MOT & Servicing

[Thomson737]

Hello to all,

I'm just wondering what all think about MOT and Servicing. I know both are essential and necessary to maintaining your car. I have a 2011 Ford Fiesta Edge, and I've been thinking if it's worth going to the dealership I bought it from for an MOT and service together. Usually we go to a local garage for the MOT, which is no problem. But its the servicing side I'm really unsure about. This is only my second car. Obviously I'm aware of the expenses of a dealership service. 

[Bobr]

I always go to a Ford Dealer for servicing but I can get an MOT done a lot cheaper elsewhere.   It appears to me that Ford dealers always charge top dollar for an MOT.

[stef123]

I wouldn’t use the main dealer for servicing but then I do run a garage.

There seems to be a popular misconception that the dealer will care for the car more and do a better job - the reality is you are paying top dollar to the dealer and the mechanic/technician doing the job is being paid buttons so ask yourself if they really care lol.

To find yourself a local trust worthy garage is by far the best approach. 

We only use premium branded oil and filters etc, it worth making sure before you do go ahead with a service to ask what you are getting - some garages are still buying the lowest price products they can get their hands on. And anyone fitting a Fram filter should be ashamed lol 

[pragmatix]

I would use your local garage if it's trustworthy ask around on your local Facebook for sale site for recommendations .

[Luke4efc]

I don't see the point in going to Ford for servicing. It doesn't take a Ford specialist to change the oil and a few filters...

Sure you might get £100 extra when you come to sell the car if it has a full Ford dealer service history, but it costs you £100 more (ish) every year to get it serviced and MOT'd compared to a local indie garage.

[RAIDER32]

2 hours ago, Thomson737 said:

I'm just wondering what all think about MOT and Servicing. I know both are essential and necessary to maintaining your car.
I have a 2011 Ford Fiesta Edge, and I've been thinking if it's worth going to the dealership I bought it from for an MOT and Service together.
Usually we go to a local garage for the MOT, which is no problem. But its the servicing side I'm really unsure about. This is only my second car.

I'm on my 3rd car, each one got more powerful and expensive, I'd always gone to my local garage because they were out of Warranty,
Now I've got a 5 year old Focus ST I was convinced I was going to Ford in May for service & MOT to 'keep the value' with a book stamp,
but I really wanted to get more hands on with this car, I've watched so many YouTube videos I just wanted to do stuff myself,
I've changed both air filters (easy job and probably saved £20 in labour) and I ordered a bottle of Ford coolant and topped that up.
My year 5 service was a minor, so all I needed was an Oil (& filter) change, although I did get spark plugs done too (doing that myself next time).

But in regards to your car which is nearly 10 years old, I really wouldn't worry about using Ford, especially if you have a local you're happy with.
When a car hits 10 years old I would expect the little jobs list to start getting longer, that's when labour costs start racking up,
I took my first car to Ford (a 9 year old Escort) with a little issue (breather valve I think) and they gave me a list of things that needed doing on it,
I took that list to my local and I saved over £100, just make sure you get your book stamped, that's all anybody will care about in the end.

[nicam49]

There's a saying:jack of all trades, master of none. (this doesn't apply to roadies, where the saying is:jack of all trades, master of them all) I always use Ford's Rapidfit service, you're getting a Ford trained mechanic for starters. At least they're familiar with any foibles that a Ford car has, and use genuine Ford parts, and I can get an oil and filter change using 'proper' parts for £50. The oil filter housing on Ford's is a plastic housing which should be torqued up to prevent cracking it, and use a special socket to prevent cracking the plastic 36mm hex. Ford garages will have the right tools and the techies will be familiar with the techniques to use. A jack of all cars garage sounds OK, on paper, but  look, they're going to want to maximise their profit by fitting the cheapest consumables they can get and still charge you a handsome (for them) mark-up. Would you want them to practice on your car? Stick to your main dealer for servicing Don't they do a deal where you get the mot free?        If you are a hands-on person, then you can change your air and pollen filters easy, also maybe even the fuel filter, but oil and filter change? Get it done at the dealer. Did you know the brake fluid is' supposed' to be changed every 2-3 years?  Nasty job, also Ford use Super Dot 4 fluid... not just Dot 4,. you can only get Super Dot 4 at Ford parts dept... I bet if you get it changed at an all-cars garage, they won't even know about Super Dot 4.

