Did you know?

The more you drive (more frequently, more miles per month), the slower your service countdown goes?

I got to the end of my warranty (50k) BEFORE I got to my 45k checkup. I called my MA, and he said 'Yep - that's what it does.'

That should be illegal.

Comments?

 

I hear you about the strange service intervals. I took my car in for the interval, and all they did at 50K was change the oil.

Fearing that I would go over 50K with about 10 broken things on my MINI, I couldn't drive more than 10 miles so I could stay under 50K to not void the warranty. They like to deny coverage if you go over 50K, and they were fairly difficult to get an appointment with.

I don't trust at all how they service our vehicles. They are instructed to ignore broken things and defects unless we bring it up!!! I hired an independent mechanic to go over it before it went off warranty.

 

If my memory serves me correctly, the service interval counter is dependent upon how often you start your car, number of spark cycles, etc.

Consequently, if you drive lots of freeway miles at cruising speeds, your odometer will climb at a faster rate than the rate at which your service interval mileage will count down. One solution is to floor the gas pedal often and drive like you stole it.

 

The exact algorithm is a closely guarded secret. At least MINI wasn't willing to fess up when I e-mailed a question about it.... (I received the typical it varies by a number of factors... yada, yada, yada... reply.)

Other than during initial break-in, freeway miles at 50 - 70 mph and ~70 degrees F is the ideal operating environment for the car. If that is where you spend most of the time driving, you could see the service interval counter appear to stall (no count-down). Driving the car like you stole it, might get the service counter to move faster, but it might also result in reduced service life on the car....