Engine 850: B5254S/2.4/20v: Oil change at National tyres Not bad !!

[bluecube50]

Just had an oil change at National Tyres ,
6 ltrs of Magnatec 10/40 plus new filter and oil disposal, all for £50, PLUS I went on the website and printed off a 10% discount voucher so £45 all in.

Do you think thats a good deal ? obviously not as cheap as DIY, but sitting in a warm waiting room with a coffee for 30 minutes beats laying on my cold damp driveway fiddling about !
(96 20v 850 petrol estate)

[byootox]

I've seen cheaper prices but I think it was cheaper oil too.
And... as you said sitting in the waiting room with a coffee is probaby worth it if your not inclined to lie under car draining the oil out.
I just done mine, 5/40 Quantum fully synthetic in mine but I wasn't paying for the oil :-P
The price is usually reflected by whether it's a just a load of cheap bulk oil being put in or good quality oil like the Magnatec.

[Luxobarge]

Did they drain it properly via the drain plug, or suck it out via the dipstick tube? If the latter, then that's not a great oil change as it doesn't remove all the oil or all the gunk from the sump. If the former, then yes, not bad value I guess.

[bluecube50]

They did drain it, and I considered a flush through for an extra £8, but decided against it, as I will do my own in the spring when its a tad warmer, and I will have put another 6/7000 miles on the clock

[yeti76]

I personally wouldn't use a flush on an older engine unless it has been done since new.

Just getting the engine nice and warm before an oil drain suffices. I always prefer to do my own oil changes as you can use your patience to wait till every last drop falls. Garages tend to rush as ramp time is precious to them and like said previously the horrible suction change through the dipstick is a common occurrence in most chain garages.

[bluecube50]

Originally Posted by yeti76

I personally wouldn't use a flush on an older engine unless it has been done since new.

Just getting the engine nice and warm before an oil drain suffices. I always prefer to do my own oil changes as you can use your patience to wait till every last drop falls. Garages tend to rush as ramp time is precious to them and like said previously the horrible suction change through the dipstick is a common occurrence in most chain garages.

Thanks for the info, in fairness the guy at National did warn me off a flush, as I wasnt sure if one had been done before.
They did drain, but the they werent very busy today.

[byootox]

The reason is simply if the flush dislodges a bit of carbon it could block an oil way...

[brickman]

Do they really have those dipstick oil suck jobs in the UK? I saw them in Japan/S.Korea about 15 years ago, then they started to get popular in the states but never thought they'd make it t the UK.

Oil flush's can do just that, esp with highly strung engines (not sure if the volvo 5 pots fit into that category?) as it doesn't take much to block or restrict an oil way/galley/feed.

I did my TDI the other day.
Oil/Air/Fuel filter + A3/B3 spec'd (6 litres of) 5/40 fully synth for £43.50 all in. Took me about an hour, though most of that time was spent wrestling the fuel filter, to do just oil + O/A filters could be done in 15 minutes as its a super easy one to do, you don't even need to jack the car!

Easiest car I've ever come across to service was the 200x-present fiat 1.3 JTD and the VAG 1.2 & 1.4 3cyl TDI motors. Again don't have to jack them, the oil filters are high up and easily accessible inside re-usable plastic housings that just take a 1/2" drive to undo / refit. The sump drain & filter both drain into the same area so you don't have to move the oil pan. You can literally do the oil in 10 mins, 3 minutes of that is drinking tea whilst it drains.

[krussel]

Sounds a fair deal to me. The main thing is that its done and prob only cost the price of a large pizza more than doing it yourself.

Sod being a diy hero in this weather as it was snowing down south today.

[bluecube50]

Originally Posted by krussel

Sounds a fair deal to me. The main thing is that its done and prob only cost the price of a large pizza more than doing it yourself.

Sod being a diy hero in this weather as it was snowing down south today.

Ha Ha my thoughts exactly.