[ssambyal1980]

I prefer PIY: Purchase it yourself and then get it done by your trusted garage/mechanic.

Availed the initial three free services as per schedule at the dealer's ASS but from fourth onwards decided otherwise because of the following reasons:

* Servicing at dealer's ASS consumes a lot of time due to perennial rush of both old and new customers, whereas in case of PIY, one can get it done as per one's own convenience from a trusted/known mechanic and that too in much lesser time, which is usually less than an hour.

* Labour cost is pretty high at ASS (with taxes extra), which is a big turn off, whereas a known/trusted mechanic (who is usually an ex employee at one of the ASS) will charge one fourth of that.

* The servicing is carried out in bays, which are usually out of bounds for the customers, as such one doesn't get to talk with the mechanics and technicians to clear doubts and issues. In case of known mechanic, one can freely interact with him and discuss various issues regarding the vehicle which bother you.

[Anirban001]

Originally Posted by Anirban001

I went for the 3rd free service for my Pulsar 200ns. Since I had already changed my engine oil to Motul FS 20w50, I asked the service engineer not to change the engine oil. I explained to him that I have changed tge oil at 2000kms(dtsi), 5000 kms(dtsi) and 7500 kms(Motul). However he said that if I do not refill with dtsi oil now during 3rd service, my warranty will be void. So, bhpians, please advise.

I was asked to drain out the Motul FS oil and refill with Bajaj DTSi oil during my 3rd service for 200 NS to not lose the warranty. Is it true that non-Bajaj FS oil makes my warranty void ?
If I drain out the FS oil, will it damage my engine if I refill with DTSi oil ?

Kindly advise.

[amiya.c]

Hello Experts,
I own a Ford Fiesta Classic 1.4 TDCI. It completed 5 years in February and is due for servicing now.
It should undergo the 80000 kms service now.
I have got it serviced from Metro ford Lingarajpuram Bangalore and I was not satisfied from the last service they did for my car.
The biggest gripe is Engine Oil. After every service I do the checks for various oil levels and the Engine Oil quality is one thing that dissatisfies me the most.
The SA claims that they drain out the engine oil completely and then pour in the new oil every time but the color of the engine oil does not say that, in fact it remains the same, almost same as it was before the change.
So I need advice on:
- If I should get the Engine Oil change from outside, for example Shell Fuel Pump ?
- If so, then should I first buy the oil filter from Ford and ask the Shell Technician to change that along with the Engine Oil?
- Or, I can let them change the Engine Oil and I can get the oil filter change during the service?
- Or, I should buy the engine oil myself and get it changed when I collect the car after the service?
- Recommended Engine oil by Ford for this car is Semi-Synthetic Formula E SAE 5W-30 having specification WSS-M2C913-B
May I switch to full synthetic oil this time? The car is out of warranty.

Thanks,
Amiya

[Kosfactor]

One of my friends against sane advise had taken us to Shell fuel station for a quick engine oil change for his Ciaz diesel.

Here is how it went.

Friend: Need oil change.
Technician: Sure sir, which oil do you want?
Friend: Oh oh.
Me: Please use whatever is recommended by Maruti.
Technician: We recommend fully synthetic oil, Shell Helix Ultra 0w40.
Me: What does that give us?
Technician: Full protection sir, I use it in my vehicle.
Me: Its not necessary, Ciaz is not a race car use normal shell Helix semi synthetic 5W30.
Technician: How many litres?
Me: Don't you have a chart?
Technician: Ciaz is not in it and then calls someone, talks for a few minutes, figures it out. Goes out to a nearby spare parts shop picks up the oil filter and comes back.
Friend: I have to get this done now.
Technician: We have 5W40 its very good.
Friend: Okay let's do it.

My observations are as follows.

Positives:
1.Oil is genuine and good quality in comparison to online/shops.
2.No labor charge at all.
3.No need of appointments, drive in fill and forget it.
4.Environment friendly as they seem to recycle the oil properly.
5.Comfortable waiting area and cafeteria.
6. You get new stock oil.
7. Happens in front of your eyes.


Negatives:
1.Untrained staff.
2. No clear Information on what oil needs to be filled and how much.
3. Happy to upsell premium oil with different grades for targets.
4. No stock of filters even for a car like Ciaz which is the largest seller in it's segment.
4. Vehicle owners will skip A.S.S and recommend service schedule that has several mandatory Inspections, adjustments, replacements apart from oil - this will hit reliability.
5. A.S.S schedule already has oil change as part of labor charge for scheduled service charges, so you end up paying there anyways.

