No one will deny that our cars play an important part when it comes to making our lives easy. It helps us to transport ourselves from one place to another with comfort. Now, as a responsible car owner, you know not to miss any car service cycle to maintain the car’s longevity.
Everyone talks about the importance of regular car servicing. But what nobody talks about is the importance of what to check before and after the service. There are certain sets of points that can come in handy to ensure a good quality service.
No matter how trustworthy and reliable your car mechanic is, even he can make mistakes or miss out on some point while servicing. So, it is always advisable to make a quick checklist of points to keep in mind before and after the car servicing.
Steps to Take Before Taking A Car for Servicing:
Knowingly or unknowingly, we sometimes forget to address the most important aspects of our car. Due to our busy lives, we often oversee them and later pay the price. The following steps will help you in taking certain steps before handing over your car to a mechanic:
- Walk Encircling Your Car
The best way to do that is to take a walk around the car to inspect any major scratches or dents. This will give you a clear idea about the defects that you can mention to the mechanic. Thus, ensuring you from any potential mechanic’s visit.
- Inspecting the Interiors
Inspect the interiors of the car and note small factors like the dirt on the seat, etc. This way, you can see the difference after the car returns from car service, and thereby you can know a little about their efficiency.
- Check Odometer and Tank
Take a note of the odometer reading and make sure to not fill up your tank before taking it to the car service station. You will never notice the difference is 1-litre fuel has been suctioned out. By doing this, you are taking the precautionary measure from getting duped.
- Remove all the Valuables
Remove all the expensive stuff from your car. You do not want any of those expensive items to get damaged during the servicing. Check your car’s glove compartment and remove all of your personal belongings.
Points to Check After the Car Service Is Done:
We have to check for certain points on a precautionary basis to investigate whether or not you received the quality service. These points will help you out in knowing your money’s worth.
- Ensure That They Provide You with the Job Sheet
It is a standard procedure that the car mechanic prepares a job sheet for every car service. The job sheet acts as a mode of communication between the mechanic and the service advisor. At the time of registering for the car service, the service advisor fills up the job sheet with inputs of various repairs from the customer.When you return to collect your serviced car, ensure that all the services listed in the job sheet have been completed. Sometimes, a mechanic can miss out on one of the services out of haste. You can avoid this by checking the car after servicing.
- Get an Itemised Bill
An itemised bill ensures that you know what item costs you how much. You can compare the quotes that the service advisor gave you for the same and enquire if the figures do not match. This way, you can be sure of not being overpriced for anything. The mechanics are humans, after all, and they can make a blunder. So, you should check the bill to ensure you do not have to pay for their errors.
- Take A Road Test with The Service Advisor
Be sure to never miss out on this step as the performance of the car is known only when you drive it. You can take a short drive to test the brakes and ensure there are no issues in the car before leaving the car service station. If, while giving your car for servicing, you specifically mentioned any sound coming from your engine, also check it. It is better to check it to raise an issue,at that time only, if not fixed.
By knowing this helpful before and after pointers, you can make sure that your car servicing is done properly. It will help you to get your money’s worth and will increase the longevity of the car as well.