Well I change the oil and filter in my Saab 9-3 1.9, every 5000 miles without fail. It takes me around 7 months to cover 5k. I carry out the oil and filter change myself, very easy job now that I have spent £25 installing a Fumoto quickvalve:

http://quickvalve.co.uk/

5 litres of 5w30 ACEA C3 low saps oil for my car, of which I use 4.3 litres (not for 500's), costs me no more than £20, buy it off ebay and that includes postage. A genuine Mann Hummel oil filter costs £4.50. Fuel filter, £15, but that only gets changed every 15 to 18 months.

Upshot of my 'overkill' oil changes, are a very clean engine, virtually no soot build up in the EGR, no DPF problems and the car passes its emissions test with a virtually nil reading on the analyser, every year.

Servicing your own car can be done very economically and I could easily carry out a intermediate service on a 1.2 500 having bought all the service items and parts myself, for less than £100, to include all of the parts that John202020 listed, minus wiper blades.

The only reason I would ever take a car outside of warranty to a main dealership, would be to have safety recall work done, diagnostics (updating software/ECU) or, if I didn't have a full dealership service history, I might 'treat' the car to a one off visit to ensure that everything was in order.

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This isn't a moan, just an observation, as I have the same opinion of people using IT, as its my day job and I still get surprised at how some people just don't get or can't do the most simple of things. I've built and repaired 1000s of computers and only ever had one made for me once (a boutique gaming PC).

I've only been driving just over 3 years, and my 500 is my first new car and about to have its 3rd year service. I'm going to take it back to the dealer to do that (and the MOT that's due 19/9) as to be frank car stuff scares me, and I have no idea what I'm doing. It's easy to say these things can be done for a lot less by the user or some other garage somewhere but not everyone has the aptitude, confidence or is able to know if they are being fed BS.

Apologies for the slight hijack of the thread btw.

I had my 1st year service at 6,953m, 2nd at 13,186m and this year I've only just topped 18,000 miles. Both of the previous services have ticks in the oil/oil filter change boxes.

What should I be expecting them to do me for this time? It's a 63 plate 89hp TA. Stuff like spark plugs etc spring to mind.

Just been quoted £681 for a Fiat dealer service - (36K miles?) for my mum's 2010 1.2 500 sport, it's the big service with coolant, brake fluid, cambelt.

The car has only done 17K miles but short journeys mostly and has only had an oil change service 3 years ago! I added a litre of oil about 2 months ago and checked the dipstick on Monday - it was so filthy I was horrified and took the opportunity to do a quick oil change seeing as I already had a filter ready for my Brava. I bought 5 litres of Lucas fully synth 5W-40 and gave the thing a good drain, the stuff that came out was absolutely vile...

I'm happy with the car for the moment but will probably get some cheap standard spark plugs just to freshen things up, don't want to waste money if the Fiat dealer are going to do a proper service some time soon (we may try to haggle!).

bluejohn125 said:

Just been quoted £681 for a Fiat dealer service - (36K miles?) for my mum's 2010 1.2 500 sport, it's the big service with coolant, brake fluid, cambelt.

The car has only done 17K miles but short journeys mostly and has only had an oil change service 3 years ago! I added a litre of oil about 2 months ago and checked the dipstick on Monday - it was so filthy I was horrified and took the opportunity to do a quick oil change seeing as I already had a filter ready for my Brava. I bought 5 litres of Lucas fully synth 5W-40 and gave the thing a good drain, the stuff that came out was absolutely vile...

I'm happy with the car for the moment but will probably get some cheap standard spark plugs just to freshen things up, don't want to waste money if the Fiat dealer are going to do a proper service some time soon (we may try to haggle!).

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Haggle!!, no walk away, do some phoning around I was quoted £220 for cam belt and coolent, all other service items probably £100 most of which I think you can do, the gretest issue could be the brake fluid in that I bet the bleed valves are seized and will snap off, as I know,, also have the ac re gassed look over the front brakes may need new discs which are crazy cheap

Obviously that price includes a ton of VAT... the reason for going with Fiat is that they're our supplying dealer and if we sell the car privately it would be a bonus (1 local lady owner, low miles, dealer service...) or if we traded it to them later then they'd be more generous.

bluejohn125 said:

...if we sell the car privately it would be a bonus (1 local lady owner, low miles, dealer service...)...

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Only to folks without real mechanical knowledge. That combination would set alarm bells ringing for me.

bluejohn125 said:

if we traded it to them later then they'd be more generous.

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Don't count on it. Most franchised dealers today work on short term targets and the value they generally place on customer loyalty is basically nil.

