solid when I got rid of it.

I tend to do the oil, oil filter, pollen filter and air filter every year or 12k miles or so and brake fluid every 2 years which is what most manufacturer specifications would be anyway. If my cars were autos the gearbox oil would be getting done according to manufacturer specification too.

I've also still got a 2009 Fiesta which I have personally taken from 7k miles to 125k miles when it was my daily driver. I've still got it and it's now on nearly 150k miles so it hasn't done much over the last 4-5 years. Again I've just been sticking to the manufacturer's service intervals which is every 12k miles or 1 year for an oil change plus filters etc. Engine still seems to be solid enough. Perhaps if I had a performance petrol I'd change the oil a little more regularly but I certainly wouldn't be concerned about running it to whatever the manufacturer's specified interval is.
 
Associate
Joined
25 Dec 2008
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918
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Norwich
I'm happy changing most parts on my car like oil/ filters brake discs and pads, air filters, spark plugs ht lead and coil pack etc, taking on some body work issues if i encounter them ( had a nice dent the other day i had to pull out) about the only things i havent tried my hand at is timing belt simply because i dont want to totally ruin my car if i make a mistake.
 
Associate
Joined
3 Feb 2019
Posts
747
I used to do all my own servicing/ repairs. But now it's a time/versus cost thing where I am better to pay my trusted garage to do everything and just do an hour or two extra work to cover it. The only exception is recently Mazda wanted £180 to change the front brake pads on my wife's year old car. Through principle I changed them myself in 45 minutes for £30
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
Posts
38,372
I used to do all my own servicing/ repairs. But now it's a time/versus cost thing where I am better to pay my trusted garage to do everything and just do an hour or two extra work to cover it. The only exception is recently Mazda wanted £180 to change the front brake pads on my wife's year old car. Through principle I changed them myself in 45 minutes for £30

I take it you are a top lawyer that charges £200+ an hour?

Otherwise I'd like to know where else you make minor service -£200+ and major service -£400+ In an hour or two?

I'm talking the going rate to service a new premium brand like Lexus/BMW

Or do you drive a Dacia and it's £40 for a service?
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Jun 2012
Posts
10,804
But yet as I understand it you put it through a "special" MOT rather than paying out and replacing the Cat?

/facepalm
Funnily enough.... I managed to source a new cat. So that's going on soon. I look forward to not smelling exhaust smells.

Also... £80 in oil a year is nowt Vs £800 on a cat lol.
 
Soldato
Joined
3 Jun 2012
Posts
10,804
+1
Opieoils suggest at least £28.99 (Fuchs Titan) as the cheapest for the required 6 litres for an MPS
No one uses 5w30 unless they want a dead k04 turbo.

I have a barrel of 5w40. Works out at approx £15 per 5.7L oil change...

I can do 4 changes and still be cheaper than ONE service at a garage. And I can guarantee my engine is better off :p
 
Associate
Joined
21 Dec 2016
Posts
54
Location
Newcastle Under Lyme
Very much depends if I can be bothered or not. Serviced my saab myself yesterday but last oil change of the mini got a garage to do it (although I was having a sump fitted so was a cheat).
Also would never go by condition based on a bmw, thats what leads to engine failures, timing chains etc on the mini.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Nov 2006
Posts
23,712
No one uses 5w30 unless they want a dead k04 turbo.

I have a barrel of 5w40. Works out at approx £15 per 5.7L oil change...

I can do 4 changes and still be cheaper than ONE service at a garage. And I can guarantee my engine is better off :p

Why not do it every 1k?
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Nov 2006
Posts
23,712
I did all the servicing on my old 320d myself. Was rated for 20k oil changes but I did it at around 12-15k. Took it from 58k to 165k with no problems at all and the only reason I ditched the car was because the gearbox went and potential risk of the camchain going (which those engines were well known for) didn't make it a sensible investment to repair in my opinion. Also did all the servicing on my wife's old S-Max myself at every 8-10k but only because it did relatively low mileage so I was doing it yearly rather than on miles driven. Took it from 138k to 171k miles and the engine was still solid when I got rid of it.

I tend to do the oil, oil filter, pollen filter and air filter every year or 12k miles or so and brake fluid every 2 years which is what most manufacturer specifications would be anyway. If my cars were autos the gearbox oil would be getting done according to manufacturer specification too.

