Full Ford Dealer Service History - Add's value to Resale ?

[Rodge]

I'd like to pose you a hypothetical question:-
Imagine you're buying a five year old performance Ford, doesn't matter what, say its a G6ET, F6, SC GT, whatever.

You find two identical examples:-

Example A - has a full service history from Ford dealerships.
Example B - has a full service history from a local mechanics shop or a well known tuner and the vendor shows you the receipts for purchase of quality oil and the correct parts. The vendor offers to introduce you to his mechanic / tuner and chat with him.

Simple question, is the full service history from a Ford dealership worth more to you as a buyer ? If so how much ? (Assume the vehicles fair price is $35,000).

[FreddyDUZ747]

Only if the buyer thinks this is a fantastic practise lol.

Service history is a thing imo that is needed,does it add value......nup,just means the car has been serviced.Why should the buyer be penalised for something that should be done?

This is how I look at it.

[aussie muscle]

so long as it has a full service history to show it's been taken care of, it doesn't matter if it's ford or someone else, because dealers are just mechanics shops that have paid for a Ford franchise.

[DanielXR8]

Originally Posted by Rodge

I'd like to pose you a hypothetical question:-
Imagine you're buying a five year old performance Ford, doesn't matter what, say its a G6ET, F6, SC GT, whatever.

You find two identical examples:-

Example A - has a full service history from Ford dealerships.
Example B - has a full service history from a local mechanics shop or a well known tuner and the vendor shows you the receipts for purchase of quality oil and the correct parts. The vendor offers to introduce you to his mechanic / tuner and chat with him.

Simple question, is the full service history from a Ford dealership worth more to you as a buyer ? If so how much ? (Assume the vehicles fair price is $35,000).

I've never seen a dealer even look at the service history of a Ford I've owned when trading in and I am going back to TF Cortina days here.

As for purchasing second hand, as long as the car has receipts or the book stamped I couldn't care less if its a Ford branded service or not. A Ford stamped service history wouldn't add any value in my eyes. In fact if you got your car regularly serviced at a Newcastle Ford dealer I know I probably wouldn't buy it. No reflection on the owner, but if I saw that dealers name I'd know the car has never had a proper service and inspection since it was built.

My checklist would be that its had any recalls done, serviced regularly and then looking around the car for the tell tale signs that the owner, did or didn't take pride in looking after their car.

Dan

[Kynan]

Your local mechanics use the same supplier for parts as Dealerships. You just don't pay the massive overheads like you would at Dealerships...

Here's a good example...
My mate takes his sedan into a dealership as his rear left brake hose burst. He gets a quote... Approximately $500 EACH (that's fitted as well). He speaks to a local mechanic who says to him, $180 for BOTH REAR (fitted as well). He somehow manages to get a hold of the hoses used at his car dealership and a hose at his local mechanic. Exactly the same... He confronted the dealership and asked what the difference was. Apparently no one could explain the difference in quality and on top of that they couldn't justify the price.

Local mechanics pride themselves on their quality workmanship, their businesses depend on it. At the end of the day the mechanic working at the dealership gets paid regardless, doesn't bother him whether the dealership gets a good or bad name.

I could be wrong. But that's my opinion

[Spammy]

The additional cost of dealer servicing over 2 or 3 years is greater than any additrional resale (I don't think there is really any additional resale anyways).

[cs123]

It might not make the car more valuable but I think it makes it more saleable. If there were 2 identical cars and one had dealer servicing and other other didn't. I would go for the one with dealer servicing.

I don't think I'd buy any newish car that had been modified in any way at all, but that is just me. A modified car gives an indication to how it was driven.

[Rodp]

No. I perceive no additional value of Ford service over a reputable shop. Given past experience, I found that I could get cheaper, more comprehensive service outside my local Ford dealer.. particularly when it came to my handbrake in my BA XR8 (something that Ford insisted in charging to repair during the warranty period and lasted ~10 applications) that was finally fixed for free at an Ultra Tune (of all places) a couple of months before sale.