My advice would be to find a good independent and spend the money on giving the car an extra heavy overhaul using quality parts.

bluejohn125 said:

Just been quoted £681 for a Fiat dealer service - (36K miles?) for my mum's 2010 1.2 500 sport, it's the big service with coolant, brake fluid, cambelt.

The car has only done 17K miles but short journeys mostly and has only had an oil change service 3 years ago! I added a litre of oil about 2 months ago and checked the dipstick on Monday - it was so filthy I was horrified and took the opportunity to do a quick oil change seeing as I already had a filter ready for my Brava. I bought 5 litres of Lucas fully synth 5W-40 and gave the thing a good drain, the stuff that came out was absolutely vile...

I'm happy with the car for the moment but will probably get some cheap standard spark plugs just to freshen things up, don't want to waste money if the Fiat dealer are going to do a proper service some time soon (we may try to haggle!).

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you just changed the oil and want a fiat service? forget it you can get all that 'big service' done for less than half the price at an independent.

bluejohn125 said:

Obviously that price includes a ton of VAT... the reason for going with Fiat is that they're our supplying dealer and if we sell the car privately it would be a bonus (1 local lady owner, low miles, dealer service...) or if we traded it to them later then they'd be more generous.

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At 6 years old there is no need to go to the dealer, you look like you could do most of the servicing quite easily, plugs are time consuming as care is required but no hardship(don't forget to push down the rear of the air box), if the oil was that bad use a flushing agent, and replace again(some people are dead against flushing agents, but I've never had an issue) dealers won't even look for a service history on trading in, try a Bosch service center for your cam belt or https://www.clickmechanic.com/?utm_...2gqTmmcVQBR7Hl9R6xij0x0Cj9MHnfZ1zcxoC3KPw_wcB

John202020 said:

some people are dead against flushing agents, but I've never had an issue

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The consensus of current thinking is that engine flushing does more harm than good and on newer cars, using it will void the warranty.

If the oil really is that dirty, just change it as normal and then change the oil & filter again after 500 miles or so.

Tbh, on a 1.2 FIRE, providing it contains some form of liquid lubricant, oil related engine failure is proably the least likely problem you're going to face.

You'd do better concentrating on the cooling system, as that is a known weak point and this engine is easily damaged if run low on coolant. Another useful tip is to change the clutch fluid; it suffers the same age-related deterioration as the brake fluid and clutch hydraulic issues are quite common. On a 6yr old car, if it's never been changed (and it probably hasn't), expect it to resemble treacle.

Keep an eye on both the sump pan and the rear beam; both are prone to corrosion. Application of a suitable corrosion proofer will deal effectively with this, but only if caught early.

If it were my car, I'd strip, clean & lubricate the front brakes (there's a how to thread here); you'll realise why if you do it. If they are seriously corroded, replace the discs & pads - you can buy both together for less than the price of a tank of fuel.

Fitting iridium plugs is a worthwhile upgrade on the 1.2; they are about £30 a set and from personal experience will last at least 50,000 miles.

Expect the hatch wiring to fail soon, if indeed it hasn't already done so. The door handles are also quite likely to come off in your hand at some point. Both are extremely common problems.

Can second rear beam corrosion just had a go at ours and the sump has already been replaced due to rust, also look at the shocks for rust/leaking and rear drums where fitted , might have to look at the clutch fluid , I know one of the rear cylinders bleed valve is seized the other is new, doubt the fronts are any better either.

bluejohn125 said:

Just been quoted £681 for a Fiat dealer service - (36K miles?) for my mum's 2010 1.2 500 sport, it's the big service with coolant, brake fluid, cambelt.

The car has only done 17K miles but short journeys mostly and has only had an oil change service 3 years ago! I added a litre of oil about 2 months ago and checked the dipstick on Monday - it was so filthy I was horrified and took the opportunity to do a quick oil change seeing as I already had a filter ready for my Brava. I bought 5 litres of Lucas fully synth 5W-40 and gave the thing a good drain, the stuff that came out was absolutely vile...

I'm happy with the car for the moment but will probably get some cheap standard spark plugs just to freshen things up, don't want to waste money if the Fiat dealer are going to do a proper service some time soon (we may try to haggle!).

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You're far too long in the tooth for me to be giving any advice, but I'm sure you would agree, £681 for a 'major' service to include a cambelt on a 1.2, is just outrageous in my opinion and I wouldn't pay that.

Even these guys in Knutsford only charge £199 for a cambelt replacement and yes, I'd get the waterpump done as well which should really only be the cost of the pump because it doesn't take an age to change it out. You could then get the rest of the service done elsewhere for a lot less than your original quote or at least come to some 'deal' over the rest of the price of a service:

http://www.mangoletsi.com/fiat/service-booking/book-a-service/

Yeah but are the techs at Mangoletsi any good?

Yes, yes I am [emoji12]