[dhuli]

Reviving an old thread.

My Innova is at 25300+km and is technically due for 25K service. All previous services have been done on the dot, except the previous, which was at 22500 odd Km. I also got a synthetic oil change (my review here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...ml#post2952225 )

Should I consider changing oil or should I wait and watch till the 30K mark?

In missing a scheduled service by 200 to 300km, does it make a difference?

Thanks.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by dhuli

Reviving an old thread.

My Innova is at 25300+km and is technically due for 25K service. All previous services have been done on the dot, except the previous, which was at 22500 odd Km. I also got a synthetic oil change (my review here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...ml#post2952225 )

Should I consider changing oil or should I wait and watch till the 30K mark?

In missing a scheduled service by 200 to 300km, does it make a difference?

Thanks.

Does Innova really a scheduled service and/or oil change every 2500 kms? That really seems to be too much?

Even current baseline Mineral oils (say the Castrol GTX) do very well upto 10,000 kms. Synthetic should be far more than that.

I do an oil change in my Swift every 10,000 kms. I use Castrox GTX or something similar.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by dhuli

Reviving an old thread.

except the previous, which was at 22500 odd Km. Should I consider changing oil or should I wait and watch till the 30K mark?

In missing a scheduled service by 200 to 300km, does it make a difference?

Thanks.

If I remember correctly the service interval is 10,000 Kms/12 months which ever is earlier. Don't waste your money buy giving it in for a service every 2.5K kms especially with synthetic oil.

Just recheck in your car's service manual.

And, no, nothing happens if you overshoot the mileage by a 2-3 hundred kms.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by carboy

Does Innova really a scheduled service and/or oil change every 2500 kms? That really seems to be too much?

Even current baseline Mineral oils (say the Castrol GTX) do very well upto 10,000 kms. Synthetic should be far more than that.

I do an oil change in my Swift every 10,000 kms. I use Castrox GTX or something similar.

It is service every 5000 kms, most of these services can be completed in one hour and do not require oil changes.Oil changes are every 10000 kms.

Originally Posted by dhuli

Reviving an old thread.

My Innova is at 25300+km and is technically due for 25K service. All previous services have been done on the dot, except the previous, which was at 22500 odd Km. I also got a synthetic oil change (my review here - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modify...ml#post2952225 )

Should I consider changing oil or should I wait and watch till the 30K mark?

In missing a scheduled service by 200 to 300km, does it make a difference?

Thanks.

No need to change the oil now. In my Innova oil changes are only every 10k kms. So in my view, pls change it at 30k.
Generally, pls be careful in your service punctuality as the Innova comes with a 100000 km / 3 year warranty and Toyota can refuse to honor it in case you do not service on time.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by prkothan

Hi all,

My car is for 22500 km service due? Service centre charge me for the following.

1. Change the Air filter
2. Change the Oil and Oil filter
3. Change the fuel filter
4. Engine tune up
5. Wheel alignment and balancing
6. Change the brake pad
7. Water service


Here the condition of my vehicle. As such its in great condition. And I did the following

1. I checked the air filter, its looks very good. I cleaned it myself. Looks like it will last for another 10K.
2. Looked at the oil. Changed oil 6500 km before, but looks very good and there is no sound from the engine. Last time I used shell oil,I guess its doing the trick.
3. Did wheel balancing and alignement at MRF tyre drome 2 months back.
4. No issues with brake.

Even then service centre want to do the 7 points the mentioned and its come around Rs 2k. What they mean by engine tune up? What they really do? I believe just engine oil and oil filter change should be enough and that too after 2 k kms.

Friends, your comments please. My car is Palio 1.2 (petrol).

Here's my 2 cents:
In general, especially on new cars, I would recommend going with the official manufacturer maintenance. Not sure in India, but in most countries, not adhering to the recommended maintenance will void warranty.

having said that let's look at the list:

Airfilter; is one of those things that indeed can be inspected visually reasonably well, If it looks good, it probably is.

