Capped Price Servicing

French brand Citroen offers a capped price servicing plan that it dubs its Citroen Confidence Service Price Promise.The company backs it model range with a five-year capped-price servicing plan for its model range, from the Berlingo small commercial van through to the Grand C4 Picasso people mover.The service intervals vary depending on the model. All are due annually, but the distance varies between 15,000km and 20,000km.In terms of the costs? They’re high by class standards. See the table below for the full breakdown of the Citroen model range service intervals and costs, but almost $4000 over six years for a basic compact delivery van negates the initial affordability, to a degree.The brand offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty and a five-year roadside assist plan for its passenger car range, but the Berlingo suffers a shorter three-year/100,000km plan, with 36 months roadside assist cover. 

Audi Australia offers customers a capped price servicing plan that it labels the Audi Genuine Care Service Plan.

HSV is one of only a few car brands in Australia that doesn’t offer a capped price servicing plan for its models.

Service costs can crush your new-car budget but careful selection of your next vehicle can save thousands of dollars in ownership costs.

Despite Mazda’s world-leading Skyactiv-X technology doubling the complexity of the equivalent 2.0-litre petrol engine, it will cost no more or require any more frequent servicing, according to the brand’s global engine development boss. Speaking with CarsGuide at last week’s international launch of the Mazda3 Skyactiv-X in Germany, Eiji Nakai assured us that the engine won’t be accompanied by any ownership surprises.“No change to that, we make sure this engine can be used as per normal engines,” he explained.This follows the same pledge from SkyActiv-X technical research and control system boss Mitsuo Hitomi from the new tech’s preview event two years ago.  Hitomi-san also explained that the SkyActiv-X engine will use conventional spark plugs in lieu of expensive bespoke parts, and that the suggested oil will be no more exotic than that specified for conventional turbos, and the engine will continue to use a timing chain instead of a belt requiring regular replacement.This is despite the new engine being twice as complex as the existing 2.0-litre Skyactiv-G engine, with engineering parameters growing from 14-28. Incidentally, the existing Skyactiv-D diesel engines sit somewhere between the two for complexity.And while the Skyactiv-X engine may be more complicated, we understand much of this complexity lies within the sensors and computer power required to make it all work, rather than just mechanical elements. So when the new Mazda3 Skyactiv-X appears in local showrooms early next year, bank on the same 12 month/10,000km service intervals and circa-$1800 over five year servicing costs as the Mazda3’s conventional petrol engines, along with the recently implemented five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.The only big question mark hanging over the Mazda3 Skyactiv-X is how much it will cost to buy in Australia.

Motor vehicles, irrespective of whether they are bought new or second-hand, need to be serviced to maintain their reliability, safety and efficiency. Service intervals and the work required on your car depend on how you use your vehicle, the distance covered since the previous service and, if new, the manufacturer’s recommended intervals to satisfy the warranty conditions.