To service or not to service, that is the question ...

[Terry]

I've been driving an 02 Focus 1.8 petrol for the past 8 years.

Recently the clutch started slipping. The alternator had to be replaced earlier this year, a radiator hose went last year, the clutch master slave cylinder before that and I've been told the sump housing is badly corroded. Also it has 115,000 on the clock - it was around 75,000 when I bought it ex lease.

So, I thought it time to call it a day ...

I am now the proud owner of a 61 reg Focus Estate 1.6 petrol. It was a bit of a culture shock at first because it is an automatic and, before I took it for a test drive, I'd never driven one before! I thought I'd have to tie a hefty weight to my left angle until I got used to it but, on a reasonably long run on a variety of roads yesterday, my left foot only came off the floor three times!

Now for the problem: it hasn't been serviced since January 2014. It has an MOT until October 2016 and I usually time the annual service to be done immediately before the MOT.

But, if I wait until next October it will be nearly three years since the previous service, so what do I do?

As you may have guessed by now, this isn't the no brainer that it might appear - because it only has 3,000 miles on the clock!

It is ex-Motability and spent its life in South Yorkshire/Derbyshire, judging by the radio presets for Radio Hallam and BBC Sheffield and it was serviced in Chesterfield but it obviously didn't go far!

The record goes like this: first registered 12/11; service 12/12 @ 1063 miles, second service 01/14 @ 1976 miles then MOT 10/14 @ 2528 miles. Signed off by Motability 08/15 then MOT 09/15 @ 2979 miles.

It turned 3000 miles on our way home with it on Tuesday!

My annual mileage is only ~5000 these days so, in a years time it will still only have done ~8000 miles.

So, what does the team think?

[FIXITNOW]

I would just get oil and filter changed for now and live with it till service time / mot

[ppppenguin]

Sounds like a good buy. I'm with FIXITNOW, oil and filter now as they're the only routine serviec items that can wreck the engine. Then on to your usual regime.

Once you've gone automatic (if it's a decent one) you'll probably never want to go back to manual. Who'd want to be using a clutch in heavy traffic and on a motorway it makes no real difference. Perhaps on country roads if you want to drive enthusiastically or in icy/snowy conditions then manual can be better. How often do you do either of these?

[Terry]

Do I detect from these answers that the oil degrades over time, even if the car isn't being used (much)?

Perhaps on country roads if you want to drive enthusiastically or in icy/snowy conditions then manual can be better. How often do you do either of these?

 I think I'm a bit long in the tooth to be a boy racer, Jeffrey, and we don't get much in the way of ice and snow, fortunately.

One thing that interests me is that, unlike all automatics I've ever seen, there is no forced low gear position. Where other cars have 1 and 2, mine has S - a sport mode, apparently that makes the gear change more responsive, or so Ford say.

I tried out the kickdown on the Langdon Hills yesterday but we were going southbound, which isn't much of a climb - must try it northbound sometime - now that is a climb!  Used to be fun in Eastern National buses years ago, with their slow revving Gardner engines and crash boxes! I was on one once that rolled back about 6 feet when the driver was trying top get it into first gear - fortunately, there was nothing behind!

[peter scott]

If it was serviced previously at a Ford agency it should have received fully synthetic oil. If the oil on the dip stick looks clean then I would doubt that you need to change it. I don't think the oil filter is likely to need changing.

Peter

[Mark Hennessy]

On the one hand, it's out of warranty - Ford's warranty, at least...

But there should be a warranty from the dealer? If anything breaks in that period, might he argue that you didn't service it according to the manufacturer's instructions? Yes, perhaps you could counter-argue that he should have serviced it as part of the preparations for sale? Of course, SOG act would help here, even if the dealer didn't provide a warranty...

I don't know about the current service schedules, but for my 2001 Focus (also 1.8, and doing much better than yours by the sound of things - touch wood ), it's 12,500 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first. That's pretty unambiguous. What does the handbook say?

