Service intervals - same car, different countries

bwana

bwana

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I was looking for the manual for my Mokka X and downloaded one from Vauxhall's site by mistake. When I looked at the service interval I noticed it was 20,000 miles (32,000km) instead of 15,000km as it is in SA.

Is there a valid reason for such a discrepancy or is just a money grab?
 
bwana said:
I was looking for the manual for my Mokka X and downloaded one from Vauxhall's site by mistake. When I looked at the service interval I noticed it was 20,000 miles (32,000km) instead of 15,000km as it is in SA.

Is there a valid reason for such a discrepancy or is just a money grab?
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Hotter climate and harsher conditions generally in SA, hence the shorter service intervals.
 
genetic said:
Hotter climate and harsher conditions generally in SA.
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Hotter climate, maybe, but harsher conditions in general? They have heat and cold to contend with.
 
I'd never service my car at such long intervals like 32k km anyway if you want the engine to last. Change the oil at least every 10-15k km.
 
genetic said:
Higher altitude, poorer quality fuel, more dusty conditions up north.
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According to the UK manual the European service intervals are valid for the following countries:

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Seems they would have a wide variety of conditions to contend with?

Neuk_ said:
SA also doesn't have the best quality fuel either.
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True.
 
bwana said:
According to the UK manual the European service intervals are valid for the following countries:

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom.

Seems they would have a wide variety of conditions to contend with?
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Indeed. I don't think there's any logic or actual science behind their service intervals. Europe / EU is painted with one general brush, Africa another.
 
supersunbird said:
Even stranger is when the towing capacity differs on same model between EU and SA.
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In some cases the engines and transmissions are slightly different for different regions - even though its the exact same model, but it's also due to engine tuning.

The Golf R for example was detuned to 213kW in SA vs that of 228kW in Germany - due to our hotter climate.
 
bwana said:
I was looking for the manual for my Mokka X and downloaded one from Vauxhall's site by mistake. When I looked at the service interval I noticed it was 20,000 miles (32,000km) instead of 15,000km as it is in SA.

Is there a valid reason for such a discrepancy or is just a money grab?
Click to expand...

I'd say that the most likely issue would be fuel quality.
 
Slightly off-topic...

My BMW 1 Series had a service interval every 30,000km. I kept to this, and at 135,000 km the valve stem seals were shot. That pretty much meant a top-end overhaul which would cost in the region of R40k! Got rid of it. Common problem on the N42/46 engines. Had I changed the oil every 10,000km I probably wouldn't have had that issue.

My current car's service intervals are also every 30,000km, but I change the oil every 5,000km or once a year. I tend to keep my cars for a while, so want them to last. Oil is cheap. Engines aren't.
 
genetic said:
Slightly off-topic...

My BMW 1 Series had a service interval every 30,000km. I kept to this, and at 135,000 km the valve stem seals were shot. That pretty much meant a top-end overhaul which would cost in the region of R40k! Got rid of it. Common problem on the N42/46 engines. Had I changed the oil every 10,000km I probably wouldn't have had that issue.

My current car's service intervals are also every 30,000km, but I change the oil every 5,000km or once a year. I tend to keep my cars for a while, so want them to last. Oil is cheap. Engines aren't.
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The service intervals for an E8x 1 series was that much?? Wow!

What are you driving now?
 
genetic said:
Indeed. I don't think there's any logic or actual science behind their service intervals. Europe / EU is painted with one general brush, Africa another.
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Cars tend to be kept longer in SA. If you only plan for it to last 5 years before being scrapped, the service interval won't affect the long-term engine reliability.
 
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