[The Yeti]

having worked in dealerships and had ford dealers service my company cars, I would prefer to see the independant service agent over the ford dealer circus

[Cúl-Báire]

Does a service history with the car make it worth more, well no not in my opinion but it does make it a better value car. However I tend not to put too much faith in them, a few years ago I brought a VT SS Commodore (Series 1) that had a service history, but it hadn't had the things it needed doing done to it.

I got a major service, trans flush, etc... done when I got it home, the first thing the mechanic said to me when I went to pick it up was it had looked like it had the same coolant, and bottom hose for the last 180k kms, and still had the factory transmission fluid in it...

From the outside the car was neat, the engine bay was neat, it didn't drive like it had any problems; but deep down there were issues that ended up costing me a fortune over the 60k kms I had the car.

[Luke Plaizier]

Someone who knows nothing about cars - the Ford Dealer history is more important.

Someone who knows a bit about what Ford Dealer servicing is like - will appreciate the aftermarket history and recepits more.


Luke

[lucas2]

Originally Posted by cs123

It might not make the car more valuable but I think it makes it more saleable. If there were 2 identical cars and one had dealer servicing and other other didn't. I would go for the one with dealer servicing.

I don't think I'd buy any newish car that had been modified in any way at all, but that is just me. A modified car gives an indication to how it was driven.

I agree, I'd trust a reputable tuner doing the work over ford themselves. It definitely adds to the appeal of the car.

[Bushbasher]

Personally I'd take the independent mechanic serviced car over a dealer serviced car every time. From personal experience and most recently with my current Fairlane I've had nothing but niggling dramas with the things that weren't done by the dealer but listed in the paperwork as done. How many times has a dealer shafted the car owner on price for work done then said owner discovers the work was never carried out. My Fairlane is rolling proof of this in my eyes. At least you know the work was done at the mechanics place. I'd rather spend my money on a 150k old mechanic serviced car than a 80k old dealer serviced one.

Bushbasher

[RedHotGT]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

Personally I'd take the independent mechanic serviced car over a dealer serviced car every time. From personal experience and most recently with my current Fairlane I've had nothing but niggling dramas with the things that weren't done by the dealer but listed in the paperwork as done. How many times has a dealer shafted the car owner on price for work done then said owner discovers the work was never carried out. My Fairlane is rolling proof of this in my eyes. At least you know the work was done at the mechanics place. I'd rather spend my money on a 150k old mechanic serviced car than a 80k old dealer serviced one.

Bushbasher

Had a similar experience when I bought my 2nd hand Territory. It had 76,000km on the clock, but it hadn't had the 75k service. One of my terms with the purchase was to have that service done and logged in the book.

We were nearly at the point of the keys being handed over, when I checked the books and to my surprise (well - not really) the book hadn't been stamped...

The salesperson quickly went and got the dealer stamp, stamped and signed my book and said "there you go"... He was quite surprised when I stood there with my arms folded and said "Just because the book is stamped, doesn't mean the service was done"...

So we waited and insisted the service was done, as per the agreement...

But I'm sure if i didn't kick up a fuss, the stamp would have been in the book and I'd have been none the wiser...

Sometimes those service history books are not worth the paper they are printed on!!!

[pottery beige]

i would rather burn my car.. than take it to a stealer for a service....

[jixel 78]

Fact is, not all dealers are the same. And neither are the little blokes. None of the little blokes can update any of the software,obtain factory recall information, supply warranty repair history, access correct factory workshop procedures, ie temperature related fluid level checks, diagnose software module communication issues in regard to safety systems,diagnose and calibrate stability control and traction control systems, access international model workshop procedures in regard to global vehicle calibrations,the list goes on. They arent all the same, and they do get bundled into the `theyre all crap` basket around here. Mostly by the Holley and extractors mindset. Dealers have an obligation to train their workshop staff in the vehicles they service. They dont all do it, but some make a point of it.If I was having to ask the question, I`d want some dealer attendance for the car in question whether it was a Falcon or a Prado or whatever.

[Kieron]

Some dealer servicing is better than others, same applies to the independent workshops so it ends up being a case of pot luck, unless you know the good ones and bad ones, which is unlikely.

