Why do people half-ass service cars?

[Ferret]

I've just done the sparks on the E31, got a bit scarred doing plugs 11 and 12 on the left bank but didnt need to do any major dismantling to get to 'em. That said, it did need a little bit of effort to ram a hand into the position required and fiddle around with a wrench and a flexible extension.

Sparks 11 and 12 looked like they hadnt been changed in several service rotations, why the hell do people do this to cars? They were totally knackered and I'm surprised the thing was running as smooth as it was

Wow! What a difference it's made, the car's actually running like a v12 now, with the pretty stacatto tickover noise that my parents e46 made straight out of the factory...

Need a new ignition lead set now though as one of the leads collapsed during the process scattering anti pine-marten bits everywhere. I hear shogun knows someone for v12 lead sets, I'll give him a shout in a bit.

[DaveVoorhis]

I bet it was regularly "serviced" by a dealership whose sole goal was to get the vehicle in and out of the service bay as quickly and profitably as possible. It cuts into the profits to take extra time to replace the #11 & 12 plugs, and if the dodgy dealership is lucky, maybe they'll fail outright and the vehicle owner will bring the car back to to be repaired. Hooray! More profit! Cha-ching!

[Kibokojoe]

I am not surprised. That is why I have one mechanic that I trust that is a close friend. Everything else I do myself. Years ago I worked on my fathers 72 Chevy Nova. It had the 350 V8. Had to loosen the right engine mount and jack up the engine to get to the last plug. And yes you guessed it this plug had never been changed. So basically it was a V7.

[Mordan]

for profit... because they see cars as a service... not a living thing.
we DIYers have a completely different vantage point, while most people just want a car that runs for 4 years and then they pay for another one.

[mikell]

For some people, good enough is good enough; time to start inspecting all those little hoses under there . . .