I am not sure where to put this, but it’s definitely no family life, nor the tales for the bullys… So let’s assume that having a car is a proffesional driver’s thing in most cases.
There is a time when first inspection of my (bought as new) car is coming. I saw that authorised dealerships are charging some crazy money for this services. In Poland if you don’t service the car with the authorised garage of your manufacturer, you are loosing your guarantee. Here I did not found anything like that in the small print. Is that means that I can go to my friendly Scottish independent garage and as far, as they will stamp the book for me and do everything what’s required by manufacturer, I will be all right and I will be still covered by manufacturer guarantee?
I’m not entirely sure, although I’m sure that if some mechanical failure occurred which could be attributed to poor servicing, the manufacturer will exploit that. You should also bear in mind that your car will have a higher re-sale value if it has a main dealer service history and the difference will certainly outweigh any savings you make by having it serviced at a small independent garage.
Nothing against small independent garages , I use one to do the work on my own car but as that is now 13 years old is a different kettle of fish, as we say here in the UK
Harry Monk:
I’m not entirely sure, although I’m sure that if some mechanical failure occurred which could be attributed to poor servicing, the manufacturer will exploit that.
That’s another point. Somehow I trust more to this small family garage run by two brothers than to big network garage, where noone is responsible for anything…
Once I wanted to change brake discs and pads in my old car. There was special offer on that in Kwik Fit and I told to myself that they can’t ■■■■ that, as it’s so easy that even I was able to do it in my car back in Poland.
How wrong I am: I had to come back to them seven times due to some noises, they fitted it triple times and noises were only stronger and stronger. Finally I went to a small shed in the back lane near to my then house and the guy found what was wrong in 10 minutes, fixed it in 2 minutes and charged me 20 quids for it… I know what was wrong, but I am just giving up with translating it in English
I’ve been in ■■■ lorry garage today, I was dealing with one guy, then the other engineer came to check, then another one took the lorry from me and I saw two others dealing with that, then the second one delivered it back to me… If something was ■■■■■■, who is to blame?
In my small garage the guy puts his name on the sign, he has to do everything to be trusted…
But the point about value of the car on resale is good, although I hope to keep in for so many years, that the difference in price will have to be really small.
Harry Monk:
I’m not entirely sure, although I’m sure that if some mechanical failure occurred which could be attributed to poor servicing, the manufacturer will exploit that.
That’s another point. Somehow I trust more to this small family garage run by two brothers than to big network garage, where noone is responsible for anything…
Were they under the arches in Walford ? FAMILY firm ?
You do not have to take your new car to main dealer for servicing and it will not invalidate your warranty as long as the independant garage service it and use parts to manufacturers specification.
You say it was nearly? new so is it still under manufacturers warranty?
If it is a dealer warranty on a used car it is probably worthless and they will charge you a fortune for repairs.Go to a good independant garage you can trust where you are not paying for their large overheads.
I very recently bought a 2 year old Ford from a Ford dealer, this came with a 3 year Ford warranty.
The warranty document states that servicing and repairs should be carried out according to manufacturers service schedule by a VAT registered repairer using OEM parts or approved alternatives, receipts are required.
orys:
I will be all right and I will be still covered by manufacturer guarantee?
Yep, it’s called Block Exemption and as it is an EU thing if it doesn’t already apply in Poland it will have to soon.
My eldest son has his own garage in Corby and he services peoples cars at a fraction of the cost of dealer services. He uses the correct parts and so on, stamps their service books, and their warranty is not affected.
Orys, alot depends on the make of the car and just how good the warranty is. I bought a Hyundai Coupe when it was six months old and it came with a five year warranty and the only time I needed it was 2 days before it expired, it failed its mot on a worn bush, replaced no problem under warranty. By rights if it is seviced at a back street garage and they use genuine parts it shouldnt affect the warranty but keep all reciepts to prove that genuine parts were used.Hope this helps.
Thanks, my car is a wee Daihatsu and it’s manufacturers warranty, quite good conditions (and free RAC assistance for a full period of five years), so I think it’s worth to keep the guarantee valid…
Hey, which word is correct: guarantee, or warranty? Mu dico gives me both…
Coffeholic: you’re right it’s a EU thing and the Polish dealerships are doing everything to delay it’s introduction as long as possible, because what they are doing is simply a robbery…
orys:
I will be all right and I will be still covered by manufacturer guarantee?
Yep, it’s called Block Exemption and as it is an EU thing if it doesn’t already apply in Poland it will have to soon.
My eldest son has his own garage in Corby and he services peoples cars at a fraction of the cost of dealer services. He uses the correct parts and so on, stamps their service books, and their warranty is not affected.
orys:
I will be all right and I will be still covered by manufacturer guarantee?
Yep, it’s called Block Exemption and as it is an EU thing if it doesn’t already apply in Poland it will have to soon.
My eldest son has his own garage in Corby and he services peoples cars at a fraction of the cost of dealer services. He uses the correct parts and so on, stamps their service books, and their warranty is not affected.
orys:
I will be all right and I will be still covered by manufacturer guarantee?
Yep, it’s called Block Exemption and as it is an EU thing if it doesn’t already apply in Poland it will have to soon.
My eldest son has his own garage in Corby and he services peoples cars at a fraction of the cost of dealer services. He uses the correct parts and so on, stamps their service books, and their warranty is not affected.
Corby Northants??
Yes.
Very interesting, I may have some work to throw his way, if you care to let me know the name of his garage, I’ll get a quote off him for a costly job I need doing
When you buy a second hand car the original Warranty may well not be transferable. Many dealers will sell you a warranty which is like the extended warranty Currys will try to sell you if you buy a fridge (ie not worth the money).
If you buy a second hand car from a proper dealer then you have some valuable statutory rights. You have them whoever you buy from, but they are virtually unenforceable unless the vendor has a reputation to protect.
The car MUST be roadworthy, exactly as described (mileage, condition, service record etc), and there should be no problems with title (it’s not nicked).
After you buy it think about what you would want as a future purchaser of that car. You would like to see a full service history and all the MOTs with the mileage on, and receipts for any important parts fitted.
I can understand why you wouldn’t want to go to a main stealer as every one seems to be part of Arnold Shark. Find a good Indy and you’ll be fine.
Last new vehicle I had was a Suzuki SV650 in 2002. Never went near a dealer, I did everything myself and it was fine. (30k miles in 18 months, 27k of that done in the first 9 months)
Find a good Indy and you’ll be fine.