Quote:
Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER
Lots of cars that come in for servicing have tyres with way under half the recommended pressure and almost out of oil (nothing showing on the stick).
I'm sure I am not alone in finding this and I am not talking about old bangers but cars that are under 5 years old.
Customers will openly admit when asked that they don't do anything between servicing apart from putting in fuel and don't even know how to open the bonnet !
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I suspect that people have become so used to the plethora of warning lights and the touted engine management 'controls' that will tell them when there is a problem, that they mostly just don't bother unless a light comes up. To be fair I can't blame them. I rarely check my oil. Once know the pattern of oil usage between services there seems little point. Plus in my case recent mileage has been a lot less per annum than the service interval recommendation so there seems to be little imperative to keep opening the bonnet.
For some reason all the cars I have had blow oil smoke at startup from my drive - but never seem to burn any significant amount. Anywhere else they are fine.
Tyre pressures are a different game but until this current car the only time I saw any noteworthy pressure drop over extended periods was when I picked up a puncture or two. The current car is different - something funny going on since the last round of tyre changes so pressure checks and large adjustments have become a more regular event. I had the alloy wheels refurbished yesterday to see if that makes any difference. My 12V pump is sagging under the effort of keeping the things inflated.
If that fails to resolve the problem - not sure what to look at next.
But by and large if people have a fairly modern car and are not attempting their own servicing AND have the car serviced regularly I can see why they might feel there is little need to check anything, especially if the car is going to tell you when it needs a service, as BMW and VW do. When my younger daughter collected her Golf the sales persons just said "We'll see you in 20,000 miles or when the car tells you it wants some attention." No wonder people don't think there is a need to check much.
I suggested to the Golf driving daughter that she invest the extra £30 for the tyre pressure warning feature. I don't think she did in the end, but a few other options found their way onto the list.
I don't really condone the lack of all concern about checking anything, ever. But I can see how the messages from the manufacturers about how reliable their cars are and how little maintenance they need will persuade people that they can buy and forget. And once in that habit it difficult to break it.
If you think about it it's quite remarkable that the things last as long as they do.