Maintenance frequency
Discussion
Hi all
Was wondering if you could provide some insight/experience on maintenance frequency
Bought my “new” 2011 v8vs 6 month ago with 15k km on the odometer from official AM dealer with a full year of warrantee. Since then have been taking it on a few fabulous long trips through German, Swiss, Italy and France and more recently to visit Goodwood FOS adding 6k km. Car is a real treat to drive and enjoying it together with my son adds to the pleasure of driving it. What strikes me most is the positive spontaneous reactions it creates wherever you go, a feel good car in many ways.
Not expecting to add much more this year in terms of mileage but was wondering what service interval I should take into account.
Thanks!
Was wondering if you could provide some insight/experience on maintenance frequency
Bought my “new” 2011 v8vs 6 month ago with 15k km on the odometer from official AM dealer with a full year of warrantee. Since then have been taking it on a few fabulous long trips through German, Swiss, Italy and France and more recently to visit Goodwood FOS adding 6k km. Car is a real treat to drive and enjoying it together with my son adds to the pleasure of driving it. What strikes me most is the positive spontaneous reactions it creates wherever you go, a feel good car in many ways.
Not expecting to add much more this year in terms of mileage but was wondering what service interval I should take into account.
Thanks!
Jon39 said:
avinalarf said:
Annually.
That comes as a surprise avinalarf.
Thought frequency would be more often than that.
I have posted this definition to clarify.
annually
?anj??li,?anj?li/Submit
adverb
once a year; every year.
"the car is serviced annually"
synonyms: yearly, once a year, each year, by the year, per annum, per year; every year
"subscriptions are payable annually"
Ah sorry Steven. Silly mistake.
I realise now that this is about servicing a car.
Apologies to OP. British humour is sometimes a bit Sir Leslie.
Coffee break time here. Sitting in the garden, blue skies, a little cooler, birds singing, can just see the Aston Martin.
Perfect. What more does a man need?
Edited by Jon39 on Saturday 28th July 11:35
JB65 said:
Hi all
Was wondering if you could provide some insight/experience on maintenance frequency
Not expecting to add much more this year in terms of mileage but was wondering what service interval I should take into account.
Thanks!
I would recommend an annual service depending on mileage. With the motoring you seem to have done, an annual service would not be OTT whereas I have seen cars serviced annually with under 500 miles done, and IMHO, that is plain silly.Was wondering if you could provide some insight/experience on maintenance frequency
Not expecting to add much more this year in terms of mileage but was wondering what service interval I should take into account.
Thanks!
I generally go by annually for a checkover, which you generally get done at MOT time, or every 6000 miles for an oil change and levels check using fully synthetic motor oil. Checking oil levels, coolant levels, lighting and tyre wear/pressures should be done regularly anyway and especially before a long journey.
Air filter, cabin filter every 2 or 3 years, depending on mileage or atmospheric dust conditions, coolant every 4 years irrespective of mileage, brake fluid every 5 years unless you live in a very high humidity country and plugs every 5 years using longlife platinum or iridium tipped plugs.
8Tech.
Generally everything is based on 10k miles or 12 months intervals. It can vary based on climate and usage - 10k miles of track driving in Dubai is going to be a lot harder on a car than 10k miles of autumn scenic drives in the south of France.
Every 10k miles / 12 months:
Engine oil
Every 20k miles / 24 months:
Engine intake filters
Cabin filters
Brake fluid
Key fob batteries
Windshield wiper blades
Every 40k miles / 48 months:
Gearbox oil
Every 50k miles / 60 months:
Engine coolant
Thermostat ^
Every 60k miles / 72 months:
Spark plugs
Coil packs ^^
Replace brake pads and rotors, tires, front valance, car battery, etc, as needed.
^ The V8 engine's thermostat has a gasket that deteriorates over time. The gasket is molded onto the thermostat, so the whole thing has to be replaced. It can fail badly, possibly resulting in a chunk of gasket getting into the coolant system, potentially reducing coolant flow or even completely blocking it (though extremely unlikely it'd be a complete blockage). So I recommend that people replace the thermostat at the same time as their coolant as a preventative measure.
