How to know,when to SERVICE a car??

Hi..

I always had this question in my mind, but never got a good thread to post this. Atlast, its here.

Well, we buy cars, we drive them, stay happy, bla bla bla, but how can we know, when our car needs a servicing ??

Lets say, I have a maruti Swift now, and all of my free servicing coupons are over as well. Now, I have to go for Paid servicing, but I dont know,when to go for. My friend says, Maruti will quote like 2000-3000 INR for each paid servicing for this and that , vague things.

So, how do we know,when to go ??

Right now, Im planning to go for a Skoda Superb and this same question also applies to this new car of mine. How do I know, when to go for a servicing ??

And Superb is a big computerised bag and on top of that, its an Automatic Trans Car with biggo DSG technology,bla bla bla. So, I fear, if anything can go wrong anytime. So, how do I know, when I have to go ??

Let me know . I really hate the HIGH charges of the Car Companies on those Paid Servicing things.

in case of LINEA,the car reminds you about the service schedule and it is 0 rs for the first and 2500rs for the second

with swift,even for free services i was charged rs.3200 every time

I got my Swift Free Services done for Free as I looked horrible, like Osama Bin Laden that time.

But my paid servicing did cost me around 2200 for 2 times. It did HURT , as my car had 0 problems to say.

These company guys only try to fool people. I curse them a big deal.

Well there are certain things to be checked/repaired/replaced routinely. The car's user manual will give you the complete schedule for the same (not just the 1st/2nd service etc).

Look for a table or matrix that shows when to check, when to restore, when to replace against each item.

For example (this is neither accurate nor representative of any specific user manual):

 And so on.

Hope that helps.

Edit: In addition to the above, make it a habit to check the engine oil evry 3-4 weeks - note that you would be doing your car a favour if you change oil regularly - the more frequently the better (of course within practical/reasonable limits of time and money).

This is not a waste of money at all. The service makes sure that the car will remain with o problems till the next service.They do go through a lot of checklists and take corrective measures along the way.

Consider the same as 'Prevention' rather than 'Treatment'(as in repair) and the 2K would really make sense.

Do have a look at this on the sidelines.

HOW?  Really? oh God!!

yes,they charge phenomenal amount extra for wheel balancing and alignment(even if you ask them not to do,they always do) and they purposefully remove the park lamp fuse,for which when you take the car back to ASS they charge rs.300 to fix the fuse,oh my god,i will never ever buy another maruthi again

Bala, yours seems to be a case of the dealer taking the customer for a ride and the latter being too soft on these guys in spite of the knowledge of the actual costs and facts.

Technically you have paid for optional jobs from the dealer side and not for the 'free service' parse, which was indeed free.Cant blame Maruti for the same.

The fuse issue is also related to the dealer and not to the free service. Here i guess we should draw the distinction between poor dealer practices and widespread manufacturer disregard.

OT: If manufacturers do not monitor their dealers and ASCs then they too should be held responsible. After all manufacturers won't give away things for free would they?

Yeah, they talk about wheel balancing and alignment and make it 2000 INR. BADDDD!!!