General advice wanted on service history

[boborange]

Hi,

Im looking at buying my first TA and have seen one with a main dealer. Its the right spec but im a little concerned at its service history or am i being a bit picky.

its one owner from new but had its first service 6 months too late. It was serviced in september by the selling dealer but should of been serviced in march when it was 2 years old however it is under the recommended mileage of 18,000 miles at 17,500 miles. its with a fiat main dealer but is it something to be worreid about?

thanks

 

[doggydoctor]

I would be very worried. Not serviced according to schedule means no manufacturers warranty.

 

[wellfan]

Get the dealer to give you a full 12 month warranty on the car. Better than what would be left of the Fiat warranty.

 

[RobinPJ]

Get the dealer to give you a full 12 month warranty on the car. Better than what would be left of the Fiat warranty.

That's excellent advice. And bear in mind that not all warranties are the same - find out exactly what is included and what is excluded. If necessary go onto a website like Warranty Direct and make sure what the dealer is offering is at least as comprehensive as the best warranty you can buy (http://www.warrantydirect.co.uk/summary_m.html).

In truth, a main dealer warranty should be quibble free, but with Fiat I wouldn't be so sure.

 

[boborange]

Thanks for the advice. thinking about it since my posting im going to give this one a miss, i have found other potential ones out there with services carried out at the right times/mileages.

the search continues!!

 

[jrkitching]

A turbocharged car that's not had its oil changed until 2 1/2 yrs from new? I'd walk away from that whatever the price or warranty offered.

 

[bgunn]

Unless there's documentary evidence to state that the oil has been changed prior, I'd tend to agree.

My car has one stamp in its book, yet is 26 months old. But, it's had three oil changes in that time, and will shortly be getting its next. And it's done just over 14k miles. I do the work myself.

Point of what I'm saying is, I wouldn't give a monkeys about the stamps if I saw that the car was maintained carefully. If it's not even been serviced to the rather lax manufacturers schedule (and FIAT aren't alone in this, all manufacturers are pushing the service intervals in an attempt to make a car look like it costs less), then I wouldn't be interested in the car.