Is servicing important to you?

How important is service history on a second hand car?

  • Dealer history only no matter the car.

    Votes: 7 6.3%
  • Dealer or indy as long as it's full no matter the car.

    Votes: 73 65.8%
  • Dealer if its a high end/complex car.

    Votes: 13 11.7%
  • Service history not important once car is older.

    Votes: 18 16.2%

  • Total voters
    111
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Service history-whether Main Dealer or long-time established Indy does not count for anything when it comes to PX'ing but when buying a pre-owned vehicle the dealers milk it for everything that they can.
There is little wonder that used car dealers are probably seen as '**** Turpins' behind a desk and armed with a Glasses Guide and a mobile phone or two.
 
Does that mean I’m a bad boy, because I didn’t have my car serviced last year! Serviced 4K ago, and sat in the garage all last year. It’s going for it’s b service as soon as I’ve finished putting the last of the parts on.
because it’s been sat, is it worth me putting a flush in or get mb to do it?
 
A question? 👿
And this is coming from a former technical zone rep for two well known Brit car /truck bus manufactures and one Dutch.
What are appointed franchise dealers purposes, and what is their their main functional activity?
Tuercas viejas
Realistically I would have thought apart from being the outlet to sell new cars, the main reason the manufacturer needs them is to perform warranty repairs on cars still covered by the new car guarantee. I could be simplifying this too much though :)
 
Realistically I would have thought apart from being the outlet to sell new cars, the main reason the manufacturer needs them is to perform warranty repairs on cars still covered by the new car guarantee. I could be simplifying this too much though :)
You are spot on!
Its to sell product. i.e built up cars (vehicles) and parts, and of course to back up any warranty that might apply to that product according to territory agreements .
As a side bar of that function, it feeds back via warranty work info to the manufactures on such things as service repair info, product improvement feedback and durability information.,
AND that realistically is about all, especially since buying a car you are relinquishing your consumer rights, and accepting their terms & conditions .

Many manufactures would love to lose the dealerships who are basically a PITA, but laws and working practices prohibit that.
In fact once out of dealer capture & warranty periods, there is real reason why a good independent shop should not service that product until disposal or scrappage.
BUT!!!
No there lies a bigger picture in the marketing aspects of the brand, its sales, service, & customer brand loyalty.
That of course is drifting away from the real, basic concept of product sales support during the warranty period.
In closing this post I once did a intensive tech course on the Toyota Prius Hybrids
Toyota /Lexus statement:-
We make more cars in the world than any other brand ,
We make the best cars in the world, and our dealerships cannot fix them all once out of warranty.
That's why we need good Independent shops to service our products into the future, past the warranty period.
If an entry level driver buys a 30 year old Camry and gets good service from it, then he/she will buy another Toyota or maybe a Lexus product.
That is why we enjoy the highest customer loyalty rating CSI's in the business world wide .
Tuercas Viejas
 
Does that mean I’m a bad boy, because I didn’t have my car serviced last year! Serviced 4K ago, and sat in the garage all last year. It’s going for it’s b service as soon as I’ve finished putting the last of the parts on.
because it’s been sat, is it worth me putting a flush in or get mb to do it?
Didn't think any manufactures recommended flushes, what could go wrong with oil if its left in the engine ?
 
If a engine has been regularly serviced with the correct oil then flushing is unnecessary and makes no sense .

It seems to me there are two choices:

1. Don't flush and the engine contains lets say 95% new oil and 5% used oil but both are of the correct spec

2. Flush and you will have 95% new oil and 5% crappy flushing oil.

I'd go for option 1 every time.
 
You are spot on!
Its to sell product. i.e built up cars (vehicles) and parts, and of course to back up any warranty that might apply to that product according to territory agreements .
As a side bar of that function, it feeds back via warranty work info to the manufactures on such things as service repair info, product improvement feedback and durability information.,
AND that realistically is about all, especially since buying a car you are relinquishing your consumer rights, and accepting their terms & conditions .

Many manufactures would love to lose the dealerships who are basically a PITA, but laws and working practices prohibit that.
In fact once out of dealer capture & warranty periods, there is real reason why a good independent shop should not service that product until disposal or scrappage.
BUT!!!
No there lies a bigger picture in the marketing aspects of the brand, its sales, service, & customer brand loyalty.
That of course is drifting away from the real, basic concept of product sales support during the warranty period.
In closing this post I once did a intensive tech course on the Toyota Prius Hybrids
Toyota /Lexus statement:-
We make more cars in the world than any other brand ,
We make the best cars in the world, and our dealerships cannot fix them all once out of warranty.
That's why we need good Independent shops to service our products into the future, past the warranty period.
If an entry level driver buys a 30 year old Camry and gets good service from it, then he/she will buy another Toyota or maybe a Lexus product.
That is why we enjoy the highest customer loyalty rating CSI's in the business world wide .
Tuercas Viejas
Increasingly though, to my eye, the manufacturers are engineering their products to flake out just outside the warranty period. I think the days of buying a car and expecting it to last thirty years are gone, sadly.
 
