I'm curious if any of you stick to the "recommended" service schedule, or if you do your own thing?

After feeling ripped off lately for a full service at the garage(on a car I only paid £750 for), plus cost of living rises, and I looked at the jobs that might be included in a service and I'm pretty sure I can do most if not all at home.

The thing is, I've got the Haynes service and repair manual, and I'm a bit surprised by how long some of the intervals are. 

For example, it says to change the air filter and fuel filter only every 37,500 miles (no time period, only miles). Well....I've had the car 6 years and I've only done 20,000 miles total!

Does that sound right to you? Do garages just fit air filters far too often?

 

 

My dad used to do just over a 1000 miles a year in his 2000 1.8 petrol Focus, I would change the oil and filter every year regardless. I would check the air and pollen filter and tap out the dirt if required, and only check the plugs at the suggested interval, though I did replace one year. Might have done the fuel filter one year too...can't remember as it was sold in 2015 and he bought it from my friend in 2004 I think.

What service did you pay for? was it at a Ford dealer? Independent garages may not necessarily follow Ford's service schedule.  

Oh god no, not taking it to a dealer. 😂

No I was getting a full service every year along with the MOT, although I realise that the definition of that changes depending where you go, and some places don't even tell you what they've done. But I was looking at £200-250 for a service plus MOT, and then of course whatever things they "found" that needed to be fixed.

I did eventually find a garage that was reasonable and that I trusted, but last 2 years I've had to pay out for repairs, and skipped the service to pay for it. So it's been at least 2 years since its last oil and oil filter change. I'd better get on that. 

I've also noticed that the PCV hose has collapsed, so that needs doing. It's that kind of thing that the mechanic won't necessarily spot, they won't know the known faults for every single car. 

Lad I know had a 2.0 mk1 focus and never serviced it from one year to the next, just repairs and oil top up. Went on for 7 years until the cambelt broke. Even then he didn't want to spend the money on filters etc. His brother in-law did the head and valves, cambelt and service , then nothing again for the next 3 or 4  years until he sold it on. 

For the last 20 years my Dad had been buying big engined old Mondeo's really cheaply (Mk1's could be had for £300 in the late noughties!)...spends a tonne in fuel & tax, and usually has to have something repaired to get them through MOT each year, but never bothers to service them in any way and just scraps them eventually.  The key is getting a big engine as they tend to be over-engineered, petrol, non turbo, and something with a cam chain rather than a belt.

On the other hand, I've always bought more efficient cars to save on fuel & tax, and did the servicing & repairs myself.  Started with small petrols (all I could insure) which were constantly breaking as they were made to a tight budget and never intended for hard use.  Then moved onto turbo diesels which are full of potential problems due to the extra complexity!

So, overall, there doesn't seem to be a perfect solution for low cost driving.  But it really does depend on the individual vehicle.  You don't say which engine is in your Mk1?  If it's a 1.8/2.0 petrol then you can probably get away with an oil change for a few years without any problems at all.  People obsess about air filters but they have a large surface area that takes ages to cover so really they don't need changing often at all.  3 years is likely to be fine unless you drive a lot of dusty country lanes.  Fuel filter on a petrol doesn't do much, even after 10 years you're unlikely to block that. Diesel fuel filter needs doing every 2-3 years as they get full of wax. Pollen filter should be done at least every couple of years, as they breed mould & bacteria when damp, then blow that straight into your face through the cabin vents!  

Some interesting views. I've had a dig around on the service history on the daily runabout (Picanto) it's been serviced at kia for the first 7 yrs then at an independent garage fir the last 5 yrs but there is no mention of the cambelt/ Timing belt ever been changed. Mrs has rung the Kia dealer at they have no record of it ever being done. Further more to her conversation with Kia, they reckon it's not time related to change it, just on the mileage at 60k,cars only done 38k since new. So thinking if getting done asap.

I'll do what I always do when I've bought a year-old low mileage car which, for the Focus I bought last October maens -

1) Mileage was 9500, so I had the oil and filter changeed as part of the deal

2) Normal service at 18,000 miles, cr will still be in warranty

3) Change the oil and filter at 27k miles (halfway between official services) - car will still be in warranty

4) Self-service at 36k miles, car will be out of warranty.

Then make a decision based on how dirty the oil looked on the other services! Since its Turbo I'll probably do the roughly 2-for-1 oil change, with the other stuff done at the specified intervals, getting my local garage to do stuff that I can't do. By roughly I mean change the oil each spring irrespective of mileage (I'll probably cover 10-11k miles p.a. now I'm retired). This gives me fresh oil prior to the caravanning season - i do more miles in the summer than the Winter.