[stef123]

oh and remember, the service stamp means nothing without the receipt. With so many counterfeit stamps on the market it’s easy to do. 
 

Super dot 4, a slightly higher temp spec brake fluid that in a standard road car makes no odds. I’ll bet there are tens of thousands of cars not running the ‘ford spec’ fluid and no one would know.

The problem with brake fluid is no one changes it at the advised interval of 2 years. I’d sooner have standard dot 4 fluid than 5-6 year old super duper fluid which really is just marketing. 

Changing the brake fluid isn’t a nasty job, I’d sooner do 10 brake fluid changes than one DMF change on something like a mondeo with the subframe in the road lol. With vacuum bleeders there’s no mess or fuss. 

[tef89]

4 hours ago, stef123 said:

I wouldn’t use the main dealer for servicing but then I do run a garage.

There seems to be a popular misconception that the dealer will care for the car more and do a better job - the reality is you are paying top dollar to the dealer and the mechanic/technician doing the job is being paid buttons so ask yourself if they really care lol.

To find yourself a local trust worthy garage is by far the best approach. 

We only use premium branded oil and filters etc, it worth making sure before you do go ahead with a service to ask what you are getting - some garages are still buying the lowest price products they can get their hands on. And anyone fitting a Fram filter should be ashamed lol 

100% agree with you Stefan.  Especially on a 9 year old car where the financial 'benefit' of an exclusively Ford stamped service history is likely to be long gone.

[Matt Alsop]

I don't bother to maintain the full dealer history once the warranty is over. I service it myself with Ford parts or use a local garage to get a service and MoT done at the same time. I've sold several cars at about 6 or 7 years old and having a full dealer history or not doesn't seem to make any difference. The only thing which is important is that the car is serviced and you have receipts for the service or the parts if you did the work yourself. Where it was was serviced doesn't seem to matter much. If you know a decent local garage then that will do fine.

[stef123]

Cars still under manufacturer warranty we will advise the customer to use the main dealer. Even using genuine parts under vat registered company they will always look for a way out or get huffy if they can - that’s our opinion. 
But to be honest, most cars under 3 years it would seem the trend is to use main dealer. 

[The Finance Guy]

Ever since a main dealer tried to charge me £14 to change the battery in the key for my 09 Mondeo, I’ve never been near the service area of a main dealer. 
 

50p for the battery on amazon and 30 seconds work. 

[RAIDER32]

14 minutes ago, The Finance Guy said:

Ever since a main dealer tried to charge me £14 to change the battery in the key for my 09 Mondeo, I’ve never been near the service area of a main dealer. 
50p for the battery on Amazon and 30 seconds work. 

One of the first things I bought for my 4 year old ST was a pair of new Key Fob batteries, god knows how long they should last,
for a few quid it's piece of mind just to do them when you get the car, I'll probably change them every 3 years.

[The Finance Guy]

I should stress they TRIED to charge me £14 for changing the key battery. I told them to jog on and did it myself for 50p

[Eric Bloodaxe]

Like others, over the years I've tended to stick with the main dealer during warranty period and then decide what to do afterwards. With Fords, I've stuck to the small, local, family owned dealer who I've been generally happy with over 15 years. With other makes, I used to use an independent (owned by a friend) but since he decided to retire I've been using my local village garage and have been happy with them.

[fiestaecoboostman]

Everyone has an opinion so here's mine.

