Servicing your car can seem like a bit of a waste of money – if it’s not broke don’t fix it, right?! Problem is, not servicing your car is like not looking after yourself health-wise, the least you’re doing is storing up trouble for later. As an example, my Smart Roadster needs the clutch adjusting during every main service, which is not a big task, but failing to do it can cause the clutch to fail completely and result in a large bill.
Servicing ensures that parts that do inevitably wear out are replaced, this not only keeps them working but prevents their failure impacting more seriously on other parts of the engine, and causing you inconvenience. If your cambelt goes on the motorway at 11pm on a wet November night you’ll wish you had it changed during the “B” service, despite the expense.
Don’t forget that your car’s manufacturer has spent millions on research and testing to create the most reliable car they can for the price, and the servicing schedule they’ve developed is absolutely what needs to be done to keep it in top condition. Some cars need oil changes more regularly than others, some need filters changed every service and so on.
Different cars have their own peculiarities which the service schedule will take into account, so just because you used to have a Ford Focus that didn’t need X and Y doing to it, doesn’t mean your Audi or VW won’t need it. The guys here at Triggs have such an encyclopaedic knowledge of different manufacturers’ unique requirements that they often know what’s needed before opening the service book… But don’t worry, they check anyway!
A well-serviced car will do more MPG, in fact depending on your mileage you may save more in petrol than your annual service costs! This is because the parts and fluids changed during a typical service help the engine run more smoothly, and smooth = efficient = lower fuel consumption.
An important benefit of servicing is that a full service history can add significant value to a used car when it comes to be sold or traded in, as much as £1500 on the average car according to research by Kwik-Fit. Again this should help offset the cost of any services you’ve paid for during your ownership of the car (make sure you always bring your car’s service book to the garage so we can stamp it and keep this valuable record up to date).
It’s also less important these days to have main dealer service history; owners are realising that good independent garages are equally competent when it comes to servicing even higher-end cars like Mercedes and BMW, and there’s actually no reason to pay the often hyper-inflated main dealer prices.
So whether you have a classic Triumph Stag (lucky you) or a new electronics-packed Lexus hybrid, Triggs Garage can service your car to the highest standard required by the manufacturer and at an affordable price, so why not bring your car in and give us a try.