Servicing a low mileage car.

[frogdare]

I have a 2016 XC60 D4 owned from new. Total mileage is 18,500. It is due for annual service in July.
For the past 3 years, annual mileage has been only about 400 miles. This current 12 month period might be 1200 miles by July. Up to now, servicing has been carried out annually at the Volvo dealership where the car was bought.

The question is, is it worth continuing to have an annual service? The last two services have been the reduced content and cheaper “adapted” service but even so the cost is about £230. Plus fuel for a 100 mile round trip and hire car costs.

I doubt if Volvo UK would contribute towards a major repair for an 8 year old car so another reason for a continuous service record no longer seems relevant.

Camshaft belt, auxiliary belt, tensioner and idler roller were replaced in 2021 at 17099 miles so these are not due again yet.

What is the downside of extending my service interval to, say, 24 months or what other options can anyone suggest please? As I am not far off 80 I’m not looking for a DIY option.

[Tannaton]

Originally Posted by frogdare

I have a 2016 XC60 D4 owned from new. Total mileage is 18,500. It is due for annual service in July.
For the past 3 years, annual mileage has been only about 400 miles. This current 12 month period might be 1200 miles by July. Up to now, servicing has been carried out annually at the Volvo dealership where the car was bought.

The question is, is it worth continuing to have an annual service? The last two services have been the reduced content and cheaper “adapted” service but even so the cost is about £230. Plus fuel for a 100 mile round trip and hire car costs.

I doubt if Volvo UK would contribute towards a major repair for an 8 year old car so another reason for a continuous service record no longer seems relevant.

Camshaft belt, auxiliary belt, tensioner and idler roller were replaced in 2021 at 17099 miles so these are not due again yet.

What is the downside of extending my service interval to, say, 24 months or what other options can anyone suggest please? As I am not far off 80 I’m not looking for a DIY option.

I would consider the Volvo essential service as you maintain the history, get a years recovery and a good valet. That's got to be worth £120 of the £230.

However if you don't have it serviced - it will be fine - contrary to popular legend engine oil does not degrade significantly with time alone and nothing else will spoil. With that annual mileage id be happy to leave the oil in for 3-4 years, there wont be any issues, other than the Service messages on the dash.

Just make sure you give it a good run to get it hot and cleared out.

[Kev0607]

Originally Posted by frogdare

I have a 2016 XC60 D4 owned from new. Total mileage is 18,500. It is due for annual service in July.
For the past 3 years, annual mileage has been only about 400 miles. This current 12 month period might be 1200 miles by July. Up to now, servicing has been carried out annually at the Volvo dealership where the car was bought.

The question is, is it worth continuing to have an annual service? The last two services have been the reduced content and cheaper “adapted” service but even so the cost is about £230. Plus fuel for a 100 mile round trip and hire car costs.

I doubt if Volvo UK would contribute towards a major repair for an 8 year old car so another reason for a continuous service record no longer seems relevant.

Camshaft belt, auxiliary belt, tensioner and idler roller were replaced in 2021 at 17099 miles so these are not due again yet.

What is the downside of extending my service interval to, say, 24 months or what other options can anyone suggest please? As I am not far off 80 I’m not looking for a DIY option.

Doing that mileage, I wouldn't bother servicing it every year.

I agree with Tannaton above... you could easily leave the oil 3 or 4 years (maximum I'd personally leave it would be 5 years). Servicing it annually doing that kind of mileage isn't really cost effective. What you're spending on servicing and to keep the history will never be recouped at sale time. Its 8 years old... most people just service the car for the bare minimum warranty period and they never see the dealer again after that.

Save the cash. Service less frequent based on your usage.