Maintenance at the dealership and carfax?

[MathewM4]

Jut looking for input/advice since I have had some bad experiences with various dealerships recently (BMW, Mercedes and Toyota dealerships). They have been lying and not performed services they charged for.

Obviously most people look at the carfax when buying a used car including myself.

The question is does the price of a used car go down significantly if you do your maintenance yourself versus going to the stealership?

I always keep invoices and take photos when doing maintenance on my cars.

[Blocke]

Id say that is subjective. I’m OCD, I keep a folder with every single receipt for every mod and service I perform, logged with dates and miles. I always get comments that people can’t believe my vehicle is X years old because it looks and drives like it’s brand new. I would buy from an enthusiast owner before I bought from some dealership that was just looking to make a buck.

But I’m sure their are others that put more stock in a “always serviced at the dealer” car. Both shade tree mechanics and dealer techs can do shitty work, this is where a PPI comes in. The way a car has been treated or mistreated comes to light during a thorough PPI. For me, the price I would pay depends on how thorough the service history is, the PPI results, and the condition of the car.

[MathewM4]

Originally Posted by Blocke

Id say that is subjective. I’m OCD, I keep a folder with every single receipt for every mod and service I perform, logged with dates and miles. I always get comments that people can’t believe my vehicle is X years old because it looks and drives like it’s brand new. I would buy from an enthusiast owner before I bought from some dealership that was just looking to make a buck.

But I’m sure their are others that put more stock in a “always serviced at the dealer” car. Both shade tree mechanics and dealer techs can do shitty work, this is where a PPI comes in. The way a car has been treated or mistreated comes to light during a thorough PPI. For me, the price I would pay depends on how thorough the service history is, the PPI results, and the condition of the car.

I got OCD as well. I just don't trust the dealerships anymore. They are trying to make money and not necessarily do a good job on your car. Also, the service advisors seems to be completely clueless.

[Rich150001]

I always wondered this as well, but I personally prefer someone who does their own maintenance and logs everything.

[Marioec]

I don't take my car to the stealership unless is something warranty related. I always do my own maintenance and i keep the receipts of everything I buy from FCP or ECS. I also take pictures and log everything for the next owner if I decide to sell.

I think true car ethusiast apriasiate more having the service done by the current owner when buying than taking it to the stearlership and not knowing if they actual did the maintenance or not.

[bagekko]

If your selling a car on BaT and don't have some records of maint done yourself it will hurt the value, if selling locally most likely won't make much of a difference, if trading in your car a really shitty dealer may try to knock of $ for self maintenance. In most cases it will not make much of a difference.

It's relatively easy to see poorly maintained cars for me. Funny when there's a POS with cheap mods or crappy wheels/tires in local apps or offer up and they think they can sell for book.

[Blocke]

Originally Posted by bagekko

It's relatively easy to see poorly maintained cars for me. Funny when there's a POS with cheap mods or crappy wheels/tires in local apps or offer up and they think they can sell for book.

This 100%. I forgot to mention that. I look at the quality of the parts if the vehicle is modded. Non OE stuff, eBay quality visual mods, “ricer” parts, even stickers… I run far away from those. I see it less in the M3 world, but back in the day when I was into GTI’s and Audi’s it was very prevalent.