With COVID lockdowns and WFH, I rarely use my car. I have driven less than 5000km in the last 10 to 11 months. As such, it occurred to me, it's been a while since I got a service.
How often does the community get their car serviced, particularly those with low usage?
For reference, I have a Mazda 2, 2010, manual - 173k km. Last logbook service was the 170k service conducted at about 168k.
Well the Toyota GT86 manual says to get it serviced every 9 months whereas the Subaru BRZ manual says every 12 months when they are quite literally almost the same car.
It's hardly a "conspiracy theory" that some manufacturers want to grift their consumers. Personally as a GT86 owner I do 12 month services as per the BRZ guidelines as 9 months is just excessive.
You're Comparing Toyota 86 (Gen 1) vs Subaru BRZ (Gen 2), which have two different engines.
Toyota stopped selling Gen 1 86 in 2021. https://www.toyota.com.au/86
Gen 1 86 and BRZ has the same service interval, which is 9months/15k. https://www.subaru.com.au/servicing/scheduled-service-interv…
Gen 2 BRZ has 12 month/15k interval. https://www.subaru.com.au/service/pricing/capped-price-servi…
Gen 2 Toyota GR 86 is yet to be launched in Australia https://www.toyota.com.au/all-new-gr86
Hmm apparently I was told false information then 😂
Wtf no dude, theyre both on 9 months
As often as I go to the dentist.
Servicing is ‘time based’,whichever comes first.Whether you only do 1,000 kms a year, or 10,000kms.
Yep, that's exactly what the dealer wants you to think.
In reality though a 2010 Mazda 2 with 170k on it will be absolutely fine getting serviced every 2nd year if it's only doing 5k a year.
If it's still under warranty then yes, you need to get it done every 12 months (or whatever the time interval is for your model) even if you've only driven it 500km in that time.
Past a certain point I just service beaters on the registration inspection interval for convenience.
@brad1601.It is not what the dealer wants you to ‘think’.You do not have to use a dealer, you go by your manufactures service recommendations.Services have always been ‘time based’(fact)Oil breaks down & deteriorates.Oil & filters are cheap.Different countries also have different intervals for a reason.
Look I'm not saying servicing every 5 years is a good idea (even though with the quality of oils these days and if the cars hardly being driven… It still will most likely be fine).
I'm just saying sticking exactly to the timed intervals isn't always necessary. Some cars are as short as every 6 months, is just a dealer con to get you back into the service centre as often as possible imo.
I'll stand by my comment, servicing a 2010 Mazda 2 with 170k on the clock that drives 5k a year, 24 month intervals is fine.
My Service interval is every 9 months, Just had it serviced (Log book, post fixed price servicing warranty etc) after almost 18 months, and to be quiet honest I was anxious. Mechanic didn't have to replace anything and just followed the logbook requirements as per manufacture.
I don't know much about servicing, but I even saved some $$$ as some test they do on the brake fluid and was still rating one or something and said it didn't need to be changed (But where happy to change as per log book) In saying this though, I was lucky to even do 10k within these 18 months.
We keep to the logbook service schedules for the first 5 years on a new car. Mostly to prevent having any factory warranty disputes. Our stop/start battery failed 1 month before warranty ends and the dealer replaced it for free. Saved us $500.
After the first 5 years we then go cheap for the remaining life of the car between 3 - 5 years.
If your cars only last 8-10 years before they 'die' then I'm not convinced of your strategy.
mine is 30yo - serviced every 2 years - still ticks like a watch
I didn't say they "die" after 8-10 years. They are still good to run but repairs are more often and severe. Our car is our tool of trade and we can't have too much downtime with it. That's when we trade it in for a new car through novated lease and saved from not paying for the GST at least.
Well I certainly hope I don't die at the end of my remaining life then…
Annually as both cars are 15,000k/12 months and we do low K's, cycle to work and combine trips for efficiency, walk for short trips under a couple of k's etc. Plus gets me exercising!
