WHAT IS A DEALER SERVICE STAMP WORTH TO YOU?

[ekoor]

I am new here and new to the BMW brand owning my first BMW for around 6 months or so I just need for find out the following:

What does a dealer stamp matter to you when you buy a car as opposed to a reputable tuner.

Car in question is an e46 318i that was a BMW car with service history at BMW that has 127k kms on the and I plan on keeping until say 200k km.

What difference would it make to a potential buyer?

Thanks

 

[abmi0000]

Means nothing to me. Bunch of idiots in most workshops and has nothing to do with the way the car was driven and cared for.

 

[Mr Occo]

It does add 5 - 10 k on selling price!

 

[Sportpack]

It may still have "some" significance if you decide to trade the car in or sell it to someone like me...especially if you are looking for market value or above

 

[petrivanzyl]

None....the dealer never even stamped my book for 139000km....

All service records are available on their system?

 

[Sportpack]

Still... you have service records?

None....the dealer never even stamped my book for 139000km....

All service records are available on their system?

 

[Philip Foglar]

It's a sort of "peace of mind" thing, but in reality, chances are that the car that has been serviced by a good third party garage is the better looked after and serviced car. But, if you asked me this two years ago just before I bough my first BMW I would have said without a doubt that FSH with the agents is a must - now, with what I have seen with my own eyes, I'd rather look at the car in its current state and take a close look at the service history rather than if it was serviced with the agents - obviously, pavement/backyard mechie with a few tools is not going to do it for me. This is always the risky part of buying a used car!

 

[The_Hitman]

Means nothing really.. BMW's dont offen get stamped because they record them on the system.. People still like to have the book stamped as buyers use it as a bargaining chip because its used to prove that the car has a FSH.

 

[msm]

While I agree that it does not mean much due to the incompetence of many dealers, the fact that there is a full record of it, does help verify mileage.

 

[Sabretooth tiger]

I do t car about it, my car on 34000km and no stamp, its all on record where is needs to be BMW SA's records.

 

[mk1-fan]

I bought my car with a full dealer service history. I had to replace a ton of things. Even the fuel filter was never changed and the car has 125k on the clock.

Now either the dealers just didn't bother, or the owner didn't want to had it replaced.

Sent from my HTC EVO 3D X515m using Tapatalk 2

 

[moranor@axis]

whats the cost of servicing at the agents VS extra gained in selling price?

I would not pay more for a car because it was serviced at the BMW....

 

[ekoor]

Thanks guys for all the replies.

Does anyone a comparison of the difference between dealer and a recoginsed mechie with present prices?

Say

Oil Service
Inspection 1
Inspection 2???

 

[Twinz]

It depends. Some independant mechies are more expensive than the dealership.

 

[herr bmw]

you would have to shop around,as ive experienced different prices,from garage to garage

 

[ekoor]

Have also of independents being more expensive.

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[Beast_Power]

For me the service book only serves as as a indicator of the mileage of the vehicle, but I still do my homework before buying, as it is easy to change and modify.

A lot of the stuff that needs fixing on my cars I do myself or ask one of my friends (Head Technician at one of the dealers) to help out, I have had to many things go wrong after a service, or get told something is faulty on a car while it is at the dealer, that I know for a fact nothing was wrong with when I took the car in to them.

According to what I have seen the Services on BMW's only get recorded on BMW's main system if it is still under maintenance plan.

The service book is also not going to tell you if the car was in a major accident or has some major underlying problems that have not been addressed yet.

 

[Wes]

For me the service book only serves as as a indicator of the mileage of the vehicle, but I still do my homework before buying, as it is easy to change and modify.

A lot of the stuff that needs fixing on my cars I do myself or ask one of my friends (Head Technician at one of the dealers) to help out, I have had to many things go wrong after a service, or get told something is faulty on a car while it is at the dealer, that I know for a fact nothing was wrong with when I took the car in to them.

According to what I have seen the Services on BMW's only get recorded on BMW's main system if it is still under maintenance plan.

The service book is also not going to tell you if the car was in a major accident or has some major underlying problems that have not been addressed yet.

+1

A stamp should mean a car has been well looked after, but it isnt always the case. Many people can tell you at length about the expensive problems they have had, even though the book has been stamped to date.

When buying a car, its condition should be judged first. Just my 2c..

 

[prospect]

Means zilch! When buying a BMW always call a dealer for everything about the car. If there's no info take your money and run! There are no stamps in my E93 335i service book and there were a few on my E90 330d.