Sat in the Lexus dealership while the CT is serviced and just overheard a call to the service dept
Customer has called to book service. First time it's been done since they purchased it new in 2015. Turns out it's now got 40k on it and because nobody rang them they didn't think it needed doing
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More money than sense?
:)
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I once took over a company car upon starting a new job, it was 2.5 years old and had 35k on the clock and had not been serviced, it had just had a new engine as the first driver had not even checked the oil level and had let it run low. Strangely it had been looked after cosmetically though.
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In the 70's a Service mainly consisted of Plugs,Points, Air filter, Oil change and filter and tappets, all achievable for £20 and a Saturday morning on the drive! - now you almost need a degree to open the bonnet! ;-)
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My last new car in the US was oil changes only for 100,000 miles when its first service became due.
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>> My last new car in the US was oil changes only for 100,000 miles when
>> its first service became due.
But is a "lube job" a service or not? The NorthStar engine was a no service for 100,000 miles. Many of them never made it that far.
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Dunno. Its not what I understand as a service.
I sold the car before it got to its first service, it was still running just fine though.
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>> In the 70's a Service mainly consisted of Plugs,Points, Air filter, Oil change and filter
>> and tappets, all achievable for £20 and a Saturday morning on the drive! - now
>> you almost need a degree to open the bonnet! ;-)
>>
Well, you do if anything goes wrongg, but basic servicing is simpler these days. Most cars only have oil and filter changes and a few checks until they're 4 years old. Then the air filter will be changed and either the plugs (for a petrol) or fuel filter (for a diesel) and that's about it.
You might be scammed for a stupid price pollen filter along the way, and an un-neccessary brake fluid change.
Certainly no messing around with points and tappets!
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>> In the 70's a Service mainly consisted of Plugs,Points, Air filter, Oil change and filter
>> and tappets, all achievable for £20 and a Saturday morning on the drive! - now
>> you almost need a degree to open the bonnet! ;-)
>>
Err no. I serviced the Jazz: all filters, engine oil and transmission fluid, checked pads, checked all bushes - as per manual - all in 3 hours..No skill required at all.. none used :-)
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>>...No skill required at all.. none used :-)
>>
You'd have needed some if you'd changed the plugs and checked the valve clearances on the Jazz!
And 3hrs! I waited while daughter's Golf had its first service - it was in the workshop for 20 mins. Got a copy of the invoice the dealer sends to VW - £68 - that's less than half the price for paying customers.
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The CT was in for an intermediate service - from the check list I had it was just an oil change and a made up list of things to be checked.
Clean bill of health, hybrid warranty extended for 12 months / 10K and advisory that front pads / discs will probably need changing by next service.
Listening to the rest of the servicing conversation it appears that email reminders had been sent by the system, but to the husband. Customer expected a phone call to tell her it needed doing. If its anything like mine it would have been flashing up on the Nav screen at start up to tell you it was due
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Mikey what age / spec / mileage is your CT?
Hows the CVT for everyday driving?
Really fancy it or an Auris hybrid as next car.
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...just stocked up with filters, plugs and oil for the Fiesta that's just been passed on to number 1 son.
About £50 for decent branded stuff, and should take me about an hour on the drive.
That will increase in price if the brakes need any work, but there was plenty of wear left in them when I checked at last service, and mileage (though increasing now) hasn't been particularly high since.
TBH, I still enjoy a little "getting my hands dirty".
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>> Turns out it's now got 40k on it and because nobody rang
>> them they didn't think it needed doing
I can't believe it didn't have a picture of a spanner on the dashboard.
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>> I can't believe it didn't have a picture of a spanner on the dashboard.
>>
Reckon the spanner was in the driving seat ...
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One advantage of the Zoe, is the servicing. It seems to consist of taking it to the dealer, and they pretty well look at it and say "yes, that's still a Zoe". Job done, £80 please.
There's nothing to actually do, unless you really want to change the cabin filter.
In my case for various reasons they collected it and made no charge, but I'd have felt shortchanged otherwise.
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>> and made no charge
D'you make these jokes up yourself Cc??
Last edited by: Dog on Thu 30 Mar 17 at 16:04
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Alas, Dog, I missed that. Luckily, the last three words of your post seem apt enough.
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For some 20+ years I bought a "work car" rather than take a company car. It made sense as I usually "made a profit" on owning the car - monthly payment + mileage rate covered all my outgoings including my private mileage - so effectively the car was free.
Many of my work colleagues took the "easy route" of a company car - taking your job level there were a few choices - the left field choice was to take a recycled car i.e. Company car still with 1 to 2 years lease life & returned by a leaver. They got a higher value/higher spe'd car than their job level.
It was a gamble - you might get a nice 2.5 / 3 litre car that had been well looked after - on the otherhand cars with 30K on the clock in say 9 months - no service history, bald tyres, no water in the washer bottle, scrapes all round & maybe 2 pints of oil in the sump if you were lucky.
One colleague received such a car - the first service @ 35K came in at over £2000 - brakes all round, tyres, replacing broken lighting................the list was considerable.
