Just noticed that National Tyres are doing oil and filter changes "from £20" with 10% off online = £18....
I normally do my own because I worry that a) they will use cheapo oil, b) they will bodge it or c) they will sport 101 other jobs that need doing while they are doing it...
That said, I rarely get time to do my own which is obviously bad for the car.... add to that the fact that a filter is £5, a big tub of magnatec is £20+ means i'm £7 down before I start the job.....
Do HJ users usually do their own or get people to do it... If you do your own, is it cheaper than £18???
Related subject, their website gives me the options
Oil & Filter change - 10w-40 QXR (up to 2300cc) £20.00
Oil & Filter change - Hypergrade 15w-40 (up to 2300cc) £15.00
Oil & Filter change - Visco 7000 0w-40 (up to 2300cc) £25.00
I normally use Magnatec 15W-40 in my 99T Saxo 1.1i (70k miles and normally does 10k a year ish)
Should I stick with the 15W-40 option for £15 (not sure why it previously said "from £20" if its actually £15..) or should I upgrade to one of the more expensive options?!?!
GK
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Stick with Magnatec and use the grade specified in the car's handbook (I'm surprised by the 15W); Halfords will probably do a Magnatec offer around Easter. You can find out which oil at www.castrol.com.
If you do get it done at one of those chains, watch them like a hawk; I've had an autobox mistaken for the sump and consequently drained, and only last week at the same branch did a friend's car get overfilled by at least a litre, in spite of his specifying a quantity short of full fill to avoid this risk. I'm a great fan of Kwik-Fit's deal on Mobil 1 -- about £40 regardless of quantity -- but I always stand with them as they do the job.
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Thanks Roger...
Just checked the castrol website as suggested and it says....
Castrol's best oil for your vehicle EDGE 0W-30
Alternative recommendation MAGNATEC 10W-40 A3/B3
But i'm sure in the owner manual it says 15W - 40....?
So if I have been using 15W-40 but should have been using 10W-40 (or even 0W-30) is it likely to have damaged my car?!?!
Is it worh getting EDGE 0W-30???
GK
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No it will not have damaged your car nor is it likely to If you want to spend massive amounts of money on castrol then do it but any semi synthetic 0-30 will be just as good.
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check for splits in cv boots and gaiters before and after you take it in, its amazing how much work can be generated with a screwdriver!
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Got a £23 oil/filter change on SWMBO Mazda at a national chain.
Free safety check revealed battery was knackered. Been starting first time right through the winter since then.
So yes, do be cautious. But they did adjust handbrake FOC, so not all bad.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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I usually do my own and at the same time do the fuel filter. It costs me just under £20 for the filters and a gallon of oil. Although I trust the person in the garage where I get other, more awkward things done, I like to know for myself that the work has been done.
Always make sure that you don't wear your sunday best when doing it though, otherwise it could end up costing a lot more!!
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This is one thing I love about the machanic I use, quoted £95 for a service and I told him to replace brake parts if needed. Collected the car next day, bill was £90, told the battery, pads, discs, steering, shocks etc are all in good working order. He could have easily told me I need new pads and I would have paid. I know a lot of about electronics so he would have had to have tried every hard to convince me the battery was duff.
He is probably too much the other way though, "the camshaft is warn but dosn't stop the engine from working"
Personaly I would be too scared of taking my car to one of those chain places. I am not sure if they have cleaned up their act but I dad used to use them until we realised everytime it went in it came back with another fault.
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>>.. Should I stick with the 15W-40 option for £15 ..But i'm sure in the owner manual it says 15W - 40....?..
yeah, forget about diy and go for the national offer: the duckhams hypergrade is very good stuff.
Oil & Filter change - Hypergrade 15w-40 (up to 2300cc) £15.00
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How do they make money on it though? Do you burn your clutch out while their at it? Wreck the suspension? I have a very cynical mind :p:
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Quote" check for splits in cv boots and gaiters before and after you take it in, its amazing how much work can be generated with a screwdriver! "
You're correct saying this. Many years ago it happened to me. When I opened the car bonnet to top up the windscreen washer tub, I observed a large screw driver "stabbed" into one of the breather pipes. The company in question at the time was deleted.
Watch out for a cheap oil change and end up with large bill later on.
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Personally I wouldn't let any of these companies change my oil for free, let alone £20.
I do it myself and I know its done right.
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Personally I wouldn't let any of these companies change my oil for free, let alone £20. I do it myself and I know its done right.
What he said!
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I once went to a chain type place for a puncture repair and was told that the shock absorbers were leaking oil and needed changing. They were dismayed when I told them that they were gas filled shockers.
Another time my daughter in law went to a very well known tyre place for a new exhaust, they told her that if she didn't have an oil change her car would seize up.
An old farming saying is " you don't get oaght fer naught " and it is right. I agree 100% with Aprilia.
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was told that the shock absorbers were leaking oil and needed changing. They were dismayed when I told them that they were gas filled shockers.
Unless your gas filled shock absorbers were different to mine, the gas ones that once leaked on a previous car of mine also had oil in them.
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gas ones that once leaked on a previous car of mine also had oil in them.
Yes, oil is still used as the damping fluid - gas just isn't viscous enough.
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Mike Farrow
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"I once went to a chain type place for a puncture repair and was told that the shock absorbers were leaking oil and needed changing. They were dismayed when I told them that they were gas filled shockers."
www.eu.tenneco-automotive.com/monroe/gas_shock.htm
Yes, they still have the oil, but a gas charge too.
