Last time vehicle was serviced?

[Lamb]

When was the last time you got your vehicle serviced? I was in last month for the yearly inspection and now I'm back this morning because my TPMS light won't turn off. I've followed the procedures to try to get it to go off, but it's possible the sensor is bad and needs replacing. ugh.

 

[Albion]

Garages have a hard time getting those lights to turn off for good. But if there is no actual problem that the light is alerting you to, it might be a good idea just to ignore it.

By the way, when you say "yearly inspection," I hope you don't mean that you only change your oil annually, regardless of how many miles you drive. You probably didn't mean that, but it's the schedule that some people mistakenly follow if they aren't rolling up big miles.

 

[tango]

When was the last time you got your vehicle serviced? I was in last month for the yearly inspection and now I'm back this morning because my TPMS light won't turn off. I've followed the procedures to try to get it to go off, but it's possible the sensor is bad and needs replacing. ugh.

Tire pressure light? I had issues with one of my sensors a couple of years ago. The car was still under the extended warranty I bought but when I took it in to the garage the issue had apparently resolved itself. If I had all the sensors replaced at once (they have a finite life so if one fails the chances are more will fail shortly afterwards) it was going to cost something like $1200 all in. The warranty would only cover the one that failed, and of course when it was behaving there was no way of finding the one that failed.

Rather than come up with $1200 I figured that if it came to that it would be hugely cheaper to buy a spare air compressor to keep in the garage and check my pressures manually, topping off as needed.

 

[tango]

By the way, when you say "yearly inspection," I hope you don't mean that you only change your oil annually, regardless of how many miles you drive. You probably didn't mean that, but it's the schedule that some people mistakenly follow if they aren't rolling up big miles.

How often do you change your oil? I only do about 4-5000 miles a year so have the oil and filter changed during the annual inspection.

In the more distant past when I could only just afford to keep my car on the road at all I once went something like 3 years and 20,000 miles without changing the oil. It was pretty black when I finally did change it but the car didn't miss a beat.

 

[Albion]

I'm not a mechanic, and I know that I err on the side of caution when it comes to oil changes, even though I don't keep to the now outdated recommendation of doing it every three months. But dirty oil and/or filters stress the engine and MAY cause mechanical problems that otherwise could be avoided for what is, after all, a fairly modest cost as car maintenance goes. Plus, at most garages, it's the occasion for the mechanics to notice other problems that the car is developing--with the tires or the brakes, for example.

 

[Lamb]

Garages have a hard time getting those lights to turn off for good. But if there is no actual problem that the light is alerting you to, it might be a good idea just to ignore it.

By the way, when you say "yearly inspection," I hope you don't mean that you only change your oil annually, regardless of how many miles you drive. You probably didn't mean that, but it's the schedule that some people mistakenly follow if they aren't rolling up big miles.

Some states have a required inspection of vehicles so that they're safe to use on the road. They check all kinds of things like tires, brakes, missing parts, etc. I once failed an inspection because I had a spot on my windshield that had gotten damaged from a rock and was the size of a nickel and had it professionally filled so it wouldn't spread. It passed the first year and the second year they failed me...I even went to the same inspection site. I had to get a brand new windshield!!

For my light sensor, it had failed (gone bad) and they replaced it for $138.

 

[Faith]

When was the last time you got your vehicle serviced? I was in last month for the yearly inspection and now I'm back this morning because my TPMS light won't turn off. I've followed the procedures to try to get it to go off, but it's possible the sensor is bad and needs replacing. ugh.

I had an oil change about 6 weeks ago.

 

[tango]

I'm not a mechanic, and I know that I err on the side of caution when it comes to oil changes, even though I don't keep to the now outdated recommendation of doing it every three months. But dirty oil and/or filters stress the engine and MAY cause mechanical problems that otherwise could be avoided for what is, after all, a fairly modest cost as car maintenance goes. Plus, at most garages, it's the occasion for the mechanics to notice other problems that the car is developing--with the tires or the brakes, for example.

I just booked my wife's car in for its inspection and service. The standard service at odd intervals of 5000 miles doesn't include an oil change as standard. Because we only do that in a year we have them do the service with an oil change added.

I'm not convinced that oil gets dirty enough to be a problem after 5000 miles, unless it's 5000 miles of endless stop-start city driving.

 

[Forgiven1]

You just reminded me that I need to get my hubby to check out our car in the next 10 days as he likes to just before a trip. That and it is probably time to do it anyway. We are heading north for a couple of weeks and it is colder up there than here.

My hubby is faithful about getting the cars checkups when they need to be done.

