car servicing!!!

[sam1970]

i heard that by law now i do not have to service my car at the dealership to keep the manufacturers waranty...instead i can use any independent garage.my question is how to find out a good garage? and does anyone know a descent garage in birmingham area...thanks

[chirpy007]

I also heard that as long as genuine parts are used. l cant help with the garage though lm afraid. Have you any friends who could rec anyone.

[Nile]

Hello sam1970

I'll move your thread over to the 'Motoring & Public Transport' board, where it should get more views and responses.

Hi, Martin’s asked me to post this in these circumstances: I’ve asked Board Guides to move threads if they’ll receive a better response elsewhere(please see this rule (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=1009335#post1009335)) so this post/thread has been moved to another board, where it should get more replies. If you have any questions about this policy please email abuse@moneysavingexpert.com (abuse@moneysavingexpert.com).

Regards

Nile

[blue_haddock]

You do not have to have the vehicle serviced at a main dealer to uphold the warranty however the vehicle must be serviced to the same schedulue by a suitable garage and using parts to the same standard as the OE spec ones.

What it basically means is any VAT registered garage can service the car using genuine parts. They will need to stamp the book and also keep any receipts etc for parts to prove the proper spec ones were used.

[plane_boy2000]

Worth tyring your local dealer though - the price they quote may not be that high plus they can do any warranty work while the car is there. Also remember that servicing most modern cars involves checking the computers for fault codes - many small independent garages will not have the equipment to do this. There are other nice things too like the free coffe, nice courtesy cars, car washed after service etc. If the diference in cost is huge then it may be worth it, but I wouldnt do it to save £20 - £30 quid a year, and lose the good will of the dealer and have to put up with a big challenege on any warranty work - if your car suffered a major failure like engine / gearbox then it may be difficult to prove that the service was carried out in acordance with their instructions.

Oh yeah, and you may lose the 3rd year warranty as the first two are the minimum required for cars supplied in the EU, and the third is a dealer warranty - not a manufactures warranty.