Low miles Fiat 500 1.2 servicing

[Louis Balfour]

We've a 2017 Lounge with 14k miles. If we try, we might do 1k miles this year.

Service schedule is supposed to be annual. But, despite my overwhelming urge to service it (because I hate missed services) is it rational to do it?

They used to be once every 2 years, and I am wondering whether to drop back to that.

Thoughts, chaps?

[jfdi]

Totally agree, it's madness to be changing oil on a car with 1000 miles when cars with longlife servicing can be years and 20,000 miles plus. Modern oil is far better than the old treacle.

Edited by jfdi on Friday 4th February 07:58

[832ark]

Just DIY it. Probably costs under £50 and an hour of your time to change the oil & filter.

[Sensibleboy]

There should be more to servicing than just oil changes though.
If it's sat outside in the damp for days on end then that won't do it much good. So brakes might suffer from corrosion etc, tyres suffer too. Everything still ages whether it's used or not.

[georgeyboy12345]

I like to think i’d get it serviced if I was in such a situation, but maybe I would leave it another year too.

[Chris32345]

If your the diy type I'd give the brakes a strip clean and re grease as they can be a bit of a weak point on these if not looked after

[Louis Balfour]

A service will cost me £200.

Will I devalue a £7500 car by more than £200 by skipping a service?

[E-bmw]

TBH there are as many potential issues with a VERY low miles/year car as a high miles/year car.

A service is/should be much more than an oil & filter change.

If it were my car & it were a keeper I would be finding somewhere I trusted to do a proper service on it.

[Baldchap]

Louis Balfour said:

A service will cost me £200.

Will I devalue a £7500 car by more than £200 by skipping a service?

Things do degrade over time, as well as wearing out over mileage.

If resale isn't a concern and you genuinely begrudge a proper service, I'd do an 'inspection' service myself with the manufacturer checklist. It'll probably be the most thorough service it's ever had!

[Louis Balfour]

The last service it had was at a Porsche garage. It felt just slightly faster afterwards.

[Sheepshanks]

Louis Balfour said:

If we try, we might do 1k miles this year.

What type of journey does that 1000 miles consist of? If it's 250 x 4 mile runs then I'd change the oil due to condensation getting into it. If the car is doing a decent (maybe 50 miles?) run fairly regularly then it should burn off.

I know this is 'Engines & drivetrain' but I'd say the best thing you could do for the car would be to strip and clean the brakes as they seize up and you'll knacker a pad of get the discs going rusty on the insides. Something you'll really need to do yourself - garages just seem to want to change discs and pads.

[AC43]

My wife has a 2015 1.2. I bought it in Sep 2020 on 16k and it's now on 18.5k.

I still take it to get the oil changed once a year, mainly to keep the service history fully up to date.