You can save hundreds of dollars – and in some cases thousands – if you organize your servicing outside the authorized dealer network. And your warranty absolutely will survive if you play by three simple rules.
Here’s everything you need to know to save big bucks and keep your warranty on track.
Frankly...
Read More
Cheap car service can help prevent a much bigger bill down the track
Cheap car service lays down the same foundations for reliability as reasonable diet and exercise does for you. Unfortunately, cheap car service is also seen by car owners as something of a ‘grudge’ purchase – you pay for car service (even cheap car service) only because if you don’t, your car will let you down. Cheap car service is also one of the first things people scrimp on when times are tight – an example of profoundly false economy when something preventable goes wrong, leaving in its wake a repair bill you can’t jump over.
Here's how to buy into cheap car service cost-effectively
Cheap car service doesn't necessarily void your warranty. You don't need to get your car serviced at the 'factory approved' dealership to preserve its warrant
THis post is about how cheap car servicing affects your warranty. Cheap car servicing - from a competent mechanic - can save you hundreds, compared with getting your car serviced at a factory dealership. And it need not void your new-car warranty. New cars in Australia typically come with a three- to five-year warranty. As a new car buyer, it's easy to believe that getting the car serviced at the dealership is the only option. Nothing could be further from the truth
Never get under a car supported only by a jack … & other weighty issues
Plenty of jobs – for example replacing the brake pads – involve jacking up one corner, or one end, of the car. You can do that with the standard jack that comes with the car, or an aftermarket jack like a trolley jack that’ll achieve the same result (bit of the car up in the air) quicker.
Degrease with petrol and you’re playing with fire – literally
Petrol is in theory a very effective degreaser. It’s just not a safe one, however, because it has the somewhat pesky habit of evaporating very easily to form an explosive mixture in air. It’s just not a good idea to clean dirty mechanical parts in an environment that envelops your head in an explosive cloud.
