Leaf servicing by an independent?

Leaf servicing by an independent?

Author
Discussion

Plastic chicken

Original Poster:

382 posts

209 months

Monday 19th February 2018
quotequote all
Mrs Chicken's '14-plate Leaf is due an annual service and she's a bit put off by the prices Nissan charge. A service comprises replacing a microfilter, changing brake fluid (why?), and performing a lot of basic simple checks (which I do anyway); for that Nissan charge around £150, which to me seems like a very expensive stamp in a service book.

Anybody used an independent? Recommendations (central Scotland/Glasgow area) would be most welcome, Mods permitting.

xjay1337

15,966 posts

123 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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What is there even to service??

I would agree with brake fluid change every 2 years.

Depends if it's under lease / pre - owned / used etc or if there is any manufacturer warranty left on the car itself or the batteries.

Plastic chicken

Original Poster:

382 posts

209 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
quotequote all
Car and batteries bought outright.
Nissan recommend a brake fluid change every year (which in Mrs C's case is about 4000 miles!).

anonymous-user

59 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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Plastic chicken said:
Car and batteries bought outright.
Nissan recommend a brake fluid change every year (which in Mrs C's case is about 4000 miles!).
Mileage isn’t relevant for brake fluid, it degrades over time. Having said that, every year is stupid. Most manufacturers say 3 years which is well on the safe side.

ex1

2,732 posts

241 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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It also includes 12mths breakdown cover and will help the future value. Hardly worth looking at an independent.

Buzz84

1,163 posts

154 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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More thinking out loud than any real knowledge here, but, with brake fluid being hygroscopic and electric cars having regenerative breaking.
Could it be possible that with the reduced use of the brakes the fluid degrades quicker? Less heat introduced into the fluid that would normally keep the moisture out?

Or just Nissan coming up with ways of keeping some income coming into the dealerships...

caziques

2,632 posts

173 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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I was told many years ago that moisture entered the brake fluid via the rubber hoses, changing it every year is madness.

Best thing to do would be to fit silicone brake fluid, end of problem.

As for getting a Leaf serviced at £150!

HTP99

23,095 posts

145 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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ex1 said:
It also includes 12mths breakdown cover and will help the future value. Hardly worth looking at an independent.
Especially for the grand sum of £150!

SCEtoAUX

4,119 posts

86 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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The £150 service is a major one, minor ones are around £100, so just over £10/month to have a full main dealer service history has to be good value.

blank

3,545 posts

193 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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caziques said:
Best thing to do would be to fit silicone brake fluid, end of problem.

You'd probably have a lot of new and expensive problems instead.

T5GRF

1,982 posts

269 months

Tuesday 20th February 2018
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The cost of a minor Leaf service is now £150. Nissan have apparently recently "standardised" servicing costs across all their model range so that all dealers charge the same. The net effect of this for Lead serving is at least a £50 increase for the minor service, it's a total ripoff but as ours is on PCP we're oblidged to use a main dealer for "servicing"

xjay1337

15,966 posts

123 months

Wednesday 21st February 2018
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REALIST123 said:
Mileage isn’t relevant for brake fluid, it degrades over time. Having said that, every year is stupid. Most manufacturers say 3 years which is well on the safe side.


On track I can tell notably if fluid is older than 12 months.

OverSteery

3,647 posts

236 months

Wednesday 21st February 2018
quotequote all
xjay1337 said:
REALIST123 said:
Mileage isn’t relevant for brake fluid, it degrades over time. Having said that, every year is stupid. Most manufacturers say 3 years which is well on the safe side.


On track I can tell notably if fluid is older than 12 months.
I was interested enough by that picture to follow it back to the article its from.

Rather interesting: http://www.epicbleedsolutions.com/blog/dot-brake-f...

do you really take a leaf onto the track wink


Edited by OverSteery on Wednesday 21st February 09:35

xjay1337

15,966 posts

123 months

Wednesday 21st February 2018
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No, of course not laugh

It's more to say that even 2 years old brake fluid is well past it's best and I personally wouldn't wait 3 years + .

anonymous-user

59 months

Wednesday 21st February 2018
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xjay1337 said:


On track I can tell notably if fluid is older than 12 months.
Frankly I very much doubt your final comment unless you’ve got a poor braking system it change regime.

As for the rest, your graph shows that Dot4 is OK until it’s got well over 4% water content. I’ve never seen that level of contamination in 3 years unless than there’s been an unusual event or condition that’s caused it.

Admittedly, it’s a few years since I was involved in doing that but I don’t think things have changed in that respect.


anonymous-user

59 months

Wednesday 21st February 2018
quotequote all
caziques said:
I was told many years ago that moisture entered the brake fluid via the rubber hoses, changing it every year is madness.

Best thing to do would be to fit silicone brake fluid, end of problem.

As for getting a Leaf serviced at £150!

Lots of reasons why ‘fit silicone brake fluid’ is a poor suggestion. Spongy brakes, corrosion risk, isn’t compatible with Dot4..........etc.

GT6k

887 posts

167 months

Sunday 25th February 2018
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Silicon fluid is a bad idea as you should only change brake fluid type is the system is being rebuilt. Apart from mixing fluid being a bad idea each fluid type contains swelling agents of a different type so if you mix fluids you are asking all the seals to swell and extra cycle which is not good.