I used to DIY but not anymore. It's pretty satisfying but also can be very time consuming and I just don't have the time for it anymore. Definitely have a crack at it if seems like something you'd like to do.
As others have said there are tools you need so the first time can be really expensive.
- There are lots of videos online. Some of them are Good, some not. I had a Haynes manual for the car and always tried to follow the proper way of doing something vs the you tube bodge.
- Not all parts are equal. Ebay is awash with fake stuff. Stick to reputable suppliers.
- Allow loads of time. You are always only one stripped thread away from an absolute nightmare
I had a Haynes manual for the car and always tried to follow the proper way of doing something vs the you tube bodge.
Equally I've had Haynes tell me my entire head lining needed to be removed to replace my aerial. Meanwhile, the "bodge" showed me that I just needed to pop out the cabin light and the nut was behind it!
YouTube has been 90% helpful for me if not more. Depending on how new your car is Haynes is mostly useless except for the very basics. Oh and god forbid you have some variant that wasn't available at pre-launch as it'll never be updated.
Equally I’ve had Haynes tell me my entire head lining needed to be removed to replace my aerial. Meanwhile, the “bodge” showed me that I just needed to pop out the cabin light and the nut was behind it!
More to do with the fact that Haynes have (or rather had to) follow the manufacturers instructions. Never going to look good in court if something went wrong and Haynes had shown an alternative method, not approved by the VM. Depending on on who wrote the Haynes manual there can be hints in the text 😉.
If you have a Mercedes, the service won’t get logged on the electronic system if you don’t have a garage do it.
Meh. That's not worth the premium unless it's a lease stipulation that's for sure.
Haynes manuals are certainly not what they used to be. They used to include lots of practical 'unofficial' advice. I've found that the current ones can be quite poorly written, and when a new edition is brought out to cover a (for example) Mk3 version of the car, you can find text for the Mk3 but the old Mk2 photos, or vice versa. Youtube is good, but watch several different videos to get the best advice. If there's nothing on Youtube for the job, give to a garage, as the lack of videos means it's too hard for DiY.
Skoda, assuming it's the same as my Octavia, will day first brake fluid change at 3, then every 2 years. Don't bother taking to a VAG group garage. If you search the last thread similar to this you'll find a photo of a bottle of black liquid that was the brake fluid I changed myself 2 years later.... The Wimbledon Audi garage didn't bother with them rear brake and I fell lucky I changed it myself the next time and before the calipers rusted.
If you stick better brake fluid in, Bosch env6, you can go an extra year before the next change....imv worth the few extra quid for the fluid.
Always serviced my own cars on the driveway including more involved jobs like shockers, timing belts, diagnostics etc.
Home servicing is only worth it if a) you can't afford a professional mechanic or b) you derive pleasure or satisfaction from doing it. In the case of the former you still need to buy tools to do the job safely. So to really save money you'll need to commit to using those tools multiple times.
I use Smith and Allan for oil, modern specs available at bargain prices, Autodoc for general parts, a bit of brand specific research normally turns up a source of genuine OEM parts.
Meh. That’s not worth the premium unless it’s a lease stipulation that’s for sure.
People are likely to ask to see it when you sell the car. Certainly I wouldn't want to see gaps in it unless they can be accounted for. It sucks - you should be able to add them yourself.
People are likely to ask to see it when you sell the car. Certainly I wouldn’t want to see gaps in it unless they can be accounted for
Not if you have an actual service history. Stamps are lazy and more so I'd want to see receipts for any stamps before I put any real value in them especially on an older car. Even electronic stamps - too easy forged. Been burnt once before.
Great for keeping the dealers margins up on the forecourt though- and for that your selling dealer thanks you.
Stamps are lazy...
