Hi all,
I often find myself in debate on how often you need to service your car (new/few years old).
Some people say 6 months, some say every 5000km, etc.
What if you only drive your car a few hundred km and then go on holiday? Do you still need to service it in 6 months?
How often do you service your car? and are there any rule of thumbs you go by?
I own a 1997 R33 Skyline GTR - I do oil dumps every 5000 kms. I also own a 1999 Subaru GC8 WRX - I do oil dumps every 8000kms.
If you own a turbo or high performance car and you enjoy thrashing it a bit - it's best to change oil quite often
My mechanic, who I have used for over 20 years, told me that modern cars are designed to be serviced once a year. However, my car tends to only do short trips and the engine does not get a proper run. Cars that are run like mine or used a lot (I am thinking a courier) are cars run under "extreme" conditions and need servicing twice a year.
i service every six months. one just before rego is due
Ever since full synthetic oils have been available the the only one benefiting from 6 months servicing is the dealership.
12 months / 15,000km is perfectly fine today. Synthetic oils don't degrade that quickly.
Note, I the above doesn't apply if you track your car or have an exceptionally high performance car.
I also don't believe in 25,000km or more service intervals recommended by some manufacturers.
I drive a 2013 i30 Tourer wagon. It's a diesel car and the manufacturer recommendation is every six month in the service book, however six months after the last service is optional. So I end up getting every year and in doing so, I also retain complimentary Hyundai's roadside assistance.
Depends how much the car is worth. I have only owned old cars and have never had a service and to pay for one would be a complete waste of money. I very occasionally (at a guess 30,000km or so) change the oil. Everything else, I fix when its broken.
If you do your own servicing, just wondering where do you dump the waste? Do you just put it in the bin or what?
We have oil recycle stations to drop off waste oil locally.
SuperCheapAuto will take canisters with used oil. Or local waste transfer stations have a tank for oil.
Remember if you tow a car or drive the car under harsh conditions you may need to consider servicing the vehicle prematurely.
it's as often as the 'mechanics' and 'big car companies' want a slice of your hard-earned dosh! LOL make sure you don't go for the dodgy mechanics jobs.
Whenever my 14yo Merc tells me to, which is about a year or 15k. If it's a nice car why not look after it?
I do every 10k most time
Same.
How often do you really need to go to the gym? How much of healthy food does your body really need? Up to you really.
I Just do things myself now. im not good with cars but im learning as i go.
Basically watch a youtube video and then go for it hahaha
i changed my brakes and rotors with this method
from what ive heard, fully synthetic oil really only starts to "open up" at around 10,000km's, so changing it before then is really just wasting it.
Dunno who told you that mate but it highly depends on the driving conditions…
Most manufacturers wouldn't really have taken into consideration the +40degree C days that's common in some parts of Australia. So it makes sense the service interval is sometimes more frequent than same car sold in other parts of the world. The cooling system would have been engineered for 35 degreeC. But the wear and tear in the lubricating system goes up exponentially from there.
The upmarket European cars tend to have more reliability issues here. How often do you think Germany has 40 degree days
The engine operates at the same temperature whether it's -30c outside or +40c. Australia it not the only country in the world that gets warm. This is why we get ripped off, because people think we have some special conditions here that occur nowhere else in the world.
You need to have the right oil to run in our conditions..
it's not just the engine you have to worry about in hot weather. Wheel bearings and any rubber mounts/seals will wear/dry out much faster than a car being driven in places where it only reaches 30 once in a blue moon. i.e Tas.
Have you ever tried to go for a run when it's 5 degrees and when it's 40 degrees and humid like it is usually in Australia?
Let me guess, in 40 degrees temperature, you can barely walk let alone run for extended periods. It's the same with an engine. Ridiculous to suggest it's exactly the same from -30 to +40.
If you put a car on the same dyno, one day in cold weather, the next day in hot weather. Why do you think thre is a big difference in power numbers?
Actually Germany can get quite hot. As can a lot of European countries. We had some pretty unbearable days in Italy/France a year or so ago.
In addition to that, it can get much much colder than almost anywhere here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_extreme_temperatures_i…
That's BS. Ive sat in a traffic Jam in France on a 40C+ day for 7 hours. Europe gets hot.
