Fords Servicing Schedule

[tone]

Guys

I'm coming uo to one years ownership of my car (well van) bought 04.04.2010. By the time 12 months is up I will have covered 44000 miles and had 3 services. My gripe is I don't believe that Fords Schedule does not cover enough items and on a regular enough basis.

This is not in anyway related to the quality of the work carried out or any skimping by the dealers or local garages, but more at what is the minimum amount they need to do at the time of the service and that is in the schedules.

Let me explain and see what you think as its raised a couple of issues for me especially

12500 Mile service

oil & Filter Change and Renew Odour Filter and a general look around. OK but nothing out of the ordinary. I actually had the wipers replaced at my request.Whether they would have picked that up I don't know.

25000 Mile service

oil & Filter & Odour Filter Change and a general look around. This service calls for a wheels off service to check pad & show wear.

Pads 20% worn Shoes 10% worn (Note that)

Tyres they noted I had some uneven wear on the front tyres & down to 3.0mm. (Original Hankook)Rear Tyres showing 5.00mm tread and the spare 8.00mm (what Spare I have a tin of goo)

I had asked about the drivers door seal as it was hanging off, its only glued on, and the service dept noted this on the sheet and requested I booked the car in for the warranty work to be done.

27500 Miles, gear linkage snapped leaving me without the car for 3 weeks. So much for the visual inspection

29283 Miles, front tyres gave up and were replaced with Continental ContiPremium Contact 2's, a lot quieter than the Hankooks. Good wear though.

31000 Miles car developed a surging problem symptoms similar to misfiring and the engine light would come on. If you switched the ignition off for a few minutes and then restarted the light would go out. The dealer near work in Oxford reported fault codes of "excessive fuel pressure" and low fuel pressure" on the 2 occasions they had it. Eventually my local dealer Vospers in Liskeard, Cornwall solved the problem by replacing the fuel filter. Not due to be changed until 3 years or 37500 miles.

37500 Mile Service

oil & Filter and Odour Filter Changed

No Fuel Filter due to it being changed earlier

Air Filter Changed, it was black. Does this help the Air Flow sensor and can it possibly be doing the intake side of things any good.

Wheels On Service Visual Inspection of Pads & Shoes. I reported a sticking handbrake resulting ia additional work and they ground off a ridge on the drums and shoes and reset. At 12500 miles between inspecting brakes seems a long time to me. Again smacks of if it ain't broke don't look.

I have no issues with the car its great bombs up and down the motorways, I never feel wrecked even after covering stints of 395 miles in one go. Returns 50.7 mpg probably because of the tuning box fitted.

I think that Fords Servicing Schedule is detrimental to the vehicles health. On two occasions I've been left without the car. The fuel filter issue especially covered a few weeks. It was getting to the point where I was looking at leaving it at home in case it broke down.

Anyway what do you guys think, is the servicing cost driven which I suspect it is or would you prefer to have some of the more important items covered more regularly.

[grin factor]

I agree it is the bare minimum done at each service. The air filter you talk about is a prime example, I believe this & the fuel filter should have been changed well before. It doesn't add up to me either

[rikernumber1]

I've just completed the 7th annual service on my Fiesta Mk 6 - 1.25 Finesse, using the Ford service schedule on ETIS website. Actual mileage was 29K - vehicle is a 2004 model. Now used mainly for a 20 mile commute down dual carriageway.

I too was surprised that the only two mandated filter replacements were the cabin filter and oil filter. The majority of the service was simply checking components. Ford Dealer wanted £175 to do this service; I did it for £35, including the air filter which I chose to replace. Can't understand why you'd do the cabin filter every year, but not the air filter. I also changed the brake fluid a few months ago - this is recommended every two years.

It is probably "sufficient" - but no more.

[tone]

Guys

Glad that somebody else finds it odd. Why would I want my pollen filter changing every year when what I am really concerned about is that my fuel filter or my air filter is clogged up. It then causes me issues when I have to keep stopping and calling out the RAC because I've broken down. Is it because Ford want to please the company "fleet manager" that their cars are cheap to maintain.

Or why is it that a gearbox oil change isn't on the schedule, especially when it's one of the items that's likely to cause me issues at 50k miles plus due to lack of an oil change.

Come on Ford be realistic, have a decent service schedule thats going to keep our vehicles on the road, well after the fleet market has finished with them.