 

Main dealer - Very expensive, wont care, may well rip you off on some things.*

Kwickfit type chain - Expensive because they will find stuff to do, poor workmanship, they wont care.

Local Garage - Best bet so far by a mile, they survive on reputation and word of mouth, they will usually do a good job.

D.I.Y - Cheapest option if you have tools, know how and space, will do a better job because you care, Gives you an opportunity to spray a bit grease or oil, touch up rust, clean bits you wouldn't normally do. Downside is its dirty, you can mess it up, you won't heve tools and facilities a garage has (like the vacum brake bleeding mentioned earlier)

I don't think you will ever recoup your money by having a service history unless its a very expensive motor, find a garage you trust if you cant do it yourself.

 

* you should talk to someone who works at a Ford dealer, same charge for oils and lube on a 3ltr Granada as a 950cc Fiesta, claim tracking needs doing on all fleet car services as standard, charge what you feel like on parts depending on your mood, Find a minor fault for MOT's so you can say "Bad news is its failed, good news is its only XYZ so £20 if we do it now" such as wiper blade or bulb.

[Mavroz]

I have always taken our Ford's to a main dealer for a service and in the past MOT's. Unused Halfords once as a friend was the manager and got service and Mot done for a very low price but for some reason it didn't feel right?

Using a main dealer, they have been fair, honest and very helpful with any issues and problems we have had. We repay this with a bit of loyalty and fairness, using them for car services, although we haven't had to Mot in a long, long time now.

The main dealer (Evans Halshaw) has always helped us when we have needed them and we appreciate this service, care and trust them to service and repair our cars to a good standard.

Just my input. 😊

[nicam49]

17 hours ago, stef123 said:

 

Super dot 4, a slightly higher temp spec brake fluid that in a standard road car makes no odds. I’ll bet there are tens of thousands of cars not running the ‘ford spec’ fluid and no one would know.

The problem with brake fluid is no one changes it at the advised interval of 2 years. I’d sooner have standard dot 4 fluid than 5-6 year old super duper fluid which really is just marketing. 

Changing the brake fluid isn’t a nasty job, I’d sooner do 10 brake fluid changes than one DMF change on something like a mondeo with the subframe in the road lol. With vacuum bleeders there’s no mess or fuss. 

Stef123, here's a bit from wiki:

" For a faster reaction of the ABS and ESP systems, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 brake fluids exist with low viscosity meeting the maximum 750 mm²/s viscosity at -40 °C°F requirement of ISO 4925 class 6. These are often named DOT 4+ or Super DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 Esp. " 

That's more than just marketing. That's an ISO standard.  Also, Consider the hassle of renewing the brake fluid by yourself. You need to have in turn or all at  once, each corner jacked up and wheels off. That to me is a big hassle. I bet you'd never even HEARD of Super Dot 4, and that's my point: an independant garage wouldn't stock or care or even KNOW about Ford servicing standards. Also, FYI, brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water, which, over time, causes, under heavy braking, the hot fluid to boil  which impairs the braking efficiency.  Plenty of crashed cars in the scrap yards that didn't manage to stop in time, the real cause of which will probably never be known. 

 

[TomsFocus]

Having worked at a couple of Main Dealers (briefly I admit) they're not all as bad as people claim...  Equally, I've used some awful chain garages...and some decent ones within the same chain.  I've actually found Indy garages to be the worst as a percentage, but maybe that's because I've tried more of them.

Within a year of driving, I was so fed up with the mistakes garages were making and the cost the were charging me for their rubbish work as well as the logistics of leaving the car 15 miles away (lived out in the stix) that I started doing my own servicing & maintenance work and ultimately went on to do vehicle tech at college and self taught the rest from physically fixing & breaking cars and internet research.  

Also being an Edge, it's probably a 1.25 petrol with a metal canister filter.  Only diesel Mk7s have the paper cartridge oil filter, and unless you're the hulk or lack any common sense, you won't break the plastic cover.  I've only come across one broken, and that was on a 46k car with full main dealer history lol.

