[shadows123]

Originally Posted by guptavis

that may be specified now, but my City 2006 has this for required maintenance in the manual:

Oil Service:
Replace engine oil; every 5000km or 6 months, whichever comes earlier
Replace engine oil filter; every 10000km or 12 months, whichever comes earlier

Other services: every 20000km or 12 months, whichever comes earlier

still used to get bothered with a service call every 3 months and we used to follow it till about 2009 after which we realised what was going on.

I think its still the same but how did it ever get translated into service every 3 months now which seems to be the norm followed by service folks..and failure to do so now would be loss of warranty?

[guptavis]

Originally Posted by shadows123

I think its still the same but how did it ever get translated into service every 3 months now which seems to be the norm followed by service folks..and failure to do so now would be loss of warranty?

that is the typical Honda ***. they will fleece you any way they can. and most people who do not know much about cars have no choice but to believe them. after all noone wants to risk something going wrong with their beloved honda. the dealers just use this to mint money, and honda does not bother even when informed.
i guess this is reflecting on honda's sales chart and the failure of their recent models. i for one have changed at least 3 prospective honda buyers to maruti and toyota. more on the way.

[sgiitk]

Just picked up my Brio AT. Now there is an inspection at 1 month followed by a service and oil change at 6 months. Then every six months. 3 months is gone. Also, the oil change is 10,000 / 6 months. I think Honda allows 12 months with synthetic. The initial fill seems to be a synth judging by the viscosity and colour.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by sgiitk

Just picked up my Brio AT. Now there is an inspection at 1 month followed by a service and oil change at 6 months. Then every six months. 3 months is gone. Also, the oil change is 10,000 / 6 months. I think Honda allows 12 months with synthetic. The initial fill seems to be a synth judging by the viscosity and colour.

Congratulations on your Brio and the very first At on TBHP. Will wait for your review on the same. I also saw the thread you started but it disappeared soon.

I am sure you went through the owner's manual as soon as you reached home with your Brio even before the customary puja ceremony. However, shouldn't be the service interval 12 months? Every 6 months will make it bit expensive to own.

[navrddy]

Hi Everyone,

I have BS3 Wagon R, I too face same problem from Maruti Service Stations, they keep calling me every 5K kms for service, I firmly said no.

I dont really understand, are they not following service manuals or extra cautious in maintaining Customer vehicle in good condition?

Twice, it happened to me with suraksha and Mandovi (Bellandur).
Alon with service, they also do other money making ventures...

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by navrddy

I have BS3 Wagon R, I too face same problem from Maruti Service Stations, they keep calling me every 5K kms for service, I firmly said no.

Simply ignore the calls. And give the car for service only as per the interval mentioned in the manual.

Originally Posted by navrddy

are they extra cautious in maintaining Customer vehicle in good condition?

They definitely are extra cautious. Though not in ensuring vehicle's condition, but in ensuring the service-centre's finances are in good condition, by having customers come in every 6months to be ripped off.

This is akin to the wheel-alignment-every-6-months rip-off. Again it is beneficial to do it at that interval, but not to the consumer, but for the tyre-shop guy to be able to send his kid to college. <-Read this humorous anecdote on the forum, but not able to trace the link now.

[sgiitk]

I think they are after the money, the care two hoots about the rest. Just follow the manual during warranty and then your own judgement. If you go annual or 10,000 then just make sure you include elements from the 6 month service.

I am just waiting for the sweet lady to call me for the 3 month service for my Brio!

[pramodpk]

I have been getting calls from Bimal Auto Agency reminding of servicing my Alto after 6 months. In fact, I got a call 2 days back and I told him that the service manual says 1 year or 10 K Kms. He then said that oil change is only required once a year but other check ups are required. I then asked him what other checkups are required. He then said wheel alignment, balancing, brake cleaning etc. I told him that my car runs around 5K kms per annum and asked him what him whether they expect wheel alignment to be done every 2.5 K KMs to which he had no answer. I told him that I will get my car serviced every year which I promptly do.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Read this humorous anecdote on the forum, but not able to trace the link now.

As luck would have it, the thread having this anecdote got updated today and quoting it below :

Hank :My dealer says my wheels must be re-balanced each time each time he rotates the tires. The tire manufacturer says the wheels should only be balanced when the tires are mounted or remounted. My dealer got a little huffy when I told him that, but he couldn't explain why. Who is right?

