Confused By Service Plan (Ford MK4)

[CallMeSteven]

Hello

I had my first service today. I bought the car in December 2019 and according to the service plan I have:

Interim service - August 2020

Full Service - April 2021

Interim Service - December 2021 (Where the plan says they will change for free the fob batteries)

 

According to TrustFord the full service is every two years, so on their logic the first full service is December 2021. To add even more confusion

they gave me a years breakdown cover (under the service plan agreement) which expires August 2021!

Can someone please explain the above 

 

[SteveP1041]

My understanding is, service is every 18000 miles or 2 years, whichever comes first.  The recovery is valid for 12 months, from each service, so that could be a problem if you do less than 18000 miles a year!

[Andyr55]

Interim check after 1 year (£125) Trust Ford price

first full service 18000 miles or two years. 

[Comares2001]

The" interim service " is probably what Ford call a "convenience check " which doesn't really cover much but does include the 2nd year breakdown cover. Some dealers charge a lot less . Mine for example was only £40 plus vat for existing customers.

[CallMeSteven]

Okay. Well the service Plan looks a good deal with breakdown. I only do around 5000 a year most years, but if course this year so far only 3200. So the interim check I had today in August should have been in December! I will get the full service in April if they let me. I will have to show them the service plan. Still confused.com 😉

[CallMeSteven]

2 minutes ago, Comares2001 said:

The" interim service " is probably what Ford call a "convenience check " which doesn't really cover much but does include the 2nd year breakdown cover. Some dealers charge a lot less . Mine for example was only £40 plus vat for existing customers.

Yes that's what they called it. Only took a hour. 

[Andyr55]

First full service will be due Dec 2021. Why April ? Specially on a low mileage....

[CallMeSteven]

Exactly. May miss the April service

[Mark-UK]

Make sure wherever you take it does everything they should, my dealer didn't change the brake fluid after 2 two years, said it wasn't part of the service Plan, after contacting ford protect and them getting in touch with the dealer it now has to go back at some point for the fluid to be changed.

[Mark-UK]

21 hours ago, Andyr55 said:

First full service will be due Dec 2021. Why April ? Specially on a low mileage....

Unfortunately service interval is time or mileage which ever comes first.  If you do zero miles in the 18 months it is still due.

[Mark-UK]

22 hours ago, CallMeSteven said:

Okay. Well the Service Plan looks a good deal with breakdown. I 😉

service Plan is a ***** excellent deal because of the breakdown cover. I believe the cover is done by The AA and may you get more than the £170 the AA charge a year

[isetta]

Does it include them taking the car home eg. 100 miles away (what aa previously called relay cover) or just the basic taking it to a garage?

[CallMeSteven]

26 minutes ago, isetta said:

Does it include them taking the car home eg. 100 miles away (what aa previously called relay cover) or just the basic taking it to a garage?

Yes it does + European cover as well. But personally I I only need 'Homestart' + breakdown/recovery for the UK. After careful consideration I have cancelled my service plan, due to low mileage plus I can get breakdown cover that I need with LV (car insurance company).

[Botus]

there was another post or in a magazine on this....

a lot of the service plans run from the date made / registered, not the date you drive off, so whilst you think its new it might be 6 months old (or far more)....

people forget with long service intervals the oil additives deteriorate to time, so its the fill date of the oil that matters.

those long intervals are also why you need an a cheap interim check.... to check if bulbs work, the washer bottle's not empty and the tyres are still round and black

service plans are cheap (but now, maybe not good value) todays cars don't have much to do, look at tyres and pretend to fill with air, top up washer bottle.... the "big service" gets to change the oil and pop in a 5 quid air filter.  So the big service is 60 quid every 2 years the interim you should be doing every month at home for free anyway.... so people are paying 500 for 120 quid's worth of work

the last one on brake fluid is only a german get out of jail free card for the manufacturer.... they design the ABS units to die to time.  if you keep paying them crazy 600 quid services every 2 years, on their electronic service records they can see you already paid out in mug fees way more than 3 ABS modules worth already, so they take the hit on the ABS module....  but as NO one does that for the 6 years it takes to die....they can say oh "it broke because the fluid wasn't changed".  Which is utter codswallop …  although not a bright idea you could leave the fluid in there 15 years and the brakes will work just fine... up to the point the designed in electrical and or mechanical failure pops up (on elements where the fluid has no bearing on the way they failed whatsoever)

[CallMeSteven]

Thanks Botus

[DaveT70]

Ford are recommending every 19000 miles or two years for servicing now (on petrol's) the interim service is just to get some money out of you and have a car to get the sandwiches in (sorry, take on road test)  they don't even change the oil, never mind plugging in and checking for DTCs or software updates.

Complete waste of money, don't bother

[TomsFocus]

What kind of dealer doesn't have a sandwich van come round?  Times must be hard if they've got to collect their own!   

[Frowma]

You only really need to use a main dealer till the warrantly runs out. Even though, as long as an independant dealer uses official Ford parts during a service Ford have to honour the warranty.

[Andyr55]

Surely the service Plan covers the cost of the services due on the car. (discounted with the ease of paying monthly.)

worth having a service done while the car is under the warranty.

The roadside recovery is a freebie really.

[Botus]

1 hour ago, Andyr55 said:

Surely the Service Plan covers the cost of the services due on the car. (discounted with the ease of paying monthly.)

worth having a service done while the car is under the warranty.

The roadside recovery is a freebie really.

why?  they cover the bare minimum maintenance, not all the nice to haves... they want your money.  they have no interest if the car lasts or is maintained to the best possible standards

if you love it do an oil change at 9k, its 40 quid and can only help....   waiting till its mostly missing and or worn out, is to entice you in to buying a cheap to run car.... not look after it

[Frowma]

13 hours ago, Andyr55 said:

Surely the Service Plan covers the cost of the services due on the car. (discounted with the ease of paying monthly.)

worth having a service done while the car is under the warranty.

The roadside recovery is a freebie really.

Well, you know I thought that, my dealer tried to sell me a service plan at £800 for 3 years. They were very vague on the actual cost of an individual service so I called a Ford approved service center and found the combined cost of the first and second service came to £570 (at current prices). In my mind paying up front for a service plan should always come in at less than the actual cost of the services.

[Mark-UK]

There are many service plans, just beware what your buying and from whom. For example Bristol Street Motors quoted me over £700 for a 3 year plan ( mine a diesel so service is every 12 months) , but the servicing had to be done by them.  I got mine from Ford UK  at just over £530 and it can be done at any ford dealer.