Hi,
My V plate Mondeo is now the 'wrong' side of 100k miles (right for me though, love the depreciation :-)), and is due for a service within the next few months.
It currently has a full Ford service history, which I added to when I got the car in February by having the car serviced at my local Ford main dealers Rapid Fit. They charged me £80.
I was going to do the same again next time but wondered just what it was that needed doing, apparently the next service is £120 - other than nice new oil, is there really any point paying £120 on a car which, lets face it, is going to be pretty much worthless by the time I've finished with it? Is the Ford main dealer service history worth keeping?
I can't help thinking I'm just paying for nothing really and i'd be better off just changing the oil every 5k miles - coolant etc is the Ford 'long life' stuff that apparently never needs changing, it had new plugs at the last service, etc etc.
Hopefully, when I finish with my car, it will be at least 7-8 years old, and obviously will still be high mileage so will the FFSH even make any difference at resale time?
What do you chaps think?
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id take it to a halfords/aa/lex service centre
isnt recommendations in your service book?
it will be some variation on
new plugs
new air filter
new pollen filter
check or replace fan belt
check or replace cam belt
check or replace brake pads/shoes
oil/filter change
gearbox oil change maybe at certain miles
usual stuff, depends on when they are scheduled to be done etc for your car though
if theyre doing a good job its the stuff they spot on the way that counts
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Don't know about everywhere and I don't drive a Ford, but my parents' local RapidFit is *much* cheaper than the AA/Lex/etc.
I use Peugeot ExpressFit on my car, not to preserve the history (it's nearly nine years old) but because they're as cheap as anyone locally and it's always had genuine parts, so I intend to continue that way, at least until something goes wrong.
As long as the garage is doing everything to the manufacturer's schedule (bearing in mind that cambelts and the like will *not* be in the fixed price service) I can't but think that RapidFit is the way to go, at least if you don't know and trust a reasonably priced mechanic or feel confident to do everything yourself.
To my mind a full service will alert you to problems you may not spot, before they go wrong and strand you and at least gives you an idea of the condition of the car. My experience with ExpressFit is that they are actively looking for work to do on the car, so it is useful to have everything looked over and looked after.
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Agree with DavidHM - quite liked Rapidfit last time I used it. You're probably right: it won't make much difference whether you have FFSH or not. Alternatively, as a buyer, I'd be equally well pleased with receipts for oil & filter changes from Kwikfit or similar £15:99 jobbies every whatever it is thousand miles. You could do the rest yourself. Having bought too many sh cars, oil & filter changes are mostly what I've been interested in!
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>will the FFSH even make any difference at resale time? <
IMHO it won't affect the car's value, but it may make the difference between selling it and not being able to. And if you like the car, by doing the basics regularly, it may go on costing you very little for longer than if you don't.
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I'm with Andrew-T. High mileage Mondeos are not and probably will not ever be rare. Make it more desireable by keeping it serviced.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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And an argument from the other side of the fence. Mondeos are common. Anyone looking for a Mondeo will be able to find a cheap low mileage one and wont bother to look at high mileage ones (you can argue wether this is valid or not but the average punter puts a lot of store by low miles)
So given that, I would service it myself keeping the receipts. You are paying big dealer money for dealer stamps that now add no value.
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RF has just hit the nail on the head IMO.
number_cruncher
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£120 for a service - cheap!
Whats your problem? Have it done by a trained fitter and you'll feel happier that it has been under the spotlight for a short while, so any major problems about to occur will be spotted.
Doing it this way will keep the car onthe road for longer.
--
Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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If it's any consolation, after giving the matter some long and hard thought, I've just abandoned keeping up the Ford Service History on my Mondeo after 5 years.
I just did an oil change, which, lets face it, is all the main dealers do, but you pay £120 for the privilige!
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The most important thing to remember with the engines in the Mondeo is that only the 5W30 oil is used, you really don't want to use anything else, even the Ford own brand is quite cheap.
Oh, and I could be wrong, but I think the valve clearances are due for a check at 100,000 miles.
Blue
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As long as you keep the invoices for the work done, and have it done when scheduled, I don't think you will lose out.
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I'd go along with letting a trained fitter loose on it. I've started using a small local garage for most of the work on my cars. My jaw sagged when I got the bill for a medium sized service on my Saab 9-5 - £126, including 4 litres of Mobil 1, *and* they gave me the container with the remainder in. Saab dealers locally are around £75+VAT per hour (or at least they were when I last used one a couple of years ago) - the local is £35+VAT. I would have expected a bill of around £300 from the main dealer, and they certainly wouldn't have have left the remainder of the oil in the car!
So the answer is - compromise. Find a local garage that has personal recommendations (ask around), and you will at least sleep sound in the knowledge that the service has been properly and any dormant faults detected.
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In five years' time you'll have spent (say) £600 on serviving at Rapid Fit, or £100 doing it yourself. Both assuming just basic servicing.
Will the Ford stamps on the service history be worth the extra £500 on a 7 year old Mondeo? (Remember you still have "full service history", just not full FORD service history.)
I suspect a starship mileage 7 year old Mondeo will be worth ~nothing anyway, with or without the Ford stamps.
Plus it might get crashed between now and then.
My vote's for DIY.
-Mark
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