What is “Service”?

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 586, 12 February 1929, Page 6

What is “Service”?

The Owner and the Manufacturer

!N the glamour aiul excitement of buying a new car the majority of motorists are most concerned with the capital expenditure involved. They have, at various times, listened to the salesman talk about service and maintenance, but, when they drive away from the showroom, it is generally with a hazy notion that for three months or so the distributor will look after all the little things that may go wrong—free of cost.

This is right, up to a point. But in order to make the matter clear, any work to be done on the car from the moment of delivery, must *be divided into three distinct classes. 1. Free service. 2. Maintenance. 3. Warranty. Broadly speaking. Free Service is the initial adjustment of controls and tightening up of nuts, etc. —the cost to be borne by the agent. Maintenance is the running expenses due to legitimate wear and tear—cost to be borne by the owner. Warranty is the making good and replacement of defective material and parts—labour cost to be borne by the manufacturer of the machine. THE FIRST MOVE After a new car has been driven a couple of hundred miles it should be given a careful general inspection. Everything has, more or less, settled down in running, so that quite a number of nuts can be tightened up. Clutch and brakes may need adjustment and the fuel line and vacuum tank should be examined to sec that no particle of foreign matter has entered. Oil in the crankcase can, with advantage, be changed; the electrical system examined, and many other minor details looked into. This detailed examination, together with a further one at between 500 and 1,000 miles, is to the mutual advantage of both owner and distributor. The skilled labour to do this work is provided free of charge by the distributor, and 'is classified under the heading of free service. PERSONAL LIABILITY Now we will take the case of an owner who, one cold morning, treads on the self-starter pedal for half an hour in a vain endeavour to start his engine, only to find he has failed to turn the ignition switch on. Naturally, the battery will be rendered unserviceable, and so as the fault is entirely his own, he cannot expect the agent to supply him with a new battery free of charge. Another driver may seize his engine through failure to replenish water in the radiator or oil in the crankcase. The same argument will apply in this case. Careless dfivers Have been known to strip a gear in making a faulty change, but by no stretch of imagination can repairs of this kind be classified as free service. There is a further aspect tending

to complicate matters in relation to free service, and that is the great difference in mileage done by individual cars over the average period. A fair average estimate of three months’ running would be 2,000 miles, but in many cases, where the motor is driven for lon gperiods daily, the speedometer may register 5,000 miles. Within this distance it is quite on the cards that the motor will need decarbonising, and the valves ground in. Certainly it will be so if the owner has any regard for the future life of the machine. Labour and material for this -work is definitely a maintenance charge, and must be borne by the LINE OF DEMARCATION It must then be quite clear that before mutual satisfaction can be arrived at between the owner and agent the line of demarcation between free service and maintenance must be fully appreciated. Free service does not take into account repairs or replacements due to miles of running—that is fair wear and tear —or is due to carelessness or ignorance on the part of the owner. As would be expected in all keenly competitive commercial enterprises, the various distributors adopt different methods of supplying “free service.” Usually a service card is issued giving details of work to be done, the onus of submitting the car for examination at definite periods being upon the owner. Failure to comply with these conditions may render the service contract void. Again, when higher-priced cars are under consideration, showing, as they do. a greater margin of profit a machine, certain service work may be done as a matter of policy only, but

with the majority of moderatelypriced machines free service is definitely explained in this article. WARRANTY Warranty, as must be expected, if the matter is given careful consideration, is in a different category altogether. When all js said and done, any one of the components of a motor-car, whatever the price or type, is liable to break down at any time. Not that it often happens, 1 1 when it does, it is a matter for the makers—not the agents—to adjust. Here again, one very important fact must be kept in mind. The breakage or faulty unit must be definitely proved to have been defective before the terms of the warranty apply, and within some specified period. WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? A broken axle after a fortnight’s use is not prima facie evidence of a faulty part—it may have been due to unskilful driving on the part of the owner, and therefore outside the warranty gLiarantee. In addition, while manufacturers are ever ready—for their own sake —to replace faulty material, labour charges in doing this work are to be borne by the owner. Now that the difference between service, maintenance and warranty have been explained, there are other matters of vital interest to the motorist that have to be considered. They are service—after free service has expired—and flat rates. Both matters will be dealt with next week.