I've also still got a 2009 Fiesta which I have personally taken from 7k miles to 125k miles when it was my daily driver. I've still got it and it's now on nearly 150k miles so it hasn't done much over the last 4-5 years. Again I've just been sticking to the manufacturer's service intervals which is every 12k miles or 1 year for an oil change plus filters etc. Engine still seems to be solid enough. Perhaps if I had a performance petrol I'd change the oil a little more regularly but I certainly wouldn't be concerned about running it to whatever the manufacturer's specified interval is.

What, so your engines didn't self destruct due to not doing 2-3k oil changes like @Diagro?
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Jul 2004
Posts
3,268
Location
Thunderdome
I've used main dealers for servicing over the last 15+ years, though I'm picky with which ones I use. For any disposable cars that aren't worth much, I use a friendly mechanic.

I tend to change cars a lot and I only buy those that have a full main dealer service history, especially performance cars. So I'll never buy one from someone who serviced it himself unless he was a master technician or similar and maybe even then I wouldn't bother. I want to know the car has been serviced properly and the buyer has forked out decent money to do it, not tried to shave off a few quid wherever possible. Over the years I've often seen situations where people have bought expensive cars and then couldn't afford to service them properly, or used cheap nasty parts rather than oem. I was looking at an RS4 the other week as a winter car for the family, it had ditch finder specials on a near 40k car?
 
Soldato
Joined
2 Apr 2004
Posts
2,931
I do it myself and keep the parts invoices. Its an old car now so there's no resale value to be lost.

The comment earlier about tfsi engines made me chuckle, mine goes through a fair bit between services.
 
Permabanned
Joined
13 Apr 2017
Posts
969
Location
scotland
If people want to needlessly change oil every 3K miles and brake fluid every year then good luck,
but I'm happy to follow the service manual, I think the technicians at Ford and Jaguar are more informed re fluid longevity than
the Duncan Thicketts of this world.

I wonder if they get a haircut every week, wash their hands 40 times a day and are first in the queue at the dentist every 6 months ?
 

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Soldato
Joined
21 Nov 2004
Posts
13,500
Location
Wishaw
the taxis get done every 10k on the dot. genuine filters and decent oil all bought in bulk for example we buy our genuine Ford oil filters in for somewhere less than £4 a piece in bulk. same with decent oil (cheap enough when your buying 205 litres at a time,) servicing costs bugger all when your buying parts like that, we tend to keep most consumables in stock (everything on fleet we have at least 2 of now so makes sense to keep stuff on the shelf that will wear eventually. especially handy when you get calls off drivers on a saturday night err pads are grinding or i've mangled a kerb and theres something broken.

funnily enough we have a fleet of 10 cars now probably covering 800k a year between them and we've never fitted injectors or turbos to anything. Fuel all comes from BP filters are genuine ford and good quality oil every 10k seems to do the trick . i'd imagine we will at some point just through laws of averages but the only major failures we have had in recent years have been sub 6 month old and straight back to the dealer
 
Permabanned
Joined
13 Apr 2017
Posts
969
Location
scotland
the taxis get done every 10k on the dot. genuine filters and decent oil all bought in bulk for example we buy our genuine Ford oil filters in for somewhere less than £4 a piece in bulk. same with decent oil (cheap enough when your buying 205 litres at a time,) servicing costs bugger all when your buying parts like that, we tend to keep most consumables in stock (everything on fleet we have at least 2 of now so makes sense to keep stuff on the shelf that will wear eventually. especially handy when you get calls off drivers on a saturday night err pads are grinding or i've mangled a kerb and theres something broken.

funnily enough we have a fleet of 10 cars now probably covering 800k a year between them and we've never fitted injectors or turbos to anything. Fuel all comes from BP filters are genuine ford and good quality oil every 10k seems to do the trick . i'd imagine we will at some point just through laws of averages but the only major failures we have had in recent years have been sub 6 month old and straight back to the dealer

I take it your fleet is manual gearbox ?
Autos are great but they need regular fluid and filter changes, and even then you can't discount the chance they will just one day go postal,
and give up the ghost on the motorway sounding like a tumble-drier full of spanners falling down stairs.
 
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