Doing your own basic servicing.

[Terry57]

So i've just bought a 2014 VF sportwagon as a tug. Ex fleet car full log books , tow pack, crash bar, clean as a whisle with 172 K on the clock. Thats nothing for this car as long as services have been done. Books up to date.
Scored it from a yard for 11,500 buks. Cars worth nearly 38 K new or 40K with tow pack and crash bar on front.
Been used by Johnny come lately for long runs out to wheat bins. I' ve been lookin for 2 years at VF sportwagons from Auction and found this one in a car yard. Company just got rid of it due to the milage and traded it in for small dollars i imagine.
Anyway, i'm gunna punch it around Aussy towing me Jayco freedom van and plan to keep it on my return to Perth.. Being a little bit handy myself i plan to do all the baby servicing and what i can not do i will flick it to my trusted mechanic to sort. So i will do all the oil and filter changes .
Because i bought it at a great price im not gunna take it to The Stealers for factory servicing but by doin this i will lose the highly regarded Stealererz stamp which so many punters live and breath by.
My mate considerers me insane because he lives and breaths the Stamp in the log book and tells me my resale will die but because it's got 172K on it and i bought it for 11500 buks who really cares. ??
I offer up this example of Stealer dealer ripping of the punting public on servicing. Holden Stealers want 372 buks to do a simple oil change and filter change. Avin a laugh aint they??
My next service requires oil and filter change, air cleaner replacement and brake fluid flush.
Stealers want 632 buks. 5555. I'm laughin hard at that one. I can do the oil filter, oil change and air cleaner change for under 150 buks. Ill then give it to my mechanic to do the brake flush for not much buks.
Total saving from giving it to Stealers will be around 400 buks.
So in conclusion it bangs home that Stealers are really making huge dollars at the expense of punters who gota have that stamp on the book.
Myself considers that once ones free services finishes and warranty period is finished the smart money is one doing the basics ya self if capable and if not using a local trusted mechanic and stear well clear of Dealer Stealers.
Utube is your friend, not the dealer stealers. Myself should of Utubed removing the battery from my VF before i tackled it and stuffed the drain plug. 5555.
Knowledge is power my friends.
What do ya recon about that anyway regards Dealer Stealers when you are the punter coughing up ya hard earned for basic servicing ?

 

[stooge]

Most dealers do as little as possible when you get a vehicle serviced with them so that stamp in most cases is useless or a record of poor servicing lol.

I wouldnt worry about resale because it sounds like you plan to keep the vehicle for some time and being ex fleet its probably an evoke so the resale wouldnt be that much anyway when you get to about 10 years or 200,000km.

Do the services you know you can do and leave the ones you cant to a mechanic and just avoid holden totally if you can.

 

[Terry57]

Yer its the basic fish and chips Holden Evoke 3 litre V6. But i gota tell ya, i'ts a lot of car for small buks and exactly what i was waiting for. Further more, the Stealers snap them up at auction give them a rub down and sell them to Johnny punter at a considerable mark up.
Nothin wrong with that as it's business and how things work. Christ, i may even do that with mine and buy a younger model.
Dam nice friggin car the Evoke and considering Holden pulled the plug on Australia it will always be one of those cars that will live on as an Australian icon.
Anyway, i was sledging Holden Stealers for their silly prices but if Johnny punter is gunna keep coughin up the big buks for a stamp in a little book ya can't blame them.

Cheers.

 

[blackve76]

with those kms check if auto serviced, if not give it a service and maybe a trans cooler if doing a lot of towing.

 

[Johnwantsmore]

if keeping it till the day it dies, yea service it yourself, i take mine back to the dealer, only because the capped price servicing is cheap enough on the VF2 and the dealership is very close to me, (walking distance from home)
Also dont want to give them any excuse to void any warranty claims.

 

[Forg]

I kinda get all the hate for dealers, but if you think about the real cost of things I don’t believe it’s warranted.

I don’t use the local dealer because I don’t trust their competence (or care for the car), but I pay about the same as the capped-price servicing to have it done by a really good guy because I see the value in paying for it. I mean it’s probably different for a different type & usage of car, but given we were happy to sink $55k into something which from a purely functional persective we could’ve bought a new equivalent for ~$25k, I can happily justify paying an extra few hundred dollars extra per service to have an expert eye look over it & not miss things like I easily could.
And with all the costs of their tools, infrastructure, rent, etc; the hourly rate they charge is in no way too much IMHO. I personally think (while happily reaping the advantages of the fact) that good mechanics are underpaid for their knowledge & skill & working-conditions, and I think it’s because a lot of blokes get a kick out of fiddling with cars which means a lot of young guys considering it as a career & hence a lot of competition.

Having said all that ... I don’t like our local dealer. Had two warranty items I needed fixed not long after we got the car, and had to properly reassemble trim for both items after said dealer had done their thing. Lucky it was fixable & their hamfistedness hadn’t broken any retaining clips off.

 

[abuch47]

Most people I talk to dont do any research, drive in to the dealer lose $5k on a trade in and pay top dollar for the next depreciating asset. Drive it to the dealer 1 hour away because the salesman made me feel special so I trust him to take my money. Rinse. Repeat.

Then theres people who do a inch of real research, not just reading a car review thats all praise for the shiny new turd. They come out on top, learn a little or a lot depending on the time and effort they can afford. Still have to sell at a loss but less of a hit and the reliability of a newer, comfier car.

Best value is buying old and keeping it up till it dies but most rather pay for the convenience and advances in creature comforts, safety and out of my hands reliability.

 

[tml678]

Most dealers do as little as possible when you get a vehicle serviced with them so that stamp in most cases is useless or a record of poor servicing

Absolute rot. What do you base this on, personal experience or mere supposition?

 

[stooge]

Absolute rot. What do you base this on, personal experience or mere supposition?

Personal experience, a plethora of complaints of sub par servicing.
Video footage from dash cams of servicing being done where the oil was changed and the vehicle was parked up 20 mins later.

But hey if you want to live in the delusional world of quality dealer servicing go right ahead

 

[the_boozer]

from reading to book of lots of commodores with 300 plus on the clock lots of them went to holden for the first 200k of thier lives .
No kids eatting macca's in the back creating gremlins maybe thier devices cause it?