^^ The coil packs can last longer, but failures start to become more common after 60k miles, which is also the same service life of the spark plugs. The coil packs have to be removed to replace the coil packs, so I think it's worthwhile to replace them as a preventative measure since there's no extra labor involved. They're expensive, though, so it's not the most wallet-pleasing preventative maintenance item.
I'm sure I'm missing a couple things, but those are the basics.
Every 10k miles / 12 months:
Engine oil
Every 20k miles / 24 months:
Engine intake filters
Cabin filters
Brake fluid
Key fob batteries
Windshield wiper blades
Every 40k miles / 48 months:
Gearbox oil
Every 50k miles / 60 months:
Engine coolant
Thermostat ^
Every 60k miles / 72 months:
Spark plugs
Coil packs ^^
Replace brake pads and rotors, tires, front valance, car battery, etc, as needed.
^ The V8 engine's thermostat has a gasket that deteriorates over time. The gasket is molded onto the thermostat, so the whole thing has to be replaced. It can fail badly, possibly resulting in a chunk of gasket getting into the coolant system, potentially reducing coolant flow or even completely blocking it (though extremely unlikely it'd be a complete blockage). So I recommend that people replace the thermostat at the same time as their coolant as a preventative measure.
^^ The coil packs can last longer, but failures start to become more common after 60k miles, which is also the same service life of the spark plugs. The coil packs have to be removed to replace the coil packs, so I think it's worthwhile to replace them as a preventative measure since there's no extra labor involved. They're expensive, though, so it's not the most wallet-pleasing preventative maintenance item.
I'm sure I'm missing a couple things, but those are the basics.
Edited by telum01 on Thursday 2nd August 15:29
Only speculation, but I'd imagine it's a combination of things...
-The oil filter size can be a limiting factor for how many miles can be done between oil changes. Not sure how large the Mercedes filters are in comparison, but the V8 Vantage filter is fairly small.
-The oil itself can also be a limiting factor, though modern high-quality oils can do more than 10k miles of "normal" road driving. That said, I'd imagine fresher oil will be much easier on scavenger pumps, so the dry-sump oil system will be able to work more efficiently and last longer. It's harder to pump old, thick oil than it is to pump fresh, fluid oil.
-The interval suits cars worldwide with a wide range of usage (track, stop and go, highway cruising), climate types, and supply quality (not all engine oils are created equally, and things like fuel quality which does vary wildly across the world does have an impact on more than just fuel economy).
-The time-based requirement helps prevent "garage rot" from the car sitting too long without being driven. Astons are often seldom-use cars and can sit for quite a while, and that causes issues, like leaking struts (aka shocks, dampers, whatever) that so many people have with these cars.
-Ensures the cars are well-cared for, helping reinforce the long-term reputation for quality of the brand as a whole.
-Keeps dealerships in business with continuous service (okay, that's a bit cynical and not a primary driver for the maintenance schedules, but it certainly helps their bottom line).
-The oil filter size can be a limiting factor for how many miles can be done between oil changes. Not sure how large the Mercedes filters are in comparison, but the V8 Vantage filter is fairly small.
-The oil itself can also be a limiting factor, though modern high-quality oils can do more than 10k miles of "normal" road driving. That said, I'd imagine fresher oil will be much easier on scavenger pumps, so the dry-sump oil system will be able to work more efficiently and last longer. It's harder to pump old, thick oil than it is to pump fresh, fluid oil.
-The interval suits cars worldwide with a wide range of usage (track, stop and go, highway cruising), climate types, and supply quality (not all engine oils are created equally, and things like fuel quality which does vary wildly across the world does have an impact on more than just fuel economy).
-The time-based requirement helps prevent "garage rot" from the car sitting too long without being driven. Astons are often seldom-use cars and can sit for quite a while, and that causes issues, like leaking struts (aka shocks, dampers, whatever) that so many people have with these cars.