It was worth a thought. Just want it back on road within the next 8 weeks as it’s booked in at cars on the prom on jun 27th.
 
Realistically I would have thought apart from being the outlet to sell new cars, the main reason the manufacturer needs them is to perform warranty repairs on cars still covered by the new car guarantee. I could be simplifying this too much though :)

They also get to sell genuine service parts and spare parts via their franchised workshops, as well as extended warranties.

There's no reason why car manufacturers should leave this lucrative source of revenue to third parties.

An interesting story I heard about Aston Martin, BTW, is that the first time in their history that they didn't make a loss, was in the eighties when they started an operation of factory-restorations of classic AMLs...
 
Didn't think any manufactures recommended flushes, what could go wrong with oil if its left in the engine ?
Its an industry "no no" to recommend flushes and additives.
Across the board a blanket policy and it potentially can void a manufactures warranty.
So they all keep their mouths shut about it!

With all that stated one size does not fit all, neither does it suit all territories, and the varied use of the engine in the vehicles selected.
Now up to a decade or so ago, I was totally against "fix in a can" until that is I went on some trade courses run by BG Automotive, chem additives suppliers and their positive effect on major components being effected by enhanced power delivery and pollution controls on modern engines not to mention fuel quality and variations on that theme . The latter issues are creating their own contamination problems such as GDi technology not seen in earlier petrol (gasoline) engines not to mention direct injection of Otto cycle engines & CI diesels .
Jobsworth mentioned lasting until the warranty ran out. In many ways he's right!

One example is timing chain wear and oil sludge on V V T systems.

In minor upsets @ 75,000 to 100,000 miles, the VVT "drift" caused by sludge/gum/carbon deposits is enough to lower power output and throw CEL lights on . The other is total valve train loss and complete expensive engine destruction at 40,000 miles. (MB272 engines?)
Citing examples of the Landrover AJ Ford based series 4,4 engines on timing chain drift not to mention its worse with BMW and their Vanos & Double Vanos V V T systems on platforms like the X5 4,4 series engines.

Now with MB engines several things are obvious , say a CD14 v6 OM642 engine, after the introduction of enhanced pollution controls they all suffer with carbon related issues from timing chain start up rattle & crank bearing carbon scouring, at mileages over 175,000 miles, especially if the operator /owner is careless about servicing oil/ filter changes & filtration.
The later CD16 Blurrtec are much better but incorrect crankcase engine oil flooding the turbo snail will create lots of carbon which is expelled into the crankcase.
With a windage tray immediately under the crank shaft, and cam tunnels in the heads, it almost impossible to purge an engine by a simple oil changes. Even if done per recommended intervals by dealer service departments . So old oil contamination is inevitable under normal service conditions .

If doing manifold removal with say a Cooler /HE seal change out I/we use the BG upper cylinder clean out procedures to make carbon (port coking removal) much simpler and reduce downtime.
Since a phosphorus based crankcase oil purge oil additive is part of that service, upon crankcase draining the amount carbon removed can be alarming in some cases.
On one or two high mileage units in Sprinters for example I have actually done a "Saab rake test" dictating sump pan removal to scrape out a carbon layer on the pan floor.

So purged /flushes with recommended liquids an strict observance of directives can have a beneficial effect on engine longevity and driveabity at times .
But with all that stated, there is a calculation done by all manufactures in an operational area called Methods & Techniques, where overall component & platform life is calculated, & component selected to achieve a point where economical repair is out of the question and replacement is necessary by scrappage or disposal.

In the end no manufactures wants to achieve total model market saturation and repeat the Vincent HRD motorcycle story which is an industry poster child for NOT what to do.
The MB slogan even though its a premium brand "The best or nothing" slogan boiled down is what advertising men call Sales Puffing nothing more & nothing less.
Tuercas viejas
 
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They also get to sell genuine service parts and spare parts via their franchised workshops, as well as extended warranties.

There's no reason why car manufacturers should leave this lucrative source of revenue to third parties.

An interesting story I heard about Aston Martin, BTW, is that the first time in their history that they didn't make a loss, was in the eighties when they started an operation of factory-restorations of classic AMLs...
Yes its a creative revenue stream which the dealer networks no matter the brand are continually honing well past warranty coverage for customer retention & loyalty.
Here's an overall narrative on the subject.
Tuercas viejas

 

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