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I once went to a chain type place for a puncture repair and was told that the shock absorbers were leaking oil and needed changing. They were dismayed when I told them that they were gas filled shockers.
This happened to my brother in law as well, except the shocks were only a month old, and had been supplied and fitted by another branch of the same chain....
The shocks were fine of course, and there was much apologising and backtracking when he understandably exploded at the duty manager.
In the chain's defence, he received a written letter of apology from the company chairman, and a very generous credit note to use against his next purchase.
Cheers
DP
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I bought a job lot of filters off eBay at £10 for 4.
I also have a collection of half-price Halfords 10W40 semi-synthetic oil at £8 for 5 litres, of which I use 3.5 litres per oil change.
Works out to about £8.10 every time.
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Mike Farrow
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I took a friend's car into National tyres today (Micra 1 litre)
They used Duckhams QXR and a claimed Unipart filter, although it had no markings, for £21.
Job done very quickly, but mess from filter removal not cleaned up.
There was no attempt to get any other work.
I think this is good value, but I prefer to do all my own servicing and know that the job is done thoroughly and clean up the mess!
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A colleagues sump plug came out on the M1, a few weeks after a service.
Our firms van gradually got tighter to change gear after a service ( Bedford CF years ago) 2 days after the service and about 40 miles, it stuck in gear.
Turned out the gearbox had been drained but not refilled ....
I do all oil changes on our vehicles ( and almost everything else) myself.
Recent cars *on warranty*, car 1, handbrake cable found by me ( on a check of the garages check:) to have almost worn a hole in the plastic fuel tank.
Car2, overfilled with oil by 3/4 litre on a 3 litre capacity.........
Great garage, but you wonder who gets to do the `simple` first service.
After all these years and initially working in the motor trade I don`t trust anyone really regarding servicing.
Some places have used cleaned up used engine oil at services and others the cheapest oil on the market.
Better IMHO to buy your own oil in a sealed `can` and filters from the main dealers, then do it yourself.
Regards
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Oil can take 15 mins to drain completely, the sticky stuff comes out last. Chains are unlikely to wait this long. I put in a tin of Wynns Engine Flush (less than £3 from Wilkinsons) 15 mins before draining.
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Oil can take 15 mins to drain completely, the sticky stuff comes out last. Chains are unlikely to wait this long. I put in a tin of Wynns Engine Flush (less than £3 from Wilkinsons) 15 mins before draining.
Well said, if you change the oil this way, it will stay much cleaner even in diesels.
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Booked in on web for oil & filter change with National Tyres but they had no oil for 3 weeks when I finally got it done they put in Unipart oil instead of Castrol Edge 5W30 Full Synthetic - when I questioned this they said Castrol makes the oil for Unipart - I said I wanted to see Castrol on the tin as I had paid for it so I have to go back again when they get it in - they aslo said I had a nail in my back tyre but the fitter never came anyhere near the back of the car as I watched him the whole time, wish I had done it myself.
If I ever use them again, then I'm not going to take eyes off the car.
Buncranaman
{Slight alteration to last sentence - DD}
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 06/12/2007 at 18:48
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may I say in National's defence, I've used the Dunfermline branch on several occasions for oil changes and exhausts and not had cause for complaint nor had 101 'faults' pointed out to me. Used to use Budget too before they disappeared; if you're running an older car these deals are usually offer good value and are cheaper/more convenient than DIY. It must be said tho' I always stay and watch.
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Someone I know whent into a well know chain place, that offers a quick change of tyres and exhausts, and they sprayed oil underneath the shockers and said that they where leaking with oil, (he saw them do it, and he knows that they where ok) so he kicked off and got aplogy and discount.
I used to do my own oil changes however now i cant as i dont have the facilties to do it, so I take it to a place that i know and trust ( a non chain local Garage), and they will let me bring my own oil of choice (Castrol Magantec) and will happily change it while I wait for around £20 (price of the Filter, and upto half an hour Labour which ( i think is reasnonable) and i know for a fact they wont find faults with it , so I would chose them over any Chain Garage anyday.
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I do it myself... Oil is £7.47 from Tesco (meets the standard the engine was designed for).
Filter around £2.00
Copper washer 20p
Total: £9.67
I like doing it myself, as I know it's been done properly, it's much cheaper, and I enjoy it. I will never trust the fast fit chains for as long as I live.
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Depends a bit on whether you need service history or not.
If i need service history i'll use main dealer for specified service (whilst under warranty) and then a trusted (pref make specific ) indy, whilst doing interim changes meself, with genuine oil and filters.
If i dont need service history, i always do my own, but with high quality oil eg millers etc, and pref genuine filters.
Had a very ennerving experience with some well known oil a few years back, so always buy good stuff.
The chains do tend to use local factors for filters etc and i've seen some very shoddy filters over the years, so not a multi chain for me.
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I've used National tyres for Oil changes in the past and found the Manchester, Chester Road branch to be good, but my local branch which I won't name or shame is totally useless and staffed by dimwits.
I find the theses oil change deals quite useful in winter, as I tend to need an oil change about this time of the year, and its frankly cold wet and unpleasant working on a car outside at this time of year.
However, my car normally needs it main service in summer, when I always do the work myself, including the oil change.Might cost me a little bit more, but I know its been done correctly.
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