-Ensures the cars are well-cared for, helping reinforce the long-term reputation for quality of the brand as a whole.
-Keeps dealerships in business with continuous service (okay, that's a bit cynical and not a primary driver for the maintenance schedules, but it certainly helps their bottom line).
Edited by telum01 on Thursday 2nd August 15:32
avinalarf said:
cayman-black said:
LordBretSinclair said:
Sissy and Gladys talking about their sex lives.
Sissy - How often do you like it???
Gladys - Infrequently.
Sissy - Is that one word or two??
That made me laugh.Sissy - How often do you like it???
Gladys - Infrequently.
Sissy - Is that one word or two??
telum01 said:
-Ensures the cars are well-cared for, helping reinforce the long-term reputation for quality of the brand as a whole.
-Keeps dealerships in business with continuous service (okay, that's a bit cynical and not a primary driver for the maintenance schedules, but it certainly helps their bottom line).
These last points really hit the nail on the head.-Keeps dealerships in business with continuous service (okay, that's a bit cynical and not a primary driver for the maintenance schedules, but it certainly helps their bottom line).
Edited by telum01 on Thursday 2nd August 15:32
The manufacturers of mainstream cars want to make short term ownership costs seem low so they extend service periods, often offering free servicing, because not much is done and the likelihood of failures are low during the warranty period. The accelerated wear on the vehicle because of this becomes profitable when the car is no longer under warranty.
Aston Martin however are probably aware that most of their clientelle will not use their cars as a daily driver, therefore suggesting that any weekend/fun use is rather harder than you would normally expect, and therefore recommend a more frequent service schedule.
You will find in the small print though on these new extended service periods that there are numerous conditions where a more frequent intermediate service is required.
The Mercedes-Benz that I was thinking of when asking the oil change question, does not have a service schedule based strictly on mileage or time, but is indicated on the dashboard 30 days before the service work should be carried out.
For those doing higher mileages, it is probably less than 12 months. For a car doing about 6,000 miles per year, the dashboard indicator only appears after about 2 years have elapsed.
I understand that new M-B buyers now, have to have 12 month services even for low mileage cars. They have not said the previous basis is unsafe, or that older cars have to adopt the new practice, so one would conclude that the change is just to get more cars through their workshops.
I think the service intervals on lightly used AMs can be stretched ( for keepers perhaps ), but only if sensible engineering practice is followed in the manner of the light use.
I do struggle with these 12 month service intervals when modern oil can last for 10's of thousands of miles.
More than this, the cost. My annual mileage in the DBS is 50 and I service that every other year. The V12v does about 2000 a year and I'll service that yearly. Each service is circa £1k until you get into higher miles I believe
Compare that to my MB SLS. about £300 for the little service and I've just been quoted £570 inc fluid for the major (every other year)
I assume the extra Aston cost is labour as they take longer to check over??
More than this, the cost. My annual mileage in the DBS is 50 and I service that every other year. The V12v does about 2000 a year and I'll service that yearly. Each service is circa £1k until you get into higher miles I believe
Compare that to my MB SLS. about £300 for the little service and I've just been quoted £570 inc fluid for the major (every other year)
I assume the extra Aston cost is labour as they take longer to check over??
Jon39 said:
The Mercedes-Benz that I was thinking of when asking the oil change question, does not have a service schedule based strictly on mileage or time, but is indicated on the dashboard 30 days before the service work should be carried out.
For those doing higher mileages, it is probably less than 12 months. For a car doing about 6,000 miles per year, the dashboard indicator only appears after about 2 years have elapsed.
I understand that new M-B buyers now, have to have 12 month services even for low mileage cars. They have not said the previous basis is unsafe, or that older cars have to adopt the new practice, so one would conclude that the change is just to get more cars through their workshops.
I think the service intervals on lightly used AMs can be stretched ( for keepers perhaps ), but only if sensible engineering practice is followed in the manner of the light use.
J
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