What is the highest distance between services...
Discussion
...you have encountered?
The reason I ask is I have recently treated myself to this...
...really rather nice Alfa Mito 155TB Lusso. I was actually looking for a 155 wide body but the Mito came up in the search I bid and won.
When I picked the car up I was told the service history was missing. Easily done I thought, the car was registered to a woman and I was met of the train by a pair of chaps.
On the way home I noticed a few things. The tyres made different noises on the road, the rear screen has scratches where the wiper has been bladeless for some time and few other things that demonstrated this car had been kept at a minimum budget.
This and question mark over the servicing I took my Mito to the my local Alfa dealership to see how much a service would be...
£847+VAT
So I set about doing it myself. £221.14 on parts, fluids and silicone sealant for the water pump and I was good to go. Oil and air filters were fine. No metal flakes in the oil, a bit darker than I would have expected but nothing to suggest anything serious.
When it came to doing the belts, tensioners and water pump I made a startling discovery. All the basic service parts I removed were marked "8" or "08".
I suspect my 127,695 mile 2008 Mito has never had a service or at least a full one.
Today I went though the paperwork that came with the car. Receipts for tyres one at a time, two oil changes (2010 and 2012 including an engine flush), spark plugs because one was broken (2012), one suspension spring (2015) and an exhaust repair where the flexi-pipe had failed and instead of replacing the part a universal pipe was welded in place (2016).
So it looks like my Mito did 127,695 miles before the car was serviced fully. If that was on the file when the chap from Alfa put the number plate on the computer it would explain the incredible quote (or they charge £200 per hour).
What's the highest mileage on a vehicle you guys have come across between services or the first service?
The reason I ask is I have recently treated myself to this...
...really rather nice Alfa Mito 155TB Lusso. I was actually looking for a 155 wide body but the Mito came up in the search I bid and won.
When I picked the car up I was told the service history was missing. Easily done I thought, the car was registered to a woman and I was met of the train by a pair of chaps.
On the way home I noticed a few things. The tyres made different noises on the road, the rear screen has scratches where the wiper has been bladeless for some time and few other things that demonstrated this car had been kept at a minimum budget.
This and question mark over the servicing I took my Mito to the my local Alfa dealership to see how much a service would be...
£847+VAT
So I set about doing it myself. £221.14 on parts, fluids and silicone sealant for the water pump and I was good to go. Oil and air filters were fine. No metal flakes in the oil, a bit darker than I would have expected but nothing to suggest anything serious.
When it came to doing the belts, tensioners and water pump I made a startling discovery. All the basic service parts I removed were marked "8" or "08".
I suspect my 127,695 mile 2008 Mito has never had a service or at least a full one.
Today I went though the paperwork that came with the car. Receipts for tyres one at a time, two oil changes (2010 and 2012 including an engine flush), spark plugs because one was broken (2012), one suspension spring (2015) and an exhaust repair where the flexi-pipe had failed and instead of replacing the part a universal pipe was welded in place (2016).
So it looks like my Mito did 127,695 miles before the car was serviced fully. If that was on the file when the chap from Alfa put the number plate on the computer it would explain the incredible quote (or they charge £200 per hour).
What's the highest mileage on a vehicle you guys have come across between services or the first service?
"8" or "08" on the parts removed could have been from the cars first service or old stock parts fitted later but there is no evidence or a "full service" in any of the cars limited paperwork.
Krikkit said:
Crikey, hope it was cheap.
That said, it wouldn't surprise me if someone like Halfords had MOT+serviced it at the same time.
Not too cheap but now I have a new set of tyres, service and couple of other bits around market price so I had some fun getting it right instead of paying more to start with. That said, it wouldn't surprise me if someone like Halfords had MOT+serviced it at the same time.
Not really that uncommon.
So many cowboys who do not service properly., combined with owners who are maybe a little naive, and/or some who simply refuse to spend money = lots of cars with terrible maintenance.
But car owners like that "hucker" guy in the other thread are right at the cowboy end of car owners, thinking zero money needs spent to look after a car.
And main dealers are some of the worst at that end, often washing the car is as much servicing as they do lol.
So many cowboys who do not service properly., combined with owners who are maybe a little naive, and/or some who simply refuse to spend money = lots of cars with terrible maintenance.
But car owners like that "hucker" guy in the other thread are right at the cowboy end of car owners, thinking zero money needs spent to look after a car.
And main dealers are some of the worst at that end, often washing the car is as much servicing as they do lol.
Edited by stevieturbo on Monday 14th January 19:48
It's not that bad, we get cars in that are 10 yrs old + 150k miles which still have all the original fluids in (apart from engine) and they're fine. Brakes still do the job, 'box and coolant are still clear.
It's the engine oil & filter changes which are the most important and that looks like its been done - well a little bit
It's not how I would choose to treat a car, but many do. Lets face it many engines don't see over 4k rpm in their entire lifetime these days and a lot of fluids are for the life of the car.
It's the engine oil & filter changes which are the most important and that looks like its been done - well a little bit
It's not how I would choose to treat a car, but many do. Lets face it many engines don't see over 4k rpm in their entire lifetime these days and a lot of fluids are for the life of the car.
Edited by Evoluzione on Monday 14th January 17:49
On a decent modern car you often see intervals of 10 years/150k miles for the aux belt, no sooner than 80k for plugs (and often more), 10 years on coolant etc and aside from oil and filters there is nothing else to do!
In any case I suspect the indifferent servicing your Alfa has recieved is closer to the norm for a great many people.
In any case I suspect the indifferent servicing your Alfa has recieved is closer to the norm for a great many people.
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