Tips on servicing and maintaining your van

If you look after your van, you’ll be far less likely to get large repair bills in the future. Find out why your van’s service manual is your best friend, and how to locate a good garage and get a decent fair price.

•        How much does my van service cost?

•        How often should my van be serviced?

•        Caring for your van saves you money

•        Choosing when and where to get your van serviced

•        Tips for getting a fair decent price

•        The next step

How much does a van service usually cost?

The average cost of a basic interim van service is around £145. But, you will probably be able to get it cheaper than this if you shop around.

However, this does not include the cost of repairs if required, or the replacements or new parts.

How often should my van actually be serviced?

To keep your vehicle in the best condition it should be serviced each year.

However, there are some age and mileage milestones to be aware of. For example, the distance you  cover between oil changes.

These will be shown in the vans handbook/manual, along with the tasks needing to be completed.

Caring for your van saves you money

Getting your van serviced every year – and maintaining it between services – is money spent very well. Problems are likely to be caught early when they’re cheaper to fix, and your van will have a better resale value and last longer.

A well-maintained van is also way more efficient, so you’ll save money on fuel costs as well. If you need to claim on a warranty you’ll normally have to show your van’s got a complete service history record.

Get to know your van’s service manual well

Your van’s service manual is the key to keeping your vehicle in good repair and safe to drive.

Written by the people who designed and built your van, it shows:

•        How often you need to get your van serviced.

•        When the van’s replaceable parts might need replacing/swapping out.

•        How often regular maintenance tasks need to be carried out – i.e oil changes etc.

It’s also a good idea to use your service manual to plan for the cost of your van’s maintenance and repair costs.

To avoid spending money on your van if not required, follow the schedule in the service manual.

For example,  dealerships and quick oil change companies will typically recommend an oil change twice as often as your van may need it.

Watch out for dashboard warning lights

Most vans now have dashboard messages about a wide range of issues, including issues with the brakes, engine, oil and coolant/antifreeze levels, and tyre pressures.

Your van owner manual will explain what each lit up warning light message means and what you need to do about the issue.

A few of these messages may be particularly urgent – they mean you need to pull off the road and stop the engine urgently.

So if you see a lit-up warning message, check it out instantly.

It could save you significant repair costs later, or prevent you being a danger to other motorists.

The cost of skipping servicing can be significant.

When money is short it can be highly tempting to skip the servicing your van. But if you do this you risk bigger bills later on.

The cost of a service is less than the cost of having to replace many parts later because of damage through poor maintenance.

For example:

•        Radiator - £450

•        Water pump - £270

•        Engine exchange – £2,675

•        Cylinder head gasket – £540

Keep an eye on the cambelt/timing belt

Check your service manual to find out when your van is next due to have its cambelt - the camshaft drive belt or timing belt, replaced.

This varies from van to van, but is often needed at around 75,000 to 85,000 miles.

Cambelt/timing belt replacement can seem expensive (as much as £270 or more) but if it fails while you’re driving, you can face serious engine damage costing way more to fix than changing it when recommended.

Look after your tyres and monitor your tread.

Caring for your van’s tyres will not only save money, but keep it safe to drive.

If your tyres are in bad condition they could blow on a busy road or lose traction in poor/slippery  weather and cause a crash.

Stick to the tyre pressures in your manual and check them as regularly as possible.

Tyres over or under pressure wear unevenly and will need to be replaced sooner.

Another cause of uneven tyre wear is the wheel tracking being out of alignment, this can be checked and fixed at any garage with suitable facilities and expertise.

Depending on your van, tyres may cost anything from £70 to £150 each so it makes sense to get maximum mileage out of them where possible.

Choosing where to get your van serviced is critical

With higher overheads and staff commission, main dealerships are nearly always a more expensive choice for the majority of servicing and repairs than independent garages.

The average rate for a franchised dealer is appprox £92.11 per hour, while independent garages average cost is charged at £63.56 per hour.

On the other hand however, a dealership with a franchise for your make of van may have a better understanding of the faults that as standard tend to develop.

Finding a good independent garage is always difficult. At Book my MOT and service we pride ourselves in selecting the best most competent garages specific to the vans which are on the road today.

Top tip

If a garage you’ve not used before gives you a long list of work they say needs doing, always get a second opinion from another garage where possible, or look at the Garage reviews to see if they have a history of inventing or adding additional work. This will help show whether or not you can trust the first garage’s advice and costings.

To help you find an independent garage you can trust, at Book my MOT and service not only are our garages monitored for quality and price, but also monitored and reviewed too identify what history do they have for adding costs to bill. There tends to be a pattern where its the same garages which always charging for extras.

Look for a garage providing:

•        Open and completely transparent pricing.

•        Clear information and pricing about any problems.

•        Good quality work carried out as agreed and on time on budget.

How to complain about a garage

 

If you’re unhappy about the quality of a garage’s work, its charges or the way you’ve been treated, please leave a suitable review so we can follow it up and prevent this happening in future.

 

Tips for getting a fair price

 

Before contacting the garage, check in the service manual about the type of service your van needs (for example, 12,000-mile or 1-year) and the checks and tasks this should include.

Then follow our tips for getting the work done at a fair and decent price:

•        Ask the garage for a complete breakdown and costing of all the work required so you can see how they arrived at the cost. Make sure they include all parts, costing and include VAT.

•        Check the garage will Carry out the service following the manufacturer’s specification document, and use original parts or those of ‘equivalent quality standard’.

•        When looking at the many different prices, remember to compare like for like. Make sure you compare the same list of work and either use quotes or estimates, not a mixture of the two, and all prices include all VAT.

The difference between the quote and the estimate is:

•        A quotation is a statement to do the work at the price agreed, so you’ll normally likely have to pay this quoted price.

•        An estimate is what the garage thinks the work may cost before they start it – the final cost can be more or less, depending on what they see when they Carry out the work.

You may be able to save more by using an independent van servicing company on Book my MOT and service.com for an oil change than by using a chain such as Mr Clutch, Kwik Fit, national,  Halfords, or a main dealer.

Just make sure they use the grade of oil shown in your van’s service manual.