Advice please - do you think main dealer service history matters?

JonW

Member
Messages
3,259
Hi all,

This is not Maserati related, but I’m interested in the views of car enthusiasts.

Our family car is a 2016 Range Rover Sport, which we’ve had for 4 years, and until now it’s always been serviced by Guy Salmon, who were the supplying dealership.

In March 2020 I bought it off the lease company, and it now needs a service. Question I have is do I stick with main dealer, or go to an independent LandRover specialist.

My current instinct is to save my money and go independent.... however, at some point I may end up wanting to trade the car in for a new Hybrid Rangie, or something similar, and I’m wondering if having a full Range Rover service history would make it worth noticeably more?

If it matters, it’s currently low mileage at only around 18k...
 
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Simon1963

Member
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819
Personally I’d go independent. I use indies for my BMW 650 and my wife’s Mercedes SLK. About £55 an hour labour as opposed to £100 plus. When I’m buying cars I’d much rather see a service book or invoices from an independent.
 

outrun

Member
Messages
5,017
I disagree, i think it matters until a prestige car is 6 or 7 years old or so. However, i would only use the main dealer for a basic service, to get the correct stamp in the book, and then use a specialist for any work required outside of the service schedule.
 

RobinL

Member
Messages
456
Easy check (if you don't mind follow up emails) check the value with we buy any car, first with full dealer history, and then without - will give you an idea.
I'd go with basic dealer, all else indie for next 2 years then indie for all else after that.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk
 

allandwf

Member
Messages
10,958
I don't think it matters, but I put mine into MD as their service prices are quite reasonable, for other works like mot issues, gators, brakes etc. that may crop up I use an independent.
 

Corranga

Member
Messages
1,219
I think... it’s complicated.

It very much depends on the car. Main dealers are good at servicing modern stuff, they do it all day every day. Repairs, not so much.
Some main dealers I wouldn’t do near, reputation is important. A good Indy will likely do a better job, I’ve been shown plenty of black pollen filters coming out of 4 year old cars in my local Indy.
I personally think it’s all about the resale. If it’s a prestige car, yes. Something like my Mini, I’ve had such an experience with the local main dealer, I wouldn’t trust them to top up the wiper fluid!
 

Andyk

Member
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61,038
If you are trading it back to Land Rover you may....and I mean just may get more for it if it has a full LR history......They would retail depending on mileage rather than sell to the trade which I believe they just give you highest bid....Depends how long you plan to keep it though as you may save the money you lose on Trade in on service cost going to a specialist.
 
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EnzoMC

Member
Messages
1,998
main dealer is the best option but I've found anything outside a standard service isn't a great experience. I also found that main dealers don't fully follow the service schedule unless you request it.

i've had much better service and experience from most specialist, just need to find a good one.

I was concerned about resale value, but got the impression most wouldn't see the differences between M/D or specialist as long as it was serviced on time.
 

Marco07

Member
Messages
373
I use the Range Rover service plan and it’s pretty cheap to be honest. They collect and return it as well. Not sure saving a few quid is worth it.
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
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9,033
4 years old and only 18k miles, that's an expensive lease per mile don't work it out! I guess the reason why it makes sense to keep it rather than do the same thing again.
Is the servicing annual or every 2 years?
If every 2 years its probably only had one service.
I'd say dependant normally but because of the low mileage I'd stick with the main dealer. It hasn't done any miles for anything to go wrong or anything to replace for wear and tear. Basic servicing I've found it's not much more at the main dealer in such cases.
 

Ewan

Member
Messages
6,757
I’d stick with the main dealer for another year or two, especially given yours is so low mileage. When you sell, at say 6 years old, a car with low miles and FMDSH, it will be worth more than the others.

But as mentioned above, if they flag up extra work (such as needing new brakes/tyres), have that work done more cheaply by a local indie.

Yesterday I sold our LR Evoque, at 5 years old. It was a one owner car with FMDSH. I advertised it only on here and the Westfield forum (so to a pretty small and niche clientele, not known as Evoque buyers!) on Dec 23rd (so over Christams, and during a COVID lockdow), but it still sold really quickly to someone who travelled 150 miles to come and view. And I’m sure that was because of the provenance, as the model itself was nothing out of the ordinary.
 

philw696

Member
Messages
25,114
Just my tuppence worth as a Technician who has worked in Dealerships and Independent Garages.
All vehicles today have lots of computer software on them for all the systems.
Easy for the Dealer to do when in for service and record of it right back to the factory.
If your Independent has bought into that not a problem otherwise let him look after the Classic stuff.
Otherwise I would rather see a nice Independent invoice detailing a full service rather than a Dealership oil and filter change.
 

mjheathcote

Centenary Club
Messages
9,033
The computer systems must be a worry for independents.
More and more are requiring components 'coding' to the car.
It's obviously not required technically I feel but put in place by the manufacturers so work has to be done by the main dealers.
It's got to be a problem with general independent garages that they simply can't work on all makes.
It annoys me that the local Ferrari specialist Italia Auto near me hasn't a sd2/3. They have made a decision to stop working on any Ferrari that needs it and just work on the classics.
 

lifes2short

Member
Messages
5,821
imo main stealer normal servicing stages is good for the first few years even though you get shafted on the labour rates, but with consumable replacements i would use a good indy, really gets on my tits when main stealers call to say "you only have aprox another 1000 miles left on your pads would you like us to replace" i politely decline and try to resist saying no feck off i'll wait for the warning light
 

JonW

Member
Messages
3,259
Thanks for the comments everyone....

I think I’m going to have the immediate service done by Guy Salmon, but will look into my local independent Land Rover specialists in Surrey, and will start with using them to fix a couple of things I know need doing with the car. This includes refurbing all 4 wheels that have been curbed, repeatedly.

The original plan was never to own this car, but it made financial sense to buy it at the end of the lease rather than just hand it back... and this ended up being a particularly good decision given that COVID then hit.

If it wasn’t a diesel then it’s very likely that the car would become a keeper and be the family car / dog bus... however running a diesel feels vaguely wrong from a sustainability point of view, so I suspect we will look to trade it in at some point in the future.
 

Gazcw

Member
Messages
7,696
Thanks for the comments everyone....

I think I’m going to have the immediate service done by Guy Salmon, but will look into my local independent Land Rover specialists in Surrey, and will start with using them to fix a couple of things I know need doing with the car. This includes refurbing all 4 wheels that have been curbed, repeatedly.

The original plan was never to own this car, but it made financial sense to buy it at the end of the lease rather than just hand it back... and this ended up being a particularly good decision given that COVID then hit.

If it wasn’t a diesel then it’s very likely that the car would become a keeper and be the family car / dog bus... however running a diesel feels vaguely wrong from a sustainability point of view, so I suspect we will look to trade it in at some point in the future.
Most stealers do a reduced or fixed service rate for the older vehicle. I know the likes of Audi, bm etc. do anyway. I would maintain the lr history but expect to do some chevks/bits myself like pollen filters that they love to miss.