Get car serviced at main dealer or local garage?

fred246

I have never suggested not servicing a car. Cars need servicing which is why I do it myself as the only way to know it has been done. In fact I change my oil more frequently than recommended.

almillar

I like to buy cars that haven't been messed about by a garage so I buy then before their first service is due.

So that's after a year for many cars, or 3 years according to you. What if you buy a 3 year old car, that should have had 2 services, that a main dealer has/has not done? Or what if they're just bought stamps?

I have never suggested not servicing a car.

Yes you have. In this very thread:

If you have a new car and you plan to sell it after 3 years it will be OK without being serviced

You suggested not servicing new cars, in line with manufacturers' recommendations. You think you know better than the designers of the cars, and you've convinced yourself that the work we pay for never gets done by garages. 'Surveys' say so.

In fact surveys of garage services show them to be universally poor.

Surveys of car servicing show massive failure to do the work that is supposed to be done

Care to share these surveys?


Working on your own car is admirable, and needs to be done right. Not everyone can do it though, and not everything is possible at home. You've got to get your head around that.

motorguy

almillar wrote: »

Working on your own car is admiral, and needs to be done right. Not everyone can do it though, and not everything is possible at home. You've got to get your head around that.

+1

Not everyone has the time, inclination, capability, space, tools, knowledge, etc to do it correctly.

I dont particularly begrudge paying a main dealer for the servicing. I'd rather not give them / the manufacturer the excuse to not stand over a warranty issue if it arose.

fred246

What I meant was that if you had a new car it would probably still be working fine at 3 years without a service. This is assuming the owner checks tyres and fluid levels as they should. I had work colleagues and people on the internet who purposefully never serviced cars and it was amazing how long they lasted. This was normally with older cars. IE buy a car for £1k and drive it till it stops. A £200 service to them was extortion and they did well with their idea. I argued that they should at least change the oil. 1 hours work max costing £25.

Mercdriver

fred246 wrote: »

What I meant was that if you had a new car it would probably still be working fine at 3 years without a service. This is assuming the owner checks tyres and fluid levels as they should. I had work colleagues and people on the internet who purposefully never serviced cars and it was amazing how long they lasted. This was normally with older cars. IE buy a car for £1k and drive it till it stops. A £200 service to them was extortion and they did well with their idea. I argued that they should at least change the oil. 1 hours work max costing £25.

Poor value for money if you ever intend selling though, which is the majority of people. Anyone following your advice would need to be certified.

motorguy

fred246 wrote: »

What I meant was that if you had a new car it would probably still be working fine at 3 years without a service. This is assuming the owner checks tyres and fluid levels as they should. I had work colleagues and people on the internet who purposefully never serviced cars and it was amazing how long they lasted.

Its not time off the start of a engines life that will be the problem, its time off the end. A poor servicing regime could take engine life down from 250,000 miles to 80,000 miles.

On a new car that you plan to resell, a poor / non existent servicing regime will easily cost you as much in reduction in value as you will "save" in servicing costs.

fred246 wrote: »

This was normally with older cars. IE buy a car for £1k and drive it till it stops. A £200 service to them was extortion and they did well with their idea. I argued that they should at least change the oil. 1 hours work max costing £25.

And on that we agree. Even on a £1,000 car its worth doing an oil and filter change periodically. Well worth the small investment IMHO.

motorguy

Mercdriver wrote: »

Poor value for money if you ever intend selling though, which is the majority of people. Anyone following your advice would need to be certified.

Exactly. Theres a thread running here who returned a car at the end of a PCP finance deal (actually i think it was a VT) having missed one service and they invoiced him for £400. :eek: A main dealer service would have cost him significantly less.

almillar

What I meant was that if you had a new car it would probably still be working fine at 3 years without a service

Well what you SAID, or at least IMPLIED, was that if people buy these new cars, and take them to the main dealer each time, they've probably not been serviced at all because they never do any work because SURVEYS. Yes, after 3 years a car probably would still work, dependent on mileage, usage, presence of a DPF or turbo. But that's not what you said.

purposefully never serviced cars and it was amazing how long they lasted. This was normally with older cars

New cars or old cars?

IE buy a car for £1k and drive it till it stops

Ah old cars. Specifically bangers. Bangernomics. Buy a car near the end of its life, spend next to nothing on it and move on when it eventually breaks. I've got no problem with this, but it isn't what you were talking about earlier. This must be the opposite of not servicing a brand new car.

I argued that they should at least change the oil

Got it. Don't bother servicing brand new cars, but do service old bangers. Great advice.

ndf9876

Brand new car - main stealer service to preserve the warranty
Over 3 years old or once the warranty is up - Pick a reputable garage at the best price - OR do it yourself and keep receipts etc as evidence

Personally I get my car serviced precisely as per the schedule, even though my mileage is roughly 5k a year and I own the vehicle outright.

The oil is the lifeblood of the engine; neglect it at your peril.

motorguy

ndf9876 wrote: »

Brand new car - main stealer service to preserve the warranty
Over 3 years old or once the warranty is up - Pick a reputable garage at the best price - OR do it yourself and keep receipts etc as evidence

Personally I get my car serviced precisely as per the schedule, even though my mileage is roughly 5k a year and I own the vehicle outright.

The oil is the lifeblood of the engine; neglect it at your peril.

+1

With the possible exception of maybe extending the dealer servicing for a year or so, to maximise the chance of dealer / manufacturer contributions if there is a major failure just outside of warranty. But thats of debatable worth.

Personally, our car will be serviced @ the main BMW dealer whilst under warranty at the scheduled service interval of 18,000 miles. We will however use a local independent BMW specialist to have an interim service done @ every 9,000 miles.

Post 3 years old, we'll get it done every 9K at that BMW indy.

Not a pups chance i'll be doing any of the spannering myself though.