I've experienced this, went to a main dealer to get a warranty job done and they'd stamped the service book up for a full service. It's been in the workshops, it must have been serviced...reflex action
There are three levels of service IME:
Main dealer, might get additional goodwill
Professional garage, not main dealer, maintains warranty obligations
Evidenced non-pro service, no warranty but fine on resale
The Smith & Allan and Bosch brake fluid tips are part of the reason I keep coming here. Thanks @Waderider and @neilnevill
Don't just blindly follow what people on the internet say. Oil should match both the viscosity e.g. 5w30 and the spec e.g. acea A3/b3 as found in the owners manual I doubt a garage will go into that detail. Don't follow arbitrary guesses of service intervals for everything else either, the book will list what needs doing and when. Ideally you would do everything currently due, and everything that was inevitably missed in past history. In reality oil is most important for longevity and brake fluid really should be done when required for safety. The number of cars on the road with no service history kind of prove that some models will just keep going nowadays though.
Edit: that applies for both doing it yourself and garage doing it. If you want to be cheap you could just pull onto a high kerb then all you need is something to undo the sump plug and any undertray fasteners. Someone with small arms to reach into the oil filter can be helpful too!
As for stamps, I just list what I've done where the stamp should go. I think that's far more insightful than a stamp with no info
A decent service should include oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, pollen filter, spark plugs if it’s a petrol engine.
Spark plugs are usually 3-4 years at least, even air filters are often 2-3 years now, I guess because they've become massive. Most annual services are really just oil, filter and, then 'inspect' a 100+ minor things so they can say they've done a 100 point inspection in their advert.
Most jobs you can budget about as much in tools the 1st time as the basic cost at the garage. And it's worth it, whilst you can change a filter by hammering a screwdriver through it, a propper filter wrench (or a selection of, because the various belts, chained and cammed designs all work better with different access) will make the job much easier.
On oil, try the local main dealer with a parts/service department. The local ford one sells miller's oil for the ford spec in 25l drums for a fraction of the motorcraft stuff (and cheaper than anything at Halfords either).
The rest, if you can check the wheel bearings and brake pads on your mountain bike, you can check them on a car, they're just bigger. 90% of the time changing them is actually easier! Brake fluid changes are a doodle with a Gunson easy bleeder. And if you can i.d. the fault then even bigger maintenance tasks are a doodle, E.g. wheel bearings generally come as a whole hub these days, so you just pull the old one off and put the new one on!
My 2p:
I've done a lot of DIY servicing over the years, largely out of necessity (poverty).
1) A DIY oil change is a shitty, horrible job leaving with you with a panful of nasty sludge that you really shouldn't just be tipping down the nearest drain. For the minimal cost saving against paying a professional to do it, it's not worth it IMHO.
2) Modern cars are not like a mk2 Escort. 20-odd years ago you could fix most problems with a flatblade screwdriver or a hammer, today you lift a bonnet and you're greeted with a slab of plastic that says "go away." My tame mechanic took early retirement a few years back because every time a new car came in for work he'd have to buy some specialist tool or other which cost hundreds and was unlikely to be used again. If a professional mechanic of many years is hanging up his hat because it's all getting too complicated, that tells me all I need to know about my own abilities.
that tells me all I need to know about my own abilities.
1) A DIY oil change is a shitty, horrible job
Id say seems you assume right. Because it's not a horrible shitty job at all. It's about as easy as it gets
And regardless of the sludge or not ... Oil of no kind should be put down a drain.
The good thing is... When you change the oil....they give you this handy empty container - you can put waste oil in and take to the tip where it can be disposed of....
The other thing with modern DIY servicing is that the factory level diagnostics have been cloned/reverse engineered. I have Volvo VIDA/DICE for my two Volvo's and it is brilliant for diagnostic and adjusting things. It also has all the factory workshop manuals and torque values (it was a 30gb download!).
Nowadays it is part of my buying decision of a used car whether or not hacked/grey market/cloned diagnostics were available for it or not.
For the oil change, one of the extraction pumps is a great buy. No need to get the car up on ramps. Run the engine until the oil is warm then extraction hose down the dipstick tube, connect it to the car battery and it'll suck the old oil out. Do a bit of twisting and pulling on the extraction hose as it gets to the end and starts sucking air and you should get the last dregs out. The volumes I've extracted have correlated with the fill volume in the handbook so I'm happy
My tame mechanic took early retirement a few years back because every time a new car came in for work he’d have to buy some specialist tool or other which cost hundreds and was unlikely to be used again
Tool needs haven't really changed that much. What has changed is the amount of sensors and warning errors they throw up. Generic OBD readers will pick up the warning codes at least.
