TECHNICAL Tech Advice
…established a new van rental firm in 1997 and realised that Fiat had great products but some pretty awful dealers; quickly Nick had to become an expert on the Ducato and has not looked back since
Following on from last month's article about spotting potential problems, we're going to take a look at servicing and other routine work, plus some of the most common issues and what to do about them.
This seems to have been driven by the need to reduce the maintenance cost of a lease vehicle but without consideration that many lease cars are neglected already and that front brake pads may not last that long.
Now it is typically 30,000 miles or two years for 2-litre and 2.2-litre diesel vans and motorhomes respectively. I think this is too long.
Consider that the Alfa Stelvio uses a closely related 2.2-litre engine to that in the latest Ducato and that requires an oil change every 12,000 miles or two years. So, we can consign the recommended intervals to the scrap heap where a valuable motorhome with a lifespan of maybe 20 years is being examined.
My recommendation? It depends on annual mileage, but few motorhomes cover more than 10,000 miles per year and those that don't will probably cover a fraction of that and will be subject to longer periods of inactivity, which is in itself not good for things that need good lubrication.
So let's agree that for a motorhome, a service interval of 10,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first, is best.
This is easy to remember and, if you want to get one service caried out by a franchised dealer during the warranty period, and two more elsewhere, there is no harm in that. You are doing the required services and more for your
