General: £154m Cost of car owners’ neglect

[DaveNP]

If it's a choice between no service or paying a certain tyre company to claim they have done a service and then add a couple of hundred to the bill for unnecessary work, I'd be more than inclined to save my money.

[julianps]

Originally Posted by GMcL

Exactly, if your car has missed a filter change, they won't fit two in there to make up for the earlier miss.

True, but and to play devil's advocate, you could end up with worn valves and seals or excessive sludge in EGR or throttle bodies; it's the what goes around comes around argument.

[volvorocks]

Originally Posted by XcOM

but on the other hand it depends how it is driven, you can indeed miss a service now and again if you don't do many miles, but you still have to concede that things to break down, even when not in use, Oil for example starts to brake down when used, gets hot, compressed ect ect so it needs to be replaced depending on your engine, type of oil, miles covered and driving style.

As I have said I have seriously missed out on servicing many cars in the past, with no real negatives. A Senator I had that towed a heavy caravan quite regularly along with other towing, never had an oil change, was never really serviced,never really looked after, did a lot of hard work, never had anything really bar things like tyres and brakes. Sweet as anything it was - even when sold. Same with our Hyundais, some bought 3/4 years with moderate miles, serviced when bought, then never serviced again. What is the point of paying £200-£300 every 10k miles especially when you are clocking up 5 times that a year, simply to maintain a warranty, on a car that lets face it is only around 10k new and more or less worthless after the 100k miles mark or year 4 anyway?.

I could go on, regards an F reg Renault 21 I had, bought from an auction looking sad on the paintwork, polished up, run for a couple of years and around 30k miles, never serviced, never treated with kid gloves, which I sold to a friend who was a nurse who used it to commute 50 miles to work each day for god knows how long and it never let her down, or failed an MOT

I mean what does a service actually entail?....a quick check of things that any motorist should do daily anyway - oil,water,tyres, visual windows check, lights, etc. Most services are simply oil changes and a filter here or there, and that is about it really. Anyone can do that, even me!!. Only reason I service new cars is A) the purchase cost of the car makes it a necessity and B) £500 for 5 years servicing with collect and return would quite frankly be criminal to refuse....!!!

Regards

[moorgate]

Originally Posted by julianps

True, but and to play devil's advocate, you could end up with worn valves and seals or excessive sludge in EGR or throttle bodies; it's the what goes around comes around argument.

oh if any mechanic - dealer or indie, cheap or expensive - actually paid attention to such things at all! You have to be way out of the regular consumer garage world and up into the antiseptically clean halls of Aston Martin, McLaren et al before that level of attention applies!

£159m is a tiny amount of money in the context of the UK car populaiton too - it's about 50 quid per car per year. Given what happens whenever I am forced to take a car to a chain like that, I'm amazed they don't go for £750m.

[GMcL]

Originally Posted by julianps

True, but and to play devil's advocate, you could end up with worn valves and seals or excessive sludge in EGR or throttle bodies; it's the what goes around comes around argument.

You're preaching to the converted here.

I frequently have this "discussion" with my wife who thinks I waste money on maintenance when none of her friends do but when I counter it with "yes, their cars are knackered after three years and ours aren't" she still doesn't get it.

All she sees is the annual spend and not the overall cost.

[cheshired5]

Originally Posted by GMcL

You're preaching to the converted here.

I frequently have this "discussion" with my wife who thinks I waste money on maintenance when none of her friends do but when I counter it with "yes, their cars are knackered after three years and ours aren't" she still doesn't get it.

All she sees is the annual spend and not the overall cost.

I think she just wants a faster demise so she can have a new car.
My ex-wife was like that.
The first rattle and it was brochure time. She did not want that rattle fixing.

[GMcL]

Originally Posted by cheshired5

I think she just wants a faster demise so she can have a new car.

Then she needs to find a new bloke to pay for it, she's had three brand new cars since 2009.

I got to replace my 2005 S60 in 2013 and I'm allowed to change again in 2019/20. Actually, that last bit is a lie, that's just me seeing how long I can make a Volvo last in my hands. All other makes are gone after 2 years normally, 3½ years was my previous record before my '05 S60 which lasted 1 week short of 7 years.
Have to admit though the current S60 won't last as long, got the bug to start looking again already just can't bond with this car at all.

The previous one was a grower, this one is just annoying me. I had to plug the passenger seat belt in this evening it was rattling against the cheap, nasty, hard plastic on the B-pillar.