Why have a 30/40/50+ k purchase and let it fail due to a couple of hundred $ a year for routine safety maintenance that will keep you alive?! If you can't afford service/tyres/insurance etc. , you can't afford a car. (not OP as such, just in general it would seem)
Same with houses, regular little maintenance to avoid preventable major issues in most circumstances.
Annually because you need to do greenslip for CTP anyway. Unless you drive heaps I wouldn't do every 6 months
Whatever the recommendation is. These days it's the time rather than kms due to not driving as much.
Guide says every 6 months or 10k km. I always hit the months before the km driven.
my 30yo car I get serviced every 2 years whether it needs it or not !
I drove probably 1000km last year due to COVID lockdowns
my concern is more about getting the engine warm enough to remove condensation and clear out the engine - at least 20 minutes I would guess
short trips I'm worrying about flattening the battery by not having enough time to recharge it while driving
actually each annual rego renewal pink slip check the garage usually recommends something - which may include an oil change, so meh
Every 5,000km. Oil and filter. Fuel filters at 10k. Gearboxes and diffs at 20k. Sometimes that means 2x a month or less, sometimes is 1x per year. It’s the cheapest preventative maintenance possible.
What car is that?
Every car I’ve owned. From a $100 626 to a 100k high yield merc.
What are you doing to the gearbox and diffs every 20k?
Oil.
When the engine warning light comes on, usually every 18 months.
lol
The more you look into this, the less clear it becomes. Two schools of thought emerge:
1) You can run your car for at least 500,000km/20+ years on factory lubricant (thus confirming the Big Oil conspiracy) versus;
2) If you don't service your car every 5,000km/6 months you are a shameful human being and your car will deservedly explode.
I thought the engineers who designed the engine would be a reliable source of information however service manuals are different depending on what region you live in. For example Hyundai i30 recommends intervals of 30,000km or 2 years in Europe but only 15,000km or 1 year in Australia. Both have an optional intermediate service.
I think that modern synthetic oil has far exceeded our expectations; people have difficulty accepting such long service intervals. I'd like to see some evidence that gives an indication of how long oil typically lasts under low usage conditions which seems to be more common since Covid struck.
I personally get the 15,000km logbook service done at a local mechanic who can pick up any other maintenance issues and I do an intermediate oil change at home with half price oil I find on OzBargain. I believe this approach is conservative and the engine will outlast other parts that wear out sooner, especially electronic components.
Oil has improved, but tolerances have also decreased. At some point it becomes a differential equation between the cost of more frequent or better parts, and the efficiency of petrol consumption.
For instance, a prius is specced to take 0w20, but will function on 5w30 or even 20w50 given our hot climate. But when I used 5w30, I found the petrol consumption went up by half a litre. Now half a litre isn't much, only $1 even at current crazy prices, but over the minimum 5000km a car might do between oil changes that's $50.
So service recommendations aren't always 'if you don't do them, the car will catch fire and you will die'. Sometimes its in the interest of efficiency, and long term money saving by extension
You mention engineers but then try and use regional servicing differences as a conspiracy item, it's important to remember there are big environmental differences between regions which impact engine performance, before putting the tinfoil hat on its worth considering they have taken the harsher Australian conditions into consideration for the engine they have designed.
Personally I would be doing an oil change at minimum every 12 months it's cheap insurance against any issues that can arise from the engine oil becoming acidic.
Never, unless something stops working.
Every 6 months or 1k km (warranty… groan)
1000km? Must be a Ferrari!
Tell that to Leclerc. Can't even do 300km at Baku.
Haha na. It is the "fun car" of the house but with WFH and preferencing the wagon for almost all driving it's barely doing anything!
My Hilux Diesel every 5k…Oil Filter Change..
My logbook says my car needs to be serviced every 12 months or 10,000km but the last time I got it serviced at a specialist MX5 mechanic they put 6 months on the windshield sticker
I wonder why? (/s)
Seriously though, there will be a list of (mostly ridiculous) reasons you must service every 6 months in your logbook. It’s rubbish unless you are driving flat out on the autobahn or towing at max capacity all day long.
