Do you often find yourself at your local garage, nodding blankly while the technician talks about your vehicle?
So firstly the main general items you book your vehicle in for and will come across;
The Garage says:
?Your Car passed its MOT, but here?s the advisories.?
What do they mean?
If your vehicle passes its MOT, the garage may give you some advisories. Most commonly found at the bottom of the MOT Sheet, or at the bottom of the Invoice.
This is pointing out items that may be worn and will need attention in the near future to prevent bigger problems, or even that it could fail its future MOT!
What should you be aware of?
You should keep an eye on any issues reported as an advisory. You should ask them to be included in the next service. Or if you are not due for a service, then at a later date that you have discussed with the Garage.
For example; an MOT advisory that your brake pads are getting low. The Garage says that you have approximately another 1,000-2,000 miles before they need replacing, and you average about 10,000 miles per year, that might only take you another month or so to get through. Yet there is still some life left in the brake pads, so the garage is trying to help get you the most out of your brake pads before replacing them, saving you money. So just make sure that you arrange to book it in for the following month or so to get them replaced.
Do not leave them until the next MOT, always check with your technician.
The Garage says:
?You need a service?
What do they mean?
Your vehicle is due, or is overdue a service. A service can be a small, mid or major service. Your vehicle needs these different services at various stages of its life. You can see in your owner?s manual for when the vehicle needs these services, but as a guide we suggest that at least once a year (regardless of mileage) or every 10,000 miles. Please see this link for the different types of service and what is included: ?Vehicle Servicing?
What should you be aware of?
A regularly serviced vehicle will be more efficient, less prone to breakdowns and will last longer. Servicing within certain mileages or even every 6/12 months is a typical condition of a warranty, and could be void if missed a service!
Note: Even if you do low mileage and/or short distance runs, it is still vital to get your vehicle serviced. This may even just be for an oil change, as oil degrades with time as well as with use. So short journeys don?t allow the oil to heat up enough to get rid of unwanted moisture etc that builds up within the oil. Where as long and high mileage vehicles require more frequent oil changes as the oil loses its efficiency qualities over greater use.
Do not forget servicing a vehicle. Here at Auto-Mech Cheddar Ltd we have a reminder system in place, so if you know when it should be roughly due make sure you tell us so we can add it on to the system. If we have already seen the vehicle for service previous it will already be logged. The Reminders can be sent via a letter in the post, e-mail or text; please make sure you tell us your preferred option. The default is by letter in the post.
What you might not have known?
What is the difference between a Service & MOT?
The main difference is that the MOT is mostly a visual inspection check of the vehicle condition to be on the road, and is for that exact moment and time at which the vehicle is presented for testing. A service is a visual and physical inspection check of the vehicle as a whole, and to advise or replace any items that may need work between that service and the next.