These are my thoughts based on this experience and In no way represent the entire business of lube change shops, Bhpians feel free to add yours, it will help us identify if lube shops can be relied on.

Modertors: My first topic, please let me know your thoughts. Do we need a poll? Or merge , Happy to make changes.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

.



These are my thoughts based on this experience and In no way represent the entire business of lube change shops, Bhpians feel free to add yours, it will help us identify if lube shops can be relied on.


.

Correct me if I read this wrong, but it seems they changed the oil, but not the filter?

If that is the case it is a pretty useless service. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a big thing to be a little late with the oil change. The real problem is always the filter. Always change the oil filter in accordance with the manufacturer recommended intervals. And always get the best filter money can buy. There isn't a single individual car owner that has any objective ways of measuring the effect of cheap oil over expensive oil. As long as it complies with the manufacturer recommendations, none of us will be the wiser, only out of pocket.

Cut two different oil filters open and everybody can immediately see the difference between the two.

Changing oil without the filter, on most car engines is almost akin to wasting oil. The oil, no matter how expensive or synthetic can not do what the filter does.

Jeroen

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Correct me if I read this wrong, but it seems they changed the oil, but not the filter?

If that is the case it is a pretty useless service. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a big thing to be a little late with the oil change. The real problem is always the filter. Always change the oil filter in accordance with the manufacturer recommended intervals. And always get the best filter money can buy. There isn't a single individual car owner that has any objective ways of measuring the effect of cheap oil over expensive oil. As long as it complies with the manufacturer recommendations, none of us will be the wiser, only out of pocket.

Cut two different oil filters open and everybody can immediately see the difference between the two.

Changing oil without the filter, on most car engines is almost akin to wasting oil. The oil, no matter how expensive or synthetic can not do what the filter does.

Jeroen

You said it! The manufacturer of the oil knows this as well that the customer has no clue!!
Oil companies themselves have no way to test their oil beyond a handful of engines, yes it includes Mobil etc. So the car manufacturer will test oils and recommend what works, making our life simple.

In this case Jeroen as i have mentioned in my post, oil filter was brought in from a nearby parts store and fitted since shell did not have it. This action negates anything that is good about a branded lube change shop.

Oil filters that fit a vehicle is what FNGs use, but like you said there is a lot more to oil filters. A certain part number is recommended based on oil type, drain interval etc. I have serviced my old cars in FNG , but i was never happy with their work.

Another factor that decides oil life is the oil cooler, some cars have it and some do not. Some had it for some model years and then stopped. This too can change oil recommendation from the manufacturer.

[COMMUTER]

I have started using Mobil 1 5w30 for my Ford Figo 1.5 D. I wanted to do a full DIY for my car and bike but chose FNG because I was unable to source the tools and the labor was very affordable ( 200 for car and 50 for bike).I have decided to do that for the rest of the ownership.

[ike]

Originally Posted by Kosfactor

One of my friends against sane advise had taken us to Shell fuel station for a quick engine oil change for his Ciaz diesel.

Here is how it went.

Friend: Need oil change.
Technician: Sure sir, which oil do you want?
Friend: Oh oh.
M

Shell retail stations charge MRP for oils. Shell Helix Ultra 0W40 costs a princely 4,900 bucks if you get it from Shell retail. This is available for less than 2,500 in Amazon/other reputed oil shops. The only positive is that you can be assured of quality and genuineness if procured from Shell.

[Rohan24]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Correct me if I read this wrong, but it seems they changed the oil, but not the filter?

If that is the case it is a pretty useless service. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a big thing to be a little late with the oil change. The real problem is always the filter. Always change the oil filter in accordance with the manufacturer recommended intervals. And always get the best filter money can buy. There isn't a single individual car owner that has any objective ways of measuring the effect of cheap oil over expensive oil. As long as it complies with the manufacturer recommendations, none of us will be the wiser, only out of pocket.

Cut two different oil filters open and everybody can immediately see the difference between the two.

Changing oil without the filter, on most car engines is almost akin to wasting oil. The oil, no matter how expensive or synthetic can not do what the filter does.

