This is silly.
Ford servicing is fairly cheap anyway, you should get a lot of change from £200 and it will keep the service history up to date. Also as Ka's are known to rust it is very important you get that paintwork inspected when they do the service, then if it turns into a rotton shell in three years time its covered.
I am sure they do a lot lot more than oil change, for a start on the Ka the plugs will need replacing or at least unscrewed and put back in again to stop any build up of rust.
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>>I am sure they do a lot lot more than oil change
You're kidding yourself.
A small service is basically an oil & filter change,
plus,
check the tyre pressures and condition, oil the door locks, check all the lights, wipers washers, horn, seat belts, brake fluid level warning light function, brake fluid level,
(which is fairly trivial work which any decent owner will already be on top of)
plus
check suspension and steering for free play and security, check gearbox for visible leaks, visible check of the brakes and brake pipes without any dismantling, check fuel pipes for condition and security, check wheel nut security.
(which is all of 10 minutes work!)
The plugs won't be touched.
Edited by Number_Cruncher on 20/02/2009 at 10:28
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Agreed that a first service on a Ka should be cheap - I would hope far less than £150.
Good call re bodywork inspection.
Plugs is a known issue, but unless there is a mechanic with this knowledge and who is prepared to do more than the service tick box checks odds on they don't get touched until they need changing.
The OP should request the plugs are removed at service and the threads lubricated, or DIY.
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Its just a glorified oil change, here is a copy of the
Service Schedule ,re plugs ,I thought the new duritec engine didn't have this issue..
{8< Snip - As it's a copyrighted document, we cannot allow it to be posted. If however you have a url link to it, then by all means submit it - DD}
(c) Copyright, Ford Motor Company 1994 -2009
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 20/02/2009 at 10:44
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Regardless do it yourself the warranty is void as already stated, and it will affect the used sale value. If I was buying a Ka this age which had DIY sercivinc I would walk away and laugh at the owner for wiping £1000 of the value of the car for the sake of saving a few hundered (assuming it has a few more DIY services).
If you tend to keep the car that might not be such an issue, but the warranty is although with a bit of luck the warranty might not be needed anyway as there are simple cars and its only really silly things like the heater which is likely to fail.
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Fair points Rattle , but we might not be selling it so fast. Here is a link to fords service schedules but you have to input the vehicle and interval www.etis.ford.com/fordservice/serviceScheduleForm....o
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Several thousand pounds have been spent on a brand new car, so why are you now trying to save a few quid on a service that will ensure the car's warantee stays intact, any factory recalls/updates are done, and it's second hand value is maintained.
I don't understand the logic in this post at all
MVP
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I understand fully what your saying but just because I bought a new car shouldn't mean I have to pay ford 200 odd pounds to check the fluid levels........Lenny
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You asked a question, there have been reasoned arguments about why it may be a good idea to have a dealer service.
At the end of the day the choice is yours.
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just because I bought a new car shouldn't mean I have to pay ford 200 odd pounds >> to check the fluid levels
and using that argument if you should have a problem down the line, Ford shouldn't have to help you as you have turned your back on them at the first service.
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If you're keeping the car, then, resale value isn't paramount. So, spending to maintain the warranty is purely a gamble upon whether or not the car is going to fail expensively.
My own view is that it's best to get out of dealer servicing as soon as you can, and put some of the money you save aside to pay for any unexpected failures. For the cars in my family since the early 1980s, none has needed any expensive work which could have been done under warranty, and none has ever been serviced by the dealer. I dread to think what dealer servicing would have cost us in total!
Having said that, I also think you'll be able to do better, more comprehensive, servicing yourself. For example, have a look at some older KAs, and work out how you might carry out your own rustproofing to counter the known problems. You won't have a corrosion inspection stamp in a book, but, your much less likely to have a problem anyway.
The middle course is to have the service carried out by a VAT registered independant garage using genuine Ford parts. You keep the warranty cover (but not the corrosion cover), but, your wallet doesn't get such a pounding.
Edited by Number_Cruncher on 20/02/2009 at 11:24
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If you're keeping the car .... you're much less likely to have a problem anyway >>
Seconded, word for word "Ditto" [but with one slight typo edit! ;-) ].
Edited by jbif on 20/02/2009 at 11:28
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>>[but with one slight typo edit! ;-) ].
Thanks for that!
The other thing to say about the gamble of warranty is that in this case, the OP is talking about a car which must be one of the safest bets.
