Servicing Car - Garage or "DIY"?

AdrianC wrote: »

...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.

i wouldnt trust a stamp like that anyway. no name or telephone number of the garage. i would expect the receipts to be provided with the service book too, not just a stamp alone.

Some buyers would be put off and others won't. I DIY'd everything on my last car and had no problem getting someone to pay top money for it. In fact they positively could not prise the keys out of my hand quick enough when I showed them the lovingly kept service records, all receipts and explanation of what I had done well above and beyond what a garage would have done.

As long as all the receipts are kept and you could genuinely evidence that it has been cared for as well, or if not better, than by simply giving it to a garage every year I don't think you'd have any problem.

For me I won't buy a car if someone shows me some stamps in a service book and no receipts to go with it. But for others, this is all they care about. I'd just make sure that as an owner you know what the service schedule should be and make sure your friend then does what is needed/recommended(not just oil and filter change every year) and can then evidence that its been done properly which will then appeal to those who appreciate proper diy servicing.

I have recently bought a 3 year old Skoda Octavia 1.4 tsi. There is no service book, it is all on VAGs system. I got a printout from Skoda of the history and there are paper records on a little cardboard folder which replaces the service book.
The service schedule is confusing to say the least. Different plans for long-life or time-distance, depending on annual mileage.
The car has done 30000 miles and as far as I can tell it has basically had 3 glorified oil & filter changes and 1 brake fluid change.
The computer on the car says it needs an oil service in about 9k miles and and inspection in 12 months/18k miles, so I suspect the last servicing dealer has not reset it properly....

Anyway, a major service, which it appears to need next at 40k Miles is £279 at dealer, £249 at a specialist or £100 on parts for me to diy.
If I run it for 5 years I will put another 100k miles on the clock. My rough calculation is it will cost me around £150 a year extra to have a recognised service history. After that, is an 8 year old car with 130 k miles going to be worth £750 more by having a garage history, than one with my folder of parts receipts ?

seatbeltnoob wrote: »

I would never DIY a 4 year old car, it makes it toxic to sell to others. Every 2nd hand buyer of a 6 year old car is going to want to see garage services.

That's coming from someone who DIY's their banger and trust my work to be of higher standard than most professional mechanics who rush everything and cut corners.

I can do that because the car costs as much as it's cambelt and clutch job, (£700). If you car is significantly more expensive than it's cambelt and clutch job you need to take it to a garage.

Why would you cheap out on a car you bought new anyway. I don't get the logic. If you want to save money then buy a banger.

"Toxic to sell"....to you maybe, but I and plenty of others out there would rather buy a car that has been loved and well looked after and DIY'd than one that has been seen as nothing more than a means of getting from A to B with a bunch of dealer stamps.

You said it yourself, garages cut corners and don't spend much time on cars because they want them in and out to make money. Do you really think they will torque everything up to proper spec? Or just use the impact gun on full whack.

A while ago a friend had their wheel bearing done at the garage they have used for years. Started to get a slight pulsation in their brakes at slow speeds just after the work was done so I decided to look at it for them. Turned out the garage had used an impact gun on the brake caliper bolts. Bearing in mind the caliper was aluminium, they had cross threaded the bolt, clearly with an impact without caring or noticing and the pulsing was a result of the bolt not being flush. I could wriggle the caliper with my hand, but the bolt was so badly cross threaded it snapped while removing it and I had to drill out the remains then repair the threads in the caliper.

All because of someone in the garage rushing and not spending 10 seconds to start the bolt by hand....so yeah, anyone who relies on garage history to determine if a car is good quite simply doesn't know what they are looking at.

Tarambor wrote: »

What about the 10 year anti-corrosion warranty? That'll be out of the window if your mate starts servicing it.

No it won't. Anti corrosion and mechanical are not related even a little bit. Makes ZERO difference to anti-corrosion. If you have corrosion issues they will check paint depth and the likes to ensure it has not been re-sprayed or damaged since it left the factory, nothing more. There is no way they can void a corrosion warranty based on who changed your oil or brake pads. They are not related even in the slightest.