 

[Albion]

I just booked my wife's car in for its inspection and service. The standard service at odd intervals of 5000 miles doesn't include an oil change as standard. Because we only do that in a year we have them do the service with an oil change added.

I'm not convinced that oil gets dirty enough to be a problem after 5000 miles, unless it's 5000 miles of endless stop-start city driving.

You probably are correct about that. I was transfixed on the 'three years and 20,000 miles' comment, even though you pointed out that this was in the past!

When I was a kid just recently living on my own, I actually did drive my car so long without a change that it did some damage. I just didn't give an oil change a thought! I learned that lesson perhaps too well. And also, most oil changes these days involve synthetic oil which does extend the mileage between changes.

 

[tango]

You probably are correct about that. I was transfixed on the 'three years and 20,000 miles' comment, even though you pointed out that this was in the past!

That certainly wasn't ideal, but at the time I didn't know how to do it myself and couldn't afford to pay the garage to do it. With the benefit of hindsight I probably could have found the money to pay the garage to do it, or at least figured out how to change the oil myself, I just didn't want to make a bad situation worse.

When I was a kid just recently living on my own, I actually did drive my car so long without a change that it did some damage. I just didn't give an oil change a thought! I learned that lesson perhaps too well. And also, most oil changes these days involve synthetic oil which does extend the mileage between changes.

A guy my wife knows drove his car without checking the oil and ended up literally destroying the engine. The only solution - buy another car. Except he didn't have the money, but he does have parents who don't hold him accountable and who bought him another car.

 

[Stravinsk]

I think I have had my car sit in a mechanic shop once in at least 10 years. That was to get the timing belt replaced. I do all my own oil and spark plug changes, and the most recent major work I did was replace the break pads for one set of tires.

 

[Lamb]

I think I have had my car sit in a mechanic shop once in at least 10 years. That was to get the timing belt replaced. I do all my own oil and spark plug changes, and the most recent major work I did was replace the break pads for one set of tires.

That's great you can work on most of the things yourself! When we bought my husband's pickup truck, we couldn't even replace the battery ourselves because there were so many wires hooked up to it. It's crazy all the stuff they've done to a simple vehicle to give you more...more to break.

 

[tango]

That's great you can work on most of the things yourself! When we bought my husband's pickup truck, we couldn't even replace the battery ourselves because there were so many wires hooked up to it. It's crazy all the stuff they've done to a simple vehicle to give you more...more to break.

But it's the environment innit?

 

[Josiah]

Every 6 months.


.

 

[tango]

I think I have had my car sit in a mechanic shop once in at least 10 years. That was to get the timing belt replaced. I do all my own oil and spark plug changes, and the most recent major work I did was replace the break pads for one set of tires.

I'd like to be able to do that but don't really have the garage space to do it.

A friend of mine does almost all the maintenance on his vehicles. He and his wife have three vehicles between them so if one is off the road they can still manage until he gets it fixed.

 

[Stravinsk]

I'd like to be able to do that but don't really have the garage space to do it.

A friend of mine does almost all the maintenance on his vehicles. He and his wife have three vehicles between them so if one is off the road they can still manage until he gets it fixed.

For changing break pads, this can be done in a driveway with proper support for a lifted vehicle. I found such support at my local auto parts dealer. Changing the oil and spark plugs can also be done without a garage. I sometimes change my vehicle's oil in the driveway.

 

[Stravinsk]

That's great you can work on most of the things yourself! When we bought my husband's pickup truck, we couldn't even replace the battery ourselves because there were so many wires hooked up to it. It's crazy all the stuff they've done to a simple vehicle to give you more...more to break.

I think if you were to look into it, it's likely the same on even more modern vehicles. Remove a bolt, let oil drain. Remove an oil filter and replace. Replace bolt to oil sump and fill from top. Spark plugs can be a little harder especially if things are tightly packed into the area. On my vehicle I have to remove the water reservoir, for instance, to get to one side. Changing these are not difficult, however, with the right tools. Once I learned, I never looked back. Services and tune ups are a mechanic's bread and butter as the larger jobs don't come around as often.

 

[tango]

For changing break pads, this can be done in a driveway with proper support for a lifted vehicle. I found such support at my local auto parts dealer. Changing the oil and spark plugs can also be done without a garage. I sometimes change my vehicle's oil in the driveway.

Changing the oil is easy enough, it's just a bit of laziness in that if I'm having the garage do other work (even if only an annual inspection) I might as well let them do the oil while they have the car.

I'm always a bit leery of working on my own brakes because I tend to drive down mountains faster than most people and really don't want to find I did something wrong at a crucial point. That would be awkward.