Automatics

[Ootohere]

CWARD,  are you sure the BIG 'Major Service' no longer comes up at UK Main Dealers, the one just before a Manufacturers Warranty Expires, 

the one that has many 'trade in' rather than keep the FMDSH if keeping the car outwith Warranty, the one the Salespeople tell you that without having done you will be losing money when trying to sell the car in another year or 2.

 

As well to trade it in with us and get a nice new one, the monthlies might even be lower than you are paying now, and lets get the BMW Service Plan because 

it is well worth it.

 

Had their coffee, had the test drives, bought that top of the range BMW with the service lights off and the FMDSH not complete...

[CWARD]

The cost of servicing my F30 is less than the Octavia. The regular minor (£140BMW/£149Skoda) and major services (£357BMW/£269Skoda) are nearly the same costs but with much bigger intervals in the BMW and Skoda still requiring annual services, the immediate saving being the cambelt change. Within the same 4 year period on average mileage the BMW is £497 and the Skoda £836 plus £385 for cambelt (£485 if sensible and do the waterpump at the same time).  A higher mileage driver in the BMW would experience the same costs as the average mileage driver in a Skoda. My wife has a BMW E82 1 series and it's been the cheapest car to run we've had and one of the reasons I went for BMW myself.

 

The brake pad replacement is a joke. First came across it when the wife got a Mini Cooper S R56. Brake pad warning based on mileage came up so I bought the pads to do it myself and on removing the old ones found around 6mm of material left and at least 3mm before the wear sensor. I estimate that they're would have been many 1000's of miles left in them before thinking of changing. Problem is if you ignore the mileage warning it needs to reset in the computer and everything is logged. 

 

[Ryeman]

Funny how a fixed price servicing schedule means the wiper blades last soo much longer!

[CWARD]

9 minutes ago, Awayoffski said:

CWARD,  are you sure the BIG 'Major Service' no longer comes up at UK Main Dealers, the one just before a Manufacturers Warranty Expires, 

the one that has many 'trade in' rather than keep the FMDSH if keeping the car outwith Warranty, the one the Salespeople tell you that without having done you will be losing money when trying to sell the car in another year or 2.

 

As well to trade it in with us and get a nice new one, the monthlies might even be lower than you are paying now, and lets get the BMW Service Plan because 

it is well worth it.

 

Had their coffee, had the test drives, bought that top of the range BMW with the service lights off and the FMDSH not complete...

 

When they went service inclusive a lot the service schedule changed too and the the drop and replace everything hasn't been around for a while. When I was looking around none had this done only the regular services. Only thing that BMW have which a rip off is the Vehicle Check Service which is basically an MOT without a certificate, luckily this isn't part of the service schedule.

 

[Ryeman]

When it 'all inclusive' it's becomes so much more basic.

[CWARD]

True. Funny how all the items they used say you must have otherwise the car will implode are suddenly not an issue.

 

Lots of advances have been made on fluids and oils that make them last much longer as well as better machining tolerances that there isn't as much bedding in required now so that service schedules can be extended. Not to mention the environmental implications of dealing with so much waste materials too as everyone needs to be seen to be green even if they had to fudge the figures to do so 

[Ryeman]

My brake pads will probably be 'on condition' also.

[Ootohere]

Lots of advances made in Batteries but odd how some Manufacturers advise / recommend replacing them rather too frequently.

 

PS,

Lexus did Long Oil Change intervals, and Subaru a long time ago did as well, 

the issue was then, people were not having cars inspected or just checked over until something was a problem or fault.

Tyres / Pressures / Damage etc and other stuff that needed a 'Warning Light' or message before any actions were being taken, 

Long Oil and Filter intervals does not mean 'Servicing / Inspections' are not required.

 

Then the UK with 3 years before a MOT from when a car had a MOT is responsible for many of the badly adjusted vehicles on the road, 

lights and steering, 

4 years before a MOT if it happens will not be adding to safety unless an 'Inspection Service' is a Minimum requirement at 2 years, 

40,000 miles or some time to be thought out.

Edited 7 March, 2017 by Awayoffski

[Ryeman]

6 minutes ago, Awayoffski said:

Lots of advances made in Batteries but odd how some Manufacturers advise / recommend replacing them rather too frequently.

BMW have a reliability issue, I suspect, with J D Power ratings if they don't do it yearly.....using current technology that is.

[Ootohere]

Just look back to 2013 reports with German Engine cars being among those with the highest failure rate, 4 years on nothing much has changed including the fluids.

 

Servicing for even high miles from new is all good and well, it is after that when people need the 'Used Vehicle Warranties' and then the failure rates show and the cost of work.  Simply Clever really, the Manufacturers are not the ones giving out the failure figures.

The Insurers / Underwriters of the Warranty are.

