Stealer or DIY? - Oil Service & Brake Fluid

Poll Poll Stealer or DIY?

  • Stealer

    Votes: 5 35.7%

  • DIY

    Votes: 9 64.3%
  • Total voters
    14
A

Ali_Z4C

Member
 Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Guys…… Interested in your thoughts on this!

The Coupe is over due brake fluid (was done just over 2 years ago) and is due a oil service in 4500 miles according to the dash. I only do 5-6k a year in the car but seeing as it’s also nearly 2 years since it had an inspection 1 I am thinking of doing the oil service and brake fluid change soon. The question is do I go stealer to keep the FBWSH or DIY? My sister in laws bloke is a BDM for Unipart so I can get cheap good quality oil/fluid/filters etc and my best mate rallies a Group N Evo 7 so I have access to his workshop with 4 post lift and all the tools etc and am confident in my abilities to so the work. Its just the resale thing and the value of that BMW stamp in the book? I will obviously keep all receipts to prove I did the work and it wouldn’t bother me if I was buying but whats your thoughts? The car is a 56 reg and has done 44k.

Cheers

Ali
 
I get my own oil and let the dealer do the service to keep the history up.

Remember to give them an empty container in that case as well as they still stung me last time for a tenner for disposal charge whilst I could have dropped the oil container at the council tip next door for free :x
 
Yep good point pvr that is also an option and thanks for the tip RE disposal! I am just wondering what the worth of the BMW stamp is?! I would like to DIY as I like working on my cars and the sense of achievement knowing you have done it but don't want to seriously dent resale value for a bit of fun getting oily one Saturday :D
 
I plan on doing all my servicing myself. I'll keep all receipts and mark up the service book myself so at least the new buyer can see that the service was done. I've traded all my previous cars in to dealers when getting a new one of them and not once did the lack of dealer stamps come up :-)
 
I guess it is a bit of the satnav / no satnav debates. Some really want it, others not bothered ...
 
Although I can see both sides of the arguement, if I went to view an expensive car and the 'history' happened to be full of DIY entries in the service book, I'd walk. I'd probably wonder where else maintenance costs had been cut...
 
I agree, But I always prefer to buy my cars from a dealer with a warranty. In my experience they never even looked at any of my log books. If I was buying private I would have the same opinion as Bradders75.
 
Interesting point though as if you sell to a dealer, I am not sure they have ever asked me anything either. But perhaps that was because they knew the car from their records.
 
I think it depends on the age of the car. When looking at a car up to about 4 years old I would walk if the stamps aren't there as there are a lot of cars of that age around and written in dates mean nothing. Older than that and I'd be more concerned with the overall condition of the car and wouldn't be put off by a missing stamp. Particularly if it had been main dealer serviced for the first couple of years or so.

I've tended to use main dealer for servicing whilst a car in under manufacturers warranty and then used independent garages after that, often taking in my own oil etc. You pays your money and takes your choice, but I would go with PVR on this and buy your own consumables but get an indy to do the work to keep the history up.
 
i think that on cars 5 + yrs old why pay sky high bmw servicing rates when an independant is much cheaper i tend to do oil services myself and take to indi for inspections i allways keep all the bills as i think it is better to have evidence of what work has been done rather than stamps with out but thats just my opinion
 
Thanks for the replies guys! I might give my local indie (http://www.auto-bavaria.co.uk/) who I have head good things about a ring see how much they would want if I supplied the oil etc. If its not much then I might go with them to get a stamp. If not I think I am just going to DIY and keep all receipts etc. I would defiantly go BMW or indie for a Inspection service but an oli/filter and brake fluid change are such easy things to do I just don't see the point in paying somebody to do what I can and have the tool/skills to do?!

Thanks again for the comments guys :thumbsup:
 
This is a discussion I'm often having with myself: Dealer, indi or self service?

I just did a mid-interval oil change a few weeks ago and marked it in the service book. When the full interval comes up I'm tossing up whether to take her to the dealer or indi - I suppose I'll get quotes at that point.

I too greatly enjoy working on my car so it's natural to want to do oil/brake changes. I think the service history is important though and when I traded in my old car for the Zed that was the first thing the Dealer looked at.
 
I cant say anyone has ever asked to look at the service history when I have sold a car. The only time i've looked at the service history when buying is when I was considering a porsche boxster (as i know they have a lot of issues, and need regular rebuilds etc).

And the amount of cash you save by doing oil/fluid yourself makes it a no brainer for me. I will however get the servicing done by an Indy.
 
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