Servicing from home

If you think that modern cars are too reliant on electronics to service at home, think again.

There’s a misconception that modern vehicles present an insurmountable challenge to DIY servicing due to the sheer amount of electronics involved. Understandably, motorists fear that one simple mistake might render the car undriveable. Although you need to respect the proliferation of sophisticated circuitry that is vital to the correct running of a typical everyday vehicle, conventional petrol and diesel-powered cars remain mainly mechanical beasts. Routine maintenance and servicing is not only possible in your home garage, or on a driveway, but can also save you pots of money.

This feature gives a straightforward overview of the major items that require attention between every major service at one- or two-year intervals, as well as how the procedures might differ between vehicles.

Obviously, it can include neither every single requirement for specific makes and models, nor more involved jobs such as timing belt changes, DSG transmission fluid flushes, etc. For these, consult CM’S back issues, to see if our regular DIY Servicing features have covered your car, or whether we have run a special feature detailing a specific job. The CM website at carmechanicsmag.co.uk has a comprehensive index that gives details of all vehicles and jobs that have been covered in the magazine back to 2005.

Making preparations

If this is your first attempt at car maintenance, you might need to buy a toolkit. Remember that many cheap tools are poorly made and can make a simple task immensely difficult, so treat such purchases as a lifetime investment. This doesn’t mean that you have to buy the most expensive, especially if the tools are only to be used occasionally, but try not to prioritise the lowest price points alone.

If your budget allows, buy a decent set of overalls, a suitable oil drain pan, a jack and axle stands, some drive-on ramps, a pack of latex/nitrile gloves and, unless you are particularly adept at ‘shoulderwalking’ under a car, a crawler board.

At the very least, an annual service should include changing the oil, oil filter, pollen filter and, possibly, spark plugs and the fuel filter, as well as cleaning the air-conditioning system. Budget for consumables, too, such as grease.

Interrogating the vehicle’s various electronic control units (ECUS) is part of a typical service schedule and can be carried out at home with the correct equipment.