OK, first question, where to service the car

OK, first question, where to service the car

Author
Discussion

javi1892

Original Poster:

65 posts

236 months

Monday 23rd October 2006
quotequote all
Hi there!

Well, just joined the club and already asking questions....

I am not very good with mechanics (pretty useless I would say) so need to know a place near Bristol where I can bring the car to do the service.

Thanks in advance.

VETTE_1978

3,247 posts

228 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
Have you had a look on here....

www.corvetteclub.org.uk/

Find out who the rep is for your area and give them a quick call - they'll be able to give you a few pointers. It could also depend on the age of the vehicle as to where's best. There might already be some posts on the website about garages in the area, time to start hunting.

LuS1fer

41,598 posts

251 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
Yours is an auto so what I would do is find a mechanic you trust and use him. The Corvette engine is the easiest engine you'll ever find. All you have to do is change the oil and filter and anyone can do that. Just order the parts from US Automotive in advance. Similarly, the auto gearbox is a cinch - just a fluid and filter change. Air filter is a drop-in that takes about 5 minutes to fit. The rest is preventative maintenance really. Keep an eye on the disc pads for wear (easy to change) and change the brake fluid every 2 years. Check the battery regularly as they sometimes leak and the computer is underneath it so at the first opportunity or sign of going flat, fit an Optima Red Top gel battery because sooner or later the battery will fail.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone con you that the Corvette is some exotic car requiring complicated servicing. In real terms, it's harder to service an old Mini than a Corvette. I was once fleeced, rogered and most royally porked by the Vauxhall dealer in Bristol who used to be a Chevy dealer and they failed to diagnose the very thing I took the car there for them to fix.. Never again.

The CRUCIAL thing to watch is that nobody jacks the car on the plastic bodywork or honeycomb floor and breaks it. It has specific jacking points (requiring pucks) that must be used or it must be jacked carefully on the cross-members. NEVER get the tyres changed without supervising where they lift the car.

888USA

2,183 posts

246 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
I Know drive vauxhall use to be called Arriva Vauxhall sold Cadillac & Corvettes new not sure if they will still service them they were in Bristol. You also have Stratstone Corvette now and Bauer Millett. Or take a trip down to Ian Goss Services in Surrey.

c5ragtop

1,610 posts

254 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
My last service was done by a local Citroen dealer. I gave him the oil, filter, copy of the service schedule and everything was done perfectly inclusing some stuff I wasn't aware of. There is very little to do on these services so I would stay local. My previous service was done by Ian Goss but why travel 200 miles when so little needs to be done??

Why a Citroen dealer - because the owner has a 2 C5s (a Citroen and a Corvette!!)

Edited by c5ragtop on Tuesday 24th October 09:53

adetuono

7,381 posts

233 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
c5ragtop said:
My last service was done by a local Citroen dealer. I gave him the oil, filter, copy of the service schedule and everything was done perfectly inclusing some stuff I wasn't aware of. There is very little to do on these services so I would stay local. My previous service was done by Ian Goss but why travel 200 miles when so little needs to be done??

Why a Citroen dealer - because the owner has a 2 C5s (a Citroen and a Corvette!!)

Edited by c5ragtop on Tuesday 24th October 09:53


Mind if I ask who that was Rich? I do as much as I can myself, but it's a PITA getting it up in the air, and I've got a CAGS disabler to fit.

LuS1fer

41,598 posts

251 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
adetuono said:

Mind if I ask who that was Rich? I do as much as I can myself, but it's a PITA getting it up in the air, and I've got a CAGS disabler to fit.


I fitted my CAGS disabler fairly easily by raising the car slightly on a pair of bricks but I am wiry and lithesome and you may be too large of frame to do that. LOL. You don't need much room.

c5ragtop

1,610 posts

254 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
Ade - try Simon Hartwell Citroen at Ferndown. Alternatively you could try and become "wiry and lithesome" but I guess the first option may be quicker!!

adetuono

7,381 posts

233 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
c5ragtop said:
Ade - try Simon Hartwell Citroen at Ferndown. Alternatively you could try and become "wiry and lithesome" but I guess the first option may be quicker!!


Wiry and lithsome? Not going to happen for a few years yet, is it? More like wary and loathsome.
Thanks for the info.

javi1892

Original Poster:

65 posts

236 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
Thanks guys. I'll probably try the Citroen dealer when service time arrives...

vetteheadracer

8,271 posts

259 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
adetuono said:
c5ragtop said:
Ade - try Simon Hartwell Citroen at Ferndown. Alternatively you could try and become "wiry and lithesome" but I guess the first option may be quicker!!


Wiry and lithsome? Not going to happen for a few years yet, is it? More like wary and loathsome.
Thanks for the info.


CAGS defeat is easy to fit. All you need is a decent trolley jack and a pair of axle stands. Or an uderstanding garage with a hoist.
Limbo under the car and you should spot where the CAGS defeat needs to plug in, I can't remember exactly where but you unplug a connector, plug in the CAGS defeat, job done.

Back to the original question.

Car needs servicing (i.e. oil change about every 10,000 miles. 6.3 litres of Mobil 1 = about £70 from Halfords make sure you get the correct grade (loads of posts about this on here))
Oil filter will cost you about £10 from Claremont Corvette or Bauer Millett for example. There used to be a Corvette Dealer in Bristol (Arriva I think) check if the local Vauxhall dealer still service them. Also is your car a UK spec? i.e. big rectangular red fog lights under the rear lights? If it is they should definitely service it.



Edited by vetteheadracer on Tuesday 24th October 21:53

LuS1fer

41,598 posts

251 months

Tuesday 24th October 2006
quotequote all
Arriva were the ones who shafted me. You don't want to know what they charged for a simple rear axle oil change on the Z28. Daylight robbery. I'm sure they don't do Chevy any more though.