Service Issues: How do you service your Car?

[Oilydad]

Now I WILL take you back a few years!!

Who remembers the franchise that had garages all over the UK with about 4 or 5 hoists in each garage, and you could turn up and pay for and use a ramp for as many hours as you needed it? There was always a guy on hand to look after the hoists so no issues with Elf & Safety.

I never understood why that one didn't take off.

And who remembers when you always, but always put a shot of red-ex into your fuel tank for upper cylinder lubricant. That was in the days when a guy came out, filled your car for you, and checked your oil and wiped your screen....all part of the service.

Any more?

[arcturus]

And the sun shone every day and it only rained after midnight.

[Toplights]

Originally Posted by Oilydad

Now I WILL take you back a few years!!

Who remembers the franchise that had garages all over the UK with about 4 or 5 hoists in each garage, and you could turn up and pay for and use a ramp for as many hours as you needed it? There was always a guy on hand to look after the hoists so no issues with Elf & Safety.

I never understood why that one didn't take off.

And who remembers when you always, but always put a shot of red-ex into your fuel tank for upper cylinder lubricant. That was in the days when a guy came out, filled your car for you, and checked your oil and wiped your screen....all part of the service.

Any more?

OD they still do it in some places in the USA i believe.I would be in there every other week if there was one near me.Still thinking of digging a pit in the front garden.

[arcturus]

Me to, but the wife might cancel her life insurance policy.

[stephend]

I used to use a local indie, then when he retired I switched to DIY. Now back to mostly using a local indie - partly lack of time and facilities for DIY, partly all the dodgy joints that come with advancing age (me, not the car!).

Also depends on value and complexity of car. For example, I happily did the cambelt on my old Sierra, but chickened out on the Mondeo that replaced it. Similarly, I did the head gasket on my 740, partly for the experience and partly because having it done professionally would have cost more than the value of the car. Have just got a V40, and that's got quite a few things I'd be scared to tangle with (VVT, ABS, airbags etc).

Basically I enjoy working on cars - but not when it's cold, and it all goes wrong, and time's pressing, and the floor's hard and my back hurts...

Where I've been very lucky is that both indies I've used were/are excellent: first-rate workmanship, totally straightforward, fair rates, genuinely decent guys. The current one also does my MoTs, and has always been scrupulously fair. Doing some of my own work helps, because stuff the garage points out is usually stuff I've spotted for myself so I know he's not bullsh*tting me.

One other advantage of using the same guy is the continuity: he knows from his own records what is and isn't due, and advises accordingly. In the case of the 740, he's been maintaining it for the last 18 years, since long before it came into my ownership. It sails through the MoT every year with no more than minor advisories (apart from the time it failed on torn wiper blades...!), so he must be doing something right!

[globetrotter]

All Volvo main dealer mechanics should wear Dick Turpin masks for the daylight robbery of their charges, when the dreaded engine management light comes on,
currently £52.50 per 1/2 hour to plug it in to a lap top, just to tell you whats wrong with it, plus VAT???, (I've already paid tax on the money I paid for the bill,so please don't get me started) so doing my own servicing is a must, what I can't do I leave to a good local mechanic who is not averse to the folding stuff.

[sirSTUpid]

Unfortunately I'm not very mechanically minded but I am extremely lucky to have Steve ( 940 sports edition ) as a very very good friend whom has fettled my cars on more occasions than I dare to remember! Where possible the parts are sourced from a local scrappie or if appropriate genuine Volvo spares, no point in driving a premium car to then fit sh*te after market parts I usually try to have them serviced every 6000 miles or 6 months whichever is sooner as I do allot of town miles !
Steve you are my saviour !!!!!!!!

[andy_d]

Originally Posted by andy_d

Mostly for me its "why should i pay someone lots to do what i can" ok there are certain jobs *bl***y airbag light* that as yet i Cant do due to needing ££ specialist items (that usually get used less often in direct link to the higher the cost).
oh and "stuff that" type jobs - exhaust/tyres , whilst i can do exhausts, without the lift ramp its a royal PITA ,,but i refuse to use kwik*** or "plume of tyres" type places (plume wrecked my 940 exhaust in front of me, and refused to fix the parts they broke by hanging off the exhaust and jumping up/down ,, )

Deffinatly one to distrust garage untill proven they Can do the job without being a "plume of tyres" type.

Currently contemplating using a local garage for a brake caliper replacement, whilst its a job i know i can do in a afternoon, the time/ache of the bleeding of the brakes Does tempt me to farm it out to them. (the Joys of a pre owned car ,, "serviced" by someone who knows only "large hammer/bigger hammer" and adjustable wrench to round nuts/bolts off and doesnt belive in refitting things like "seals" or using Gen parts....)

Westons of solihull < about the Only ones i Do trust, there not a volvo specialist but a performance car specialist. ok my s40 isnt a performance car, but there mechanic's know there spanners, and they are ,to date, a very reliable place .

id like to change to

Serviced at home, With a BIG mug of coffee and some choice words.


i decided to do the brake calipers myself, taking the view "both at the same time + lob gen volvo pads in all new fluid" ist hard,and the extra £ given to teh garage to take the pain away didnt quite sit well with the ease of the whole job.

now ,,im going to Have to wash the thing, managed to leave copperslip finger prints on the wheel arches

[grass hopper]

Originally Posted by globetrotter

All Volvo main dealer mechanics should wear Dick Turpin masks for the daylight robbery of their charges, when the dreaded engine management light comes on,
currently £52.50 per 1/2 hour to plug it in to a lap top, just to tell you whats wrong with it, plus VAT???, (I've already paid tax on the money I paid for the bill,so please don't get me started) so doing my own servicing is a must, what I can't do I leave to a good local mechanic who is not averse to the folding stuff.

the main dealer mechanics are shafted by the dealer also,trust me

[Oilydad]

Thanks for all these replies to my original post, and survey.

Seems like most of us DIY. Saves on downtime, cost and above all, means that we don't get shafted.

The Main Dealers get the "new car" work obviously, but that probably dies when the cars warranty expires. Just too pricey for most people seems to be the result. Basically they can be quite snooty towards owners of 'older' cars, which in turn backfires IF and WHEN you do decide to buy new.

I always feel slightly insulted by mechanics who try to make mysteries out of the simplest of jobs, that with basic care can be done without much hassle at all.

The invaluable 'indies' deserve a mention here too. Basically these guys do a good job at a fair price, and I only wish there was one near me.

And finally to my own 'pet mechanic' Lee (Potter) and his team of guys, who runs PE Services in Newton Abbot from a super nice modern unit. And Jim At Kastner Volvo (spares dept), here in Exeter who can magic up parts from nowhere at the drop of a hat, Top fellas.

Lee and our family cars have a long, and totally satisfactory association. He knows that I do most of my own work, and he services my wifes, daughter's and my own car when either I haven't got the time, or it's a RAMP job. No point getting filthy under the car in the rain for 4 hours when it only takes 30 minutes on a ramp in the warmth of a garage IMHO.

So a BIG TICK for you Lee. All round nice guy (and Clare his wife who manages the boys..does the phone and even gives you a cuppa) You can count on a first class job, at a fair price. You're a top team mate!

And that is why you are always snowed under with work!!