I grew up helping my dad service our cars and our friends. I do the same now and it's still the same stuff I was doing 30 years ago with him. Only extra stuff is plugging a laptop or Bluetooth reader into the OBD port if it's a weird problem
Don’t follow arbitrary guesses of service intervals for everything else either, the book will list what needs doing and when
Don't believe that either. My handbook says change oil as indicated by the car's onboard service warning, and that tells me i've 23k miles between services.
A 20k+ service interval may make a car attractive to a fleet buyer but it's not a good idea if you're interested in the car past its 3rd birthday.
A 20k+ service interval may make a car attractive to a fleet buyer but it’s not a good idea if you’re interested in the car past its 3rd birthday.
Old school DIYers often say this, but I'd trust the manufacturers more than 60s knowledge handed down. Technology improves.
today you lift a bonnet and you’re greeted with a slab of plastic that says “go away.”
That comes off you know. What's under it is far more scary - not because it's complex really but there's a lot packed in there and it's not easy to get at.
If a professional mechanic of many years is hanging up his hat because it’s all getting too complicated, that tells me all I need to know about my own abilities.
Meh, it's not that bad. For a DIYer copies of most special tools are available on eBay for very sensible prices. As long as you have the appropriate software to do stuff like wind in the rear brake pads or measure the transmission oil temps before changing it you're ok. In the VAG world there's VCDS which is a dongle and software - it cost me £250, but it paid for itself many times over. A professional mechanic needs to spend a lot more, of course, but then it's just part of the business these days.
A modern car is complex but I don't think diagnosis is any harder than it used to be - just different. It does require re-learning a lot of things but it's not like it's a new phenomenon. Cars have been slowly electronifying for 30 years. There is more to know, for sure, but that's true of the modern world in general.
Old school DIYers often say this, but I’d trust the manufacturers more than 60s knowledge handed down. Technology improves.
Profits improve. Marketing got smart to fleet metrics. One less service over 1000 cars over 3 years is massive money.
And it's hardly knowledge from the 60s or we would be doing oil every 1500-2k.
But the new school diy'er still understands that the oil they remove after 10k of modern driving with E10 fuel is brutal stuff on the internals of engines. Even more so with wet belts and the like.
But the new school diy’er still understands that the oil they remove after 10k of modern driving with E10 fuel is brutal stuff on the internals of engines.
How?
My last car had variable service intervals, so it monitored the driving patterns and would ping you when it was due. The worst I had was 8k miles, the best about 17k.
We've long known that cold stop-start driving in short trips is worse for your oil than long motorway cruises, so why put a blanket figure on it? Variable oil changes are simply a practical implementation of that knowledge.
as found in the owners manual
Mmm. Yeah. Unless of course the manufacturer changes the spec, sometimes because it's very much the wrong spec.
5k oil changes here! Our V70 engine that we've put 150k of its 200k miles on is clean as a whistle internally.
Haynes is mostly useless except for the very basics
Used to be excellent now much much more limited in details. Given up on them.:(
Generic OBD readers will pick up the warning codes at least.
Really need is odb standard update. The generic code and requirements were put in so long ago that the level of detailed information available form the odb port has sky rocket. when it was mandated that those code were available it might have been 50% of the functionality available at the port now it's 5%.
I’d trust the manufacturers more than 60s knowledge handed down
The manufacturers want to sell cars. If they schedule more servicing the fleets won't buy them. If they die after the warranty period the manufacturer are happy to sell new ones. Cam belt change mileages are infamous for 'optimism'. Maybe I'm a bit influenced by owning a Ford Ecoboost but I don't trust manufacturers any more than I do main dealers.
I don't think service history is worth the cost of main dealer or even independent servicing unless you are going to trade in something less than three years old or it's particularly special/expensive. You might get a little bit more cash for ten years of impeccable service history but nothing like the money it cost to get it.
