General Servicing Opinions

[lunchbeers]

So, looking for a bit of advise/general consensus here.

I bought my TA 4x4 in March of last year at 8 years old with just shy of 11k miles on it, previously owned by an old couple, it did more miles in the first month of my ownership than the preceding 3 years.

It's coming up to 15k now, and I will be looking to service it around March time.

The car was last serviced at purchase by the selling dealer, who says it visited a specialist (they sold predominantly Fiat's so no reason to doubt this) and I have confirmed the oil is the correct grade and meets specs, other than that I've no record of the work.

Prior to that, the car was has had 2 oil services, plugs replaced and coolant and brake fluid at an ATS type place, not main dealer, so no stamps in the book, but accompanying service schedule and receipts - officially it's not even hit it's first service interval.

As I'm a time-served tech, I prefer to service my own cars, that way I know the correct oil has been used, the filters will be of good quality (likely OEM), and that care will be taken when removing and replacing things. - I used to work for a BMW main dealer and we only had 2 grades of oil, one for cars up until 2002, and 1 for post 2002, didn't matter what the engine was, think some of the M cars had a specific Castrol, but it was quite a few years ago....

Anyway, I'm reluctant to pay for someone to do work I can do myself, who may not take the requisite care, and may not use the correct oil.

Would an 8+ year old car with receipts and history that had never been to a dealer put you off?

TLDR: Are receipts for work done at proper intervals more/less appealing than dealer servicing on an 8+ year old 'cheap' car?

 

[chr1s]

Personally I would not be worried by a lack of biennial stamps. The car is nearly 9 years old (if 8 last March) and may be a few years older again if/when you come to sell it. The low mileage may be more of a concern to people worried about hoses cracking, engine perhaps never getting properly warmed up during first 8 years, catalytic converter damage, tyres with good tread depth but aged rubber, etc. On a car that age I would be more interested by other indications like emissions levels at MOTs (if you have those).
Maybe keep your receipts, showing the oil type used, and dated photos of home servicing being done.

But I may be biased:
My 9-year-old Panda has never been worked on by a garage since I bought it as a pre-reg in 2013, but I know it has had regular oil changes (correct spec Petronas every time), filter changes, plugs changed, etc. I also have evidence of seven MOTs - all passes with no advisories and consistently low emissions figures - which may be a better indication that the car has been maintained. If I had shelled out for dealer servicing all its life, I would probably have spent most of its current value (£2.5k ?).

 

[Mouse1903]

Sometimes dealer servicing is an alarm bell to shortcuts taken and bodged work. As long as you have receipts for parts and note dates parts fitted etc. I do the same with my RS Megane, done a lot of the basic maintenance and 2/3rd of the oil changes myself with only major maintenance going to a garage

 

[lunchbeers]

Thanks guys, I will treat this as the rest and maintain myself, keeping the receipts

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

My attitude towards this is that if it's still in warranty then get the main dealer to do services because you end up with the stamps in the book. I did this with my Ibiza, bought pre reg with about 30 miles on the clock as it was driven from the supplying dealer in another town - only car I've bought in many years which was still in warranty - and I'm glad I did as it developed a turbo problem at around 2 years old. There was no argument over it and a complete new turbo unit was fitted. I got a pretty good deal on a 3 year service pack, free breakdown cover and free first MOT all for less than 3 regular services would cost. I don't think they did much to it apart from change the oil and filters as I had a hell of a job getting the Alloy wheels off when I did it's 4th year service. Finding this I went right through it and found the N/S/F bottom caliper slide pin cross threaded in the upright. This surprised me as it was very obvious that the calipers had never been off during servicing (do garages do this anymore at regular service intervals?) so I think this had happened at the factory. The dealer would have nothing to do with it but one of two local VAG indys I know drilled out the upright - there's no separate caliper carrier on these - and pressed in a threaded bush for me at a very afordable expense. (this sort of thing https://www.lasertools.co.uk/Product/5037/Brake-Caliper-Guide-Thread-Repair-Kit). Other than that there was nothing "wrong" but the calipers benefited from a dismantle and clean up the wheels got a smear of HMP ceramic grease where they fit the hub and other such "preventative" measures which would not be done on a typical dealer service. Other repairs, so if it needed pads and discs or a wheel bearing etc, I would do myself. Once out of warranty I do pretty much all service and most repair work myself (although I did hand off the cam belt change to my local indy as I didn't have the tools and it's an engine I'm not familiar with which has unkeyed crank and both cam sprockets which have to be slackened when the belt is done). I also keep a detailed descriptive log of all work done with dates, mileages and relevant receipts for parts to show to a future buyer - although most of my cars I keep until they become beyond economic repair and I hand them into the local scrap merchant.