It's painful in a way, because my annual mileage is currently between 1 and 2 thousand. But still, it gets a service every 12 months, at the same time as the MOT. It might be wasteful or unnecessary in reality, but I go by the book - I'm that sort of person . We have a good relationship with the Ford garage we use, and in return for our regular business, they understand that we look after our cars, and are pretty sympathetic when it comes to unexpected extras, etc. They also know that eventually, we'll buy more cars from them. My poor car spends most of its time parked in my garage, which is a terrible way to treat a car, but while it keeps going, I'm not sure what else I should do. We use it for long journeys, and the wife's more economical Fiesta for local runs.

So, I would advise you to go by whatever the book says. You might need some goodwill in the future; you might need to explain the perceived gap in the service history to a future owner; you might also want the reassurance from someone who has gone over it while it was up on the ramps - a lot can happen in 12 months (all unseen).

Another bonus we get from our Ford servicing is free AA breakdown cover. Even on our ancient vehicles. The price of servicing has not gone up since they started doing this, and so it saves us a fair bit each year.

People often buy "young in miles", rather than "young in time". Personally, I prefer to do it the other way around. I can't help but wonder how a 4 year old car with only 3000 miles on the clock would have been driven - but fortunately, modern engines do seem to be very tolerant, and "running in" isn't quite what it used to be as the initial tolerances are so much better than they once were. Even so, I'd be tempted to do a bunch of motorway journeys to "wake it up" - especially while it is still covered by the warranty you got from the dealer. My Focus was bought as an ex-dem at 5 months old, with about 4 or 5k on the clock. I then did nearly 20,000 miles a year until about 10 years ago, so I like to imagine that I "gave it a good start in life" before putting it into semi-retirement. Sorry for my anthropomorphic thinking here, but I'm still irrationally attached to it, and every time I dig it out and take it somewhere, I'm reminded of how nice it is...

I drive a lot of modern vehicles at work. Our current pool car is a new Focus Estate - a year or two old now. It's the very efficient diesel that is zero-VED rated, yet is pretty quick, handles well, and is almost silent. The seats and driving position doesn't suit me as well as my old one, but I do like it. A lot of the time I have to hire a car because the pool car is in use, and on the occasions that I get an automatic, I have to say that I really like the experience, especially in town. But so far, nothing I've driven has left me dissatisfied with the old Focus. OK, it would be nicer if it had a bit more sound insulation, but in terms of grip, handling, driver involvement and comfort, it's still up there.

Sorry to ramble

Mark

[ppppenguin]

Another bonus we get from our Ford servicing is free AA breakdown cover. Even on our ancient vehicles. The price of servicing has not gone up since they started doing this, and so it saves us a fair bit each year.

AA cover is expensive. I get full breakdown and recovery for £41 per year.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/car-ins...over#BBtwo

I've had to call them out once. No problems and I didn't even have to pay up front and claim back.

PS: I don't get any commission from MoneySavingExpert even though I frequently recommend them

[Yorkie]

Some aspects are more related to elapsed time than to mileage.

On a low mileage car, with infrequent journeys, the brake calliper pistons get little exercise and can be prone to seizing up as well as causing rust patches on the discs if the pads were wet when the car was put away. Pitted discs can be an MOT failure. Brake fluid is hygroscopic, so over time can absorb water and degrade. Hence, if the service schedule says 'replace every three years' it makes sense to do so. If you look at old brake fluid in a jar, it's also full of minute bubbles which can make the brakes loose their efficiency.

It's well worth jacking the wheels up to see if you can remove them as the wheels - certainly if alloy - can seize onto the hub boss. A  year or so ago, when my car was  less than a year old, I got a puncture when returning home from London to Hull. Managed to get to a motorway Service Area where I could fit the spare. (I'd  paid extra for a spare wheel when I bought the car new as I'm disinclined to rely on those 'get you home' cans which seem to be standard  issue with cars these days. When I jacked the car up, the wheel was stuck solid on the rear hub. Luckily, I had a boot full of tools, which - unusually - included a large rubber mallet.  It took a lot of whacking to get the wheel off. The car is covered by a three-year RAC breakdown cover, so if all else failed, it wouldn't have been the end of the world - just more delay to the journey.

