Annual service due in a month

Hey Everyone

My Francesca is due her first service with me at the end of October (sorry for posting this in advance but I wanted to get everyone's votes!) the independant garage ill use in Stockport offers two different services which are detailed here:

Service 1 – Major or Full Service:
Removing of all road wheels, checking cleaning and adjusting of all brakes.
Change of engine oil and filter
Change of spark plugs (petrol vehicles)
Change of air filter
Change of fuel filter (diesel vehicles)
Change of fuel filter (petrol cards when requested)
Checking of all fluid levels including anti freeze strength and brake fluid boiling point
Check all lights
General steering and safety check
Greasing of door hinges
Checking of tyres
General check over of all components that would cause you a problem in the future
Service wash and road test and general report of any work required

Service 2 – Interim Service:
Change of engine oil and filter
Inspection of brake pads (where visible)
Check fluid levels
Check lights
Check tyres

So bearing in mind Francesca is 5 year old Stilo (52 plate) and has 36,000 miles on the clock which service do you think I should get for her?

The garage thankfully says they can reset the service counter using their Bosch car stuff!

Anyway thanks for your votes everyone

Coyotes_uk

I would say service 1 due to her age, at the same time it might be worthwhile doing the cam belt (if it hasnt already been done) again due to being 5 years?

Yes she had that done about a month and a half ago!

Removing of all road wheels, checking cleaning and adjusting of all brakes. DiY
Change of engine oil and filter DiY
Change of spark plugs (petrol vehicles) DiY
Change of air filter DiY
Change of fuel filter (diesel vehicles) DiY
Change of fuel filter (petrol cards when requested) DiY
Checking of all fluid levels including anti freeze strength and brake fluid boiling point DiY - brake fluid boiling point? Antifreeze strength? On a 5y/o car I'd just empty out the old stuff & replace with new (both fluids)
Check all lights DiY
General steering and safety check DiY
Greasing of door hinges DiY
Checking of tyres DiY
General check over of all components that would cause you a problem in the future ? That'll be every component in the car then - I'll bet they don't
Service wash and road test and general report of any work required

Sorry, but for what they'll be charging, I'd much rather do that work myself & know it's been done properly - and all those jobs listed are simple tasks, well within the capabilities of your average DiYer

Hmmm allot of things I wouldn't know how to do though!

very easy DIY job, saves you a few quid and its the onyl way to make sure you use the best quality parts and fluids. you cant trust a garage to do a service properly. for example, at this garage i bet a full service is exactly the same as an interim service, all they do in both of them is oil, oil filter, air filter and sparkplugs, and thats if you're lucky.

OK, fair enough.

There are a few local garages now offering half price MOTs if you book a service, now I'm not an MOT tester but nearly all the checks on that service list are also on the MOT list - AFAIK.
In other words, the garage is conning us out of even more money.
As for quality parts etc, well, I've always used good quality oil suited to the age of the car & mileage I do whereas garages will buy a couple of drums at a time, one for diesels & one for petrols.
If you are the type of driver who never lifts the bonnet, how do you know you are getting what you paid for?
OK, even a 3y/o can pull a dipstick & can tell the difference between fresh oil & old & even the air filter is a relatively easy check - but how many will actually bother to pull the spark plugs?
A set of plugs can cost upwards of £15 & if you have quality plugs in there I wonder if the garage would even bother to pull them? Let's face it, if the engine is running Ok on their meters I reckon they'll assume the plugs are fine - saving them £££s.

In that case I may ask them when/if they change the oil/coolants etc... to use the cans I have at home (ie. the Salenia and Paraflu stuff)

That wouldn't solve anything they could use their own cheap stuff and keep yours and you still wouldnt be none the wiser, mark your old spares and ask them for the old stuff back when they finished the service and if the stuff they give you isnt marked you can check and see if they even bothered doing anything

I have a long distrust of garages stemming from the few times I've had dealings over insurance repairs & MOTs to friends & family cars.
One garage showed me a list of repairs for insurance work which included new fogs, new plugs/leads, new oil/filter amongst other things.
I was amazed to note they also bought their plugs, leads, oil filter from Halfrauds - just as I had done for the previous service.
I also noted that the 'new' foglamps they claimed to install were 2nd hand (judging by the scratches on the lens & body of the lamps.
My insurance company were most interested to read my letter & sent a rep round to inspect the car.
The way he was sucking air through his teeth...

My cars only go to a garage whe it is really essential (MOT time) & even then I try to watch what they are doing.

Just done two services, the car and van early this morning. Environmental conditions being just right, no wind, warmish and no rain.
Saved around £350+ I reckon.
I used to service on mileage or time rather rigidly, even if it was minus 5c. Now I`m more interested in hitting the best presenting day in a given month as the service time approaches. That will do now until a similar day at the end of March, for oil & filter changes.
Must be getting soft, deliberately missing winter servicing on the drive.......

Not everyone is happy working on cars, the only thing that may be hard to do here is the spark plug change. If the 1.6 is as fiddly as the 1,8 it is beyond some people. I had mine done once by an independant locally that I used to trust. Next time I got a torque wrench that covered the alloy engine needs, plug spanner and extender and did it myself*. I was shocked to find they were not much more than finger tight when they came out! Thats the last time any car of mine has been inside a garage other than my mates who owns his own one and will work on my cars when I am there.
I have MoTs done by MOTstop here who only do the test, they have no interest in failing the car to get billable workshop hours.
All the other stuff here on service 1 like tyres, oiling hinges is stuff you should do yourself, some of once a week.
* I got them off all tooled up cost less than one hour in the garage and that included p+p.

Again many valid points everyone, but I simply dont have the knowledge/confidence to do it myself and im always impressed of people who do! Still think ill get it booked in and see how it goes tho ill ring around for quotes before hand!

I'd get option 1, to keep up a good servive history for peace of mind and when you come to sell. I always ask for a Fiat schedule service at my local garage

Good idea ill ask them about that!