Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it?

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Thu 2 Dec 2004 11:09
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - robZilla
Just got a letter from my friendly local Vx dealer to say my car is ready for a service, which it is (ticked over 70k miles yesterday!).

They have included details of their "WinterCare" services whereby for £45 they will do the following: (I am quoting)

- Pressure testing of the complete cooling system
- Inspection of the cylinder head and block for leaks
- Tightening of the hoses and clips
- Renewal of the anti-freeze

Has anyone had this done? Would you recommend it? Or is it a complete waste of time and/or money?

FYI, I have the car serviced at the Vx dealer every 10k miles and change the oil and filter every 5k miles.
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Thu 2 Dec 2004 11:20
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - robZilla
I forgot to mention, they also give you a six month warranty on the work they do.
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Thu 2 Dec 2004 12:41
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - Dynamic Dave
I once took up this offer and was glad that I did. 2 mnths into the warranty the waterpump sprang a leak.

They fitted a new pump and cambelt without quibbling.

Considering antifreeze is around £10, them charging £45 for replacing it and giving you a 6 mnth warranty is peanuts.

I should add that I previously didn't take up their offer on a different car I had and a few months later the head gasket went, costing me just over £400 to put right. I learnt my lesson the hard way.
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Thu 2 Dec 2004 12:45
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - robZilla
Thanks DD, as it's only in for an interim service, I think I'll have the WinterCare done at the same time, for peace of mind.
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Thu 2 Dec 2004 14:18
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - oldtoffee
That looks good value - trouble is I have a Mondeo. So I checked the Ford website, nothing similar. Rang my local Ford dealer just out of curiosity and they quoted me £24 for inspection, flush and refill so I've booked it in.
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Thu 2 Dec 2004 15:17
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - MarkSmith
Would they really have covered the headgasket, Dave?

If not, I'd say £35 is quite an expensive insurance policy against a winter of cooling system problems. I've had a total of 10 car-winters and never had a cooling system problem. That's £350 I've saved (10 winter checks I didn't have). £450 if you consider that antifreeze doesn't need replacing every year and which is done as part of routine servicing anyway.

That's quite a few water pumps...

-Mark
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Thu 2 Dec 2004 19:26
Vauxhall WinterCare - worth it? - Dynamic Dave
Would they really have covered the headgasket, Dave?


In the case of mine, yes. I had coolant leaving via the exhaust because the headgasket had failed between one of the waterways and cylinder 4. Didn't affect the running of the car, quite the opposite in fact - it went a hell of a lot better. Apparantely adding water vapour to the exhaust gasses cools it and acts like a simplified turbo.
if you consider that antifreeze doesn't need replacing every
year and which is done as part of routine servicing anyway.


Vauxhall have never offered to change my antifreeze as part of a routine service interval.
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