18,000 miles / 2 year service intervals?

[Dark Andy]

Over the past couple of days I've received 6 phone calls from my local dealer trying to convince me that my soon to be 1 year old Focus mk4 (1.0 eco boost with just short of 8,000 miles on the clock) is due a service. Each time, I've replied that the published service intervals are 2 years/18,000 miles and that my oil condition sensor tells me that my oil condition is about 60%, and each time they still try to sell me the additional "check" for my own peace of mind. Am I being cynical? Is it the dealer trying to sell the unsuspecting public something they don't need? Or is it something I should consider (apparently it's just a check, no oils are changed)?

[Comares2001]

Sounds like they are suggesting a "convenience check" that you will need if you want to have the Ford breakdown cover for a second year.

[isetta]

in my opinion every car should have a check now and then underneath and under the bonnet just to make sure nothing has come detached or is rubbing on something it shouldn't be. I periodically have a good prod around under my car and my wife's car. if something is going wrong I want to rectify it before something falls off on a dark night on the motorway etc.  I think two years is too long to leave a car with no checking of anything. I don't think it really needs an expert to do it, but if you don't want to lay under your car (with it safely raised on axle stands etc) then may be it is better to have it checked by someone else. I have no idea what it costs.

[Stoney871]

Just had my second service today, done less than 15K but as I got my service plan as a freebie I'm happy.
It does indeed extend the recovery cover (given a new cover letter today) so handy if the need arises.
Well I did need a washer bottle refill after all [emoji1].

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[Pete14tc]

I was surprised when discussing the purchase of my Mk4 focus that the service intervals are now 2 years. The sales guy said although this was the recommended frequency there was talk of an interim service costing of £99 but this wouldn’t include an oil change but couldn’t say what was going to be done. 

[Comares2001]

It's called a "convenience check" which doesn't really involve doing much ( although they did find a nail in one of my tyres I didn't know about) I know some dealers charge less than £99, mine only charges £43 for existing customers. It's the only way you can get the Ford breakdown cover for the second year. But for £43 in my case it was a bargain.

[Stoney871]

Only thing of concern on my service was a broken door protector on the front passenger side.
Wife has a habit of slamming the door really hard so I blame her [emoji2958]
Luckily it's being replaced under warranty but means they may need the car overnight so means getting a courtesy car for a couple of days when my car is in.
Must admit while I was sitting around in the dealership yesterday that the Ranger Raptor was looking really tasty [emoji848], only £45K.

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[Eric Bloodaxe]

44 minutes ago, Stoney871 said:

Must admit while I was sitting around in the dealership yesterday that the Ranger Raptor was looking really tasty , only £45K.

Be even tastier with the 450bhp V6 from the US version!😀

But on the original topic, I don't like leaving a car 2 years without a check either so went for the convenience check + oil and filter change. As Brian says above, some dealers are still offering this for less than the price quoted by Ford.

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

@Stoney871 You could be in luck, Clive, just spotted this:

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-ranger-raptor-be-trialled-uk-police-forces

 

[Stoney871]

[mention=28494]Stoney871[/mention] You could be in luck, Clive, just spotted this:
 
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-cars/ford-ranger-raptor-be-trialled-uk-police-forces
 

[emoji4]

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[Dark Andy]

2 hours ago, Comares2001 said:

It's called a "convenience check" which doesn't really involve doing much ( although they did find a nail in one of my tyres I didn't know about) I know some dealers charge less than £99, mine only charges £43 for existing customers. It's the only way you can get the Ford breakdown cover for the second year. But for £43 in my case it was a bargain.

£43 wouldn't be too bad but they quoted me £105 when I've still got 20 months of my Ford Direct breakdown cover left and my car was supposed to have had a full inspection as part of the Ford Direct scheme when I bought it 4 months ago - so in this instance I do feel, more than slightly, that they were trying to "pull a fast one".

[Eric Bloodaxe]

7 minutes ago, Dark Andy said:

I've still got 20 months of my Ford Direct breakdown cover left

Ah, I thought you had bought the car from new. I've  had Ford Direct cars in the past and been surprised that in some ways (2 years breakdown being one of them) it gives better cover than the new car warranty. So yes, in that case I'd probably be inclined to wait for the service also, particularly as you obviously don't need to get your breakdown extended. £105 is now the official Ford price for a convenience check - quite an increase from the £34.95 they were quoting when I ordered my car 2 years ago!

