Hi all,
After getting a new car last year, my old car hasn't done many kms (to the train station and back). I usually get my car serviced every 12 months but it's only done about 1,500 kms.
Is it a good idea to get it serviced, or would it be advisable to leave it a bit longer?
Cheers
I posted something similar a few years ago.
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/612323
But my KMs have been reduced to around the same.
I plan to change the oil yearly and will follow this thread closely
Is it under warranty? Are you planning on doing 100,000km in it this year?
If this is about the cost of getting it serviced, then you can DIY.
For a cheaper, older car, this is a good opportunity to learn if you've not serviced your own cars.
If it's running fine with no other issues, then just new oil and oil filter (you can find the correct models online), check / top-up coolant, check / top-up brake fluid, check your tire treads and pressures. Shouldn't take more than an hour. Good weekend activity with the family / kids.
Aside from the consumables, you'll need a socket set, breaker bar is useful, jack and jack stands (or drive up ramps), and oil pan. Should be able to get all of this for $100-200, and will last you years.
Yes.
"Oil degrades over time. The longer it sits, the less viscous it becomes and thus, the less effective it will be at keeping various engine components properly lubricated. Synthetic oil is designed to break down more slowly over time, which means you can probably stretch its oil changes out a little longer, but it still breaks down like any other oil. Oil that degrades too much can cause engine sludge that can block oil flow entirely."
https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/car-technology/a246764…
Yes get it serviced, jesus. Low km's over that distance and short trips are not good for the engine and consumables.
Also your resale value will be affected if it's not serviced regularly.
yes it does
Yes if it needs it for warranty.
Yas as you had to ask and therefore do not know what is required to do a quick service of the car yourself.
Yes, especially since you've said that its mainly to the train so short trips. Short trips are tortue for oil, moisture and fuel get it, causing dilution, degrading quality and increased wear on engine internals. And then the one time you do a longer trip all that fuel and moisture that has gotten into the oil is going to burn off taking some of the oil with it.
Short driving is the worst conditions on a car. The oil will be contaminated but with it not getting fully up to temperature these will not be burnt off.
Brake fluids do absorb moisture from the air and this can cause corrosion in the brake components. Braking performance will be affected. You may need to stop 1m shorter.
Oil change and a check over of the car is relatively cheap.
Most people never look under the hood or even check tyre pressures etc.
Absolutely no. Too much hype about resale value and what it means if not serviced. I don’t know anyone looking at a 10yr car going through a log book or invoices and then says, ‘you missed a service’ knock off 2k.’
I would be more concerned about not running it occasionally.
Go for a drive every few weeks get it up to operating temperature seals etc will dry out also fuel does go stale.
But if your only doing 1500 klm a year sell it why hang on to it?
How long does it need to run at operating temp? 30min? My driving is usually quite short as well, so I'll probably have to start going for a longer drive every fortnight or so.
It would probably be fine for another 6-12 months but doesn't look great in the logbook if resale value matters to you.
Once a year without fail, regardless of km. Should be driven once a week for an hour to remove all the moisture from the engine and everywhere else.
If you do heaps of stop/start in a daily, really they should be serviced every 6 months, but you won't see many people bother with that.
All services are ‘time based’, irrespective whether you do 0 or a million kms.Just because you don’t hit the target mileage, you should always get it done.
I would leave it longer to be honest.
I am in a similar position where my car doesn't do that many KM anymore compared to when I drove to work every day. When I got to the 12 month mark (from last service) I had only done like 6,000km and the car was running fine. I left it like another 6-7 months and got it serviced when it was closer to 10,000km.
The mechanic said I should get it service sooner, followed by the car was in great condition and there was nothing wrong with it and that many people leave their cars even longer!
My boss's car (Subaru Forester) wouldn't start anymore and it turned out she never bothered to service it EVER, it was literally using the same oil and fluids for years. Turns out, it took EIGHT YEARS for it to become undriveable, I don't know the finer details but it required a roughly $1200 repair and was fine to drive again. If you look at it one way, she saved a lot of money by doing that - but yeah, if you value your car I would suggest not leaving it any longer than 6 months past due. No idea how much longer my boss's car would have lasted because she crashed it a year later, which effectively negated the engine damage argument, so she got lucky and actually saved a heap overall…!!
This is definitely just a 'got lucky' moment. Many other things could have cascaded from not getting it serviced.. Could've been a lot more than $1200 and is not worth the risk/gamble for a giant hunk of metal you drive around and risk your life in everyday.
she saved a lot of money by doing that
If she ever intended on selling it she would have got a lot less money for it
The car in question has over 100,000km on it.
yeah - nothing like failing to read the question property … ;-)
Think you're referring to the initial purchase 1.5km service no? OP is referring to a car with over 100000 on it already just that it's only done 1.5k in the last year.
came here for the oil is cheap but engine repairs are not lame comment
Sell car, get an ebike for going to the train. Use the savings for the occasional uber when it's too wet
Good idea in theory there are times where the ebike won't cut it, like heading out somewhere afterwork, going out on weekends etc. Depends on OPs lifestyle etc i guess
They said it's their second car and it only gets used to go to the train.
