MK8 Fiesta maintenance/ Main Dealer Impressions

[DG97]

Hi all, 

I have a franchise specific service pack with my dealer. It consists of the full service at 18,000 miles and an interim check at 9,000 and 27,000 (the interim check just sounds like a check over your car rather than actually “servicing” anything). Whilst on the MK8 Fiestas the recommended service schedule is 24 months or 18,000 miles, I’d have felt a little bit more comfortable swapping a few basic things over earlier. For example a pollen filter (tbh probably going to do that myself anyway) or draining and replacing the oil at for example 10,000 miles or as an add on to the interim check. Despite my car hitting the 9,000 which is when the interim check is due one of the people at the franchise told me to wait until a year has passed (not sure why as even the franchise say 9,000 or a year whichever is sooner) or wait until 12,500 (which I think is the interval time on some other Ford’s but not applicable to mine) which I didn’t agree with. Got in touch with the same franchise but a different branch who were much more accommodating and they happily booked me in for this check but I was told that it doesn’t need the oil drain/replace until 18,000 miles. That’s in a way fair enough as it’s obviously in line with Ford’s schedule but I’m not sure why some dealers are being hesitant to do extra work (which I would obviously pay extra for) saying the car doesn’t “need it” when that should ultimately be my choice. 

Has anyone else had any odd experiences like this and what are your thoughts? Should I just stick it out until the 18,000 (which like i say for some basic stuff like a pollen filter or oil change seems like an awfully long time)? 

Thanks! 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

I'm on " pay as you go" for servicing, but was advised that a check is offered at 1 year for £35 or so which also extends breakdown cover for a further 12 months. This was in response to my question as to what happens when the cover is only for 12 months from purchase.

I'm debating whether or not to have an oil and filter change at the same time for similar reasons to yourself. I think the 18,000 interval is probably ok for big mileage company car drivers (when I was one it was back in the days of 6,000 mile intervals so I was having 4 or 5 a year) but not necessarily for private owners who may only be doing low mileage. I suspect Ford are doing this to bring them into line with VW who have offered extended service for some time, though with VW you have the choice of setting the car up for fixed or extended variable intervals at purchase.

However, I did buy the car outright. If I was on a PCP or lease plan and definitely handing the car back after, say, 3 years, I'd probably just stick with the recommended interval plus check to maintain breakdown cover.

To add further confusion, I've already had a complimentary check carried out at 1,500 miles which is something my local dealer has always offered on new cars.

[DG97]

I agree with you, i’ve also bought the car outright so prefer to do things how I think would be best. 

Like you say if I was on pcp, i’d stick to what they say and not care but as I actually own the car, I think it’s wiser to service basics a bit more often

[Oldbean]

I would be interested to know if the 1 year check offered to Eric Bloodaxe is still available at that price. When I got my new car in March this year the Ford website showed the 1 year / 9000 mile "convenience check" as £35 but when I rang to book it in last month I was told it is £99 - as is now shown on exactly the same Ford web page. As the car is running fine I didn't think it was worth £99 for a diagnostic check at this time - the dealer pointed out that they also check oil and water levels and top up if needed (as if it takes a trained mechanic to do that).

[jsk]

I had my "convenience check" carried out at my local Ford dealer in August this year at a cost of £99. But this also included an oil and filter change using Castrol Magnatec.

[DG97]

As far as I can tell, my dealer is quoting £35 for the convenience check which does include a top up of relevant fluids. That doesn't include the oil and filter change that jsk mentions though so I am going to ask to have that done. 

Not really a big fan of the convenience checks in all fairness. When I had signed up for the service pack with my dealer, it got sold to me as being a little bit more than what it actually is. Checking light bulbs, fluid levels and brake condition is something I can do myself. Would prefer to have a minor service that does an oil change and a few filters instead but it is what it is unfortunately. 

[Ad@m]

The convenience check is not mandatory, you pay £99 for them to just check/top up fluids, do a 30 point visual inspection and renew your roadside assistance for another 12 months if you require it. <-- that's the reason why the dealer told you to wait until 1 yr, because all new fords have 12 months roadside assistance,  so if you have the check earlier you lose out on some of your roadside assistance.

If you are planning on keeping your car for a while I'd suggest changing the air filter/pollen filter and oil/filter every year.

 

 

 

[DG97]

In my case the convenience check is £35 which does make the breakdown cover good value, albeit it may not really end up necessary on a new car but you can never be sure 😊 

I agree with the reason that waiting until the year is in to not lose any of the break down cover could have been the thinking behind what my dealer said. At the same time though as I’ve had the car for 6-7 months and done 9,000 miles, it’s possible unless my miles drop that I will be closing on 18,000 when the year has passed at which point i’d be doing the actual service where my original frustration came from as if I’ve paid for the check and service already as part of a pack, it makes sense to me, to do this check half way to 18,000 miles rather than wait the year where I might be at 18,000 miles anyway and wanting to do the proper service. 

Like you say with the filters/oils, it’s worth doing each year but in my opinion also probably worth doing at around 10,000 miles if it comes quicker than the year which is why I wanted to get that booked as an extra to this convenience check but was just surprised at the dealers hesitance to just book it in and faced with questions to why I want to do it as my opinion and the general thoughts in here are that every 10,000 miles or each year to have a crack at replacing some of the filters and oil regardless of Ford advising to do it at 18,000. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

3 hours ago, Oldbean said:

I would be interested to know if the 1 year check offered to Eric Bloodaxe is still available at that price. When I got my new car in March this year the Ford website showed the 1 year / 9000 mile "convenience check" as £35 but when I rang to book it in last month I was told it is £99 - as is now shown on exactly the same Ford web page. As the car is running fine I didn't think it was worth £99 for a diagnostic check at this time - the dealer pointed out that they also check oil and water levels and top up if needed (as if it takes a trained mechanic to do that).

