Service indicator

T

TheRuss

Member
 Brizzle
Hi folks, just wondering how accurate the service indicator is, in terms of taking both time and mileage into account?

Does the indicator take time into account at all? Only I've just found out that the car I'm looking to buy has only had one service at 17,000 miles. It's currently only on 26,000 miles, but is a 57 plate, so I'd have thought the car would be asking for a second by now.

Also, does it take into account how hard the car is being driven etc?

Next service is apparently due in November, though I'm thinking of changing the oil and filter as soon as I get it home, just for peace of mind.
 
it works it out on mileage and driving style ie round the doors or motoway. Think the oil should be changed every 2 years (and brake fluid) on low mileage examples
 
Thanks Deka. I've seen the 2 years thing mentioned on here a few times. Apparently the car I'm looking at was sold at around 18 months - 2 years old by BMW as an AUC (to the guy I'm buying it from). He'd assumed that they'd serviced it prior to sale, but checked today and found that they hadn't, as it only had 9000 miles on it at the time.

He then had it serviced at 3 years old in Nov 2010(roughly 17,600 miles) and it hasn't been done again since, so is due in November of this year, if using the 2 year rule.

So it seems it has only had one service at 3 years old, which is giving me second thoughts about the car. It looks to generally be a good car otherwise, so should I worry much about this?
 
Can you not ask the current seller to service it as a way of sealing the deal? If everything else checks out and you want peace of mind, £200 service shouldn't upset them too much. Or knock £200 off the asking as you need to service it.
 
Well servicing it now isn't the problem - the cost of a can of oil and a filter doesn't worry me so much, it's more the fact that it went for the first 3 years/17,600 miles without an oil change. Sure, I can mantain regular changes now, but should I worry about the fact that the first lot of oil was in there for so long?
 
The mileage indicator is accurate as far as it needs to be. It's easily zeroed out too, so can be 'fooled'
The 2 year rule is important, so if your car was sold in Nov'07 it should have been serviced in Nov '09 and Nov '11 so you really have a near 5 year old car that's had one service from new.

The issues will not be so much if the oil is good for the extra time as modern synthetics will last, however:

A single filter has served far longer than it shoudl have
It's unlikely to have had any other service done (microfilters, air filter, brake fluid changes, lubrication, new pads, etc. etc.)

Most importantly the next buyer will argue down price due to incompete history and you wan't be able to disagree, so you need to be aware of that and haggle accordingly.
 
Thanks CJ10Jeeper, the seller says that it's due the "inspection service" next, so I'm not sure what would be involved in that, cost-wise and parts/fluids-wise? Can anybody shed light on this?

But more important to me is whether anything would've been permanently damaged/negatively affected by this? In my care the car will undergo regular servicing from now on, with one service every year at a minimum, but obviously I can't "undo" any damage that may have occurred. If it's likely to be fine, due to the low mileage, then I'm less worried and will just try to haggle accordingly (but how much is reasonable to haggle down by?).

If the car is likely to have sustained damage or premature wear from this, then it's a different story, however if the service intervals these days were approx 15,000 - 20,000 miles, then perhaps it's OK?
 
It's impossible to truly answer your question, there's no way for anyone to know. We know 3 years is too long. How much harm results partly depends how much/hard it was driven beyond the service interval. But then, sitting unused is also bad.

Maybe look at it this way: The lack of maintenance may have shortened the engine's ultimate lifespan a few thousand miles, but there's still plenty of life left, also, how many of us keep a car until the engine dies of old age?

The other significant issue is brake fluid. Old dirty fluid is bad for the ABS system. Consider it's lifespan truncated as well, but hopefully still has a long serviceable life.

If I were buying the car, it would be a significant issue in determining fair market value, but not a deal breaker in itself.

Inspection, besides the usual scheduled fluid and filter service, involves, well, inspection. There's a list of things to inspect, replacing or repairing items found faulty. It's unusual to actually need to fix something found in inspection except for high mileage, older examples. You should be able to find a list of inspection items somewhere.
 
Ok, thanks for that. Gah, that's a real bummer. Feeling less and less excited about this car now and wondering whether to pull out of going to see it. It's actually one from this site posted by a member that wasn't particularly active.

What's the harm in a vehicle not doing many miles? Agggggh so many things to think about... :(
 
TheRuss said:
Ok, thanks for that. Gah, that's a real bummer. Feeling less and less excited about this car now and wondering whether to pull out of going to see it. It's actually one from this site posted by a member that wasn't particularly active.

