General Low mileage / servicing

[loveshandbags]

Well i will take my chances on the oil change every 18k with my car (once a year with my mileage.)

If however, something breaks, i will let you guys know!

I plan on keeping the car to a good 100k which will still make the car less than 6 years old with this mileage, since i do many miles and i dont see a reason in getting something else for the time being.

The Fiat 500 is enough for me ( i am a 23 year old bachelor so dont really need any space!)

I have attached a picture of 'Nigels' 'test' 1.4 500. To get to this figure and to stay performing with a 'decent' average mpg I'd imagine he changed his oil a bit more than you planned to do.

I don't know what you are doing to your 1.4, but I have done 100,000 miles in mine with an open cone air filter that last got cleaned about 40,000 miles ago as I keep forgetting to do it! I get an average of 40.1 mpg and well over 45 on a run, but mine has been tuned as well as exhaust and induction, but it also has huge tyres which means a lot more rolling resistance. And believe me, this car gets driven with enthusiasm!!!

 

[loveshandbags]

The cynic in me says it's more likely to ultimately cost some subsequent owner more money.

Some folks may take the view that they'll be chopping the car in after 3yrs and consequently only spend the minimum they can get away with to get the dealer stamps in the service book. Some main dealers apparently collude in this by allowing certain service items (like the 2yr brake fluid change) to be skipped in exchange for a discount on the price.

I'd advise anyone buying a secondhand car to carefully examine all the service invoices to see exactly what's been done - the presence of a stamp in the book (even if it's from a franchised dealer) is sadly no guarantee that all the manufacturer's recommendations have been complied with.

:yeahthat:

Any warranty claim needs the actual invoices (or copies) of the services carried out on the car. Stamps in the book aren't sufficient. This I discovered on a 3rd year 'dealer' warranty claim.

 

[ahmett]

I have attached a picture of 'Nigels' 'test' 1.4 500. To get to this figure and to stay performing with a 'decent' average mpg I'd imagine he changed his oil a bit more than you planned to do.

I don't know what you are doing to your 1.4, but I have done 100,000 miles in mine with an open cone air filter that last got cleaned about 40,000 miles ago as I keep forgetting to do it! I get an average of 40.1 mpg and well over 45 on a run, but mine has been tuned as well as exhaust and induction, but it also has huge tyres which means a lot more rolling resistance. And believe me, this car gets driven with enthusiasm!!!

You know i get around 35 mpg but i think what kills it is that i am in traffic all day long in Athens! I took it for a sunday thrash out of town and the consumption was around 40+. Its traffic that kills the consumption = ( So far the engine is fine after around 22k, but it makes a grumble between 2750rpm and 3000 rpm, and i dont know why. It has been doing that since almost new basically but the engine pulls fine and happily revs to the rev limiter! No S/S on my one = (

 

[RobinPJ]

Completely agree.

I take the complete opposite view to servicing as the 3 year owners you mention.

I'm currently waiting to find out if my job goes permanent and then I will be buying the following, with a view to covering the servicing for the next 4 years and buying things which will need to be replaced over that period as well as a couple of things which can just happily sit till they need replacing.

Shopping list is as follows

Timing belt (Febi) x1
Timing belt pulley (SKF) x1
Water pump (Valeo) x1
Pad set (Febi) x1
Front discs (Brembo) x1
Set of pre-assembled brake shoes (bosch) x1 (makes more sense when you see what I mean -> http://seekpart24.com/bosch/brake-shoe-set-204114645?c=100031&at=19093 they come with wheel cylinders which apparently have a habit of sheering bleed screws)
Set of drums (Brembo) x1
Activated Carbon Pollen filter (Febi) x2
Oil filter (Bosch) x8
Air filter (Fiat) x4
Wishbones (Lemforder) x1 set
Droplinks (lemforder) x1 set
Rack ends (Lemforder) x1 set
Tie rod ends (Febi) x1 set
Front wheel bearing (SKF) x1
Rear wheel bearing (SKF) x1
Sets of plugs (NGK or Bosch) x4

Only things I might add would be a thermostat and a set of topmounts for the struts.