There are many far worse cars for which the advice would be biased far more towards pay! and maintain the warranty, and then sell the car on to someone else, anyone else!, the day before the warranty runs out!
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Number Cruncher thanks for the reply . I don't have the service book to hand but are you sure not servicing the car at a ford dealer effects the corrosion cover ? There is no mention of paint or corrosion inspection in the ford schedule www.etis.ford.com/fordservice/serviceScheduleForm....o
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>>There is no mention of paint or corrosion inspection in the ford schedule
Yes, and it would be deeply cynical of me to suggest that this is a deliberate omission on Ford's part, so that you don't get that part of the vehicle's record stamped automatically.
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There is no mention of paint or corrosion inspection in the ford schedule www.etis.ford.com/fordservice/serviceScheduleForm....o
It's not usually listed on the service schedule, usually just a tick-box exercise hidden away in the back of your service book.
First thing a dealer does (generally speaking, there are exceptions) in the case of a rust claim is look in here. No checks, no claim.
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Our local Ford garage is offering a "value service - which is just an oil change and a look over" for £99 for the Ford KA
Ford Oil will cost £20
Ford Oil filter costs £5
So £74 labour
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The only real way to see the state of a car is to put it on a ramp.
From here you can see if there are bulges on the inner wall of your tyres, if a stone has damaged your brake pipes, if your exhaust is about to give way because you hit it on a speed bump, etc etc
If your car isn't getting a proper safety checkover like this at least once a year, I think it will be a false economy
MVP
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>>safety checkover
Yes - although the work is trivial in terms of the skills required to do it, and the time it takes, that doesn't mean it isn't important, or is in some way optional.
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Ford Oil will cost £20, Ford Oil filter costs £5 >>
Buy the parts from Ford, then DIY, attach the receipts to your service record.
Keep a record of your DIY checklist. date it, add comments of actions.
If you need it for a claim, the law is on your side.
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We have a Ka among other things. It was bought new in March 04 for £5000. It has never been back to a Ford dealer. It has been serviced by a local indy we use for all our cars. As for rust, I found a 1p sized patch under a door this time last year. Not visible without lying under the car with the door open. Don't ask me why I found myself doing that ! Rubbed it down, bit of rust treament gunk on it and painted over. Still sound a year later. No other rust apparent anywhere else yet. Mechanically, it has been faultless. Total maintenance bills for five years motoring still less than £400. The car is probably not worth a great deal now but we don't really care. It will almost certainly just be kept as a spare/town runabout for years to come. Costs buttons to insure too. Fun to drive to boot.
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I don't have the service book to hand
The Warranty and Service Guide is written and supplied specifically for the benefit of the buyer/owner and as such should be your bible on the subject rather than a webpage.
but are you sure not servicing the car at a Ford dealer affects the corrosion cover
Yes. The terms are detailed in the Warranty and Service Guide, in the section headed The Ford Perforation Warranty.
There is no mention of paint or corrosion inspection in the Ford schedule.
It's in the Warranty and Service Guide, in the section headed The Ford Perforation Warranty.
I suspect that this thread was prompted to a large extent by a mistrust of franchised dealers. As was pointed out to me by the Service Manager at my local Ford dealer, they are regularly checked unannounced by RAC inspectors so they can't afford to deviate from Ford procedures and standards. If the Warranty and Service Guide says that something will be done at a scheduled service then, at a Ford franchised dealer, there's a pretty fair chance that it will be. tinyurl.com/dn3g5o
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>>I suspect that this thread was prompted to a large extent by a mistrust of franchised dealers.
I think this thread has much more to do with obtaining value for money - when figures in the region of £100 for a glorified oil and filter change are being talked about, you can see it's a fair point.
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safety checkover >>
If someone wants a safety checkover on the ramps, there is nothing to stop them asking for a "pseudo MOT" [but without asking for an official MOT certificate], all for the price a standard MOT. As it won't be an official Test, it won't go on the DVLA database but will be purely for your own perusal.
You can ask for a full check or a partial one [excluding on the ground checks such as indicators, setablets, windscreens, wipers, etc. but including checks such as brake efficiency, suspension, steering, etc.].
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Thanks to everyone for their posts, I think I've sorted out what I'm going to do. I phoned up the Ford Dealer where car was purchased and was told the service will be £ 193 . She also said that any garage can do it as long as they use ford parts and when I mentioned the corrosion warranty only valid if serviced by ford she never heard of this. Phoned up my local garage and was quoted £ 70 plus vat. When my daughter comes home from university with ka I will read the service manual about the perforation warranty. Lenny...............
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