Technical Low annual mileage servicing intervals?

[VirtuousGuy]

I have had my 06 1.2 punto since October it's just a run around and something I'm using to develop my driving skills since passing my test and I literally only drive it for a few miles every weekend. Took it for a full service in December where the only real work they done on it was replace oil and brakes (due to corrosion). So i'm now wondering with such low usage (and importance) I have for this car do i need to get it serviced every year and if so does it need to be the full service or a standard one for checking the essentials such as oil and fluid levels?

I really don't want to be spending unnecessary maintenance costs on a 13 year old car so a full service every year may not be appropriate for a runaround but I would like to keep it for a few years.
Many Thanks

 

[GrandePunto PL]

This is pure car abuse (not using it regularly). It will deteriorate fast. Just so you know.
And don't play "surprised" if it fails the "MOT" in near future.

Learn how to do basic maintenance, DIY. Oil change, brake pads and fluid, and so on.
Deal with corrosion (underneath the car) now, or prevent it (some protective coating/paint). Top up (charge) battery once a while (if it's literally driving "few miles, once a week"). That's a short version (to learn more, browse the internet, read - that includes official manual for your car - search, Google, YouTube) of what to do when getting low mileage annually.

 

[AndyRKett]

The decision on when you get the car serviced is entirely up to you, To call it "Pure car abuse" seems a little extreme in my view.

A basic yearly service, changes the oil and oil filter. The reason for doing this is to get rid of dirt and deposits that build up in the oil when used throughout the year. The need to change the oil regularly reduces if you are not using the car as much, however....

A car left standing, being made out of cold metal especially the engine tends to get a lot of condensation build up on the outside of the car and on the inside of the engine as the water condenses out of the air and forms on the internal metal parts of the engine it can foul the oil in the engine which is another reason to change the oil, and believe it or not you can get a lot of organic matter in the oil as well from insects leaves and other tiny bits of debris that find their way into the oil.

If you're not bothered about the car, you're only doing a couple of thousand miles a year and you keep it fairly well in a garage or similar, then I would argue no, you don't have to get an oil change routinely every 12 months, there have been times in the past I have let my cars go very long periods without oil changes, when at university and the car was not being used hardly at all.

If you're doing 6k + miles a year then i'd suggest getting a regular service done once a year.

Cars that are not used also have a tendency to rust and seize up, brake parts rust mostly so you really shouldn't leave it any more than 18 - 24 months between services to make sure everything is inspected.

As mentioned you could learn to do a lot of things yourself and save a small fortune in maintenance costs.

 

[Schumi2001]

You can probably stretch the servicing to every 2 years on that kind of mileage.

 

[VirtuousGuy]

This is pure car abuse (not using it regularly). It will deteriorate fast. Just so you know.
And don't play "surprised" if it fails the "MOT" in near future.

Learn how to do basic maintenance, DIY. Oil change, brake pads and fluid, and so on.
Deal with corrosion (underneath the car) now, or prevent it (some protective coating/paint). Top up (charge) battery once a while (if it's literally driving "few miles, once a week"). That's a short version (to learn more, browse the internet, read - that includes official manual for your car - search, Google, YouTube) of what to do when getting low mileage annually.

There must be a lot of abused cars in london then lol it's pretty normal for people to only drive on weekends here most people don't drive to work but point taken on DIY.