Car came with 5 years service inclusive. So definitely utilising that.
They won't do anything bar oil and a couple of filters. The tough part is the first service after 5 years…
Still beats paying for it or deliberately not taking it in since it's inclusive. Never owned a vehicle more than 5 years so all good :D
wow 6 months for some new cars, that's a pain.. that said i think my old beemer was something dumb like 25k kms which was waaaay too long.
Every 10,000KMs or 12 months, whatever comes second.
Spoiler - it's always the KMs.
I'm curious, for people who service their cars earlier than the manufactorer's recommended time frame, are there any good reasons to do that?
I'm pretty sure doing an oil change say at 3k or 5k kms interval = longer life for the engine, most car companies with long warranties would mandate this, yet they don't. Surely this means that the oil at 10k or 15k kms would still have plenty of life left, and it should be safe to keep going for longer.
I figure car companies want servicing to keep the engine in good nick for the life of the warranty which maybe about 3-5 years. Whereas I want the engine to last 20 years.doing my servicing every 5k over 10k.
Plus they want servicing to be pushed out as on paper it makes the car look more affordable to run long term.
I would love to test my oil after 5k though to see what qualities it has left. Mines a dirty diesel so always black
Oil getting to 10000km or 15000km is far from the end of the world. Manufacturers are more concerned about whether the oil and coolant are not mixing and are staying in the engine. They will be up for a big bill if there is a major leak that is not picked up at say 13k and old mate drives it to 30k thinking nothing could be wrong.
It is also a good excuse to get people in to do the usual money making jobs (brake pads, wipers, tires)
Every 8-10K kms, this might be once every 2-3 years or sooner if i have a long trip planned and want piece of mind..The car is barely driven otherwise garaged 99% of the time.
No real reason to do it sooner if not driven.
I drive about 140kms a day, so at 700kms per 5-day work week, in order to comply with the car's warranty… often
I've got a 2009 Mazda 6 diesel manual with about 265k km on the clock. Do my own servicing at 75% of the manufacturer km intervals (I don't pay attention to the time). The early DPF fitted Mazda's are notorious for DPF failures if high ash oil is used and the oil can suffer significant dilution due to the way they burn off the DPF. I suspect the previous owner mistreated it as the oil was blacker than night and very thin when I did the first change.
Before warranty expires - exactly as per logbook. After warranty expires - probably 1.5 times the stated intervals in logbook.
Mk7 GTI with ~60,000km, and service myself every ~6,000km (3 times per year). Tuned and running an ethanol mix which can tend to dilute the oil, so a small price to pay for being cautious.
GOLF MK6 GTI here, owned the car for 9 months and done 11,000km. Did my first DIY oil change on it 2 months ago and DIYed the DSG transmission oil change as well a couple of days ago. No issue with the car, did those and replaced 1 ignition coil, 1 spark plug and the pcv valve as a precaution. Overall it's not that hard to do your own oil change. You feel assured in the quality of the oil and filter you put in your car and it is very satisfying once you complete the job. The advice I would give is ensure you have all the tool and parts ready, eg. Oil filter socket, washer…
Every 15,000KM, which tends to be about a year.
I'm going to attempt an oil + filter change my self next time. I did the air and cabin filter last time.
Oil and filter, should get a medal 👌
Well, its been almost 4-5 years since my last one… definitely due but only do around 4,000-5,000 kms per year and thats with traveling to work everyday.
That hurts my soul.
My car is usually the last thing on my mind.
You don't want to know when I last washed my car…
Every 5k or 6 months. Whatever comes first. These days I'm doing less than 2k every 6 months.
2016 wrx sti.
2003 magna, owned since 2015, 440k odo, 200k of them me.
2 services since buying, both only when required for new registrations for interstate moves.
