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What Happens During Your Car Service?

Car Service
Photo by Kate Ibragimova on Unsplash

The blog this week is about what a car service entails on your Volvo or Toyota. Everyone is trying to save money at the moment, interest rates are rising, fuel bills are rising, food costs are soaring, insurance costs are rising etc so when it comes to owning a car, we need all the help we can get to keep costs down. Read on to find out more:

Please don't be tempted to miss your regular car service to save money or to put off your annual service - you really won’t save money in the long run. We always stress that preventative maintenance is ALWAYS going to be cheaper than carrying out reactive repairs.

A service schedule should be adhered to because the parts that get changed during the service really do have a limited life span. If your service schedule is every 12,000 miles for example, then things like oil and air filters etc that get changed during the service have come to the end of their life/usability and therefore will not be performing to their ability the longer they are being used. We have posted many a picture of filters that are caked in dirt and debris which then do not allow them to be a filter anymore. Things like oil become contaminated over time so dirty oil being pumped around your engines moving parts will start to not lubricate properly.

Don't wait for a problem to occur before you take your car to your local independent garage, you may well find the repair way more expensive in the long run - preventative maintenance in the form of regular servicing is always the better option, for your Volvo or Toyota and for your pocket!

We advise that servicing of your vehicle is done by a professional vehicle technician at a garage – it’s not something you can do yourself unless you are fully competent and have the correct tools. Also, if you service the vehicle yourself you will not be able to get your logbook stamped and therefore you will invalidate your manufacturer warranties, not to mention devalue the vehicle when it comes to re sale due to lack of professional servicing. A car that has no history when it comes to resale immediately sets off alarm bells in a buyer’s mind with regards to its mechanical status. Professional servicing will cost money – like fuel, it’s a cost you need to factor in when you’re considering buying a car. However, with the emergence of the internet it is easy to find several garages in your area to get a competitive quote. Always get a quote before booking your car in, and always remember that an independent garage is usually more competitive in price than a dealership. You no longer have to take your car to a dealership to maintain warranties you just have to adhere to your manufacturer advised service schedule and ensure manufacturer specific parts are fitted! There are two ways to save money using an independent garage – firstly their hourly rate is sometimes half that of a dealership – simply because they do not have the overhead of a dealership – this will automatically give you a great saving without compromising the service and secondly you may get the use of a courtesy car free of charge – another cost saving to you.

There are 2 types of service available:

  1. Interim Service
  2. Full Service

An interim car service should be carried out every 6 months or 6,000 miles to keep your car safe and roadworthy in-between full services, which should be carried out every 12,000 miles or 12 months. If you are not going to have regular interim services on your vehicle you should ensure that you regularly check all the bonnet levels - oil, coolant, brake fluid, washer levels, check the air in the tyres etc and if a warning light comes on, take it immediately to your local independent garage where they will be able to help and advise on the nature of the fault. Ignoring warning lights on your dashboard will not make the issue go away. We recently had a customer in that confessed that the oil light had come on, on her 4-year-old Volvo. She chose to ignore it……then the car stopped and had to be brought in on the back of a rescue vehicle. Upon investigation the car had had only 1 service at 16,000 miles and nothing else. Now a 4-year-old car with 40,000 miles on the clock needs a new engine!! We have no words!

The types of things not carried out in an Interim Service are things like a check of the Auxiliary Drive Belt, Wheel Alignment check, Wheel Bearing Check, Wheel Balance and Brake Fluid Condition. These items are reserved usually for the full service. We cannot stress the importance in having the wheel alignment checked especially when having new tyres fitted. A correctly balanced car will help with even wear on your tyre treads helping to get maximum use of them. And let’s face it – our roads are littered with potholes and incorrectly inflated tyres are a bad recipe! You do not want to have to replace your tyres early because of uneven wear – when all you needed to do was ensure they were balanced correctly and you checked the tyre pressures regularly.

Here at ACC UK Ltd Independent Volvo & Toyota Servicing Repair & MOT Specialists based in Farnborough, Hampshire we pride ourselves on offering Dealership Service at a fraction of the cost. If you are looking to have your Volvo or Toyota Serviced, MOT or Repaired please give us a call and let us quote you happy. Happy Safe Motoring Folks!

Winners of The Motor Trader Independent Garage of The Year 2015, 2019 & 2020, The IGA Big Awards 2022, The Inspire Customer Service Excellence 2016 Award, The Eagle Radio Customer Focus 2017 Business Award, The Workshop Magazine Workshop Manager of the Year 2017 Award, The LiveWire Excellence In Vehicle Servicing 2019 Award and The Aftermarket Excellence Award for Best Website 2019, The Eagle Radio Biz Award – Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 & the SME News Magazine Most Trusted Car Servicing Provider 2020,

Give us a call and let us quote you for your next service or repair on your Volvo or Toyota.

We service all areas around Farnborough, Fleet, Aldershot, Farnham, Guildford, Frimley, Camberley, Hook, Sandhurst, Crowthorne, Yateley, Hampshire and Surrey. We offer free collection and drop off services.

We also have a fleet of courtesy cars to allow you to get on with your schedule whilst your Volvo or Toyota is with us. Happy Motoring from all at ACC UK Ltd – Independent Volvo & Toyota servicing, repair and MOT specialists based in the heart of Farnborough, Hampshire.