Oil and Oil filter: there is no way you can determine anything by looking and "feeling" the oil. Other than if it smells funny and feels gritty, an oil change is long, long overdue and you have probably already got some serious engines damage. With a good oil 6500 km shouldn't be a big thing. The only thing to know for sure, is to have the oil tested. Not sure you can do that here in India. Otherwise, grit your teethe and get the oil and filter changed.

Change fuel filter: Sounds a bit early, but there is nothing you can do to check its condition. Can let to engine damage or if the filter becomes clogged it might make your engine stall. Go with the recommended change

Engine tune Up; no idea what that is, I would always check, maybe they look at your plugs. Without a description not much we can say about it.

Wheel alignment and balancing: I'm surprised that's on the list. Typically you only do that when there are indications that something is amiss. E.g. vibration, oneven wear. So I never do it preventive.

Change the brake pads: I would "change" that in "change the brake pads" if needed. Your dealer should be able to advise you, how much is left and how long it would still be safe to use.

Water service: No idea what they mean with this. Do they top up the washer tank or maybe check level of coolant and concentration?

Jeroen

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

It is service every 5000 kms, most of these services can be completed in one hour and do not require oil changes.

The oil change is the most basic and easiest of all services. So what exactly is a 5000 km service? Is it given in your handbook as compulsory or is it something the service center asks you to do. Because if it's not in the handbook, I wouldn't do it. I think you basically paying for a carwash and looking at liquid levels.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Wheel alignment and balancing: I'm surprised that's on the list. Typically you only do that when there are indications that something is amiss. E.g. vibration, oneven wear. So I never do it preventive.

I never thought I would find another supporter for this view on the forum.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ml#post2628728
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ml#post2629576

BTW, you just replied to a 7 year old post :-)

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by carboy

The oil change is the most basic and easiest of all services. So what exactly is a 5000 km service? Is it given in your handbook as compulsory or is it something the service center asks you to do. Because if it's not in the handbook, I wouldn't do it. I think you basically paying for a carwash and looking at liquid levels.

Recommended in the manual as compulsory for the Innova. Basically includes general tightening of the chasis bolts, steering column, wash and general inspection / gluid topup. The service costs around INR 800 afaik and I prefer doing it rather than void warranty.

Originally Posted by carboy

I never thought I would find another supporter for this view on the forum.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ml#post2628728
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ml#post2629576

BTW, you just replied to a 7 year old post :-)

I would always align the tire every 10000 kms rather than wait for uneven wear to setin...balancing can wait, alignment cannot. If alignment is off, the tire will wear out within 500 kms and basically you can say thank you to it for the services rendered..it becomes difficult to balance and align these pieces and they do not last long...

I am happy paying INR 350 every 10000 kms to align rather than pur INR 40000 (cost of 5 tires) at risk

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

I would always align the tire every 10000 kms rather than wait for uneven wear to setin...balancing can wait, alignment cannot. If alignment is off, the tire will wear out within 500 kms and basically you can say thank you to it for the services rendered..it becomes difficult to balance and align these pieces and they do not last long...

I am happy paying INR 350 every 10000 kms to align rather than pur INR 40000 (cost of 5 tires) at risk

The day you do the alignment, the alignment can go off the next day itself. Alignment is something which doesn't lend itself to a periodic interval.

[msaudf]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Water service: No idea what they mean with this. Do they top up the washer tank or maybe check level of coolant and concentration?

Its just a full body engine bay and under body wash. It does not involve any top up of washer fluid or coolant.

[dhuli]

Originally Posted by R2D2

And, no, nothing happens if you overshoot the mileage by a 2-3 hundred kms.

Thanks R2D2, I am relieved to hear that. Guess one should not be so pedantic about these things!

Originally Posted by carboy

Is it given in your handbook as compulsory or is it something the service center asks you to do. Because if it's not in the handbook, I wouldn't do it. I think you basically paying for a carwash and looking at liquid levels.

Important distinction you make. Like many of us, we are forced to balance how much we love our vehicles with the need to care or even pamper them. I should pull that manual out and see what exactly it asks, instead of blindly following what the A.S.S. urges.

On the Alignment, I am assuming if one uses a pretty familiar route most of the time, this should help fixing periodically even if it is every service interval, just to preempt that tyre wear as mentioned by Buffetman. No?

