V40 D3 service question

[Rincewind35]

Hi everyone

Bought a 2013 d3 as a runaround last year the time to book service message came.on and ive checked and it shows 1 month and 14000 miles to service it has only done 2000 miles in the 8 months since I bought it, is it essential that it has a service given its telling me 14000 miles left

[rxtian]

Yes in my opinion - the intervals are miles or 1 year, whichever comes first.

Neither of our cars do many miles but get serviced annually nonetheless

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by Rincewind35

Hi everyone

Bought a 2013 d3 as a runaround last year the time to book service message came.on and ive checked and it shows 1 month and 14000 miles to service it has only done 2000 miles in the 8 months since I bought it, is it essential that it has a service given its telling me 14000 miles left

I would. Its one year or the miles, whichever comes first. Depends how much you value the car. If you want it to run well and be reliable, changing the oil is a good idea.

I'd be more concerned with having a diesel engine for a "runaround". That won't work... it'll just clog the DPF. Its just asking for trouble. Make sure it gets motorway drives to clean the soot from the DPF at least once a month for a minimum of 30 minutes at constant speed (above 50mph).

[Rincewind35]

Yeah not my first rodeo with diesel and dpf the jag was the pits. Although it doesn't do many miles it's more to do with me being away for periods, it probably does on good long trip once a week when it's in use

[RS3100]

From the first time you've run the engine with new oil in it, the oil contains contaminants from combustion. In regular use, they are burnt off or suspended in the oil and do little harm. In an engine left idle for long periods or used for consecutive short journeys where it doesn't get up to temperature, they can start causing damage.

The Iveco engine in my van has a headline oil change interval of 30,000 miles or 24 months, but it also states that vehicles covering less than 7,500 miles per annum must have the oil changed annually, and vehicles that have not been run for a period of a month or more must have an oil change before the engine is started.

At only 2,000 miles over a year I would definitely carry out an annual oil change.

[Tannaton]

Contrary to popular opinion engine oil does not degrade with age - when you buy it new it does not have a use by date on it, so at 3,000 miles a year you could skip one, maybe two services and it will make no difference.

The DPF systems on Volvo's are the very best and rarely give trouble on an otherwise healthy car, though a good long run ever now and then is always a good idea.

However, Volvo do offer an essential service for low mileage cars, you get an oil change and safety check for around £150 but more importantly a stamp in the book and a years Volvo assist.....

[RS3100]

The engine oils that I buy all have production dates on the containers. Consensus amongst manufacturers is that they have around a 5 year shelf life before they start to degrade.

Oil itself may or may not degrade in the engine, but it does become polluted with contaminants as a by product of the combustion process. I have seen test papers on so called extended drain interval oils, which determined that many of them barely met the base ACEA specification after 2 years of use, and at that point offered less protection than cheap generic off the shelf oils.

If oil doesn't afford lower levels of protection from low mileage use, why do most vehicle manufacturers recommend more frequent oil and filter changes for low annual mileages?

Some commercial vehicle manufacturers now advertise 350,000km oil change intervals, with small print provisos regarding more frequent changes. But the cynic in me suspects they are targeting fleet buyers concerned about ongoing service costs, and when they have disposed of the vehicles after 3 years or so, probably with no oil change required in that time, it will be subsequent owners who pick up the bill, likely with no warranty for any issues arising.