What's the harm in a vehicle not doing many miles? Agggggh so many things to think about... :(
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The problem is it as been left sitting - the components are designed to work, stay lubricated, exercised. As bcworkz says, it depends how hard it has been driven after it has sat. To e honest it sounds like it's nt a car that as been driven... At all.

If you see the car and like it, pay £100 for an RAC check or similar. At an Indy for inspection 1 you are looking at perhaps £250, inspection 2 £350-400 I think. Oil service maybe £140. Brake fluid, not sure. As an inspection 2 is more comprehensive than 1 then I'd be tempted to jump to that. I think oil is changed for inspection 2 :?

Negotiate the servicing requirements into the price - either they get it one or knock the requisite amount off. The car itself should be pristine in terms of interior and bodywork, especially if it as been garaged. If it as not then things like a dodgy roof motor could be an issue.

I guess you could also take the view that there are plenty out there, so go see another instead right ?
 
It's a coupe, so no issues with roof motors etc, but it has been parked on the street for the last 3 years whilst the current owner has had it. Couple of scratches that he's sent pics of, and the 108s have a few little bits of corrosion and small kerbing that needs sorting. I'd already knocked him down a bit for these items though, but that was before the service stuff came to light. (He'd previously thought the dealer that sold it to him as an AUC had serviced it prior to sale, but it seems at perhaps that wasn't the case.)

What will the RAC check? Don't suppose they'd be able to find signs of potential problems from the lack of servicing and low mileage? Gah, bit of a kick in the teeth, considering I had anticipated getting it on Sat.
 
TheRuss said:
It's a coupe, so no issues with roof motors etc, but it has been parked on the street for the last 3 years whilst the current owner has had it. Couple of scratches that he's sent pics of, and the 108s have a few little bits of corrosion and small kerbing that needs sorting. I'd already knocked him down a bit for these items though, but that was before the service stuff came to light. (He'd previously thought the dealer that sold it to him as an AUC had serviced it prior to sale, but it seems at perhaps that wasn't the case.)

What will the RAC check? Don't suppose they'd be able to find signs of potential problems from the lack of servicing and low mileage? Gah, bit of a kick in the teeth, considering I had anticipated getting it on Sat.
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The RAC or similar won't tell you anything you don't already know or can find out by inspecting yourself.

The more you write about this the more I'm inclined to say 'move on' or haggle very heavily on price, as it's looking more like a typical little used, little serviced and rather neglected car. (Parked on the street, few scratches, kerbed and corroded alloys, etc.) Compare to Dreamers 89,000 mile example that looks showroom new for just £5,600, (not that it's a car you're after)

I suspect if it weren't for the low mileage that seems to become a mesmorising feature to car buyers, you'd have moved on to look at others.
 
The mileage is one of the things, but I also like the colour of the car and its interior.

This is the car:

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=39806

Just friggin' annoying about the servicing.
 
That is a very awesome spec, I have to say. In pics the car looks gorgeous, but if you're this hesitant I'd move on and find another one.
 
Yeah, it's pretty nice looking, though the photos don't show the odd scratch and bits ont he wheels that need re-furbing.

He's offered to knock an extra £500 off because of the lack of service history, is that enough? :?
 
to be honest i dont think that you are sure yourself and its more a question of how will you feel in a few months time if u saved 500 quid would it rat away at you
 
Well I went to see it today... But it wasn't in good enough nick for me. Extra scuffs and stuff not mentioned, plus I text him the nit before to specifically ask him not to start the engine before I arrive, so that I could start it from cold and check it out.

Well, whaddaya know, he agreed, then started it anyway this morning to "take it to the car wash". As much as that might've been true, I didn't care if it was a little dirty, though I specifically asked it to not be started, so I wasn't taking the risk, plus it was too tatty for the money and had been parked on narrow streets to be bumped and abused by whoever strolled by.

So... I'm back on the hunt! Lemme know if anyone hears of a nice coupe for sale with decent miles and FSH. :)
 
Good luck with your hunt.
But don't set your sights unrealisticy high.
Remember you are looking at a 5 year old car for a third of the price when new, it will not be like new.
Not critising just saying.
I looked at 5 different cars before I bought and it still isn't perfect.
 
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