However, with the OP's scenario of a 5 year old car, i'd possibly sway towards a dealer serviced car, but I wouldn't pay anything extra for it.
Why?
In the first 5 years, nothing is likely to go wrong with these cars and for the first 3, it's going to be a dealer warranty fix anyway.
On top of this, what's a service consist of nowadays? engine oil change, oil filter change, air filter change, handbrake adjustment, looks for error codes in the ECU?

The above can't be that hard to screw up by even the most incompetent dealer.

[Bushbasher]

Lets say the car is doing 20k a year and at year 5 after 100k you buy your stealer "serviced" unit and take it home to discover it's still running on the original brake fluid which is now like mud, and the coolant has never been changed but just topped up, and the leaky water pump was never changed but just had some Bars Leaks or some such put in there to stop the leak which will then into a blocked radiator, and it's still running it's original shocks and the same peanut mechanic has adjusted the same tie rod end to straighten the wheel alignment 4 times so now the steering wheel is out by 5 deg. , yet all these things are listed as being fixed, repaired or otherwise changed according to the stamped service book, then how will you feel. There's more to it than just an oil and filter change. Don't tell me it doesn't happen because all of those things and more happened with my Fairlane and that was a CEO's company car serviced religiously on time by the Stealer who sold it to them. They had apparently bought 3 of them and the one I got was the last one left and had been the wifes daily for 8 years with only 100k on it. It looked shmick but underneath there's all these niggling issues that keep cropping up and most can be traced back to poor servicing. If I had the chance again I'd go up the road and buy the other one for sale at the same time that was pretty much identical but had 180k on it and had been serviced regularly by an independent.


Bushbasher

[mcnews]

At trade in time I have never been asked for any service history whatsoever, so unless you are selling privately and chasing top dollar for the most **** retentive buyer and are willing to take 6 months to sell your car, I would say it makes no difference.

[brydie76]

Originally Posted by DanielXR8

In fact if you got your car regularly serviced at a Newcastle Ford dealer I know I probably wouldn't buy it. No reflection on the owner, but if I saw that dealers name I'd know the car has never had a proper service and inspection since it was built.

Can you elaborate on that and/or provide any decent alternatives? I know most/all of the Ford dealers in this area are owned by the same mob, but I would think if you avoided the main one (and went to one in the Lake Mac/Port Stephens council areas for example), you would have a chance of a half decent service. And honestly, from my recent experience with my (now former) local mechanic as well as the one my sister goes to, I really don't think there would be many decent local little guys around now either in Newcastle.

[Rodge]

Originally Posted by Spammy

The additional cost of dealer servicing over 2 or 3 years is greater than any additrional resale (I don't think there is really any additional resale anyways).

Over 5 years I would say the additional cost of a Ford dealers service would be a significant amount, especially if the Ford dealer is owned by the Automotive Holdings Group. Judging by comments to date its very doubtful the extra cost would be recovered at resale or trade-in time so finding a good local mechanic seems logical.

[graham_h]

It just isn't worth it..... it's the biggest con out there

[ute83]

Dealership technicians can get bonuses for charging out more hours than they have worked. With that sort of incentive things don't get done are rushed or only done half arsed. I don't know of any mechanical workshops that do that so no incentive not to do some things.

[Kieron]

Originally Posted by Bushbasher

Lets say the car is doing 20k a year and at year 5 after 100k you buy your stealer "serviced" unit and take it home to discover it's still running on the original brake fluid which is now like mud, and the coolant has never been changed but just topped up, and the leaky water pump was never changed but just had some Bars Leaks or some such put in there to stop the leak which will then into a blocked radiator, and it's still running it's original shocks and the same peanut mechanic has adjusted the same tie rod end to straighten the wheel alignment 4 times so now the steering wheel is out by 5 deg. , yet all these things are listed as being fixed, repaired or otherwise changed according to the stamped service book, then how will you feel. There's more to it than just an oil and filter change. Don't tell me it doesn't happen because all of those things and more happened with my Fairlane and that was a CEO's company car serviced religiously on time by the Stealer who sold it to them. They had apparently bought 3 of them and the one I got was the last one left and had been the wifes daily for 8 years with only 100k on it. It looked shmick but underneath there's all these niggling issues that keep cropping up and most can be traced back to poor servicing. If I had the chance again I'd go up the road and buy the other one for sale at the same time that was pretty much identical but had 180k on it and had been serviced regularly by an independent.