Change the oil, check the tyres, (minor) service the car yourself?
My old car (which still feels pretty new since I got it new) is a 2011 Golf with 53k on the clock. I think it missed one annual service over COVID, otherwise it gets 12 months services which are mostly glorified oil changes and bi annual brake fluid changes.
Once upon a time I did my own servicing, something I stopped when I had a new car that had a warranty, now it's well past that I'm still in the habit of getting it done by someone else. For the cost vs my time, it's actually not too bad given the cost of the oil and filters. That and since it's a specialist they let me know of any things they might notice. That's the real benefit of a specialist, they see so many vehicles they know what breaks and what to keep an eye on.
Do I really need a second car… we could survive without it, but with three children it gets used often enough to justify its place and the convenience of not having to wait for a cab/uber is just nice.
While I have contemplated selling and getting a cheaper runabout over the years there is something to be said for the devil you know and now it's not exactly a high value asset. It also helps that I have very cheap insurance because I use it so little and it's otherwise garaged at home.
On Taxi/Uber as an alternative, looking at the Melbourne taxi rates as a benchmark (first thing that came up in Google), it gets up pretty quickly to around $2 / km for shorter journeys once you factor in the extra fees. I expect Uber isn't too far off. Based on that, keeping and maintaining a vehicle is more cost effective (outside the asset cost itself) for anyone doing 1,500km or more a year***
https://www.taxifare.com.au/rates/australia/melbourne
**unless you can make do with an electric scooter/bike.
If its a new car you need to check if you need to get the rear diff fluids changed.
Check the warranty for that.
Also yes after 1 year you should change it.
You should also take it on a highway once in a while to get higher revs.
You could stretch it out 18 months no stress, especially for a low tech engine like the ASX
Just get the oil changed in the next 10 years, or your mechanic will put your car on Youtube.
Youtube - Never Changed Oil
I'd just change the oil but what I'd really like to see is an oil analysis done to see how the oil had faired over 12 months of presumably many short journeys - hopefully you drive it gently on said journeys.
I suspect the result will be better than many will expect.
I'd just love to know. Also of course what oil was installed at the last service etc. Asking a lot but it would be informative for many.
I wish there were statistics on how many people who break down and cause traffic chaos are due to ignoring service intervals.
I've often wondered too, and felt that people that neglect their vehicle that then causes drama for thousands of other drivers should be penalised.
I imagine the main cause of 'break down' on highways is idiots not paying attention to fill up the tank and running out of fuel
Service it, and get all the undercarriage checks done.
Stuff deteriorates whether driven or not, and short stop/start driving can be deadly to many vehicle components.
You'll probably be fine but it's not the best practice.
Assuming you're using a good quality synthetic oil, then there's no need to over service a low milage car.
Maybe if you're bothered with it, change your own oil and filter.
my old car I drove little - around 1500km/year - and I would get it serviced every 2 years whether it needed it or not ;-)
actually because it was old I had to get a pink slip inspection every year for rego - where the service guy would usually tell me if something was needed - so my pink slip inspection became also my service interval
which annoyed me so I sold it and now make $50pw from renting out my inner city car space.
If you've only driven it 1,500km in a year it is probably more cost effective to sell it. The cost of registration and insurance would have cost more than paying for a service. Like a few others have said, look up what oil and filter you need and watch a YouTube video on how to do it. If the oil filter is in an awkward position you may just need something that will grip it better. A rubber glove and thick elastic bands wrapped around the oil filter should do the trick. Good luck.
Nah, the mileage is the most important part and presuming the oils come to temp every few weeks at the least.
Oil wouldn't have degraded enough to warrant replacing.
1500kms of very short daily trips is absolutely brutal on engine oil.
I have the oil changed in my cars lab tested when I change it, and I've noticed a significant difference during periods where I've done regular short trips - The fuel in oil % creeps up much much faster, even in new engines.
I would definitely change it in your position, although may skip the filter if I was feeling lazy.
Nah mate, juat check the oil and the coolant and top it up if required.
Nah
Personally I wouldn't bother.
However, since you're concerned enough to ask a deals website, it appears you aren't ready to do what thousands of other people have done for decades. If that's the case then you probably should get fluids changed for peace of mind. You should also consider using your old car for longer runs every month or two. Long term (years) of short runs will potentially do far more harm than missing (or extending) one 12 month service.
Some of the comments about oil and brake fuid deterioration are unnecessarily alarmist, borderline bs for the car you've described.
My advice is to leave it longer until it reaches 5000km.
Note to self: never buy a used car from this guy
If you rarely drive a car do an oil and filter replacement every 12 months. 24 months is a possibility but depending on what you’re doing with the car. Your car won’t go bang straight away but oil degrades over time, meaning that it wears down engine components when you leave it in too long
I have a car that some years has only been driven 300km in 12 months and that will get an oil and filter change.