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Oil service - dealer attitude to Millers analysis

4K views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  Mamil 
#1 ·
Greetings all.
I am just after some info for the future regarding service plan oil changes.

I have previously sent my oil to millers for analysis. I am currently on 11250 miles and have had one oil change as part of the service plan.
My dealer has stated that as part of the service plan I will get two oil changes prior to the main 21000 mile service.

It is clear that my next oil change will be quite a mileage lower than the reset counter level on the car.

Has anyone experience with dealers attitude to being told that the oil has been analised and needs changing i.e. has the dealer referred to the mileage indicator and said no or have they taken the analysis report and done the oils change 'early'.

Thanks in advance
Elmo
 
#2 ·
Yes, twice I presented a Millers report recommending that the oil needed changing. Both times it was well before the service warning. OSH shows.

18/07/2017 5678 miles
Service Completed
Not Applicable
Other Related Items
Renewal of Oil and Oil Filter

05/09/2017 8346 miles
Service Completed
Not Applicable
Other Related Items
Renewal of Oil and Oil Filter

I said at the time that I couldn't see anyone arguing with a laboratory report. Whether they would today is anyone's guess.
 
#4 ·
To be honest, if your dealer is happy with providing two oil services before the 21k service as part of the service plan I'm not sure what the battle is, as 7k oil change intervals are probably quite safe.

Just beware that they will almost certainly apply the latest software which means the dilution limit increases from 6 tp 10% so your services will be less frequent...
 
#5 ·
Greetings again. My 'battle' plans are for two reasons.

Firstly to see if there is an 'official line' where dealers have been told to go by the car counter as if this is the case I will have very heavy oil dilution by the time the counter comes around. Secondly, having driven landrovers for over 25 years because I drive off road I did receive the 'driving style' speech when my oil needed changing after 5000 miles meaning I am likely to have three dilution issues before the 21000 mile service.

At my last oil change I was not informed that any update had been put on my car so I do not know if this was done or not. It is the 10% oil dilution issue that has sparked me to ask about this as 10% is far too much so I may be in for an argument when Millers say that my dilution is at an unacceptable level.

I am currently looking for information as to any dealer arguments / issues regarding using sound evidence of oil dilution just in case I need to go to the dealer prepared with some facts to argue my case.

Elmo
 
#6 ·
The whole service regime is a complete mess.

They don't just go off what the car says. They also have access to a dealer system that tells the dealer when the service is due (or rather when they think the service is due). This is very often wrong as the dealer system is not always aware of which software updates the car has had applied which causes the two values to get out of sync (service required at 6% oil dilution or 10% oil dilution, for example?).

The reason I know this is because I recently took my DS to my local dealer for an AdBlue top-up, software update, and a replacement OSR door card which inexplicably fell off (yes, really) one day. I took the car to them on the Friday morning and was told it would not be ready until the following Saturday morning. As I was leaving with my car on the Saturday morning, the "Service Advisor" advised me, "Did you know your car is about 80 days overdue for a service, sir?". WUT? :shock:

But how was I supposed to know this when the car did not inform me that it was 80 days overdue? Honestly, the whole service regime is a complete joke and if they had stuck to sensible, 10k or 15k service intervals then I'm sure we would all be a lot happier with the situation. As it is, they have grossly misrepresented the service intervals and caused mass confusion to owners and dealers alike along the way.

In actual fact, my car was not 80 days overdue for a service because I had not covered 21,000 miles since the last one and it was definitely not 2 years since the last one. Where they got 80 days overdue from is still a mystery to me.

Steve
 
#7 ·
Elmo -

I guess much depends on whether you feel plenty of off road use means the car is effectively in a more arduous duty cycle or still a normal one. It's unlikely at slow off road speeds that DPF regeneration can or will occur. (I wonder how LR service their LR Experience fleet given they spend most of the day pootling around slightly damp fields :) )

If you agree that your usage is arduous and not normal, then even if the DS could reach 21k miles between services, you would still need an additional oil change. So you wouldn't really be out of pocket with your current service plan in that case. So rather than going into 'battle' with your dealer, why not attempt sharing the cost by suggesting they charge you cost price on materials with some very cheap labour to make the oil change price more palatable, and that way you're still better off and they're not feeling like they're being squeezed to the n'th degree and can at least cover basic costs?

If JLR themselves are trying to reduce their cost exposure, it's quite possible that they will refuse to pay dealers for oil changes before the new 10% threshold is reached, which is not really the dealers fault.

Your problem then comes post your first 21,000 mile service as by your service plan, I suspect you will be covered only for the new 10% dilution level which I agree is too much. Even though you know that your 6% threshold = x,000 miles, JLR have moved the goal posts and left you with no way of either knowing when you hit 6%, or being able to call off interim oil services early. Again, a meet half way approach with your dealer may lead to a more creative use of service plan post 21k if they feel they're not going to be hugely out of pocket as a result.

As Steve says, the whole service regime is in a bit of a mess.
 
#8 ·
I presented LR CRC with an independent oil analysis report showing excessive silicon in my oil. They told me they couldn't accept analysis reports from anyone but a LandRover "approved" lab. Dealer asked CRC who was "approved" and they couldn't come up with any, thus proving it was simply a cynical attempt to duck the issue.
Cut a long story short, eventually we all agreed to use Castrol's own lab, and Castrol to their credit even covered the cost of the tests and two free oil changes. No silicon was found in the new tests, and it was put down to contamination of the previous sample. Make of that what you will....
 
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