This Zoe Brake Fluid change surprised me cost wise.

 

 

 

Edited 20 April, 20224 yr by roottoot

1:55 "I believe it's just Renault"

 

 

"special EV brakefluid" 🤣

Using a good Mobile EV Mechanic might be what is 'simply clever' for people who own keepers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 2 April, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

Very informative & helpful as usual. 

 

 

 

 

What lubricant is being used to spray on pretty much every hinge/latch/lock? Doesn't look like standard WD-40.

 

Are cheapo £15 water content tester okay for brake fluid testing?

 

That brake maintenance part is really useful and probably applies to all EV's. I've done some of it when replaced my front brake disk+pad about 3 years ago due to corrosion. Pollen filter I've done myself.

1 minute ago, wyx087 said:

What lubricant is being used to spray on pretty much every hinge/latch/lock? Doesn't look like standard WD-40.

Usually a white silicone lubricant spray is used, which is much better than WD40 (which is basically a water displacer not a lubricant).

You do get different WD40 products other than the original jack of all trade one that can leave metal unprotected.  Hence rusty push bike chains on kids and adults bikes.   I use WD 40 bike chain spray on various stuff I want lubbed / protected . 

 

 

Might be of interest to @ColinD

 

 

 

 

Edited 26 July, 20223 yr by roottoot

Good to see dealerships are being warned not to Milk it with EV's by hiking the labour rate to try and make up for the loss of income from marking up on engine oil or consumables. 

http://www.am-online.com/news/aftersales/2022/08/12/dealerships-warned-off-labour-rate-ramp-up-to-mitigate-ev-service-savings

 

3 hours ago, roottoot said:

Good to see dealerships are being warned not to Milk it with EV's by hiking the labour rate to try and make up for the loss of income from marking up on engine oil or consumables. 

http://www.am-online.com/news/aftersales/2022/08/12/dealerships-warned-off-labour-rate-ramp-up-to-mitigate-ev-service-savings

 

 

Happy for the first service for the Zoe at £99, incl VAT.  

Clio TCE 0.9, only 3 cylinders, needs to go in for a B service so plugs change and air filter as well as oil and filter, £257, hmm.

 

Running cost so far in 8k miles about £100 cost of electricity.  Overall running cost then pretty damn low.  PCP payment £288 a month. Cheap motoring.

Works car allowance 9k a year before tax. Shame my company does not do EV salary sacrifice. 

 

Oh and Skoda Fabia just cost me £750 for cambelt, thermostat and water-pump replacing, thank God it is zero tax and 75 mpg else that would be going out for sale.  

 

@lol-lolWhat servicing was done, was the pollen filter changed or anything else or was it just a EVHC. 

25 minutes ago, roottoot said:

@lol-lolWhat servicing was done, was the pollen filter changed or anything else or was it just a EVHC. 

 

It will be cabin filter and the 50 point or so inspection, tyre kicking thing. 

 

Want to keep up the fsh and now due to get the Megane e for a couple of days when it hit our shores. 

 

The YouTuber Battery Life seem to say it stacked up well against his ID3. 

 

220 hp megane EV a little tame off the line with it being over controlled and slightly slower than rwd ID3 despite more power. 

 

I really wondered what i would get in a years time as you can only order a new car from Motability in the 3 months before the lease expires.

I asked today knowing that things can change but asked anyway what the situation might be about the lease being extended until a new car becomes available.

The reply was that since i have paid such a high advance payment i can very likely get up to 2 years of an extension on the lease which i could then end at any point. 

As long as the car is still behaving then that is what i would do unless something that really appealed was available with no advance payment.

A Renault would be fine or the new MG but as it is no reason to give it too much thought.

The Corsa will likely get new discs and pads as they are a mess of corrosion.  It will be due a cabin filter and maybe them finding out why the coolant is dropping. 

58 minutes ago, roottoot said:

The Corsa will likely get new discs and pads as they are a mess of corrosion.

I had to do it on my Leaf as well. It's sad that brake disks lasting 100k was advertised as a feature of EV's yet they have to be changed before they wear out.

 

From what I read with Tesla, they don't blend brake with regen braking. Everytime using the brake pedal will actually use scrub the brake, hopefully that means less chance of corrosion when driving normally and use the brake every so often when misjudged regen.

On 15/06/2020 at 18:55, roottoot said:

This Zoe Brake Fluid change surprised me cost wise.

 

 

 

So many things I could pick out of this video....

 

Specialist EV brake fluid - no its just DOT 4

More expensive than servicing a normal car - No its £170 at his prices every 4 years... £42 a year

Locking out the HV system - He only states hes working near the system, not had to disconnect any components or work on any HV components so there should be NO need to disconnect the service loop, Youre 'working' near the HV system when you drive the car, its no different, a safe system shouldnt need locking out to touch any of the components externally or even work near them.

Specific to the Zoe, which everyone knows has 2 problems, its a renault, and its a zoe.

At 4 years brake fluid is still testing okay so could go even longer.