Should more or less cover just about all the servicing over 4 years. My choices have mainly been to buy the best products where they're not too expensive although for some bits I did just go for the best, SKF have a pretty good reputation for bearings so everything with bearings in it is SKF although the water pump is valeo because the SKF one is 50% more expensive than the Valeo one and Valeo are pretty good

Going to do a bit of shopping around and I might be able to knock 50-100 quid off the current price of ~£850. Just gives me the peace of mind knowing that the parts for pretty much all the servicing parts are taken care of and there's just labour to pay for. Plus if something does go then I know that the part going on will be as good if not better than the original.

I will definitely be taking a picture of it all when it arrives. Well that's if I order it all.

Daniel - given that we live in an age of low inflation and a great deal of personal uncertainty, why would you buy it all in advance rather than "as and when"? It seems like an odd thing to do when you may not need it all, or something may happen to your circumstances, and yet the prices for the products may not go up much, and may even go down.

 

[ahmett]

Daniel - given that we live in an age of low inflation and a great deal of personal uncertainty, why would you buy it all in advance rather than "as and when"? It seems like an odd thing to do when you may not need it all, or something may happen to your circumstances, and yet the prices for the products may not go up much, and may even go down.

I agree completely.

 

[306maxi]

Daniel - given that we live in an age of low inflation and a great deal of personal uncertainty, why would you buy it all in advance rather than "as and when"? It seems like an odd thing to do when you may not need it all, or something may happen to your circumstances, and yet the prices for the products may not go up much, and may even go down.

Well there are certain things in there which will definitely need doing. Most of the cost is in things which WILL need to be done within the next couple of years and also service items like filters, pads and discs.

A lot of the OE parts for the 500 are of rather suspect quality and rather than having to get yet another OE or cheap pattern part wishbone fitted when the OE one goes. I want my car to be super reliable so fitting another crap replacement for a crap part simply isn't going to do. Why replace a part that is known to be rubbish with another rubbish one,or one that is of unknown quality?

Then there's the convenience. How often have you had a car go in for a repair only to be told you have to wait one or two days (or more!) for parts?

Plus it'll be cheaper to source parts myself.

So basically
Price
Convenience
Reliability
Low downtime



All of the stuff I'm purchasing will still have a value even if I never use it

 

[arorat]

Maxi, so its costing you more now than in the future :devil:

 

[306maxi]

Maxi, so its costing you more now than in the future :devil:

No, why?

 

[arorat]

No, why?

I was being cynical with your cash tied up in car parts, whereas that little mountain of cash could be off-setting your mortgage or earning you a princely 1% or less in interest..

It makes sense to buy useful parts in bulk and keep, I will get to that stage soon for the 1st service

 

[loveshandbags]

Price
Convenience
Reliability
Low downtime

I would be a little guilty of hoarding and would try an re-use stuff where at all possible. Every so often I would have to do a blitz. One problem with buying stuff in advance is

1. Storage
2. Trying to find it !
3. Perish / expiry factors
4. Advancement

You've raised some very valid points on having the stuff when a car is being serviced. My guy had no pollen filter and ended up buying the Selenia in 1L containers !
There are economies of scale in buying in bulk e.g. one courier cost for 3 service packs but seriously where do you store it ?
Brake fluid as pointed out by JR (I know you're not buying it) goes off and should be bought like a pint of milk where the date is checked. I'd imagine that on some of the stuff you're buying would have rubber bits and they could perish. So a 3 year old part going in the 500 wouldn't be as good as a new part. In addition parts are being continually developed and you might be able to get a set of high tech shocks like the B12 or FSD in a much cheaper make. If the parts you are proposing to buy went into my garage it would probably rust or perish. Some attics (including my own) in houses don't take too kindly to heavy weights. You would really need a decent dedicated garage that has good humidity levels.