Lots of BS here my german turbo saloon rarely have radiator fan on during winter months. Its got a huge appetite for heat and it works damn well in Sydney tunnels when it reach 40s. Germany isnt the only market place for these Euros, China is probably where they sell the most. Australian temperatures is hardly harsh to a car compared to many parts of the world.
Last time I checked pretty much every car apart from Landcruisers in Saudi Arabia is a German or Italian luxury/sports car. They are fine.
I have a fleet of cars. Some are driven harder than others especially when machinery needs to be towed across the country. So if something tows for more than 5000km the service gets done regardless, by this point the oil is black. The landcruisers tend to have a longer service life, bigger lazy engines i suppose. But the hilux, triton, ranger, amarok gets done early. Also have vehicles that miss their service completely for a couple years, still goes but there will be extra wear on the engine.
It depends on if you want to sell the car as second hand. A well serviced car with the service log book to prove it will sell higher.
Personally I take my car for a service according to the KM and not the months.
Every 30 days or 25,000km whichever comes first.
Filter change on the A service + inspection, B service drop the oil in addition to filters + inspection, C service (100,000) the coolant filter + coolant, diffs oil + filters, transmission oil, air filters, repack steer bearings and inspection.
D Service every 500,000km which is C service radiator out + clean, reco horton, heads off and inspect/deck, all bushes replaced + suspension components, also known as a midlife.
E Service which is every 1,000,000km is a complete motor exchange + transmission and diff centers.
You drive a truck?
No a tuk tuk
No need to be a smartass
Every 7,500km. New spark plugs, new oil, new fuel filter, new air filter, new oil filter. Good visual inspection of hoses/clamps & check fluid levels. Check if you have enough meat left on the brake pads too!
Transmission gets an oil & filter change every 20,000km.
I cringe at everyone who barely service their car.
I have just done a top end rebuild on the car (new lifters, upgraded camshaft, stronger valve train, stronger timing chain, heads cleaned & valve seats reground) so while this servicing may seem excessive to someone it is absolutely necessary in my case.
Drive hard do you?
You could say I enjoy a bit of spirited driving
Forza Skin
What car?
For 99.9% of cars, it's severely over the top, but it seems like you enjoy servicing it.
It's a 2001 Holden VX SS 5.7L V8. Yes probably is over the top & I do love servicing it. But as I said because it is modified there is more upkeep involved. I have a good friend who is able to get me trade prices for genuine holden parts, so it doesn't really end up costing me much.
eg. The oil filter only cost $4, spark plugs a couple dollars each..
So the last of the non LS V8s.
If you enjoy it why not but it's seriously over the top for someone who doesn't work on the car themselves.
Even if you work on it yourself, 7.5k is way too short for spark plugs, fuel filter and air filter.
@JB1:
It's an LS1.
The last of the Holden V8 5.0L EFI's were in the VT Series1 Commodore (HSV VT's came 355 stroked?)
The series 2 VT came out in LS1 til 2005 when the late VZ commodore got the 6.0L L98
I agree if you are paying someone to do this then i'd do it at longer intervals
You're right about the plugs, fuel & air.. they can last much longer. Maybe ill hold changing them for a couple more months!
Holy shit you are wasting a crap ton of money servicing an old wreck. Chill out dude, you do not need to change spark plugs every service.
@thorton82:
It's not really a 'crap ton' of money as I said above I get parts relatively cheap through a good friend. if you pulled apart your engine you'd probably have a heart attack with the amount of sludge built up inside it, part of the reasons why I change the oil so often :) + keeps the engine running top notch.
Regardless if you think it's an 'old wreck' or not the vx ss has always been one of my favourite cars from a young age and to finally have one is amazing. It's lumpy, uses heaps of fuel, sounds amazing and puts you back in your seat when you give it a kick in the guts. Pretty much does everything against what an ozbargainer would want but I love it !
@Forskin: Come on mate, pretty much any car with a modern turbo 4 or 6 is faster. The V8 might sound better, but it still looks like an old taxi. I wouldn't be wasting money servicing something (and fuelling something) that old. I guess keeping an old Monaro could be passed off as a classic soon, but a commodore? It will never be a classic.