We generally buy 3 year old cars and sell them when they are pretty tired and the buyers I've had really couldn't give a monkeys about the pile of receipts I had and the service book rarely gets looked at...they are more bothered that it actually drives with no faults.
I did sell a newer Mondeo and the buyer was more bothered if I could throw in a set of mats (err, hello, does my house look like a forecourt!) and didn't even notice that the first service wasn't stamped (it was an ex demonstrator for a main dealer so it was either missed or the sales person driving it couldn't be bothered to walk across the office to get it stamped!)
That comes off you know. What’s under it is far more scary – not because it’s complex really but there’s a lot packed in there and it’s not easy to get at.
This is the big difference in modern cars ime. At one time you would open the bonnet and see a big hole with a little engine in the middle. Now you have to remove multiple components to gain access to most things, and hope you don't lose a nut somewhere down there or you might spend an entire weekend trying to retrieve it. I'm thankful BMW opted to make the oil filter easily serviceable, with a screw cap at the top of the engine bay. It can be replaced within 30 seconds: Unlike many others that require you to access from underneath, with very little space to move and inevitably ends with a face full of oil.
The manufacturers want to sell cars.
Yes, and they know we won't buy them if they gain a reputation for unreliability. Those fleet managers need to sell their cars on, and if they are not deemed good value as second hand purchases they won't hold their value and the fleet managers won't get good deals.
I'd like to see the evidence that a 20k oil change interval, when used on long trips (because that's when the car should offer you that) is actually bad for the engine. For all the things wrong with my Passat the engine was fine at 160k despite the long intervals. But I never had the oil analysed.
I need more evidence than someone on the internet saying 'it's too long' because it feels like a long time.
I’m thankful BMW opted to make the oil filter easily serviceable, with a screw cap at the top of the engine bay.
Same. I haven't actually looked at where it is on the Merc. I promised myself I wasn't going to do it any more
How?
look up ethanol and metal corrosion - and ethanol and rubbers and plastics.
running a car on older oil than it should be on will wear some parts, like piston rings, a bit quicker than they would on fresh oil. Almost no cars are these days written off because of overly worn engines - despite 20k oil changes having been around for well over a decade, there are zero manufacturers who are "known" to fail through this mode either - suggesting that extending the service length has not caused significant issues.
cars tend to be scrapped because they're either crashed, or have some failure thats too expensive to diagnose and fix - things like DMF, wiring issues and (on cars from before 2005ish) rust. Doing an oil change every 5,000 miles instead of every 20,000 would require 29 oil changes instead of 7. DIY (with modern oil, approx £50 a pop) thats an extra £1100 and 25 hours of your life, at a garage (£150 a pop) thats £3,300 extra. Thats a lot more money for something thats likely to have zero impact on the lifespan of the car.
despite 20k oil changes having been around for well over a decade, there are zero manufacturers who are “known” to fail through this mode either
Old or wrong spec oil is considered the main reason why the wet cam belt on Ford Ecoboost engines sheds rubber which clogs the oil pump and kills the engine. At £7k for a new engine there are quite a few cars being written off. It's also suspected that E10 fuel might contaminate the oil faster than expected.
I know this is the internet, but it would be nice if people stopped posting sweeping generalisations that they may have heard down the pub or read on another inexpert forum. This is not aimed at one commentard in particular.
Lot of it depends here.
personally oil every 4-6k in my cars. oil is cheap really. If i was doing 30k a year i would think differently.
Getting an ODB reader specific to your car is a must imo. atm ive got generic vw and bmw. They are amazing. regardless of if your doing any servicing yourself.
If you dont want to do servicing on your car. Dont, just get someone else do it. Your more likely to break something. I personally enjoy it.
Oh and on the oil thing. Its critical that you use the right stuff. I wouldnt be sticking any old stuff from an oil blender in there. main brand or specific qualities depending on your engine. it has a significant difference.
Synthetic oil doesn't degrade like mineral oil used to, that's pretty much the main point of it's existence. There's really no need to change it at anything other than the recommended intervals.
5k oil changes here! Our V70 engine that we’ve put 150k of its 200k miles on is clean as a whistle internally.
You still get pass though and slow dilution of the oil.