45 minutes to lock the EV system out - takes all of 5 minutes to disconnect the battery, lift the plate and pull the service fuse

30/40 minutes doing the standard brake bleed - a decent bleeder will do it all in 10/15 mins max if youre pulling a full litre

I get they have to charge standard labor times opposed to how fast they work but dont make a video saying things take this long - say the book time is X amount...

 

 

Now if we are gonna talk about true costs of a EV excluding the main HV battery. Then there are a few main things to consider - Brakes will not wear out nearly as much BUT they will need changing just as much due to corrosion and build up from not being used due to dynamic regen braking. There is occasionally a air filter for the HV battery cooling depending on setup, not generally expensive either. And a pollen filter. Tyres can often be a bit more expensive as there is no engine noise the tyre noise is a lot more apparent so foam filled tyres can sometimes be used. 

 

Basically, the EV servicing costs on the whole are cheaper than a standard combustion engine car. 

 

-Hybrid trained tech

16 hours ago, ApertureS said:

So many things I could pick out of this video....

 

Specialist EV brake fluid - no its just DOT 4

More expensive than servicing a normal car - No its £170 at his prices every 4 years... £42 a year

Locking out the HV system - He only states hes working near the system, not had to disconnect any components or work on any HV components so there should be NO need to disconnect the service loop, Youre 'working' near the HV system when you drive the car, its no different, a safe system shouldnt need locking out to touch any of the components externally or even work near them.

Specific to the Zoe, which everyone knows has 2 problems, its a renault, and its a zoe.

At 4 years brake fluid is still testing okay so could go even longer.

45 minutes to lock the EV system out - takes all of 5 minutes to disconnect the battery, lift the plate and pull the service fuse

30/40 minutes doing the standard brake bleed - a decent bleeder will do it all in 10/15 mins max if youre pulling a full litre

I get they have to charge standard labor times opposed to how fast they work but dont make a video saying things take this long - say the book time is X amount...

Now if we are gonna talk about true costs of a EV excluding the main HV battery. Then there are a few main things to consider - Brakes will not wear out nearly as much BUT they will need changing just as much due to corrosion and build up from not being used due to dynamic regen braking. There is occasionally a air filter for the HV battery cooling depending on setup, not generally expensive either. And a pollen filter. Tyres can often be a bit more expensive as there is no engine noise the tyre noise is a lot more apparent so foam filled tyres can sometimes be used. 

Basically, the EV servicing costs on the whole are cheaper than a standard combustion engine car. 

-Hybrid trained tech

 

I cannot comment on how awkward a Zoe is to service by a technician by as to having one I find it a delight, not perfect, ie the lack of up and down seat adjustment is a big out as someone who is 6ft 1' it is usually the first thing I adjust when getting in a car.

 

The Zoe Ze50 usually seems to come out as the small EV with the longest range in the small EV category.  Well over 200 miles in the summer 230-24) and 150 miles in the winter.  It charges fast than a Telsa or any other EV on AC, I have not used the DC charging yet in 8k miles as have not needed to as either charge it at 5p per kWh at home or for free at work at Heathrow.  The 10 inch Google maps screen is excellent and nothing has gone wrong with the car in the first year of ownership. Glad I chose the Zoe when I hear of all the range issues with other small EVs.

 

Renault dealer here is excellent, seem better than the Skoda dealership which is the same group but just more friendly and better value oddly for the same group.

 

The Skoda Fabia I have unfortunately has the design flawed 1.4 TDI with its issues with cooling system. Very good on diesel but the cooling issue has proven expensive for thermostat and water pump replacement at only 25k miles.  I have another broken seat height adjuster break in the Fabia, that is both sides now, very poor design and quality of seat adjuster.  It is suppose to have Apple Play/ Andoid auto but that seems to work once in  blue moon as is so fickle.

 

A decade, two or three ago I would and have always had Skodas, more than a dozen, often VRS or L&Ks, they were great value a solid cars.

Worst Skoda I had was probably the mark 1 Superb, handled like a barge, good 1.9 pd engine in it though.

 

Now, given me a Renault over a Skoda, (maybe with the exception of the Enyaq RS Coupe), every day of the week.

 

Edited 13 August, 20223 yr by lol-lol

With the high prices, if servicing become that expensive along with high running costs nobody will bother.

 

manufacturers need to hammer dealers who do that by offering a collect and return service direct. I see Tesla do 👍

 

 

 

 

 

 

Good repair, another one back on the road. As Leaf depreciate, £1000 will increasingly look like "beyond economical" repair. 

 

Leafspy is really a wonderful piece of software. 

 

Recently my wife's Leaf started having knocking sound to the front left. Got ATS to do free suspension check and they diagnosed with failed shock absorber. Lower control arm had been recently replaced (3 years ago for right and 1 year ago for left). So looks like it'll be a £600 job for both sides. I'll be doing rounds to get quotes from local garages later today. 

@Services / in for warranty are they not doing inspection of the brakes?

Warranty costs. (well prices given) Very high because the cost of parts is ridiculous.

Edited 27 April, 20251 yr by Ootohere

12 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

@Services / in for warranty are they not doing inspection of the brakes?

Warranty costs. (well prices given) Very high because the cost of parts is ridiculous.

More so for TESLA parts but less so more other makes maybe ?