My dads Cooper S is just over a year old and when he rang the local dealer that he bought it from they said it didn't need it's 1st service until the car had done 10,000 miles. Bearing in mind that it has only done 4 - 5k in just over a year that will make the car over 2 years old before it has a service.
Is this standard practice or should he book the car in for a service against their recommendations for the usual checks (oil etc)?
Cheers!
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If at first you do succeed, try not to look astonished
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I had exactly the same with my Cooper S.
I brought my car as a 52 plate in sepetember with only 1500 miles on the clock. I went to get my car serviced when it reached 6000 miles in January and they told me to go away till it had done 10,000 miles. I persisted and I managed to get them to service it - on the basis I couldnt return until it had done 15,000 miles.
Its amazing that when it comes to my dealer having to spend money. They appear reluctant to service a car on schedule - but if I had forgotten to get it serviced at 24 months and wanted to claim on my warranty, they would have probably questioned it or under-valued it at trade in.
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Is this standard practice
A lot of cars are going this way due to modern oils and technology.
Most, if not all manufactuers stipulate a certain mileage or age (whichever comes sooner) for a service interval.
My Vectra for instance is supposed to have a service every 20,000 miles, or 2 years, whichever comes sooner. The diesel engined Vectra is 30,000 miles, or 2 years.
However, the garage that I use recommend that I still have it serviced annually, regardless of whether it's done less than 20,000 miles in that time. A lot can go wrong in 2 yrs, which is why I prefer a *trained* technician (I say the term trained loosely) giving it the once over annually.
As your Dad's Mini has done such low mileage in just over a year, I'd be tempted to have the oil changed at the very least.
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Yea, my car had been sat in a showroom most of its life and it was 2 years old - so I thought getting the oil changed was well worth it.
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It would be interesting if Ford did the same despite they insist on changing the brake fluid every 3 years! So for instance id only done 7k in that time & ford said 'dont come back until uv done 10k' .............???????
Its just an example by the way!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
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Our MINI Cooper S is in a similar position. For its first year, I drove the car and put 10k on the clock so there was no problem getting the first service done at 12 months.
However, I then made the fatal error of allowing my wife to drive the MINI all the time so it has only done around 5k over the next 12 months. BMW won't be interested in servicing it for another year at this rate, when it is due its first major service.
I probably will change the MINI when it is five years old. Is there any evidence that 12 monthly oil changes are better than following the BMW variable service regime? I can imagine that it makes a difference if you plan to keep the car for 10 years or more but does it genuinely affect engine life/reliability over the first 35 to 50,000 miles? My car will be sold for a full BMW service history so regular oil changes wouldn't add anything to the resale value.
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By way of comparison, recent model 911s are subject to service every 12k miles or 2 years, whichever is earlier.
However, there is an "annual check" that should be done at 1 year old regardless of mileage, if it has not been serviced yet. This consists of the visual inspection from the 12k mile service together with a fluids check (but not change).
I think the idea is that low-mileage cars at least get a check after the first year to see if anything has shaken loose or become blocked. I'd be nervous leaving it for 2 years, I have to say.
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