Do you service your own car?
 

After having quotes of £404 and £330 for a 4 year service on an xc90 (car is at 58000 miles with last service done 1year ago at 54000miles) I am wondering why there is not an investigation of the dealers by the monopolies commission! I mean come on what is hard about a service and why is it so extortionate? I managed to get one to allow me to supply my own oil but that only reduces the price by £70.

I figure that I could do the air filter myself for £20, oil filter would cost around £20, fuel filter £20, no need to top up the screen washer which is usually £5... an hours work tops? I replaced the discs, pads, shoes and rear wheel bearings last summer so what else is there to check? I wonder if I can buy the dealer stamp for £20?

Does anyone have a 4 year checklist of what is usually done please?

I agree, to the knowledgeable it is a lot of money for what you get.

My recently aquired Exec is 3 years old and I will get it dealer serviced to keep the book up to date with Volvo stamps which will (hopefully) allow it to retain as much value as possible when I come to sell it in a few years time.

The other advantage of dealer servicing is other work carried out such as recalls etc.

For my next service I also need the on call re-activated and I might get the radio software mod to receive Long Wave transmissions.

I do my own servicing and the oil filters are cheaper than that. As mine is on the 10k or one year with the millage my car covers it works out a service every 8 months or so. Doing it my self costs me less than £100 as you only need to replace things like the fuel filter every couple of years. I also keep an eye on my washer level and top it up as needed. I also make sure that things like the door hinges are lubricated. In fact I can't think of a time when I have paid for a service where I have been happy with what's been done.

I always do my own servicing as I think the quality of the work I do is better than the garage, due mainly because I care. I use decent parts (Volvo or known brand), and I keep receipts, and records about what I do, when and mileages. When it comes to selling the car, all this information is better than service histroy in my opinion, and I find most of the time potential buyers agree.
Rob.

I would add myself to the list of DIY servicing... I have yet to experience anymain dealer where the end to end service meets expectations.

They may have one or two excellent techs, but its the whole experience that never meets cost or quality expectations.

Servicing items are not expensive on these or most cars these days, even buying OEM parts.

I also stamp my service book with a rubber stamp... made in my own name (they are only circa £10 to get made up) - plus I make up a worksheet to record every item of work and have that stapled to the receipts for the parts - so maintain a very comprehensive history.

David

When I was 18, my first car (Opel Ascona B) was pulling to the left under braking, and had ventilation issues in the chassis legs. I took it to the local garage, who freed up the sliders on the single pot calipers, and welded the chassis legs. 9 months later it all needed doing again, so I bought my own mig welder (off the milkman!), and started to collect my tools, and fixed it for myself, properly. The only other time I sent a car to a garage was when I fuel injected a later Ascona, and couldn't get it ticking over correctly. Looming camping trip and work commitments, so I booked it into and injection specialist, who did nothing useful to it until the day I was due to go away, so I went down in the morning and fixed it myself in their garage, and they then tried to charge me!
So in a way they did me a favour, as the useless garages have led me to a life long hobby, which ensures I will never use them again!
I have loads of tools now, but I have to admit I don't have my own service stamp (once again I bow to your superiority David!).
Rob.

Always do my own cars.
A lot of it is just about having a little confidence and common sense.
My old V40 is still chugging along nicely after 165000 miles, with half of that being serviced by me.
The XC90 is only 10 months in the family. So far have changed oil, pollen filters and put in fully synthetic oil. Havn't done the air filter yet as when I opened it up the existing one looked new (so I have a spare in the garage!). Plan to do the fuel filter this year as I had some warning messages in the -14C temps last year that I THINK may be fuel filter related.

With any new car there is a period where lack of familiarity and/or purchase price can put you off from attacking it with your own tools. That wears off very soon for me now!


....oh also did the rear brakes and waxoiled the entire car. and lubed the hinges etc.

Is this what you want? Should add click on the thumbnail to open then click on the open photo to get a printable copy.

perfect! Thats a lot of fuel filters needed!

Makes me think that I will definately do mine now.

...goes to look for how to guide.

Great post.
I have dealer service but I do hardware fix myself.