Cars that have never been serviced

[sparks_E39]

A lady at work confessed that she hasn't serviced her Mitsubushi in 7 years of ownership, so no oil change in that time, no belts etc in 70ishk. It only get's seen to for example when the brakes are grinding or MOT time. And the annoying/impressive thing is it never has had any major issues and it still sounds ok! I've got a couple of other misguided mates who share the same attitude and they never have any issues, where as I look after my car and it's in the garage every few months!

[RyanB88]

I bet she redlines it from cold aswell and bangs it up and down kerbs with no regard to the engine (maybe turbo also?) suspension, wheels or tyres.

I think basic car maintenance or advice on not to rev a cold engine etc should be taught in the driving test.

[skene]

ashamed to admit 21k miles on the same oil and filter

to be fair it does burn a fair bit so its always getting new stuff

[HustleRussell]

I think you'd be surprised how well a modern engine can hold on. I am not particularly surprised that it's had no problems in all that time.
The problem is when it rains, it pours. Cars like this usually suffer simultaneous failures of pretty much everything at the arbitrary 100k mile mark and end up scrapped or eBayd.

[Andyjc86]

I have customers who have done this before coming to me. The most impressive was a 3 year old C1 that was so bad it looked like a 20 year old car! Only came in because the brakes were grinding.

[Darkk]

I've heard a few stories like that.

If you never rev the engine and drive as slowly as possible, everything lasts more.


I know a guy, who's dad showed up once very very very upset, because his Auris D4-d engine blew up with only 45k miles on the clock. When asked why it wasn't serviced, ever, his reply was very simple: "I have a fleet of 6 Toyotas HiAce's, and I only serviced them every 60k miles. If this engine is more evolved, I thought it should last more..."

[Perd Hapley]

When I was in school I bought a fish. I bought special fish gravel to line the nice fish tank I bought. I bought an air pump for it too.

My friend also got a fish. He kept his fish in an ice cream tub, lined with some stones off the road.

Guess whose fish died first.

mine of course

[mike9009]

Brothe in law uses the same policy of no servicing. In the 15 years i have known him he has had the following go wrong....

Toyota previa lunched its gearbox.
Rover mgf head gasket.
Ford escort, just so rotten it was scrapped due to needing multiple items come MOT time.
Audi A4 blown turbo.

When he gets a big bill he fleabays it and replaces with another. Not sure how cost effective this approach to motoring is, but the inconvenience just puts me off for starters.....

Mike

[Steffan]

Modern lubricants and filters are remarkably effective in protecting engine life. Much of servicing undoubtedly assists garage income as much as it improves longevity of components with modern clean burn engines using synthetic oils.

TBH I would be interested in comparison research on the question.

The 70,000 mile driver quoted, with no servicing costs, who sells the car after 7 years has not lost a lot has she?

It is not a route I would follow but it does beg the question.

[bakerstreet]

RyanB88 said:

I bet she redlines it from cold aswell and bangs it up and down kerbs with no regard to the engine (maybe turbo also?) suspension, wheels or tyres.

I think basic car maintenance or advice on not to rev a cold engine etc should be taught in the driving test.

All ambulances are treated like that from the day they leave the factory to the day they are put to rest for film work or as training vehicles. A friend of mine showed me one that was on 158k. It had never skipped a beat.

Yes it is serviced regularly, but only to the factory recommendations nothing extra special.

As for the D4D Auris that went bang at 45k. By modern standards that only missed two services. Most modern cars can go 18k between services.

[OldSkoolRS]

My late Aunt used to say that she didn't like taking her car for a service as it wouldn't run properly afterwards, that it was better to leave it undisturbed. My cousin ended up with one of her cars and I understand he spent a fortune getting it fixed...but not her problem then.

[twazzock]

mike9009 said:

Brothe in law uses the same policy of no servicing. In the 15 years i have known him he has had the following go wrong....

Rover mgf head gasket.

Most left the factory like that didn't they?

[mike9009]

twazzock said:

mike9009 said:

Brothe in law uses the same policy of no servicing. In the 15 years i have known him he has had the following go wrong....

Rover mgf head gasket.

Most left the factory like that didn't they?

Probably not wrong! Not sure his non-servicing really lead to the demise of any particular car - but he is also on first name terms with his local AA patrol! Originally he didnt bother with breakdown cover either........

M

[twazzock]

mike9009 said:

Probably not wrong! Not sure his non-servicing really lead to the demise of any particular car - but he is also on first name terms with his local AA patrol! Originally he didnt bother with breakdown cover either........

M

Risky tactic! I got well acquainted with the RAC but that was in cars that had (allegedly) been maintained... most embarrassing was buying a car with service history that had been crashed twice, had no evidence of servicing in 8 years, and no cambelt change at all (15 years old/100k at the time). I did a DIY cambelt change and lunched the engine 8 miles later. Fail. Didn't enjoy explaining that to the recovery guy.

[Contigo]

Just bought a snotter on Ebay and am tempted to just run it into the ground by not servicing the engine etc... I don't think I can bring myself to do it as I am always meticulous and have everything done on my motors.