Long-term update: Nissan Patrol serviced without visiting dealer

Due to the pandemic, every car dealer around is claiming that you can buy or service your car while sitting at home, without actually giving any real details about whether you can actually buy a car with a 100% credit card payment or if they will come service your car for free under your house. We recently did multiple runs to the Mopar service centre due to never-ending warranty issues and there was no sign of any such home service. Then we caught wind of a Facebook ad by the Nissan dealer, advertising “free Thursday pick and drop” service, so we decided to try that out because we absolutely hate wasting time on car servicing.

We filled the form on the ad and didn’t get a call back. Then we called and they denied the offer exists, saying we have to pay. But we had booked an appointment already and then didn’t show up for it. When they called us back, we booked another appointment and asked for the offer again. This time they had to check first, and then agreed to the free pick-and-drop, even if not on a Thursday. Good comeback, because if that didn’t happen, they probably would’ve lost us as a customer because our Patrol is out of warranty anyway.

So they actually sent a tow truck to our home to pick up the car, after co-ordinating a scheduled time on the phone.

The “10K/60K” intermediate service was done for Dhs 845. There was an inspection and diagnosis charge of Dhs 66. The windshield washer fluid cost Dhs 10. The cost of 5W30 synthetic oil was Dhs 302, parts such as the oil filter and a washer cost Dhs 39, and there was something labelled as “generic” on the bill for Dhs 63.

Including the “discount,” the total was Dhs 1326. Credit-card payment was via an online link sent by email. The car was returned to us the following afternoon by tow truck. We will always prefer dealer service as long as the costs remain realistic, and the tow-truck service is a good enticement, however long that lasts. The latter has to become a part of normal service, as there are now apps such as MySyara, Carcility, Carzilla and others which offer to take your car, service it and return it using third-party garages as easily as you’d order food on Zomato.

Except for the worn rubber trim all around the windshield and severely faded headlights that Nissan refused to change under warranty, our Patrol is chugging along trouble-free and generally awesome. The only major expense coming up is a 5-year change of tyres next year, as mandated by the RTA.

Original Mileage When Bought: 100 km
Latest Mileage To Date: 12946 km
Latest Average Fuel Economy: 20 litres/100 km
Cost of Latest Problems: Dhs 0
Cost of Latest Maintenance: Dhs 1326

Total Non-Fuel Running Cost Since Bought: Dhs 7913

Read all 2014 Nissan Patrol LE long-term updates