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

I
Generally, pls be careful in your service punctuality as the Innova comes with a 100000 km / 3 year warranty and Toyota can refuse to honor it in case you do not service on time.

Thanks Buffetfan. I agree with you that service regularity is important, even if one is off the mark here and there. Like Carboy argues, be on the right side of the manual. Driven by my love for the vehicle, and the sword of warranty compliance hanging above, I will need to balance it out.

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by carboy

The day you do the alignment, the alignment can go off the next day itself. Alignment is something which doesn't lend itself to a periodic interval.

It is like saying that one does not need any preventive maintenance in life..breakdowns / minor issues in ANY machinery do not happen with regularity but with a statistical distribution. And there is an optimal way to intervene to minimize commercial damage long term over a population even if it seems costly in the short term or even for an individual through his ownership life.

In simple terms it means that one individual may benefit by getting lucky and not needing alignment over his ownership life and another unlucky even if he aligns regularly........ but ......if you take a group of individuals, the group that does alignment regularly will have lower costs and headache overall.

I dont know how the die is cast for me so I go by statistics. But everyone is free to take their pick.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Buffetfan

It is like saying that one does not need any preventive maintenance in life..breakdowns / minor issues in ANY machinery do not happen with regularity but with a statistical distribution.

Alignment does not benefit from preventive maintenance unlike a lot of other things which do.

The wheels mostly gets un-aligned when you go into a pot hole or something. So do the alignment when the wheels go out of alignment. This may be every 1000 kms or every 30000 kms. Doing it at regular interval provides no preventive maintenance.

Can you do preventive maintenance to prevent your mirror from being damaged when it hits something?

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by carboy

Alignment does not benefit from preventive maintenance unlike a lot of other things which do.

The wheels mostly gets un-aligned when you go into a pot hole or something. So do the alignment when the wheels go out of alignment. This may be every 1000 kms or every 30000 kms. Doing it at regular interval provides no preventive maintenance.

Can you do preventive maintenance to prevent your mirror from being damaged when it hits something?

Unfortunately every thing that happens happens for a reason and we can not be able to prevent it always ...one set of bearings fail faster than the other because when manufacturing it might not have got the same heat treatment or there might be defect in the polishing or the alloy was not right proportioned. A shaft might develop imbalance because it was on the wrong bearing set or misaligned to begin with.

Can we do anything to prevent these events ...no.

Mirror hitting and breaking is a binary event...either the mirror breaks or not and cannot be repaired anyway but then you can minimise damage in the future by immediately replacing the mirror and driving carefully so that the mirror does not break because of simple reasons like not giving side to incoming traffic.


Wheel alignment can be very temptingly viewed as binary (aligned or misaligned) but unfortunately there are shades of grey here...a wheel will not get misaligned because of a single event always, it will be a continuous process of impacts / accidents that will slowly, steadily and increasingly get the wheel out of alignment over time...similar to an older car developing rattles or suspension developing rebound, or paint fading away over time. Uneven wear sets in at an increasingly faster pace as the wheels start losing alignment.

If you have a preventive measure where you can intervene and align it right before it causes major damage to your suspension and tires, I would be tempted to do that...and that's what is recommended by the industry - get your alignment done periodically.

Note that I am not ruling out early/emergency maintenance (if your wheel is misaligned, and you know it...pls dont wait for 10 k kms before getting it aligned)

I rest here. If you think that you are better off getting significant signals of misalignment and uneven tyre wear before you align your wheels, so be it. I love my tires and suspension way too much to let that happen.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by msaudf

Its just a full body engine bay and under body wash. It does not involve any top up of washer fluid or coolant.

Well, that's actually not a bad idea. Keeping everything neat, clean and tidy will go a long way to spot any potential problems.

Jeroen

[sgiitk]

Let me lay down my policy:

1. During the warranty period strictly follow the rules. Remember any devialtion can render your warranty invalid.

2. One the warranty is over then if you are a low mileage motorist you can safely switch to the 10,000km/12 months (whichever is earlier) regime. This is what I have done for the past 20+ years.