 

[306maxi]

I would be a little guilty of hoarding and would try an re-use stuff where at all possible. Every so often I would have to do a blitz. One problem with buying stuff in advance is

1. Storage
2. Trying to find it !
3. Perish / expiry factors
4. Advancement

You've raised some very valid points on having the stuff when a car is being serviced. My guy had no pollen filter and ended up buying the Selenia in 1L containers !
There are economies of scale in buying in bulk e.g. one courier cost for 3 service packs but seriously where do you store it ?
Brake fluid as pointed out by JR (I know you're not buying it) goes off and should be bought like a pint of milk where the date is checked. I'd imagine that on some of the stuff you're buying would have rubber bits and they could perish. So a 3 year old part going in the 500 wouldn't be as good as a new part. In addition parts are being continually developed and you might be able to get a set of high tech shocks like the B12 or FSD in a much cheaper make. If the parts you are proposing to buy went into my garage it would probably rust or perish. Some attics (including my own) in houses don't take too kindly to heavy weights. You would really need a decent dedicated garage that has good humidity levels.

Well I'm not going to buy dampers and keep them "in stock" as it were \

The only thing in my list that I would say would perish is the timing belt and for a 1.2, being a non-interference engine if it does go it's not the end of the world for the engine. Of course it's not good for whoever is trying to control the car at the time. Perhaps I might leave that purchase till it actually needs it.......

Obviously you're not planning on keeping your 1.4 for long but here's a shedload of different parts for your 500.

http://seekpart24.com/fiat/500-07/1-4-19094

I stored 3 services worth of parts as well as a set of discs and pads on a shelf in our 2nd bedroom/computer room. I'm sure with a little bit of shifting around I could get it all in. We're wanting to move house soonish and the wife has promised me that if there are enough bedrooms I'm going to be getting a dedicated room for my computer and storage of car bits and somewhere to work on car bits inside. The wife wasn't too impressed when I took the Subaru's driveshaft apart in the kitchen sink. Can't think why:shrug:

 

[loveshandbags]

Well I'm not going to buy dampers and keep them "in stock" as it were \

The only thing in my list that I would say would perish is the timing belt and for a 1.2, being a non-interference engine if it does go it's not the end of the world for the engine. Of course it's not good for whoever is trying to control the car at the time. Perhaps I might leave that purchase till it actually needs it.......

Obviously you're not planning on keeping your 1.4 for long but here's a shedload of different parts for your 500.

http://seekpart24.com/fiat/500-07/1-4-19094

I stored 3 services worth of parts as well as a set of discs and pads on a shelf in our 2nd bedroom/computer room. I'm sure with a little bit of shifting around I could get it all in. We're wanting to move house soonish and the wife has promised me that if there are enough bedrooms I'm going to be getting a dedicated room for my computer and storage of car bits and somewhere to work on car bits inside. The wife wasn't too impressed when I took the Subaru's driveshaft apart in the kitchen sink. Can't think why:shrug:

I had edited my original post with suggestions of the spare bedroom and using space under the bed thinking that it might have been inappropriate - but I wasn't too far off the mark.

Had a quick look at your link and compared the price of an indicator bulb that I bought on Saturday for the 500 after I got it back from the 'garage'. It was working when it went in but wasn't when it come out.
I got the Heavy Duty (HD) version. Apparently they're are designed for Van drivers and if a car has a lot of vibrations. Thought it was a good choice at the same price as the standard one at €6.99 for the packet. That should tick the 'Advancement' checkbox and also cheaper .

So now I have a spare bulb, 1 Litre of Selenia KPE and a set of bald Stilo wheels. O I forgot - a spare car (the Marea) whose battery should be charged as by now.

Hopefully we've stayed on topic with the indicator bulb since that should fall into this scope of this thread. How can an 'Oil / Filter change' be called a 'Low Mileage service' ?

 

[306maxi]

I had edited my original post with suggestions of the spare bedroom and using space under the bed thinking that it might have been inappropriate - but I wasn't too far off the mark.

