Howdy, after some opinions on a 1 year old car I've just picked up and the best type of service (fixed or variable) to be on.

 

It's got 14k on the clock and the dealer said they had already serviced it. When I checked into it further the car computer is still on variable servicing and the dealer admitted it had not been serviced. The mistake (?) has been acknowledged and they have offered to provide the next service free of charge. And yes, I did get that statement in writing.

 

Now my question is should I get it serviced now and flip it over to fixed or stay with things as they are and get it serviced @ the 18k mark, at which point change it to fixed?

I'll only be doing 12k/year max so fixed is best for me

 

As far as I am aware the 1st service is limited to an oil change

I'd go fixed personally on that sort of mileage. If you were doing 18k-20k a year variable is better

Sent from my Galaxy S5

Depends on how many miles you'll be doing and what type. 10k or less with mixed driving then fixed is the way to go. High mileage mostly on motorways then variable is a better option.

Changed mine to variable at 31k after the 3 "free" services were done. It now wants a service already at 39k. It will be 2 years old in June. I thought variable would work for me, but it seems not. Also had to put half a litre of oil in last week, didn't know where the dipstick was until then!

I would get the dealer to do the 'missing' service now and to set the car to fixed service intervals. That way you start off your ownership with a newly serviced car with fresh oil in the engine.

It depends whether you care how often you take your car to the dealer. Your mileage is 30% over the fixed interval (1yr / 9.3k miles) so you'll be taking it every 9/10 months, and if you keep it beyond 3 yrs the MOT date probably won't align with a service.

 

I'm doing around 15k-17k miles a year, so it's an easier decision for me, but I plan to leave it on variable servicing and then get it done once a year on its birthday whether it says it wants it or not. I am, of course, assuming that I can get close to the full variable mileage allocation each year, but I do mostly motorway miles and in the first 28k I haven't seen the service interval advance on the trip computer yet, so I assume it'll be fine for the first few years at least.

That will also work in with the mot if you keep it once its 3 years old. Doing what you suggest is only going to cost you an extra service every 5 years (based on you doing 15k and the likelihood it'll want servicing at 18k). It's your car at the end of the day and nobody will be able to say it wasn't serviced correctly, which can't be said for those doing the opposite of keeping it on variable when it should be on fixed.

A good selection of responses - more than I hoped for. Thanks

 

Have opted to get it serviced now and change to fixed.

I now do less than 7K a year but I'd hate to think of it having the same oil in it for longer than a year. Also, if dealer is on the ball, it gives a chance for possible problems to be spotted and fixed.

Changed mine to variable at 31k after the 3 "free" services were done. It now wants a service already at 39k. It will be 2 years old in June. I thought variable would work for me, but it seems not. Also had to put half a litre of oil in last week, didn't know where the dipstick was until then!

I did the same changed to variable after the 30k service and it is still showing next service due at 48.7k so the Max distance poss on variable, currently on 44k. Are you sure they reset the service indicator correctly? 39k would be fixed service interval, not variable?