When I was working I drove about 20-25k miles per annum, mostly motorway, so I did 3-for-2 e.g. 12k service interval, so I did it at roughly 8k intervals.

I never leave it longer than annually, even on our other car which does about 3.5k miles pa.

PS the air filter is THE easiest job on all of the cars I've ever had, and even if it looks clean it can still restrict air flow. Plus the one occasion I found a couple of dried oak leaves stuck to the air filter half blocking it! Still can't figure that one out ...

7 hours ago, Wino said:

Further more to her conversation with Kia, they reckon it's not time related to change it, just on the mileage at 60k,cars only done 38k since new. So thinking if getting done asap.

Why don't you change it as recommended by the manufacturer?

8 hours ago, Wino said:

Some interesting views. I've had a dig around on the service history on the daily runabout (Picanto) it's been serviced at kia for the first 7 yrs then at an independent garage fir the last 5 yrs but there is no mention of the cambelt/ Timing belt ever been changed. Mrs has rung the Kia dealer at they have no record of it ever being done. Further more to her conversation with Kia, they reckon it's not time related to change it, just on the mileage at 60k,cars only done 38k since new. So thinking if getting done asap.

Had a Google and apparently in the owners manual it says 60k or 6 years. That's for the mk1  MK2 is chain. 

11 hours ago, iantt said:

Had a Google and apparently in the owners manual it says 60k or 6 years. That's for the mk1  MK2 is chain. 

Yeah that's what I'd read, it is a mk1. 

Thanks for clarifying @iantt will get it booked in at brother in laws garage and get it changed.

12 hours ago, alanfp said:

Why don't you change it as recommended by the manufacturer?

Because there's conflicting information from Kia.

The manual says 60k or 6yrs but when you ask Kia directly is 60k minimum not time related. 

2 hours ago, Wino said:

Because there's conflicting information from Kia.

The manual says 60k or 6yrs but when you ask Kia directly is 60k minimum not time related. 

Was that just one Kia dealer?  If you contact different VAG dealers, you get different responses to the cambelt interval question for identical engines.  Still can't work out whether mine should be 4 or 5 years...and some even suggest there is no time recommendation.

Belts always degrade over time, but what I can't understand is why some manufacturers (I.e VAG, Kia, etc) suggest their belts only last around 5 years, while others (Ford, PSA, etc) suggest their belts can do a decade.   

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

If you contact different VAG dealers, you get different responses to the cambelt interval question for identical engines.  Still can't work out whether mine should be 4 or 5 years...and some even suggest there is no time recommendation.

Yes, I've found that with our SEAT Mii, as I mentioned on another thread. Not only do the VW, SEAT and Skoda recommendations differ, even though it's the same engine, but the recommendations differ from country to country. Very helpful!

Never got a straight answer about my A3 2.0TDI either (which I think was the same engine as your Golf). The general VW Group line in the UK seems to be 50/60k or 4 years, though.

14 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, I've found that with our SEAT Mii, as I mentioned on another thread. Not only do the VW, SEAT and Skoda recommendations differ, even though it's the same engine, but the recommendations differ from country to country. Very helpful!

Never got a straight answer about my A3 2.0TDI either (which I think was the same engine as your Golf). The general VW Group line in the UK seems to be 50/60k or 4 years, though.

The other thing I've read regarding VAG intervals is that they were based on the 'lifetime' OE Continental belts?  I have no idea which belt was fitted to mine as it was replaced at an indy around 92k/5 years old, so probably not OE.  It seems the 2.0 TDI was 4 years for earlier cars, but then changed to 5 years for later ones (Mk7.5 150ps versions all seem to be 5 years?).  Though I can't find a specific date or engine type for the cut-off.  Mine was done in Dec 2017, so is either overdue by a few months now, or has another 6 months to go, which is why it's a bit frustrating that I can't find out for sure.  It's barely covered any miles of course (under 20k I think!).  

It's also making me really think about the next vehicle, which I'm almost certain will be a Mk7.5 Golf now.  (Mainly to save trying to adapt to something that's too different.)  I'm looking at cars around 3 years old on my budget, either 2.0 TDI 150 or 1.5 TSI 150 (for IRS)...so both will be due belts within a couple of years, having barely covered any miles.  My preference would be to go for a 2.0 GTI instead...chain drive with no interval as far as I'm aware...but then I'll be stuck with 18" alloys and sports suspension, which I doubt my body can tolerate...although I'd hope the tartan cloth seats are a bit more forgiving and soak up vibrations compared to the full leathers in the Mk4 Vignale or the Leon FR Sport that I tried 18 months ago.  They do look the same shape as the cloth seats in my current Mk6 Match.