Crickey - yes the Ford website does now show £99 which is quite some increase for what seems to be the same thing. Just had a quick trawl round various dealer websites and some  show £99 while quite a few still quote £34.99. They could be out of date or there might be some latitude in the price they can charge. I'll make sure to check with my dealer before committing to anything.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

17 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Crickey - yes the Ford website does now show £99 which is quite some increase for what seems to be the same thing. Just had a quick trawl round various dealer websites and some  show £99 while quite a few still quote £34.99. They could be out of date or there might be some latitude in the price they can charge. I'll make sure to check with my dealer before committing to anything.

PS but if you don't have the check does that leave you with a gap in your breakdown cover until the 2 year/18,000 service when presumably it's activated again for 12 months?

Seems a bit of a mess - not a problem with most VW group cars which come with 3 years breakdown** which will cover the duration of most pcp/lease deals.

 

** Except SEAT which only get 2, then you get an extension when you have an official dealer service, but only if you book it using the online system which doesn't seem to function well in my experience. Last time I took the Mrs's Mii in, the online booking somehow didn't reach the dealer,  it took 8 emails and 9 phone calls before I had the breakdown sorted and to add insult to injury after I dropped the car in I found the courtesy car was running on fumes. So this year I took it to the local garage and added breakdown to her insurance policy.

[Ad@m]

46 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

PS but if you don't have the check does that leave you with a gap in your breakdown cover until the 2 year/18,000 service when presumably it's activated again for 12 months?

 

Yes you will have a gap in the breakdown cover if you do not have the convenience check.

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

On 11/27/2018 at 5:48 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Crickey - yes the Ford website does now show £99 which is quite some increase for what seems to be the same thing. Just had a quick trawl round various dealer websites and some  show £99 while quite a few still quote £34.99. They could be out of date or there might be some latitude in the price they can charge. I'll make sure to check with my dealer before committing to anything.

Got my car booked in for the end of the month - my local dealer is still doing the check for £34.99.

[Jonson]

Got my 18000 mile service booked in for next weekend. This is 11 months after I picked the car up new. Just out of interest, the change oil soon warning came on at 17800 miles and 5% oil life. Reckon it would make it to 19000 miles before oil life zero....

[Eric Bloodaxe]

That's good going - I used to do that sort of mileage once, but no extended service intervals then😠 Good that the oil change warning is more or less spot on! 👍

[tef89]

I bought mine outright at 1 year old.  It was a Ford Direct vehicle so it has the 2 years Roadside / Recovery included.  I decided to get it serviced (to Ford spec) by my local non-franchised garage when I bought it just so I knew for sure it was 100%.

[lst]

On 2/15/2019 at 3:19 PM, Jonson said:

Got my 18000 mile service booked in for next weekend. This is 11 months after I picked the car up new. Just out of interest, the change oil soon warning came on at 17800 miles and 5% oil life. Reckon it would make it to 19000 miles before oil life zero....

I'm guessing the oil life is very dependant on driving style/journey length as I've 'only' done 4100 miles in 13 months and my oil life is at 47%

[primus1960]

Bought mine in October 18, only done just over 7000miles, last time I checked my oil life was 51%

[nashdm2]

I am very confused with this whole service schedule with the Mk8 Fiesta. I hope to make more sense of it when mine arrives.

[tef89]

45 minutes ago, nashdm2 said:

I am very confused with this whole service schedule with the Mk8 Fiesta. I hope to make more sense of it when mine arrives.

2 years or 18000 miles, whichever comes first. Nice and simple. 

I just chose to service mine at 1 year as I bought it second hand so didn't know how well it had been driven etc. 

Also I do a lot of short journeys. 

[Tiexen]

1 hour ago, nashdm2 said:

I am very confused with this whole service schedule with the Mk8 Fiesta. I hope to make more sense of it when mine arrives.

I'm sticking with a service every year.

[DG97]

40 minutes ago, Tiexen said:

I'm sticking with a service every year.

I'm doing the proper service every 2 years, and every year, I am doing an oil and oil filter change regardless. I don't think that leaving oil changes for 2 years or 18,000 miles will do much good in the long run. 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

On 2/15/2019 at 1:34 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Got my car booked in for the end of the month - my local dealer is still doing the check for £34.99.

I'm also having an oil/filter change btw - don't fancy going 2 years with my current low annual mileage .

[nashdm2]

I will do the same then as our expected miles will be about 8k PA. I will get an oil and filter done in between.

[Mavroz]

Why deviate from the manufacturers recommendations? I don't understand the reasoning.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

My take on it - as far as I can see Ford have just extended the service interval without making any changes to the engine, which as we know from other threads is susceptible to problems if oil is not changed frequently.

Unlike VW, who specify different oils for fixed and long life service regimes, the oil spec is the same (WSS-M2C948-B) as it was before the interval was extended.

Unless you are going to shop around for breakdown cover after year 1 you will be taking it in for the inspection anyway, so I thought I'd have an oil change while I was at it.

Mine is still the wet belt drive version - I might take a different view it it was the revised chain cam drive which according to other threads is now in the Fiesta**- though that seems to have it's own set of issues.

(**Has anyone had a Fiesta delivered lately who can confirm this?)