@thorton82:
I don't think you read my above posts properly.. it's had heaps of work done including a big duration camshaft so yeah 270kw at the rear wheels isn't slow by any means
But hey I'm not saying it's going to be a classic or worth any big money in the future, I simply just like the car
In a lot of newer cars, transmission oil never needs to be changed.
OS my car's recommended service is 20K Miles or 2 yrs according to manufacturer
In AU it is 10K kilometers and 6 months according to AU distributer. ( that is 3-4 times more frequent)
For parts, I have ended up purchasing off ebay UK. What sells for $1400 new $1100 reco here (plus delivery) I can get for ~250 delivered.
Very wrong CVTs need to have the oil changed more often then older autos.
CVTs are not autos. They are their own category, as they do not all work in the same manner.
Peugeot, Citroen, Volvo and at least one VW I know of with auto boxes have them 'sealed for life', and a change is not part of the EU servicing schedule.
I would not consider DSG auto either (although fun to drive, too expensive if they break)
IT'S THAN. T H A N.
I think all transmission oil needs to be changed at some point, i.e. 100 or 150k.
The reason why some manufacturers don't change it as part of the scheduled servicing is by the time the transmission fails due to old oil the car will be 15 years old and at the end of the useful life.
I wonder if Kia with their 7 year unlimited warranty recommends to flush the transmission oil, surely someone would have driven the car 500,000km within the 7 years.
I think Honda recommends you change the transmission oil every 30000kms in a CVT.I will try and find service info my best mates a mechanic he bought an older CVT car and it broke after 10000kms.
30k?
I thought VAG DSGs at 60k is frequent enough, but every 30k? I'll take an auto over CVT any day.
@JB1: 100% Autos have a lot less issues they are built to last. My mates falcon had 300000km on it gearbox was still fine.
bring on the electric car already….
service it based on kilometres. Its not fresh milk you're using there
Would love an electric car, but the only worthy electric cars at the moment are Tesla's and they're not exactly affordable.
Plus there needs to be more charging stations everywhere. Otherwise it's redundant tech if you can't even drive it out of the city without worrying about being stranded.
Every 10k or once a year
My when to service rule is that the km's value for servicing should always be followed, however the time value (i.e every 6 months) is designed for those that drive very short distances every day. If you don't use your car every day, e.g. only on weekends, then i see no harm in doubling or tripling the time value
Every 10,000 I Do my oil and filter and inspect all hoses/levels etc.
I change my coolant on my last service for the year though as I use long life coolant.
Slightly more often than I clean my BBQ.
Change my oil once every 5k and service every 10k.
Depends on the car & driving conditions. My car is old and turbocharged so I change the oil myself every 5000km. I don't get it "serviced" based on time period, only when specific jobs need to be done (based on wear/mileage), I take it to a mechanic and pre-agree on what jobs are to be done.
+1 except my car is not turbocharged.
I only service when it's required, I check the oil probably every 1,500km and see what condition the plugs are in every 2,500 or when I can be bothered. Spark plugs on a clean running engine should easily last 20-40,000km.. iridium 50k+ if you changing them every 5-10km you're just wasting your money.
Some old car use that much oil that by the time you've topped it up over a month or so you've surely changed the whole lot.
My14 Pathfinder (made in 2013) has a 6 months schedule but the same model R52 made from 2014 has 1 year service schedule. I spoke to the manufacturer support and they said if I want to keep the warranty I have to service every 6 months.
Once the car is out of warranty I am just to service once a year and change oil/filter in between
What a rip off.
It's very unlikely that your engine will fail due to servicing it once a year compared to every 6 months. It will be even more unlikely they will deny a warranty claim on the engine due to it, they will have to prove that the oil was too old to deny a warranty claim.
Lots of people here must feel like Ivan Drago.
If he dies he dies.
I serviced my previous car by the book: 12 months or 15k km, whichever came first. Never had a problem with the engine. My new i30 diesel is being treated the same way. Do the minimum recommended. There are European cars like some Mercedes-Benz vehicles that recommend an oil change every 25k km. Changing the oil every 5000km like some people recommend is burning money.
Dealerships will charge as much as the market will bear, and often recommend over servicing. For example, when I purchased Bridgestone tyres the retailer recommended rotation and balance every 5000km. Madness. Following those recommendation I would spend more servicing the tyres than the actual cost of buying Potenzas.
