Low milage service question.

[John Daniels]

Hiya,

I have a 2001 1.6 V40SE which has a full Volvo service history. It is
perfect, partly down to the fact that it has only done about 8000 miles
since new.

It was bought and though useful is not used as much as we had planned.

While it was under warranty it got the reccomended service every year...Less
than every 2000 miles because of it's minute use.

Now the 4 year 40K service is due. I am looking at 250 UK pounds for the
job, plus MOT etc which I will happily pay, but I have the odd reservation..

I don't want the car out of the dealer network service. I like and trust my
local Volvo place. We've used them for 25 years. I have a lot of redress
with them if something goes wrong, friends with the MD etc etc. So, the
usual arguments about taking out of the dealer net don't apply. I'd prefer
to hadn the hard earned over to people who have proved to be trustful than
some geezer in a back lane who I know nothing about.

Also you never know what's around the corner. The dealer's often botheirng
me to give the car to him in part ex. I am getting very good above book
offers for it but don't see the logic in swapping such a low miler for
something with 0 miles on the clock. One day I may want to sell and a
dealer history will boost the price and confirm what is a suspiciously low
milage. For now though it's a rather well-appointed shopping basket!

However, As the car is so lightly used, does it really need a 4 year service
that you'd give to a 40K mile car?

I believe the car has a service light. Is this supposed to come on when you
need a service? would I therefore be safe and sensible to drive the car
unserviced 'till the light comes on?

Also, does anyone kow if Volvo in the UK, can approve some sort of revised
service schedule?

Although low miles, wear and tear on certain engine bits must be high as the
car never runs at it's operating temperature for long.

Or as someone suggested to me recently. Should the oil perhaps get a change
more than once a year...Every 6 months, because of the cold running temps on
the engine?

Lots of questions I know...

Any thoughts appreciated guys.

Cheers

JD

 

[Rob Guenther]

Well... we had a low KM's car (before I learned how to drive and put more
serious KMs on it) it was a 1991 Golf 1.8L bought new in 1991, it had only
36000kms on it when I learned to drive in late 1999 (when we sold it in late
2003 it had approx 80000kms on it)... so the mileage is just a bit more then
what you put on... for the first 2/3 of its life - by the time I drove it
the engine shook so badly you'd have thought it was a diesel... Carbon
buildup most likely, as it went away when I started using and abusing the
car .

We had oil changes done twice a year, brakes done as needed (corrosion from
not driving the car takes its toll on them), replaced the distributor, spark
plugs and wires on age related intervals (every 4 years or so - complete
tuneup), did the coolant, brake fluid, transmission fluid on age related
intervals as well (as speced in the manual)... As you can see the
maintenance costs don't end up being cheap - it's more economical to drive
the car and to change out parts/fluids based on kilometers.... Another thing
to note, this car was eating exhaust systems and batteries - water buildup
killed the exhausts, engine didn't get hot enough for long enough to dry up
the water... And frequent discharge/not enough charge on the batteries left
them flat or completely dead every so often.

We would make sure to take the car on one long trip or two per year to give
it a good highway run, when we sold it the engine was running smooth, quiet,
and tight - not a drop of oil burnt between changes.... used to leak oil,
but once as we got that fixed no additions were needed. - New owners had to
put in a new catalytic converter, brakes and brake lines, and put a new
clutch in (the new owners son fried the clutch learning to drive it)... they
examined the engine and said it was like new, basically.

I'd keep doing what you are doing, sounds basically how we treated our low
mileage car - don't skip services tho... brake fluid and rad fluid need to
be done regardless of kms usually.... oh and change the timing belt after 6
years (or whatever it says in your manual) you don't want that to let go!

 

[John Daniels]

Rob thanks for the advice. I appreciate it.

JD

 

[ENN]

Hello form Scandinavia,

I service these S/V 40 often and would recomend that you change oil and
filter once a year, and depending on what enviroment you drive the car in i
would dismantle and lubricate the brakes once a year - if driven in winter
climate and once every two years if it newer sees Salt/Snow.

I would concider it waste of money to do much more on the car if it realy
runs that little, storing it in a dry place would bennefit the car a lot.

Giee me a e-mail when you want to sell it

 

[Michael Pardee]

Hello form Scandinavia,

I service these S/V 40 often and would recomend that you change oil and
filter once a year, and depending on what enviroment you drive the car in
i would dismantle and lubricate the brakes once a year - if driven in
winter climate and once every two years if it newer sees Salt/Snow.

I would concider it waste of money to do much more on the car if it realy
runs that little, storing it in a dry place would bennefit the car a lot.

Great advice about the brakes! They are often overlooked except to check for
pad wear, but lubrication is very important to avoid trouble and more
extensive repairs. Rust in the calipers can do a lot of damage.

Mike

 

[John Daniels]

I'm getting some great advice here. Thanks.. ENN I wold sell it to you but
the steering wheel is on the wrong side for you. It's a British car!