With a new car, main dealer is the way to go.  With the OPs car at 9 years old, he'll likely get the same service from a chain as he will an indy, but chains can charge less due to higher volume.  Look at places like National Autocentres and F1 Autocentres, they've always got deals on, and a 1.25 isn't fussy.  If it's a 1.4 TDCi you might want to be a little more careful with the oil choice.  You also don't mention what mileage it's at, and whether it may need the cambelt doing for example...if so, you obviously want someone more trustworthy for that.  Any idiot can do an oil change!  

 

[stef123]

4 hours ago, nicam49 said:

Stef123, here's a bit from wiki:

" For a faster reaction of the ABS and ESP systems, DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 brake fluids exist with low viscosity meeting the maximum 750 mm²/s viscosity at -40 °C°F requirement of ISO 4925 class 6. These are often named DOT 4+ or Super DOT 4 and DOT 5.1 Esp. " 

That's more than just marketing. That's an ISO standard.  Also, Consider the hassle of renewing the brake fluid by yourself. You need to have in turn or all at  once, each corner jacked up and wheels off. That to me is a big hassle. I bet you'd never even HEARD of Super Dot 4, and that's my point: an independant garage wouldn't stock or care or even KNOW about Ford servicing standards. Also, FYI, brake fluid is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs water, which, over time, causes, under heavy braking, the hot fluid to boil  which impairs the braking efficiency.  Plenty of crashed cars in the scrap yards that didn't manage to stop in time, the real cause of which will probably never be known. 

 

Super dot 4 is still dot 4, it has a higher temp spec. And yes, I have heard of it - funny that as I do run a garage. 
standard road use in a maintained vehicle, no one would know the difference.

Too many folk get wrapped in up specs and numbers and info from google.

[Thomson737]

I really appreciate all the responses. I think I'll stick to the local garage for now. Makes sense all in all. 

[nicam49]

On 6/25/2020 at 9:24 AM, TomsFocus said:

Any idiot can do an oil change!  

 

Tom, which begs the question:would you pay and trust an idiot to do your oil change? 

[TomsFocus]

26 minutes ago, nicam49 said:

Tom, which begs the question:would you pay and trust an idiot to do your oil change? 

Well, I'd do it myself, absolute proof that any idiot can do it!  

I can't get on the floor now due to health issues so bought an oil suction pump and can do the whole oil change stood up with no mess or hassle.  I'd rather risk a few bits of muck hanging around the bottom of the sump than trust someone else to do it!   

 

But the OP isn't in the same situation.  He doesn't want to do it himself and is happy to trust someone else.  The point is, using the main dealer doesn't give you any less chance of getting an idiot doing your service...  I was doing them on Honda's aged 16 within a week of never having touched a spanner before in my life.  The owners would've had no idea.  But actually I was more worried about tyre replacements...far more scope for RTCs and fatal injuries from a poorly fitted tyre yet that's something we always have to entrust to someone else...  You have no idea who's doing your oil change when you leave the car at the garage, but it's so simple that it's very difficult to get wrong.  So in the OP's position, I would trust an oil change just as much from F1 or National as I would from the main dealer.

 

[nicam49]

6 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Well, I'd do it myself, absolute proof that any idiot can do it!  

I can't get on the floor now due to health issues so bought an oil suction pump and can do the whole oil change stood up with no mess or hassle.  I'd rather risk a few bits of muck hanging around the bottom of the sump than trust someone else to do it!   

 

Tom, fair comment! 

[Guy Heaton]

Once out of warranty I would be straight down to my local, trusted independent that various members of the family have used for decades.  The key is to find a good one.

For a basic oil change, just keep looking at the various chains until someone does an offer and go there.  You can usually watch them doing it.

I have done my own oil changes but even with a pump to minimise the mess you still have to get rid of the old oil down the tip.