Service With No History

[mudinuri]

Have now decided to let garage carry out service.

Hi all,

I need my 1998 Rav4 serviced, but due to severe financial restrictions, or other words no money, I will have to carry out most of the work myself.

What I need to know is: As this car came with absolutely no previous history, and is now on 110000 miles what level of servicing would you suggest? Are there any aspects of the servicing that will require more knowledge or equipment than I possess? I don"t do high mileage, I don"t take it off road and basically it is only used as a shopping, occasional long run vehicle. I have no access to a Ramp.

The Cambelt/Auxillary belt and Water Pump have been replaced by my local garage but he wanted a further £250.00 to carry out a full service.

So any help or advice would be welcome. I will just add that I am no spring chicken and cannot readily clamber around or under anything.

Cheers

[Conrod]

If you can change the oil and filter, that's the most trick part of the job, laying on the floor and grovelling about ! then working in the engine bay, Air filter and spark plugs are easy to get at, fluid levels and tyres pressures are straight forward, then check all the lights.

That's the basic side of it, if it's has a recent mot, they would have check, brake/fuel pipes and other bits

warning....please don't tackle these jobs if you're not up to it, £250.00 is cheap as chips....not to do yourself a mischief !!

[mudinuri]

Hi Conrod,

Thanks for the advice, it is really appreciated.

I have always carried out my own servicing on practically every car I"ve owned but one of the penalties of getting old is the lack of mobility because I now find it difficult to go clambering over or under a car, that"s not to say I couldn"t do it if I had to, but I will heed your advice and have it done by professionals.

Cheers

Dave

[Conrod]

It makes sence Dave, I'm in my 50's but find I need to jack the car up higher , than when I was younger.....just to squeeze underneath :) :)

[gjnorthall]

Transmission oil changes are often overlooked and in the absence of a service history - I'd suggest getting this done at the service. You should be able to find an independent that can carry out a service roughly equivalent to Toyota's Service+ for under £200. Unfortunately getting a garage to carry out selected items of a service isn't always cost effective.

[mudinuri]

Good advice gjnorthall,

I do have trouble selecting first gear, so on flat ground I sometimes start off in second, I know that"s wrong but it saves having to sit there putting it in second and then trying to move the gearstick back and forth trying to select first, which sometimes is impossible to do.

I"ll make sure they do change the transmission oil and hope it may help in smoothing out the gear change.

I know what you mean Conrod, I"m in my early 70s and sometimes reminisce of the 1960/70s when I would take the engine out of my Mini Cooper, strip it down, repair it and replace it all in a day, I might be exaggerating, it may have been 2 days.

Happy days, things were much simpler then, no computers etc.

[gjnorthall]

Not just the gearbox but oil changes of the rear diff and front transfer box are often neglected - the oil volume involved is quite small.