This one is new to me so I thought I'd check with you kind people to find out what you think.

The OH has a 2006 MINI Cooper on finance with a baloon payment in the end which ends next year.

Last year around this time it had it's MOT and service at the same time to keep things nice and simple.

So as it has come up to the same time of year she has phoned to book the car in for the same again only to be told that she only needs an MOT and it won't need a service until a light comes up on the dash telling her it needs one.

Now this seems a bit strange to me as she doesn't do many miles a year so if it is mileage based it could be up to 3 years until it thinks it needs a service (I have no idea what the mileage intervals are so this is a bit of a guess) which is crazy!

When she told me this I also brought up the fact that the finance company probably requires that regular servicing is carried out because they have sold her a 'Mini approved' (for what that's worth) car and I would assume they would want something similar in return should she decide not to make the baloon payment.

Has anyone got any ideas about this? When I had my MINI it was a modified for track R53 S which I always put in to an indepandant garage so I never had to deal with any of the main dealer rubbish.

Thanks

Hi,

I can't comment on wether you must service the car for the finance company? i would only assume you would be required to do this if they have actually warrantied the vehicle, which means if it breaks down and they find out its not been serviced then this would void the warranty just like a new car.

With regards to the service , my partner does not do many miles on her car, about 5000 to 6000 per year but i always have it serviced once a year anyway, most of what is carried out on a service you can really do by yourself, the only thing that can be a task is the oil and filter change.

the main dealer will service the car as per the service indicators on the car's computer, ie based on mileage/how the car is driven, etc

may not be needed this year due to low mileage covered, but some people still believe in having the oil and filters changed once a year regardless.

really depends how you feel about it.

Iain

Thanks for the replies guys, I didn't realise how far apart the service intervals were but seeing as she runs the engine cold a lot (about 3 miles to work every day) I have convinced her that it would probably be best to get a service done.

The idea of the first service being done at 19000 miles shocked me!

my S gets an oil & filter change once a yr,i don't believe in these high mileage oil changes.

after some searching under the 07 onwards TLC pack the air filter gets it's first change @ 37k miles..