Doing my own servicing?

Apart from oil and filter changes, most 'service' work consists of safety checks that conscientious owners do anyway. The work should be well within the capability of anyone with reasonable technical skills; at dealers, it's usually done by apprentices anyway.

WRT fault diagnosis, if you carry out your own servicing you may at least know what is unlikely to be the cause of a fault.

If the vehicle is still under any form of warranty it would be necessary to check what effect if any DIY may have.

Chris

last time I bought a new Toyota they had a deal whereby you paid 300 quid up front for the the first three services, at that price it is not worth diy, particularly since you may need software upgrades.

wrt warranty they need the book stamped by a vat registered garage and all parts must be oem spec. but like I said above, it is not worth messing about, especially with a brand new vehicle, because when you come to sell it, a book of genuine toyota stamps adds resale value and confidence.

Having no service history will affect the resale value, unless you find an idiot to sell it to, potentially far more than the money you save by doing it yourself.

Only if you are selling a relatively new car , if its 5 or so years old the difference will be minimal but the savings on servoce costs wll more than ofset the difference

besides its pretty easy to get a service book stamped up these days

^^^

The important word (which I have pointed out) used by the OP was "new"

Although fraudulent, if you're suggesting what I think you are.

Yes local garage stamped my book up to date when the car was in for a MOT , i hasten to add i never asked them to do it and i would never offer up the book as proof of service.

My son in law is a mechanic so anything i want doing he will do although i do prefer to do my own serviceing

I was thinking of getting a new Yaris and keeping it for ten years. Does that make it reasonable to do my own servicing? Mileage would be about 5000 per year. Oil changes should be easy. Not sure whether I could blow out the brakes.

In that case, regardless of the legal situation concerning the warranty, I would have the dealer I bought it from service it whilst still under warranty. You are much more likely to get any repairs needed that might occur just outside the warranty period done FOC.

You might be able to strike up a deal that includes some service costs at purchase time.

Chris

Thanks - I reckon I will take your advice and do that. The cost is likely to be high though. They charge 115 quid an hour including VAT. And the warranty lasts five years!

I'm assuming you think that is somewhat high?

Actually it's about right for a mainstream dealer in the Southeast; MB, BMW, et al are more expensive.

Chris

Just a little.

Is Bedfordshire in the Southeast? I'm paying half that.

No; it's north of Watford ;-)

Nonetheless, if you are paying less than 70UKP per hour for servicing at a main dealer, you are getting a bargain.

Chris

Ooh, no. Don't go to main dealers. Robbers, one and all. Those £1M showrooms have to be paid for somehow.

Ah, OK. It's just that we were discussing the price of main dealer servicing...

Chris

At a main dealer? My local BMW one is 130 quid an hour. Not that I use them.

No. I've never used main dealers for anything. And I suggest the OP does likewise. Find a good independent specialist.

The OP is buying a new car with a five year warranty, with the intention of keeping it for ten years.

Although in theory an EU ruling means that you cannot be forced to have your vehicle serviced by a dealer in order to meet the warranty conditions, as long as OEM parts are used by a VAT-registered garage, in practice life is going to be much easier if you do.

If you buy a new car from a local dealer, use them for servicing during the warranty period, and try to maintain a good relationship with them, any problems that might crop up which might not be covered by the warranty are bound to get a more favourable response.

Chris

The OP was intending doing his own servicing.