Service History

Once the car is out of warranty you're absolutely mad taking it to a main dealer just to get the stamp.

Most private buyers value a nice wad of receipts from local independent garages just as much as a row of stamps in the book (I actually prefer a wad of bills from an indie, as I know that main dealers are a little, shall we say, 'enthusiastic' with the stamp when they take a trade-in without history, IYSWIM.....)

Come trade in time, so long as there's a record of serivcing being carried out, then it's unlikely the trade-in value will be any less than if it's been stamped at a main dealer.

The message from "Richard Jones" contains these words:

All the service items should be in the handbook. If you get receipts that detail the work done at each service there's no reason why this should be inferior to a pukka Renault garage and several reasons to think it may be rather better.

I think it was on Watchdog the other night, that there is no legitimate reason why you should return to the main dealer to maintain a warranty. This requirement has apparently been quietly dropped by most manufacturers.

E-mail address, hopefully self-explanatory Andy Pandy

While I'd agree, there's a good chance a buyer could use it to bargain down the price - especially if trading in for a new model.

Well, hang on, you hope that the only difference is that it doesn't get the Renault stamp.

To be fair, I use a trusted, family-run garage for most of my servicing work. That they also happen to be a Ford place is another matter. Finding a place that you trust, with a good reputation, decent prices and good service, is worth far more than stamps. Getting both is good news too.

The independent can put his stamp in the service book just as easily as the main dealer.

-- Peter Hill Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header Can of worms - what every fisherman wants. Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

Main dealers just stamp the book when they take stuff in on trade-in anyway.

With older cars I have always just written in the service book the date of mileage of the service, and then listed exactly what I had done on a sheet kept with the receipts for the bits & pieces used. Buyers have always accepted this, and I have always described the cars as having a "Full Service History" because they have!

You don't need main dealer servicing to maintain your statutory rights but the dealership / warranty company can impose whatever conditions it wants to (within reason) for an extended warranty that provides cover above those rights.

That's a most serious accusation. If you have evidence of fraudulent activity I suggest you report it to the appropriate authorities.

With an older car this is probably a good idea. However, with a newish one, not having a FMDSH will make a difference to its trade in value - regardless of the rights and wrongs.

Heh heh - my BMW dealer has been stamping my book at service times while neglecting much of the service requirements as stated in the schedule. But the 'appropriate authorities' don't seem in the least interested...

That's cobblers. We have too much to lose to risk that sort of thing.

The main benefit of main dealer servicing is experience of the model.

My technicians know what to look for in specific models and will often catch things early (i.e. before too serious) even when not covered by the service.

Furthermore, we check every car against Vauxhall's outstanding recall/rework list and it is amazing how many cars have outstanding jobs that we can do for free.

The message from "Alan" contains these words:

What's cobblers? You've lost the reference to the post you're replying to so it could be anything!

It's the OE 'threading' thing. Not infallible, though. But looks like a reply to Steve H's last post if I switch my browser to it.

The message from Dave Plowman contains these words:

Ah, my reader doesn't do that sort of threading at all!

Which appropriate authorities were these then? Police Trading standards Retail Motor Industry Federation Dealership Management Dealer Group Head Office Manufacturer Head Office Newsgroups

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember snipped-for-privacy@aol.com (MB_UK) saying something like:

Must be awkward that.