[Andyr55]

Trust Ford charge £125 !!! 
 

at least I got the years assistance cover (after I asked) 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, Andyr55 said:

Trust Ford charge £125 !!! 
 

at least I got the years assistance cover (after I asked) 

So Trust Ford, who are owned by Ford, are charging more than the price quoted by Ford on the Ford website. Did they attempt to justify the extra twenty?

https://www.ford.co.uk/owner/service-and-maintenance/service-promotions/convenience-check

[Andyr55]

Haha no they did not despite pressure!

[derio]

hi just had my convenience check cost me £127 had to have oil changed has come up on dash plus they did not tell me about my extended breakdown cover had car done in bromley,surrey.

[shawty1984]

Does anyone know the service intervals for the MK4 focus ST 2.3?

[Waggy]

5 hours ago, derio said:

hi just had my convenience check cost me £127 had to have oil changed has come up on dash plus they did not tell me about my extended breakdown cover had car done in bromley,surrey.

The small print says participating dealers only, so you need to ask the question before booking it in for a service.

4 hours ago, shawty1984 said:

Does anyone know the service intervals for the MK4 focus ST 2.3?

1 year or 12500 miles whichever comes first.

[Eric Bloodaxe]

2 hours ago, Waggy said:

The small print says participating dealers only, so you need to ask the question before booking it in for a service.

Yes, you can download a pdf file of participating dealers from the owners area on Ford UK website. Most seem to be included, but some members have found that, surprisingly, some big names aren't. So worth a check before booking.

[Guy Heaton]

I paid 89 quid for my 1 yr convenience check, with Allen Ford.  Got the years breakdown with it.

[RGV]

On 11/28/2019 at 5:09 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Be even tastier with the 450bhp V6 from the US version!😀

But on the original topic, I don't like leaving a car 2 years without a check either so went for the convenience check + oil and filter change. As Brian says above, some dealers are still offering this for less than the price quoted by Ford.

 

I have been checking online and it does look like dealers are offering deals at the moment. I was thinking that an oil and filter change would also be a good idea..think my dealer is doing the convenience check £62.50 which I thought was a good price, half the normal….

[unofix]

1 hour ago, RGV said:

convenience check £62.50 which I thought was a good price

I'll walk round the car and give the tyres a kick for only £40. 🤣

[RMurphy195]

An interesting topic this - I bought my MK4 120 ecoblue as a(roughly) 1 year old a few weeks back, with 9500 recorded miles since new the previous October. I managed to persuade the dealer to give it an oil/filter change before collection because, as others have said, 2yrs or 18k miles is simply too long, especially since I'll be towing a caravan. The copy "invoice" showed a £184 bill (no, I didn't pay this!) which for me is a huge amount for an oil change.

On a time basis the next service will be due next October (car will be 2 years/ 22k miles old) and the service after that will be beyond the warranty period, so then I'll do my own servicing (the easy bits anyway). An interesting question is posed - I will reach 18k in July-ish (9k since the oil was changed) and about 22k in October (which will be 13k since the oil was changed) which potentially means getting 2 official services in the waranty period. So some juggling of car usage/timescales could be on the cards to save dosh. I'll be getting some clarification from Ford customer services before then of course so I can plan my sevice timing.

Incidentally, in the days of 6k oil changes I did mine at 3k, when I had cars with a 10k interval I did 3 for 2 (i.e. 7k intervals, at a time when I did motorway commuting). Now I'm retired and cars have 20k/2 year intervals I do it annually (between 10-12k pa on one car, and about 5k on the other!). thankk goodeness I wasn't covering 25k/pa on the older cars ...

[unofix]

52 minutes ago, RMurphy195 said:

The copy "invoice" showed a £184 bill (no, I didn't pay this!) which for me is a huge amount for an oil change.

Just wait till you get to the first service (2 years) then you get to pay £252 for an oil change and a kick of the tyres.

[MarkRS9]

15 hours ago, unofix said:

Just wait till you get to the first service (2 years) then you get to pay £252 for an oil change and a kick of the tyres.

My local dealer wanted £353 for my 2nd year service in November, fortunately I already had ford maintenence 2 year plan in place which cost me £259 (this included the 1st year convenience check and 2nd year service).

Unfortunately to buy the ford 2 year maintenance plan is now at £370, quite an increase in 15 months since I bought my plan.