All a bit of a minefield tbh...and I like to think of myself as a bit of a 'car person'...so I have no idea how non car people manage!  

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Was that just one Kia dealer?  If you contact different VAG dealers, you get different responses to the cambelt interval question for identical engines.  Still can't work out whether mine should be 4 or 5 years...and some even suggest there is no time recommendation.

Belts always degrade over time, but what I can't understand is why some manufacturers (I.e VAG, Kia, etc) suggest their belts only last around 5 years, while others (Ford, PSA, etc) suggest their belts can do a decade.   

Not one dealer but 3. Two local ones and Kia online all have different answers.

Our nearest one (Worksop) said 5yrs, Sheffield said 6yrs and online Kia said 60k but no time limit 🤔

The Kia dealer in Manchester where the car had its first 7 years of services done have no record of the cambelt being changed but they also said it was mileage 60k not time related but would be happy to do the work if we wanted it doing.

My dad's Suzuki van( well now my sister uses it for trips to allotment/tip) is a t reg van . So 1999. Never had cambelt as I know for sure . He bought it new from the garage I worked at at the time. All I've done in those years is oil and filter every couple of years. Not even air filter. Only done 50k in 23years. Still the same brakes. Suzuki cam belts must be made of good material to last 23yrs+ . What's the saying? "Never buy a car off a  mechanic"😂😂😂😂

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

2.0 GTI instead...chain drive with no interval as far as I'm aware

Yes, I investigated this when I got my Leon - the latest EA888 1.8/2.0 in VW Group cars are chain drive.

However (there's always a however!) I did see worrying references to catastrophic engine damage from failure of the tensioner. You can't win........😠

http://www.audicomplaints.com/timing-chain/

https://www.pscautocentre.co.uk/products/2-0t-tsi-ea888-engine-timing-chain-tensioner-replacement-vw-audi-skoda-seat

I think/hope this was only an issue on earlier versions of the EA888 and they claim to have sorted it by now.

6 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Yes, I investigated this when I got my Leon - the latest EA888 1.8/2.0 in VW Group cars are chain drive.

However (there's always a however!) I did see worrying references to catastrophic engine damage from failure of the tensioner. You can't win........😠

 

http://www.audicomplaints.com/timing-chain/

Hmm, I've seen that too, but it does seem to be earlier cars.  I haven't seen any mention of it in Mk7.5 GTi's?  I have seen a recall for the engine cover which could catch fire though!  

I must admit, the 2.0 TSI I briefly had in the Leon sounded and felt really smooth (especially compared to my 155 MHEV!).  And it seemed to do decent MPG as well.  Just a shame they were DSG only in those.  Tax is of course the same post 2017.  And I can insure a GTi for £170!  (£40 cheaper than my diesel Golf!).  And it's something I've genuinely wanted for a long while (unlike a Mk4 Focus lol...)  It really is just that suspension that I don't know about...and don't really have any way to test drive one either.  

9 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

All a bit of a minefield tbh...and I like to think of myself as a bit of a 'car person'...so I have no idea how non car people manage!  

A lot of people out there simply buy by the colour. Someone I work with recently bought a brand new cheap runabout car outright (not on lease). The first thing the salesman wanted to show him was how the infotainment screen could connect to his phone. The salesman was surprised when he wanted to look under the bonnet first.

With nearly all new cars being leased, maintenance intervals wouldn't even occur to most people. They simply trade it in after three years for another shiny new one.

On 4/17/2022 at 10:17 AM, TomsFocus said:

You don't say which engine is in your Mk1?  If it's a 1.8/2.0 petrol then you can probably get away with an oil change for a few years without any problems at all.  People obsess about air filters but they have a large surface area that takes ages to cover so really they don't need changing often at all.  3 years is likely to be fine unless you drive a lot of dusty country lanes.  Fuel filter on a petrol doesn't do much, even after 10 years you're unlikely to block that. Diesel fuel filter needs doing every 2-3 years as they get full of wax. Pollen filter should be done at least every couple of years, as they breed mould & bacteria when damp, then blow that straight into your face through the cabin vents!  

Yes good point! It's a 1.8 petrol. Had done about 65k when I bought it 6 years ago, and I've done about 20k myself in that time, so currently around 85k on the clock. It's always been pretty good at getting through MOTs to be honest, I was just being lazy getting a service and MOT. I've realised that any major concerns would likely be found in an MOT anyway, so as long as I can change a few filters/fluids then, for a 21 year old car, there's not much point in me paying out for a service. 

 

 

3.5 ecoboost 🤣🤣🤣🤣

You do know this is the UK Ford owners club ?  We can only dream of 3.5, anyone that has a 1.5 ecoboost is just showing off !!