Question on scheduled service

[joemilitary]

My car automatically tells me when I need a service. A note pops up on dash board and stays there until serviced. The free service period for the car just expired , so I don't want to take it to the dealer anymore.

Can pep boys or whatever do the service and turn the light off ? Or is it something that must be done at the dealer?

Thanks

[ArchietheDragon]

Jul 6, 2015 12:22:09 GMT -5 joemilitary said:

My car automatically tells me when I need a service. A note pops up on dash board and stays there until serviced. The free service period for the car just expired , so I don't want to take it to the dealer anymore.

Can pep boys or whatever do the service and turn the light off ? Or is it something that must be done at the dealer?

Thanks

Most likely that is just an oil change indicator.  Any place that does oil changes should be able to reset the indicator light.   

[joemilitary]

Thanks arch, but doesn't the dealership also rotate tires, and other "service " related stuff as required by the manual?

[ken a.k.a OMK]

The light comes on after a predetermined amount of mileage for scheduled maintenance including oil change. You can reset the light yourself. Your owners manual should tell you how. With my RAV4 you hold down the trip odometer button while turning on the ignition key. They are tied into the mileage.

[joemilitary]

So according to this guy in the repair shop they never rotated my tires....had the car for 3 years PurchSed new. First new car in over 10 years (good ym'er)

[joemilitary]

Took my car for tire repair. Ran over a screw. Sorry to combine 2 things in a thread.

[ArchietheDragon]

Jul 6, 2015 12:44:42 GMT -5 joemilitary said:

Took my car for tire repair. Ran over a screw. Sorry to combine 2 things in a thread.

You got screwed. 



Sorry, that was a cheap shot. 

[andi9899]

Jul 6, 2015 12:22:09 GMT -5 joemilitary said:

My car automatically tells me when I need a service. A note pops up on dash board and stays there until serviced. The free service period for the car just expired , so I don't want to take it to the dealer anymore.

Can pep boys or whatever do the service and turn the light off ? Or is it something that must be done at the dealer?

Thanks

Yes. It shouldn't be a problem.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

If your car is outside of warranty, then it's best to take it to a good mechanic.  I've been pretty lucky in the last few places that I have lived, I've managed to find good people to work on my cars.  Click and Clack's web site has some good suggestions.  

www.cartalk.com/mechanics-files


When I took my Subaru in for a 30K PM, the dealer wanted $600, my mechanic $200 and as there is a scheduled list of things to check/replace, the dealer isn't necessary.

[alabamagal]

My car has an oil change light. But it is set by the mechanic who does the oil change. My car says recommended oil change is 10k miles but I have had mechanic set it to 3k. And it is so annoying you can't ignore it. So I took it back to the place that changed my oil and told them to set toanufacturer recommended interval.

[tskeeter]

Jul 7, 2015 12:33:17 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

My car has an oil change light. But it is set by the mechanic who does the oil change. My car says recommended oil change is 10k miles but I have had mechanic set it to 3k. And it is so annoying you can't ignore it. So I took it back to the place that changed my oil and told them to set toanufacturer recommended interval.

Oil change intervals depend on what type of oil was put in the car.  Conventional motor oils are generally changed every 3,000 - 5,000 miles, depending on whether you do a lot of city driving or whether the driving is mostly highway.  Full synthetic motor oils are generally changed every 7,000 - 10,000 miles, depending on where you drive.  Many of the newer cars recommend use of synthetic oils because they deliver slightly better gas mileage and because they reduce the frequency of oil changes. 

[jambo101]

Jul 6, 2015 12:22:09 GMT -5 joemilitary said:

My car automatically tells me when I need a service. A note pops up on dash board and stays there until serviced. The free service period for the car just expired , so I don't want to take it to the dealer anymore.

Can pep boys or whatever do the service and turn the light off ? Or is it something that must be done at the dealer?

Thanks

Theres a maintenance schedule for your car in the owners manual that came with the car,it would be in your best interest to follow that schedule rather than wait for a light to come on to tell you its time for a particular maintenance issue to be addressed.