To Service OR Not To Service...This Year?

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

That is the Question (as per the title)

Hi Guys

My other half carries out his annual service on his 2010 2.0 diesel T27 Avensis, by himself, yearly, and bang on time, a month before his annual mot is due! He takes pride with this vehicle.

The issue that we have is that he absolutely loves this car, however, we hardly make use of it nowadays. It used to be our main family & business vehicle at one point, ownership since the 09.01.16, however we are doing less if any business miles due to changes in life, and my Aygo is the vehicle we use for all our local commutes. I have advised him to sell it on however he cant bring himself to let it go.

My question is this, it was last serviced by him on the 25th August 2018 at 71658, he will always use dealer parts that we get at trade, currently the mileage sits at 72564, which equals to 906 miles covered in year!!! Do you guys think that it would still require a service? The last service covered sump washer, new oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter, pollen filter. Maybe at the bare minimum he could just do an oil change and oil filter change to save on costs.

I look forward to your opinion guys. 

Cheers

Sammy

[TonyHSD]

Hi,

manufacturer recommend 10k miles or 12 months service intervals, I think best for the car and for your record is to get the oil and oil filter change and air and pollen filters checked, get a new MOT and you are ready for another 12 months of joy and pride, or just sell it to someone who is going to use it regularly. Cars love to be used daily. 

Regards 

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi,

manufacturer recommend 10k miles or 12 months service intervals, I think best for the car and for your record is to get the oil and oil filter change and air and pollen filters checked, get a new MOT and you are ready for another 12 months of joy and pride, or just sell it to someone who is going to use it regularly. Cars love to be used daily. 

Regards 

I agree with you completely.

A. Change oil and filter only. Air and pollen are still clean and white and as new

B. Cars do love to be used rather than sit on driveways gathering dust n cob webs and....flat batteries too!

[mrfixer]

No point in changing the oil and filter. Oil deteriorates very little when the car is not used. Just give it a long drive to get everything hot and drive out any moisture.

[Stivino]

49 minutes ago, mrfixer said:

No point in changing the oil and filter. Oil deteriorates very little when the car is not used. Just give it a long drive to get everything hot and drive out any moisture.

I'll second that.

[SAM LOVERS HER TOYOTAS]

1 hour ago, mrfixer said:

No point in changing the oil and filter. Oil deteriorates very little when the car is not used. Just give it a long drive to get everything hot and drive out any moisture.

So no servicing required at all this year?

Thats interesting. It'd save him 60.00+ on parts i suppose.

I will let him know. I can still see him changing the oil incase of any moisture at the very least.

Any ideas as to the value of a t27 with that kind of mileage in pristine condition with a full motorsport bodykit if i can persuade him to sell up prior to his insurance renewal?

[talldave]

If it was me I'd change the oil and filter - even if it hasn't done many miles - this is fairly cheap and easy to do. Also you then have an annual service history when you do come to sell it.

[m456an]

I think my yaris only done about 1000 but after changing the oil and oil filter, it does go very quiet when running at standstill. mann filters very cheap from carparts4less. But I got the car for 950 without any service history and nursed it back to health. I did the other filters and spark plugs last year when I bought it.

Some people do say it is more important to change the oil if you do less miles as car fluids can become more acidic.

[mrfixer]

Owners worry excessively about oil changes. 

Engine failure through lubrication breakdown is almost unheard of nowadays unless gross neglect is involved. The base oil has a shelf-life of hundreds of years.  I have a Camry 2.2 that is 21 years old. It has covered 400 000km and always had the cheapest oil and filters - it still runs perfectly and burns negligible oil.

Engine oil has to be changed because the additive pack (dispersants, anti-foaming agents, viscosity improvers etc) does deteriorate with time and use, and of course the oil does shear down and oxidise with time and use. However if the car is not being used then the oil is not deteriorating much at all. If the 900 miles of use is 900 x 1 mile trips then the oil would be contaminated by blow-by and condensation and there is an arguement for changing it. If its 1x 900 mile trip then changing it would be a waste of time and money.

In my experience of working on lightly used cars it is the braking system that will deteriorate. Brake fluid absorbs water. Discs corrode and pistons and slide pins can stick through lack of use.

[TonyHSD]

Oil should be changed every 12 months even the car has only traveled 100 miles, if you don’t now you may don’t next year too and like that we have a nice looking car with neglected engine and high oil consumption. This is the case with many used cars especially the low miles one,  it’s not about worry to much it’s about taking care of your car. Brake fluid if car not driven will not get moisture, unless it’s a leak in the system, but you are right , check and lubrications is the most and should be done every two years, same apply for air con and anything else that is in the book. If you may skip any of this due to a lack of use or very little use , never skip engine oil and filter, this is most important it’s not expensive or difficult and it’s simply no worth it skipping it. 

[Stivino]

You obviously haven't reached the mileage that requires an oil change and, given that most oils have a five year shelf life and some manufacturers are only doing oil changes every two years, I wouldn't worry about it.