Had a quick look at your link and compared the price of an indicator bulb that I bought on Saturday for the 500 after I got it back from the 'garage'. It was working when it went in but wasn't when it come out.
I got the Heavy Duty (HD) version. Apparently they're are designed for Van drivers and if a car has a lot of vibrations. Thought it was a good choice at the same price as the standard one at €6.99 for the packet. That should tick the 'Advancement' checkbox and also cheaper .

So now I have a spare bulb, 1 Litre of Selenia KPE and a set of bald Stilo wheels. O I forgot - a spare car (the Marea) whose battery should be charged as by now.

Hopefully we've stayed on topic with the indicator bulb since that should fall into this scope of this thread. How can an 'Oil / Filter change' be called a 'Low Mileage service' ?

Not sure I'd have bothered with a HD bulb myself but it can't hurt.

 

[grumph]

Sorry to butt in, this is a sore point with me at the moment.
4 weeks ago a con-rod came out of the side of the block. I know it was a Ford(I've bought a Fiat now) but it was under 3 years old and under warranty, always used manufacturers parts and specified oils.
My local garage used a Forte oil flush on it two services ago.
Using the oil flush invalidated the Warranty. It doesn't matter what failed or why it failed. Its an exclusion and there is nothing i can do about it.
The garage quoted not much change out of £6000.
Flushes are snake oil for the gullible.

 

[jrkitching]

Sorry to butt in, this is a sore point with me at the moment.
4 weeks ago a con-rod came out of the side of the block. I know it was a Ford(I've bought a Fiat now) but it was under 3 years old and under warranty, always used manufacturers parts and specified oils.
My local garage used a Forte oil flush on it two services ago.
Using the oil flush invalidated the Warranty. It doesn't matter what failed or why it failed. Its an exclusion and there is nothing i can do about it.
The garage quoted not much change out of £6000.
Flushes are snake oil for the gullible.

Thanks for sharing this - and my sincere condolences for what you must be feeling.
I've already made my views known on flushing oils & voiding your warranty is yet another good reason not to use them.

What is all the more galling in your case is that using a flushing oil is most unlikely to have contributed in any way to your conrod failure. Such failures are almost always the result of crack propogation starting from a weakness introduced during manufacture. The exception might be cracks starting from microcrystalline corrosion, but this is normally confined to older engines which have been left standing for a long time with acid-contaminated oil in the sump.

Although using a flushing oil has invalidated your warranty, if you bought the car new, you may still be able to make a claim against the supplying dealer under the sale of goods act. To do this, you would need to get a statement from an independent expert witness that, on balance of probability, the conrod failure resulted from an inherent defect present at the time the car was originally sold. It's possible that microscopic examination of the broken conrod might produce the evidence you would need to give you a good chance of making a successful claim.

 

[306maxi]

Sorry to butt in, this is a sore point with me at the moment.
4 weeks ago a con-rod came out of the side of the block. I know it was a Ford(I've bought a Fiat now) but it was under 3 years old and under warranty, always used manufacturers parts and specified oils.
My local garage used a Forte oil flush on it two services ago.
Using the oil flush invalidated the Warranty. It doesn't matter what failed or why it failed. Its an exclusion and there is nothing i can do about it.
The garage quoted not much change out of £6000.
Flushes are snake oil for the gullible.

Sorry to hear about that Definitely a reason why I wouldn't go for an oil flush either. Not necessarily because it could cause the problem, but it's an excuse for the manufacturer not to pay out....

 

[Turtle]

While the idea of an engine flush is nice (Sparkling clean engine ready for fresh golden oil) the reality is it's going to do more harm than good. A better idea would be, to do an oil change with a cheaper brand of the correct oil, and run it for say 500 miles, and then do another oil change with the expensive stuff. Seems unnecessary to me though if the car is serviced regularly.

Not much use to someone that's already done the deed and ruined an engine though! Good luck getting it fixed or selling it!