What did you do to your UK S550 Mustang Today

[Harebear72]

Dropped off at Ford this morning for a service, MOT and the brake fluid change they recommended

Why did you fall for their trick of the Brake Fluid Change ?? I have been told that unless you are tracking the car and the brakes have a hard life - excessive use and the chance you are cooking or boiling the fluid, that this is just another ply to get more money out of us.
I was told by a very reliable source that the brake fluid is good for quite a while.

My car is almost 5 years old in March 21 with only 21k on the clock, mine should not need doing for some time.

I personally am not a mechanic, this is just what I have been told.

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[Gregs24]

Why did you fall for their trick of the Brake Fluid Change ?? I have been told that unless you are tracking the car and the brakes have a hard life - excessive use and the chance you are cooking or boiling the fluid, that this is just another ply to get more money out of us.
I was told by a very reliable source that the brake fluid is good for quite a while.

My car is almost 5 years old in March 21 with only 21k on the clock, mine should not need doing for some time.

I personally am not a mechanic, this is just what I have been told.

Brake fluid is hygroscopic and usually the boiling point is tested at a service. That water will damage the lines and components with time. It is not a trick, most manufacturers recommend a change every 2 years. I suppose it depends what you are going to do with the car. 3 year lease and hand it back - why bother it will probably be fine as any damage or problems will not affect you. High performance car that you intend to keep - every 2 years. By 5 years it needs changing !

 

[Kristian87]

Brake fluid is hygroscopic and usually the boiling point is tested at a service. That water will damage the lines and components with time. It is not a trick, most manufacturers recommend a change every 2 years. I suppose it depends what you are going to do with the car. 3 year lease and hand it back - why bother it will probably be fine as any damage or problems will not affect you. High performance car that you intend to keep - every 2 years. By 5 years it needs changing !

I have a lot of faith in this dealership, they went out of their way and spent way more time than they were paid to resolve my warranty issue. I'd usually be wary of such things, but I'm at 28k miles now, and there's been a good amount of mixed driving so thought it would be worthwhile. Their reasoning was that on my last service, the fluid was showing signs of moisture - which makes sense based on the above.

Also, this was my second freebie service from Ford (compensation for a warranty fiasco!) so an extra £50 was no bother.

 

[hinch]

Haha, if I had the space to do it, I'd gladly wash it for you! As it stands I live in a flat, and all my detailing kit is at my parents an hours drive away! Not ideal, but hoping in the next couple of years I'll get this double garage I've been dreaming of

sounds like a good excuse for a long drive out in the mustang

 

[WD Pro]

I have a lot of faith in this dealership, they went out of their way and spent way more time than they were paid to resolve my warranty issue. I'd usually be wary of such things, but I'm at 28k miles now, and there's been a good amount of mixed driving so thought it would be worthwhile. Their reasoning was that on my last service, the fluid was showing signs of moisture - which makes sense based on the above.

Also, this was my second freebie service from Ford (compensation for a warranty fiasco!) so an extra £50 was no bother.

I have a service plan on my Kia - pretty sure they have done the brake fluid three times now, it's defo had it done at least twice but I cant be arsed going digging out the paperwork to check lol.

61 plate, it's just had its ninth service and it's on approx 60k

WD

 

[Kristian87]

Dropped off at Ford this morning for a service, MOT and the brake fluid change they recommended

Just got a video health check through, mostly all is in good condition. Slight excessive wear on the inner edge of front tires. Brakes will no doubt need new parts next year at some point!

However, in the techs words "a quite serious oil leak in the rear diff". He thinks it's the front seal

Doesn't sound like too big of a job, but not what I wanted to hear! Anyone else had a diff leak issue?

 

[svfinnishline]

I found simply complaining gets you discount

Yes that was how I approached it. I called A-plan, said the cost was too much, and then went down the list of things 'how can we reduce the premium'. So 6000 miles a year down to the minimum 1000. Value of car reduced to market value from the brand new price I insured it for last December. I was offered a whopping £23 reduction for those changes. I said to the agent "that doesn't seem like good value for the money - does it? I've driven about 550 miles since buying her, so thats about £1/mile. Leave it with me while I shop around."

Not slagging off A-plan Thatcham here at all, as they come recommended through the various threads here - I think this is only an indicator of a market I don't understand at all!

I'm guessing I overpaid originally, and maybe part of the algorithm they use to calculate premiums says 'if he paid that much last year, chances are he will pay it again, particularly as his insurance runs out in 10 days.'

 

[Wildblood]

Why did you fall for their trick of the Brake Fluid Change ?? I have been told that unless you are tracking the car and the brakes have a hard life - excessive use and the chance you are cooking or boiling the fluid, that this is just another ply to get more money out of us.
I was told by a very reliable source that the brake fluid is good for quite a while.

My car is almost 5 years old in March 21 with only 21k on the clock, mine should not need doing for some time.

I personally am not a mechanic, this is just what I have been told.

On the Brake Fluid question, Standard Dot4 Mineral oil should be changed every three years as it absorbs water. Dot5 Silicone Brake fluid does not have this issue, so change to this if your contemplating keeping the car.

 

[Vlad Soare]

No, no, no, don't use DOT 5! Our cars are not compatible with it.
It may not absorb water, but it has other undesirable properties which outweigh that. Besides, not absorbing water isn't necessarily a good thing.

 

[raptor17GT]

checked insurance quotes, LV are coming out the lowest on the ole comparison websites and just a tad lower than my Admiral renewal. Anyone know if LV contact centres are UK based, I think they are but anyone spoken to them recently ?

 

[Kristian87]

However, in the techs words "a quite serious oil leak in the rear diff". He thinks it's the front seal

Bit of a faff yesterday afternoon. After not being able to find the part, the dealership almost settled on buying a whole rear diff housing @ £465! As that's all they could find available through Ford UK. After a quick search I found this https://lmr.com/item/LRS-4851/s550-mustang-mt82-113mm-pinion-flange-2015-17 which then steered them to that part in Germany - phew! Parts being replaced to resolve the oil leak are circled, fingers crossed that's me sorted after that.

Annoyingly, they've advised against driving the car and booked me in on 11th Jan. Part may well come in to them next week, but with Christmas there's obvious delays. Oh well, at least if I can scrounge some lifts then I can have a few drinks and not worry about driving haha

 

[WD Pro]

If it helps, here is the parts list for the diff rebuild kit (supplied to me by ford performance) :

WD

 

[Kristian87]

If it helps, here is the parts list for the diff rebuild kit (supplied to me by ford performance) :

WD

Very helpful mate, thanks!

Frustratingly hard to come by this info. Hopefully I don’t need it! But great to have it for reference

 

[raptor17GT]

(yesterday) renewed insurance, went to LV (uk call centres) from Admiral (overseas call centres except cancellation team apparently). Phoned up Admiral to cancel autorenewal on policy and low straight off they offered 1/4 off the renewal without me even asking! They seemed surprised when I said I'd rather go with LV despite being 100quid more than the latest offer from Admiral - I am moving house next year so stuff calling overseas again to go through that pain (again)

 

[Benzo1982]

A much needed wash...

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