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Sat 26 Apr 2003 14:57

Help! Service interval and petrol choice - exmondeoman

Just bought a Citroen C5 - 1.8 petrol. 1 year old, 11K miles. The issue is a general one though.

The manual says 20K mile service is all that's required, but I only do 6K miles per year, most of it round town (plus an annual drive to the south of France). So my questions are;

1) Should I have anything done now (or at least before my summer trip), and if so what is time rather than mileage dependent?
2) The manual says to use either 95 or 98 RON petrol, so does it matter which (I had a diesel before, so the choice is a bit of a mystery to me)? Will it harm the engine long term to use the cheaper one?

Any help appreciated

David

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Sat 26 Apr 2003 15:12

Help! Service interval and petrol choice - Dynamic Dave

In answer to question 1:-
Service intervals for most, if not all cars, are either a certain mileage covered or per annum - whichever comes sooner. As you only do approx 6,000 a year, you should get the car serviced annually.

In answer to question 2:-
95 Ron is unleaded petrol, 98 Ron is super unleaded petrol. Either one is acceptable for your car without causing engine damage. 98 Ron (Super Unleaded) will probably give you better performance, but 95 Ron (leaded) is around 4p a litre cheaper. Personally I would stick to the cheaper stuff.

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Sat 26 Apr 2003 15:36

Help! Service interval and petrol choice - exmondeoman

Thanks Dave - 20 000 miles did seem a bit too good to be true! Perhaps I missed the 'or every year' bit in the manual. It is anyway an incredibly irritating publication - covering every possible variant and feature, without specifying which ones my own model actually has (or more probably hasn't.

And I'll stick to the cheaper stuff - the car had a full tank when I took delivery, and I was quite impressed by the consumption until on refilling it I found out just how big the tank was!

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Sat 26 Apr 2003 17:37

Help! Service interval and petrol choice - Roger Jones

Change your oil and filter every six months anyway, and don't go more than twelve months between services.

Experiment with fuel. If you notice a difference, you may get an effective compromise with a good additive in the cheaper fuel (I keep using, and recommending, the VAG additive, part no. G 001 700 03, and it's cheaper than others from accessories shops). If you fill up with 50 litres, you'll save at least £1 a tankful with 95 fuel plus additive. I'd follow HJ's advice on fuel and stick to either Shell or Texaco.

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