Bushbasher

I don't doubt you mate, but what iv'e seen with stealers is you come away with a list as long as you arm with things that need attention rather than just covering them up. It's in their best interest to say you need a brake fluid change, coolant flush, new water pump, if they said they did it and didn't do it, then thats fraud.

I've had plenty of issues with dealers and independent mechanics. Latest with our Getz was a noise that appeared brake related to me, independent workshop said it was rear wheel bearings and a new rear upright was required, $360 + fitting, also had a knocking at idle, he said it was exhaust but couldn't locate it, sound more like an engine mount to me.

Went to my mobile neighbour, de-glazed and cleaned rear brake drums, noise gone. Located knocking within seconds, was a loose bolt on an engine mount. Got him to throw new front brake pads on and machine front disks, all up? $200.

[ZDI-970]

i would never buy a car with a ford service history, id definitely take one from an independant mechanic, dealers use the cheapest parts avaialable and are just generally dodgy lol.. the independent mechanic has to uphold their reputation so they actually take care of the customers car and usually use better quality stuff

[Geez Louise]

I have always had my Rav4 serviced at the Toyota dealer....that being said, I have never had an issue with any of our other cars serviced by Ford, apart from the fact they seem more expensive to service than the local mechanic as our Fords are all getting on a bit...We alternate between a Ford service and local mechanic. Depends when we can slot the cars in and where.

So would I prefer to buy one with full Ford service history instead of a mechanics with all the receipts... it wouldn't matter to me.

[mik]

definatly worth more dollars to this bloke , documented history of servicing from a well regarded dealer is a nice thing to have, there are dodgey non dealer repair shops the same as there are dodgey dealers, how much more? that is the $64 dollar question, i have been looking at cars/studying cars intensely for sale for the last 2 months,
i have seen some magnificent examples of well kept motor cars that where somewhat above my budget, but i would have been willing to move heaven and earth to find another 15/20% more dollars, possibly even more to own one of these, (seen some real stinkers too ).

[MITCHAY]

Doesn't matter where it's been serviced but having a dealer log book may provide some sort of extra assurance with regard to the car being up to date with the recommended maintenance schedule.

I think most of the 'must be serviced by a dealer' mentality though is due to warranty concerns

[Kieron]

Originally Posted by ZDI-970

i would never buy a car with a ford service history, id definitely take one from an independant mechanic, dealers use the cheapest parts avaialable and are just generally dodgy lol.. the independent mechanic has to uphold their reputation so they actually take care of the customers car and usually use better quality stuff

The Ford dealers i've used use Ford parts, some use Castrol oil and one I recall used Valvoline. I wouldn't be surprised if Ford dealers have to use Ford replacement parts actually, most certainly they have to in a warranty situation.

Independent mechanics can certainly source replacements parts from anywhere, therefore are more likely to use the cheapest.

Not sticking up for dealer servicing neither, I use my mobile mechanic neighbour for one car and my other goes to a Ford stealer as its the closest of the appointed places my lease allows. Out of interest, my last service was $260 for my FG XR8 at 60K using Castrol synth. I had the 30K service done at a Bosch service centre, $499, used Penrite oil, Ryco filter and he did replace the air filer - leasing company initially refused to pay as it was outrageous.

I'd used that Bosch dealer (was Repco) for 15 years and the owner was a friend too.

[jixel 78]

So many cars end up back at the dealer with stupid issues its rediculous. I cant stop laughing at the dyno queen `back to stock` warranty punts. Might as well flush your money down the toilet. As if an FG Turbo isnt fast enough. If you need to wick it up, run the warranty for a couple of years first,they`ll ping the software and see the tune as soon as you grab a coffee in the waiting room.When theres a Turbo on a tilt tray with its tailshaft in the back seat, the laptop is ready to go.