Mechanic charged me for a simple check and not a service

but a new vehicle doing 3/4k a year? I would be more worried out the mechanical components than I would be about the oil.

But that is the exact case for a yearly oil change. Low total mileage probably means mostly or al least mainly short trips. The engine rarely runs for long enough at a time to burn the accumulated moisture from the oil.

Oil is cheap, relatively appealing.

have to be changed annually ( I change mine every 7 months regardless of mileage done)

Looking for bother down the road. ( pardon the pun)

Otherwise

If a car was sitting for 18 months first thing I'd do is oil and filter. I'm not a big fan of suction pups either. Can't beat a good drain out the sump plug after the engines being warmed. Get on with the air and cabin filter and plugs if it's petrol while it's draining.

That or they can't or don't want to get underneath the car. Oil is the lifeblood of the engine so skimping on oil and filter changes is very much false economy.

what car is it? Some engines you won’t get a lot out with a vacuum pump as it won’t get to the bottom.

I vacuum my oil out , I do a lot of mileage so change the oil every 4 months, 320k/kms up on it now and no issues. Any time it goes to the garage for work I get them to drain it out the sump plug.

As for changing the oil, once a year or distance whichever comes first.

The guy charged you the minimum for doing checks on your car that you clearly can't do yourself at this point in time - not having the correct equipment. I have no idea why you think this was money badly spent. You think the mechanic's expertise is worthless?

€60 is nothing. Go to a main dealer and see if you can get out for less than €300.

Thats a very condescending reply.. making alot of assumptions there, that the mechanic actually did all of this?

I suppose ppls scepticism these days rise from the fact that everything is mad expensive, their are many many cowboys out there (not just mechanics, but everything), ppl are advised to get car serviced every year (now according to this post you dont!!), it can all be a tad confusing..

Well thats the thing, the mechanic said you were alright for an oil change, and if something did happen in a few months time, would be very very difficult to prove that an oil change would have avoided, absolute no comeback on mechanic..

I had issue before where starter motor went, so dealership just replaced the motor, instead of examining why it went, it went again, replaced again, went again, then they finally discovered that the ignition was stuck causing the starter to burn out after a while… I paid for the first 2 starter motors, then not the last one, but should I have had to, as Im paying for their expertise to fix the problem first time!!

Going back to your OP, you say the mechanic did an oil check and "other things" (unspecified). You also say that it was 7k km short of its next scheduled service. I'm assuming a 15k service interval from that. If it's more, please correct as you don't say what mileage it's done since the last service. What were the "other things"?

You also don't say if this mechanic did the previous service or not. If they did, then they'd be in the best position to evaluate the car and decide what needs to be done.

The price charged of €60 is very reasonable. From your op, it seems you don't think so. Maybe explain why you think their time would be worth less in your opinion?

By the sound of it, you wanted him to do more than he did. That's fair enough, but clearly you didn't insist on an oil change or an oil and filter change. You just assumed it would be done. The mechanic thought otherwise having checked it. But you're blaming him for what appears to be a failure in communication by you.

mechanic was correct, his time is worth something and he’s running a business