When it comes time to sell, can you please make sure to mention that you do not service by the book. So buyers can make sure to avoid buying your car.
Thank you
"I serviced my previous car by the book" "My new i30 diesel is being treated the same way"
I see reading comprehension is not your forte. My current and previous cars were all serviced by the book, the manufacturer recommended standard.
In regards to tyres, I rotate them once every 10k km. The tread level difference between the front and rear is just 1mm at the change.
Thank you
Depends on how you use your vehicle.
I ride and drive pretty hard and like to stick to 6000km servicing with fully synthetic quality oil, I use the same in the car and bikes. Always change the filter at the same time, usually stock up on quality filters when there's a bargain.
Pretty well everything else only gets done when the manufacturer recommends, or I think it needs doing.
Some manufacturers use long life oils etc hence some of the longer service intervals.
At minimum, when your service manual says to.
Once a year if you drive it an average amount, twice if you drive it a LOT or very little.
At the very least you'd have to change oil once a year anyway, so yearly services are an absolute minimum unless you can do the oil changes yourself.
I drive a tesla. No servicing :)
I wish I had one. Won't need to deal with mechanics for the rest of my life hehe. Only need to replace those tyres :)
There is nothing that needs to be replaced? Wipers, brake pads or anything else?
I'm impressed.
They barely use the brakes because of regen. You can service them if you want to, but not servicing them doesn't affect the warranty.
A huh. Brake pads supposedly last over 100k kays. Add window wiper water every now and then. Tyres can be replaced at any tyre shop. But yeh, no servicing although tesla offer it for people who are used to the habit.
Brake Fluid
Some things degrade the more you use it, others degrade over time.
For example, brake fluid sucks the moisture out of the air and thanks to the breather holes in the reservoir caps, the fluid will eventually die.
Other things that are not generally service items benefit from frequent checking… The rubber boots on my outer tie rods are starting to crack up.. So I know that soonish they will require replacement (n.b. for some reason I can't buy boots, just new rod ends). If I could replace the boots, then I would do it now before they crack up and the joint dries out and disintegrates.
But then again, I service my own car, and once every few months I will give it a quick eyeball.
There shouldn't be any holes in the brake reservoir cap. There is a rubber seal that flexes as the fluid goes down/up. This keeps the fluid totally sealed from the atmosphere. The fluid can last 10 years, at least it does on some Toyota's.
Unless you drive in a harsh environment (outback/heavy stop/go) it should be about once a year.
You should however regularly check tire pressure and wear, oil level, brake response etc.
The only thing you should never save money on if you intend to keep your car for long years is the timing belt.
my golf gti is every 12 months/15000km… never had any issues with that (besides the price…)
Every car that I have and had always 15.000 KM or 1 Year, whichever comes latter.
Both of my cars now have 200.000+KM, nil issues.
The one car that I drive less, I think last service was 2 years ago … still has about 5k to go before service :)
I bought a brand new Skoda Octavia and it's every 15,000kms or 12 months servicing (whichever comes first). This is more reasonable than many other brands out there and one of the reasons I bought the car as it has capped servicing :)
I've been servicing my two Corollas every 12-15 months depending on when I reach the 10,000kms mark. Never had any issues in 9 years, the cars have been running perfectly (mostly city driving). My neighbour mobile mechanic said this was completely fine. My experience from overseas in much harsher winter and summer conditions is also 1 year or 10,000kms as a general rule for most passenger cars.
I service my cards approximately every 10 to 15,000k's. The first car I owned, I didn't service often and I paid for it in engine problems in the end.
My new 2016 Golf Comfortline is 12 months/15K whatever comes first….my previous car, a 2012 Suzuki Swift was 12 months/10K, but because I bought it in 2013 I had a constant reminder every 6 months from Suzuki to service it despite the 6-month service cycle only being optional for my car, and mandatory for the cars that were on the capped price servicing plan. I was only driving 8K a year in the Swift with a lot of it highway cruising. The life of a weekend car!
accord euro 10,000km, a45 5,000-7000 gotta look after the cars :D
@unclesnake:
Do as nature intended -
Commando FTW!