  Running A Car - Cutting car service costs  24 May 2012  Cars
need regular servicing. The time and/mileage between services
vary depending on the make and model and whether it's a petrol
or a diesel car. You should always stick to the car's servicing
programme but you're not obliged to use the same garage that
supplied your car as your servicing garage.  Even between
dealers for the same franchise, you'll find big regional price
differences on hourly labour charges. Depending on the work
involved, the savings can even be enough to pay for an overnight
stay in a nice part of the country.  Many motorists are inclined
to stay within the manufacturer's dealer network in order to
maintain the dealer service history. That's understandable, but
you need to be sure that the value such a history adds to your
car is justified by the extra cost. EU legislation means it's OK
to go where you want for servicing, even to a non-franchised
garage, without invalidating your warranty.  There's no shortage
of non-franchised ser