Ray: Gee, Hank, I'd get huffy too if someone caught me with my hand in the cookie jar. Your dealer's theory runs counter to Newton's First Law of Rotation: Tires in balance tend to stay in balance (that's Vinnie Newton, the mechanic, not Issac, the Physicist).

Tom: Rotating the tires doesn't affect the balance, because you're just moving the tires--rims and all--from one place on the car to another. And trust me on this, once the tires are balanced, they don't have any idea where they are.

Ray: But just to be sure, we always blind fold the tires when we move them around our shop.

Tom: Obviously, if you ever took a tire off a rim and re-mounted it on another rim, you'd have to balance it again.

Ray: Or if you hit a huge pothole, or drove into a curbstone, it's possible to knock a weight off the wheel and throw the balance off. But that's pretty rare.

Tom: By and large, tires stay balanced. And if the balance goes off for any reason, you'd probably know about it because the car would shimmy or vibrate, particularly at higher speeds.

Ray: Actually, I almost forgot the one legitimate reason for balancing tires every time you rotate them; kids in college. The dealer's kids, that is. It takes nearly 20,581 tire balancings to get a kid through MIT these days...and that's not including books and student activity fees!

[Perry]

Since we are discussing the recommended intervals for car service, I had a few queries of my own. I own a Santro Xing which now running in its sixth year. I have been getting my car serviced at the Authorized Dealer for the past 5 years, but lately they have been charging exorbitant amount of money for things I do not think that are required. These are:

1) So first of all are these fuel additives, flushing etc. actually required?
2) Secondly, will it safe to get the car now serviced from a local mechanic?
3) Thirdly, till now I have been getting the Engine Oil being provided by them, so if I decide to go outside which could be my best option?
4) Lastly, what all needs to be carried out in a regular service apart from oil and filter change.

[supremeBaleno]

@Perry, answers below to the best of my knowledge :

1) There are people who will vouch for fuel-additives and those who say it is useless. I never use them and never intend to. IMO it is a personal choice
and not something that should be imposed/dictated by the dealer. If you don't want it, tell them while giving car for service and have it written on the job card.

Flushing I understand (never do it on my cars) is required at certain times (eg. when changing from natural oil to synthetic oil), but not something to be done at every service.

2) Safe, if you find a good mechanice. I always shift to local mechanic after warranty.

3) You could buy your own oil. I go by what the local mechanic has, since I trust him.

4) Look up your car manual and it lists out what all is to be done for each service.

[alpha1]

Service intervals are nothing but scam way of earning money via Service charges.
Does anyone remember how Skoda suddenly changed their service interval to advertise the lower cost of running and maintenance.

Same vehicles, same models, same engine. So how did they suddenly halved the recommended service frequency?

[guptavis]

Originally Posted by Perry

1) So first of all are these fuel additives, flushing etc. actually required?
2) Secondly, will it safe to get the car now serviced from a local mechanic?
3) Thirdly, till now I have been getting the Engine Oil being provided by them, so if I decide to go outside which could be my best option?
4) Lastly, what all needs to be carried out in a regular service apart from oil and filter change.

short answers
1) No
2) Yes, just ask around for a good mechanic from your collegues, family, etc
3) Any brand that meets the API standard and SAE viscosity mentioned in your owner's manual. usually API SL, SM or SN and SAE 20W40 or 15W40.
4) spark plugs and air filter are cleaned or replaced if too dirty. the radiator and underbody wash helps remove gunk.
other than that refer to any replacements mentioned in your manual's maintenance schedule. also this will help : http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...checklist.html

[Perry]

Thank You so much for your responses @guptavis and @supremeBaleno. I will go out and look for a good mechanic first. Chandigarh doesn't have many good options in my opinion. Half of the time they do not know what they are doing and this scares the hell out of me.
Any suggestions for how can I make sure the work done on car is of good quality?

[Buffetfan]

Originally Posted by rrsteer

My experience with Toyota -very new & so far- has been very good. Infact after the completion of first 1500kms, I volunteered on my own for an engine oil change in my Innova and the service adviser quietly pressed on me 3-4 times that Toyota doesn't recommend the practice and that an oil change every 10k kms is suffice to keep my Innova in good stead.

Overall its still early days, but I found that the Toyota guys so far have been verbatim sticklers to the owner manual of my Innova.

Agree- I have experienced Toyota, Hyundai, Maruti and Fiat services and the Toyota service stands out - maybe because the staff isnt a harried lot trying to search for gremlins in every car.