Servicing Car - Garage or "DIY"?

Korkyb

Hi all


My wife's car is about to hit 3 years old and so will be out of its manufacturers warranty (Renault).


I'm wondering whether to continue with getting it serviced at the Garage or using the services of a friend.


Said friend is a highly skilled engineer and I trust him and the work he does 100%. (he looks after my daughters older car and done some work on my own vehicle).


I know we wont then have a "service record" for the car but we plan to keep the it for a good few years to come so am not sure how much of a effect that would have.


Any advice gratefully appreciated.

DUTR

Oil change air and oil filters pollen filter are still DIY, keep receipts for the oil and stuff that you buy.

arcon5

He may not have a nice posh stamp but he can still mark the service down in the book.

daveyjp

Double check your warranty period. From 2012 Renaults had 4 year warranties. It reduced to 3 in January this year.

Korkyb

Thanks all !

daveyjp wrote: »

Double check your warranty period. From 2012 Renaults had 4 year warranties. It reduced to 3 in January this year.

Looks as if you are correct.


I had just assumed that it was 3 years.


I'll have to check the paperwork tomorrow but looks as if it will be getting at least 1 more garage service :-)


https://www.renault.co.uk/owners/renault-assistance/warranties.html

adonis

So if a car is 5 or more years old is there any benefit in paying for a garage service if you are willing and able to service it yourself,

will it make much difference in price if you decide to sell it,
excluding top price cars .

Ectophile

adonis wrote: »

So if a car is 5 or more years old is there any benefit in paying for a garage service if you are willing and able to service it yourself,

will it make much difference in price if you decide to sell it,
excluding top price cars .

It depends on the buyer. If I'm buying a second-hand car, I like to see a book full of stamps. It doesn't bother me too much if they are from an independent garage.

If it's somebody's hand-written scrawl, then I don't know if they have really serviced it or just changed the engine oil every now and then.

parking_question_chap

Ectophile wrote: »

It depends on the buyer. If I'm buying a second-hand car, I like to see a book full of stamps. It doesn't bother me too much if they are from an independent garage.

If it's somebody's hand-written scrawl, then I don't know if they have really serviced it or just changed the engine oil every now and then.

I would not touch a car that has been "serviced" by a friend of the owner.

If you are going to run it into the ground and be the last owner then go for it.

Problems might arise though if the friend misses something or does something incorrectly and causes damage.

AdrianC

Ectophile wrote: »

It depends on the buyer. If I'm buying a second-hand car, I like to see a book full of stamps. It doesn't bother me too much if they are from an independent garage.

If it's somebody's hand-written scrawl, then I don't know if they have really serviced it or just changed the engine oil every now and then.

...whereas a proper stamp is definitely proof positive...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122892544636

I keep a spreadsheet per car of all work I do on them - date, mileage, work. If I'm selling, that gets emailed to any seriously interested potential buyer before they come and look.

takman

parking_question_chap wrote: »

I would not touch a car that has been "serviced" by a friend of the owner.

If you are going to run it into the ground and be the last owner then go for it.

Problems might arise though if the friend misses something or does something incorrectly and causes damage.

I service all my cars and i can show receipts of all the items bought, give a detailed explanation of what I did and sometimes even some pictures. I do it myself so I know it's done properly and with care.

So you wouldn't touch any my cars yet you would happily buy a car which has a nice set of stamps but no further details showing what was done?

benten69

I DIY my own car, my girlfriends car and my mums car. Mums car is a 2013 plate Audi that only just came out of warranty a year ago. Even did the S-Tronic gearbox oil service for her as I have VCDS (a version of VW / Audi diagnostics for those who don't know).

I would much rather buy a car from someone with stacks and stacks of receipts for parts purchased than just a book of random stamps. As mentioned above, you can buy stamps from eBay, I have even seen sellers who are selling genuine Audi service stamps and will put any dealer address you request. A book of stamps means nothing.

These days VW / Audi keep their service records in their online system which can't be faked and gives you more comprehensive information on the work performed at each service, but they charge an arm and a leg for their work.

I mean £170 for an "interim service" which is just an oil & filter change. Genuine oil (Castrol Edge 5w-30) can be had for under £50 and a MANN oil filter (they make the genuine oil filters for Audi, even the filters you buy from Audi have their name on it) can be had for under £10. So why pay Audi £170 when the parts cost £60 and you know you will take more time and care doing the job right than they will.

Their "Major Service" which includes an oil / filter change + Air filter (£20), fuel filter (£20) + spark plugs (£30) is £338!!!

Not to mention the spark plug change is only for petrol engines and the fuel filter is only for diesel engines. So they are charging you £338 when the price of parts is under £110 for a petrol or under £100 for a diesel.

After a few services you will have saved so much money it negates and "perceived loss of value" from not having the dealer stamps.

Reality is, if you have a stack full of receipts and proof of all the work being carried out at the right times, etc then the car will not be worth any less to someone who knows what to look for. The only people who rely on dealer / garage stamps to tell if a car has been looked after are the ones who don't know about cars.

The only other advantage of full dealer service history is that if you have an issue outside of warranty they MIGHT give you good will, but generally their "good will" is still less than all the money you would save by DIY'ing the work, so still not worth it.