When you drop your car into a garage for a ’service’, do you actually have any idea what may or may not be done? As you hand-over your credit card, do you bother to read the invoice first, or just accept the cost with no explanation? I only ask because this week I encountered something that genuinely surprised me. Whilst assessing a car for part-exchange, I checked the service history booklet. There was a fresh service stamp dated just 2 days ago and according to the owner, it’d just been to a main dealer for what he’d assumed was a ‘full’ service. I thought I’d check the dipstick, hoping to see some lovely clean oil just below the MAX mark but was in for a surprise. The level was just above minimum and instead of being a golden treacle colour, it was jet black and pretty nasty. Not looking very promising so far, I had a check of the fuel filter – the metal canister was rusty on the outside and obviously hadn’t been changed for a while. Equally, the cabin pollen filter must have been equally disgusting as there was barely a trickle of airflow through the dashboard vents even with the blower fan on full speed! I didn’t even bother to check the engine air filter as I’m pretty certain that the story would be the same and that the engine was sucking in air through a crumpled wad of dirt and dead flies.So, I wondered, what ’service’ had this garage actually done for the best part of £200? As far as I could see, the answer was absolutely nothing. Now, call me naive but surely if you’re going to take money from a customer in exchange for goods or services, there should possibly be some quantifiable ‘product’ that you’re paying for? Perhaps the reason why I’m not likely to become rich as the proprietor  of a garage business is that when we charge customers for work, we actually incur some costs in buying  parts, and paying a technician to fit them. If we could simply charge for a service but do nothing, I’d soon be a millionaire. Unfortunately, I’ve got a conscience so rest assured dear customer that we’re not about to start simply taking money for nothing in the hope you don’t notice. The problem is that with modern cars generally so reliable and trouble-free, how can you tell whether it’s been serviced or not without actually resorting to opening the bonnet and checking everything? Of course, you shouldn’t have to – it’s simply a matter of trust. An itemised invoice showing the part numbers and description of all parts changed is a good place to start. At least you can see what should have been fitted. Better still, ask for the old parts back. Any reputable garage will have no problem in giving you a bag with all your old filters and spark plugs in. Even if you’re mechanically clueless, the fact that you asked for them might imply that you ‘know your stuff’ and so are less likely to become a victim.

As far as driving the car, it probably won’t feel much different (if it’s been regularly serviced before) but things you might notice will be that the handbrake lever doesn’t come up as far, and that if your windscreen washers were empty, they should now be full. Another good sign that a decent mechanic has actually been near you car should be a list of ‘advisory’ items that will need attention soon.  A good technician actually takes notice of what he sees during the service, and will make notes as appropriate to pass on to the owner.

A well serviced car willgenerally be more reliable, as well as far less likely to suddenly develop a massive and sudden failure of something expensive. The camshaft timing belt in a prime example – a simple rubber and fibre toothed belt that has to be routinely changed at anywhere between 40,000 and 144,000 miles (depending on make and model). Neglecting to change this vital component can end up destroying the engine an a clatter of bent valves and smoke!

So, back to the car I was checking-out and as soon as the deal was done, it was up on the ramp for a onceover. Needless to say, there was no evidence whatsoever of even having seen the sharp edge of an oily rag, let alone anything resembling an actual service. The camshaft belt was well overdue replacement, the pollen filter was completely clogged and worse still, the bottom crankshaft pulley was on the verge of disintegrating.  Having given it a real ‘full service’, replaced the camshaft belt, tensioners and bottom pulley and changed a

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