[CWARD]

32 minutes ago, Awayoffski said:

Then the UK with 3 years before a MOT from when a car had a MOT is responsible for many of the badly adjusted vehicles on the road, 

lights and steering, 

4 years before a MOT if it happens will not be adding to safety unless an 'Inspection Service' is a Minimum requirement at 2 years, 

40,000 miles or some time to be thought out.

 

Totally agree and this why they actually introduced a Safety and Maintenance section to the driving test with so many people who merely put fuel in a car and drive it. How many cars have you seen on the roads with near flat tyres, lights out etc. I would guess most drivers do not do any kind of work or checks to their cars until something stops working or picked up an MOT or Service.

 

The battery replacement I think could be down to the increasing use of stop start technology which hammers the battery more than older cars without it and not to mention the actual demands of modern cars to power all the sensors and equipment fitted. 

 

Ryeman, I bought a Skoda Octavia based on JD Power surveys for reliability. My wife bought a BMW 1 Series because she liked the colour and how it drove. Guess who's has been the most reliable and least amount to run?

[Ryeman]

2 minutes ago, CWARD said:

 

Totally agree and this why they actually introduced a Safety and Maintenance section to the driving test with so many people who merely put fuel in a car and drive it. How many cars have you seen on the roads with near flat tyres, lights out etc. I would guess most drivers do not do any kind of work or checks to their cars until something stops working or picked up an MOT or Service.

 

The battery replacement I think could be down to the increasing use of stop start technology which hammers the battery more than older cars without it and not to mention the actual demands of modern cars to power all the sensors and equipment fitted. 

 

Ryeman, I bought a Skoda Octavia based on JD Power surveys for reliability. My wife bought a BMW 1 Series because she liked the colour and how it drove. Guess who's has been the most reliable and least amount to run?

Do you feel lucky or not?

Either way, you'd hope it wasn't needed.

[CWARD]

What I've have learned if anything goes wrong with a modern car it tends to be a sensor fault. Major mechanical items don't tend to fail anymore although I do have the N57 engine which was subject to the timing chain failures hence why I bought one after the revision where made and for peace of mind bought an extended warranty too. The wife's car is also the N57 engine pre update and the only thing that has gone wrong with it was a battery that at 5 years old was probably past it's best. Ironically the BMW threw up a warning for the battery, although it didn't stop it from starting first time it would still show a fault every time you put the ignition on. Put a new Bosch S5 battery in and believe it or not that's not straight forward either as you have to program the car for it so it knows how to charge it. Luckily you can buy an app do that or face the BMW eye watering price to do that. The old battery I gave to neighbour to help him jump off his classic Passat, instead he's fitted it to the car and I see him using it daily.

Again I think this is a case of BMW replacing consumables long before they would normally need to be replaced such as the brake pads   

 

[Ryeman]

Everything is voltage sensitive these days and the high-end cars loaded with the most tech are vulnerable to letting their owners down.

Grumpiness come up in surveys.

Like polies, polls matter.

[WillM82]

I tend to just leave it in D. On previous automatics I would've selected P when sat in traffic for a while, bad habit as others have suggested in case you are shunted. Only really used N for MOT testing, when it was getting a brake check.

 

My Octavia is my 3rd automatic. My commute is half urban in stop start traffic, an autobox was a must.

 

1st autobox was a Honda Accord coupe, big 2 door thing that they brought over from the US, had an old fashioned autobox with 4 speeds and a big T shaped gearstick. We had bad snow when I was driving it, it had a D2 mode which took off in 2nd gear, and it handled the snow just fine.

Strangely it didn't hold on a hill, you would either need to balance the brake and accelerator or hold it on the handbrake.

 

2nd was a Saab 9-3 1.8t (really a 2 litre petrol) saloon, it had a weird resonance at 1800rpm that felt like it was in the wrong gear, and it was heavy on fuel, but otherwise no issues with the box. This had a semi-auto +/- mode that I never used. The full kickdown was fantastic, it would rev all the way to the limiter before changing up, making it sound like an old touring car.

 

3rd is the current Octavia.  Originally looked at a Toledo or Rapid hatchback, but the former was rare in DSG, and the latter was only available as the sportback estate in DSG. DSG is a different beast to the old slushmatics, more of an automated manual. So it provides manual style gearchanges, 7 speeds and great fuel economy. I guess the downside is potential long term reliability - DSG7s have a bad reputation, and I guess like manuals the clutches will eventually go - and there will be 2 to replace - so potentially pricey future maintenance.

 

Also my first car with stop-start, I try to gauge if I'm going to be stopped a while, if not I'll balance the brake slightly, if so then full brake.

One thing I noticed, when opening the door to buzz the awkwardly positioned buzzer to get security to open the barrier at the drop off point at the maternity hospital, is that when stop start has stopped it, it is in Park, and you open the door, you need to manually restart it.

Edited 3 May, 2017 by WillM82