First Service Info And A Few Other Things

[Glasgow_Mike]

Hi all,

Been lurking for a while, have found the site to be a great source of info on all things Fez related, kudos to those who run it and all who contribute :)

My car has now passed its 1st birthday so along with a massive spring clean I am thinking its about time it gets its first service (just hitting 7500 on the clock). I bought the car from a motorpoint rather than a ford dealer so I am wondering if I can take my pick with regards to which dealer performs the service as long as they are ford approved? Am I right in thinking it needs to be serviced by Ford for warranty validation or can it be any garage as long as the book gets stamped?

I have also been looking into getting a K&N Panel filter fitted after the service, have read conflicting reports as to its worth but if I get a little extra bite when accelerating i'll be happy. Has anyone fitted one to the petrol 1.6 and noticed any benefit be it bhp or mpg?

Have thought about going down the full mountune route but unless you can pay it up it would probably be next xmas by the time I can afford it. Seems like a lot to pay for not a massive gain in performance nevermind the cost to my insurance premium. Has anyone fitted this upgrade or parts of it (Eg exhaust) and felt it worthwhile?

As always any advice is much appreciated.

Cheers

Mike

[orcomma]

EU anti-monopoly law states that a car's warranty must be honoured by the manufacturer if it is serviced outside the franchised network, as long as genuine parts are used and the work is carried out "to manufacturer specification" i.e. the required work is done and the paperwork is there.

however, many franchised dealers only cost a marginal amount more than third party workshops, and the "dealer stamp" in the service history may be worth the extra when you come to sell it on. i would therefore suggest you shop around and weigh up the pros and cons of where you get it done.

as for the modification questions, others on here may be better to advise you of that, since i have an "unmodded" diesel.

remember to tell your insurers if you do mod the car, as otherwise it will likely invalidate your cover, leaving you exposed to financial liability in the event of a bump. your insurers will of course raise your premium, so it might be worth anonymously enquiring how much it will go up by before buying any mods.

[Glasgow_Mike]

Will defo have a look around with regards to the service, I've heard they can cost as much as £200 at Ford though and all you really get done after a year is an oil change (if they even bother doing that) and the rest is just checking over rather than replacing. It seems pretty steep but as you say it might be worth having that stamp if and when I sell the car.

Not 100% on modding the car too much, at least until the warranty is done anyway then I might do a bit more so looking for simple changes right now that won't effect it, i've read that this is the case for changing the panel filter but haven't heard of much else.

[rojariggs]

Will defo have a look around with regards to the service, I've heard they can cost as much as £200 at Ford though and all you really get done after a year is an oil change (if they even bother doing that) and the rest is just checking over rather than replacing. It seems pretty steep but as you say it might be worth having that stamp if and when I sell the car.

Like "orcomma" says, you don't have to get it serviced by Ford to retain the warranty. As long as it is serviced by a VAT registered garage, using Ford genuine parts and following the Ford scheule then the warranty will be fine.

That said, it's worth shopping around Ford dealers in your area as prices are not fixed centrally by Ford and can vary from dealer to dealer. My local dealer charges £149 for the 1st service.

[orcomma]

Like "orcomma" says

putting my username in speech marks! :o

i'm shocked and apalled "rojariggs"

[jimrex]

That said, it's worth shopping around Ford dealers in your area as prices are not fixed centrally by Ford and can vary from dealer to dealer. My local dealer charges £149 for the 1st service.

I recently booked my Focus in for it's first service and rang around the local Ford dealers to get prices - for me they varied from £140 to £160. I booked the £140 one... after booking, another dealer responded to my enquiry and asked what I had been offered, he then tapped away on his calculator and offered me £120 with a courtesy car thrown in.

It's worth ringing round and getting some quotes, it seems they have some room to budge if you try your luck!

[Glasgow_Mike]

Called my local ford dealer and its £159 there with no room to budge but did say it would only take about 2 hours which is good I guess.

Will try further afield and see what I can get but that 1st dealer is close to both home and work so would be easiest.

[Glasgow_Mike]

http://www.fr-rtuning-shop.co.uk/index.php?_a=product&product_id=2042

Best deal i've found so far for the panel filter, will wait until after the service before I fit it though. Always wonder with a company I have never heard of if it will be the real deal or not, same with eBay for that matter.

[FIESTA_MAD]

I wanna get a pipercross.panel filter but its £30 so what will my car benifit from fitting it ??

[FIESTA_MAD]

I wanna get a pipercross.panel filter but its £30 so what will my car benifit from fitting it ??

[Glasgow_Mike]

From what I have read changing to a performance filter can increase bhp (slightly), improves mpg, improves acceleration and also makes the engine sound a bit more aggresive. K&N seems to be the filter of choice so looking at one of them for now, read a review of the pipercross and most stated it wasn't quite as good as the K&N so would be worth spending the little extra for latter.

[iNath]

Definitely worth shopping around, seems my local dealer has been changing their prices recently. Up until now it was £125 for minor (years 1,2,4,5,7,8 etc) and £250 for major (years 3,6,9 etc)

Now it's £169 for 1st year, £189 for 2nd year, and £229 for 3rd year, then repeats in that pattern?! Dunno what's different between 1st & 2nd year as I was under the impression they were the same...

[rojariggs]

putting my username in speech marks! :o

i'm shocked and apalled "rojariggs"

I'm not sure why I did that... I was in the middle of writing a long dull whitepaper and was feeling a bit over-punctuated I guess...

Sorry "Jimmy". I'll {try} not to do it again(!)

[Glasgow_Mike]

The varience in price from one ford dealer to another kinda baffles me, how one can charge anything different for the exact same job says it all about this country, they find a way to make a quick buck and exploit it. Does anyone know if Ford have a set price for the service as a business?

Most annoying me is the fact that I know the chap at my local garage very well and know he would do me a good deal on a service, probably £80 tops, yet I am still considering the dealer service because of stamp impact in the log book.

[Glasgow_Mike]

Found an amazon gift card this morning I totally forgot I had so I have just purchased the K&N panel filter from said site for £13, get in B)

Still not decided what to do about the service, thinking I might go to the dealer this time and see how pleased I am with the service provided etc and decide from there if its worth doing again.

[orcomma]

I'm not sure why I did that... I was in the middle of writing a long dull whitepaper and was feeling a bit over-punctuated I guess...

Sorry "Jimmy". I'll {try} not to do it again(!)

[orcomma]

anyway back on topic (pardon my offtopicness!)

according to Cap for the 1.6 ZS, 36mo/60kmi , the difference between Cap Clean and Cap Average is £475.

amongst the criteria to reach cap clean is a full franchise service history.

so you are looking at nearly half a grand more after 3 years, which might make it worth spending 50 quid more per year on a service. but its your decision and whether its worth it obviously depends on how long you plan to have the car.

[Glasgow_Mike]

Thanks for the info Orcomma, it defo seems worth it getting the franchise service with the difference in value after 3 years. Thanks to everyone who responded also. I will let you know how I get on with the service, going to get it booked in today then get the filter fitted as soon as thereafter.