Top the oil up maybe every 3 months ($40 bucks tops, use penrite). Drop and replace oil maybe ever 2-3 years lol, should be more but I'm lazy.
$1k initial purchase, maybe $3k worth of servicing due to strict rwc requirements.
Around $2k spent on tyres, happy for this to be the disproportionate cost area.
So spent 6k over 7 years, not including an ungodly amount of fuel, rego and 3rd party insurance.
What a beast, Magna taking a beating and chugging along.
Still doing every 10k for my corolla on 270k
My way of thinking is: If you don't do preventive maintenance you may need urgent maintenance when you need the vehicle the most. Follow the log book/every 6 months and you'll be fine.
FYI OP if you're consistently going to be driving 10,000 km or less per year it's cheaper for you to use car share such as GoGet depending on local availability.
Based on a real calculation of cost or GoGet's calculation?
Service it roughly on time otherwise you will likely loose money or have difficulties when its time to sell the car.
Service every 12 months or 10,000 kms. Whichever comes first. Then brake fluid every 2-4 years. Interference Engine / Timing belts if applicable every 6 years.
During Covid = twice a year
Non Covid = three times a year
Other car (weekend car). Driven less than 600-700km per year, gets service once every year or two.
If car is in warranty, to preserve that I get a qualified mechanic to do all the work for their magical stamp in the book- going by the book at required intervals.
Out of warranty…
No more than 12 months or 10,000km… whichever comes first.
That's the way I've always serviced my cars during my life, and I've never had a breakdown.
Good preventative maintenance goes a long way to vehicle reliability, and to save a few hundred bucks by stretching out the maintenance is a false economy to the cost and inconvenience of a breakdown.
New filter with every oil change (some don't change the filter every go, and I think that's a mistake).
New air filter every 18m-24m.
New coolant and brake fluid every 3 years. Check condition as you go, but provided these systems are sealed properly there's absolutely no need to change them more frequently (unless there are signs they need doing so like slightly spongy brakes, or elevated engine temps).
Very easy to do all of the above yourself, and then use free/cheap 'vehicle safety checks' every 12m to make sure other components are kept in order.
When you get results saying fluids need changing but you know you only changed them recently, you don't go back there.
Eventually you'll find a trustworthy mechanic, and that's the guy you take your car to when more complicated/expensive work is required.
I'm still running coolant from 2005
Almost 20 years old? What, is it the original coolant you got with the car?
Amazing that it hasn't evaporated or turned into sludge by now.
Every 12 months or 10k
Used to service my own cars but too old to lie underneath now so go to a mechanic I trust
I supply the oil and filter and tell him to do a log book service and phone me if he finds anything outside of that.
OH and I get the price BEFORE he does the work
Never had a shock bill yet
2.4 VTEC, oil+filter every 7000km.
Full synth.
Other components gradually done eg ATF, brake fluid
Essential oil change/service every 5000KMs and logbook service every 10000 KMs.
Normally every year but, like OP, my car was not serviced for 2 years as it did less than 5000 km during the period. Vaccines were not rolled out yet as well so I didn't want to expose myself by going to a service centre.
Once a year or every 10-12k km. Just check the tyre pressure, coolant, oil, and battery in between.
2004 escape - was a hand me down from dad. Servicing stopped after warranty, just check fluid levels and change oils myself every year. Change brakes every 2-3 years and flush out fluids. Would take it to a mechanic for more tedious stuff like belts.
370 thousand kms, has never let me down. I miss these dumb bulletproof cars.
Wife on the other hand has a 2010 Peugeot, constantly throwing "emission errors" always checking sensors and usually stops the warning for a while. Fuel pump, water pump have both been changed. Electric windows are broken, interior falling apart and needs to go to mechanic soon to check the gearbox (slush ox is shifting aggressively, feels like something hit the car when it cold shifts).
Well indeed, the manufacturers intervals would be believable if they were consistent across similar countries …! They are more a guideline.