Jeroen

I'm suffering from a similar scenario. I have the oil with me that I bought online, but now the A.S.S refused to fill it due to a "new policy". They can't even change the filter unless I go for full "Oil Service".
So, I want to know whether it is okay to fill the Ford oil (Semi-synth), and then go to a local Shell pump, drain it and fill the Shell fully synthetic oil. This will ensure I have a Ford OEM Oil filter. But I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Rohan24

I'm suffering from a similar scenario. I have the oil with me that I bought online, but now the A.S.S refused to fill it due to a "new policy". They can't even change the filter unless I go for full "Oil Service".
So, I want to know whether it is okay to fill the Ford oil (Semi-synth), and then go to a local Shell pump, drain it and fill the Shell fully synthetic oil. This will ensure I have a Ford OEM Oil filter. But I'm not sure if this is the right thing to do.

For your Ford - fill either

Mobil Super 3000 x1 5w30 which conforms to the Ford spec and is probably the only such oil in the open market.

Or use any good A5/B5 5w30 (which Shell mostly doesn't have available - that is, not ACEA A5/B5). Idemitsu 5w30 A5/B5 is pretty good, in the open market. Or if you're feeling rich go for Amsoil Signature Series 5w30.

[Rohan24]

Originally Posted by hserus

For your Ford - fill either

Mobil Super 3000 x1 5w30 which conforms to the Ford spec and is probably the only such oil in the open market.

Or use any good A5/B5 5w30 (which Shell mostly doesn't have available - that is, not ACEA A5/B5). Idemitsu 5w30 A5/B5 is pretty good, in the open market. Or if you're feeling rich go for Amsoil Signature Series 5w30.

Hey, I've been using Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 since the last 2 services. Works fine.
The service center where I did those 2 has moved to Kia. And the new Ford Service center that I went to refused to use the Oil I had bought. Hence the problem I'm facing now is how to ensure an OEM quality filter while using the Shell oil. Will using Ford Semi-synth oil dirty the filter and will then switching to Shell be useless?

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Rohan24

Hey, I've been using Shell Helix Ultra 5W-40 since the last 2 services. Works fine.
The service center where I did those 2 has moved to Kia. And the new Ford Service center that I went to refused to use the Oil I had bought. Hence the problem I'm facing now is how to ensure an OEM quality filter while using the Shell oil. Will using Ford Semi-synth oil dirty the filter and will then switching to Shell be useless?

The filter is the filter regardless of which brand of oil - it is meant to get soaked with oil for gods sake, and changed at regular intervals when you change your oil.

You won't see any differences in using a different / non specified in the manual grade of oil for some few tens of thousands of km.

If you get your Ford's oil (for which I recommend you stick to what is specified in the manual instead of randomly buying a different grade like 5w40), air and AC filters from a parts store or off Boodmo, the oil change + filters change can be done by any neighbourhood mechanic in less than half an hour.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by Rohan24

I'm facing now is how to ensure an OEM quality filter while using the Shell oil. Will using Ford Semi-synth oil dirty the filter and will then switching to Shell be useless?

When you change oil, depending on the orientation of the filter, oil will remain in the filter, in some cases it is left completely full. Not a problem if you change the filter. But you want to change the oil and leave the filter in place.

As you are changing from a Semi-synth oil to a full synthetic oil, it should not be an issue. It's a small amount any way.

Why you would want to throw away perfectly good, Manufacturer recommended oil, and put in different oil is beyond me.

Jeroen

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

When you change oil, depending on the orientation of the filter, oil will remain in the filter, in some cases it is left completely full. Not a problem if you change the filter. But you want to change the oil and leave the filter in place.

As I read it he got a ford filter from a parts store and is getting some fully synthetic oil from Shell for his scheduled oil change as he isn't happy with the quality of the Ford recommended oil (which does start to sound rough after 7 or 8k km city use). If he does that and gets a 5w30 a5/b5 he should be good to go.

[Drive_30]

I also had skipped the periodic service of my out of warranty Grand I10 and had used my nearby FNG to change my Engine Oil and filters and Air filter last time which saved me some bucks, but I had to take the vehicle back to the dealership for the next periodic service and me providing them with engine oil of my choice to change.

The reason for the same was that the vehicle started making weird noises due to parts becoming loose and also not comfortable to drive. ASS in addition to the engine oil change do check other many vital parameters which makes the vehicle much better to drive which may not be the case in case of a FNG. Just my opinion.