When I got home, I spent the next morning removing each wheel in turn - mallet job again, and lots of whacks. Cleaned up the hob bosses and the allow wheel aperture to make sure each wheel was an easy fit, then applied 'Copperease' so the wheels would be easy to remove in future if need be.

Due to set off from Hull for a couple of weeks down in London last Friday, and when on Thursday I checked the tyre pressures, blow me if a front tyre didn't have a nail in it. Fitted the spare - no hassles getting the wheel off this time - took the car to the local top class tyre/exhaust/clutch battery etc firm. Tyre not damaged, but it was false economy to pay for a puncture repair as there was only just over 1mm tread left down to the legal limit. Car's done 26,000 in two years, so ended up with two new front tyres (actually moved to the rear as that's where you need most grip on a front wheel drive car, so the rears were moved to the front). Together with re-tracking due to speed bumps, plus balancing, etc - not to mention VAT, £220 in all.

Glad I took the precaution of checking the tyre pressures before I see off on the 240 mile trip down here. Front offside tyre would have been a tow-truck off the motorway to a Service Area. Breakdown services might change a nearside wheel at a pinch, but not offside - far too dangerous. Major hassle.

One job not to skip on higher mileage cars in the timing belt change - usually something like 48,000  miles/4 years. Ignore that at your peril - a shredded timing belt writes off the engine, and hence, in most cases, it write off the car as beyond economic repair.

Happy motoring!

[Ed_Dinning]

Hi Gents, my wife has an ex-motobility Focus, 1.6 petrol and X plate.
We bought it at 2 years old and 3000 on the clock. Now we are both retired it is up to 56000 but is only doing 3000 per year.

It runs well and has a small amount of rust that I've fixed.
It is probably worth £200, but It gets serviced (oil and filter) every year, air cleaner about every 3rd year.
If you intend to keep it I would change the oil and filter yearly as many short runs are much more damaging than long runs.

It got its first advisory in Feb, brake lines. I did them for £70 and renewed the fluid at the same time.

These are relatively simple cars on which it is possible to do your own servicing without special tools; at such low cost it makes sense to do the extra oil changes at yearly intervals.
Note that the timing belt change is recommended after about 6 years if a low mileage is done. This can be done by the home mechanic with simple tools. Note that the crankshaft sprocket is a taper fit to the crank nose, not keyed.
2 pieces of 5mm plate and an M8 bolt are all that are needed to reset the timing.

Ed

[Mark Hennessy]

On the 1.8, the timing belt interval is 10 years or 100,000 miles - whichever comes first. It's the same for my wife's 1.4 Fiesta, which is the same engine as yours, Ed - just a little bit newer (2003). It's quite scary, but we let hers run to 10 years/45,000 miles with no drama before changing it. I got the one in my Focus done at 5 years because the water pump needed doing - it made sense while it was all apart - and now that 10 years is up, I plan to get it done sometime very soon.

So I wonder what prompted the recommendation you've heard - any ideas what makes low-mileage driving tough on timing belts? Added to which, low mileage means two very different things to our 2 cars - my Focus is used for long runs only, but very, very occasionally, whereas the Fiesta does all the short journeys - so I wonder if the reasoning could/should be applied equally to both?

I used to change timing belts on my previous cars (old VWs) where everything was very easy to get at. With the Focus (and probably the Fiesta), you have to remove the engine bracket while supporting the lump somehow. At this point, I decided that it's time to stop servicing my own cars

Yes, I was a bit shocked when I read about the taper-fit on the pulleys. By all accounts, that's very common today. From memory, the crank is keyed and the cams are taper jobs on my 1.8 - I've never looked up the detail for the 1.4/1.6 variants. Either way, all my previous cars were keyed, and they had markings on the pulleys and brackets with pointers to indicate the positions, so changing a belt really was trivially easy. Happy days...