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>> One colleague received such a car - the first service @ 35K came in at
>> over £2000 - brakes all round, tyres, replacing broken lighting................the list was considerable.
But the point is, he didn't have to pay it.
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As some of you will know, I go through cars at a rate of knots. I very specifically prefer and need large estates but haven't always been in a position to spend much on them. One I took a gamble on was a 2000 model year Mondeo estate ( the last of the rounded shape ones ). It was a 1.8 diesel, my goodness that was an agricultural engine, but it did the job.
The car was only 18 months old at the time but had belonged to a friend who had allocated it to a sales rep who worked for him. The guy had left his job and when my friend took the car back it had already covered 85,000 miles in its short life. In terms of its outward appearance it was unmarked but it turned out that the employee had never had it serviced. My pal knew I was looking for something cheap but presentable and mentioned that he had this thing. So, I went and had a look at it and took it for a good long test drive during which it seemed to run fine.
After a bit of negotiation I gave him £3,600 for it which even then was not a lot for what it was.
I immediately got it properly serviced at a good indy I knew and of course it also needed brakes etc but I don't think it cost me much more than or maybe not as much as £300 to get it fettled.
I got another two years or so and a further 70,000 miles out of that car with no issues or problems at all.
Luck of the draw I guess.
Incidentally, I traded that in in the end against a car for my wife at a main Ford dealer who didn't even ask about the service history. Although I suppose it was now at the sort of mileage where they had no plans for it other than auction. Want to think that was the cheapest two years of high mileage motoring I've ever had because I'm sure I remember they gave me £2,500 for it.
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>>One I took a gamble on was a 2000 model
>> year Mondeo estate ( the last of the rounded shape ones ). It was a
>> 1.8 diesel, my goodness that was an agricultural engine, but it did the job.
>>
....the 1.8 turbo "roundabout roulette" model?
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That's the one, as in will it go or will it not? Narrowest usable rev band I've ever had to get used to !
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Yours would have been a mkII. I had a mkI 2.0 (petrol) estate as a company car. After it was hit in a car-park (a story for another day) a bodged repair meant water-ingress subsequently rotted the main wiring-loom.
Repairing that meant removing (and almost replacing) most of the internal trim, and on journeys afterwards one could play bingo with guessing the next bit which would fall off (only to be replaced and fall off again).
A colleague running a slightly newer 1.8TD equivalent resigned shortly afterwards, and I persuaded car-fleet to auction off mine instead, and I'd take over the remaining period on his.
Pulling away at roundabouts often occasioned the discovery that adrenaline was brown (the turbo-lag could be measured in eons), but at least the fuel-consumption was better (and he'd spec'ed aircon on his - which was nice!).
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Actually, apart from its shonky ( as standard ) engine mine was actually very nice. Ultra reliable, comfortable and being a run out model, it had all the toys on it. Funny colour but I quite liked it, it was a sort of denim or you might call it a French Blue, metallic.
Did me very well at a time when my financial priorities required it. It as slow as a slow thing though until you got it wound up. I remember going over that long steep bridge in Normandy ( name escapes me now ) and for a while there, fully laden with holiday gear and bikes etc it felt like it was going to run out of puff.
I kept it serviced at more or less the proper intervals while I had it and it never let me down. I guess you get used to things and drive around their foibles.
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>> That's the one, as in will it go or will it not? Narrowest usable rev
>> band I've ever had to get used to !
Remember having one on hire - overtaking a tractor in second, found myself level.......then nothing!
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Many many years ago my brother had started a business. He then swapped a Cavalier (petrol I think) for a 1.7 diesel model..... Not a turbo. He got rid of it soon after :-)
Replacement was a Citroen diesel 1.7 turbo. Plenty of go in that.
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>> I traded that in against a car for my wife
>>
Can't somebody think of something?
Last edited by: Duncan on Thu 30 Mar 17 at 21:41
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Slight thread drift but I have just cancelled a CCTV maintenance contract at work for my shops. Something like £50 a visit.
Ok, asks I , what does that get me? Well we check the system is recording and the cameras are working.
Yes says I, we do that every morning. If I need any new parts are these covered under the maintenance contract? No says he.
Contract is now terminated says I !
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CCTV cameras & recorders were yesterdays Hi-tech - pick up cameras, recorders for not a lot of money. The only issue might be the cabling -can be tricky with false ceilings, thick walls etc etc.
How much have you saved per year by cancelling a contract that provided nothing?
Last edited by: Falkirk Bairn on Fri 31 Mar 17 at 11:14
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Exactly. Have saved about £150 as only in 3 shops.
But I have just bought a 1TB system with 6 HD cameras and associated cables for £350 so, as you say, cheaper to just buy replacement parts as and when required.
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>> Exactly. Have saved about £150 as only in 3 shops.
>>
>> But I have just bought a 1TB system with 6 HD cameras and associated cables
>> for £350 so, as you say, cheaper to just buy replacement parts as and when
>> required.
Lets hope your insurance company considers you a suitably qualified person.
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Its not a pre requisite for the insurance.
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Missed servicing - Dog
