Full Dealer Service History-Resale Value

Dazed2020

Wanted to get some opinions on whether the extra cost of getting a car serviced at a main dealer is justified by the resale value?

I bought a 2018 'approved used' Mercedes GLE last year in the UK & recently moved back to Ireland. Just had the first service at a main dealer here who warned the break discs & pads would need to be changed soon, at a cost of ~€1,900.

Lo & behold two days later the warning to do so came on!

I haven't got a quote from another garage yet but assuming it's significantly cheaper, does going to an independent garage reduce future resale value significantly?

dudley72

https://boards.ie/discussion/2058199722/full-dealer-service-history-resale-value

Depends is the answer. For a premium brand like Mercedes yes it will affect it. If you plan to sell it back to dealer and buy a newer model then the Merc garage will not be able to resell it. They will have to sell it onto another garage so that will hurt the value. Now that is based on the car still been within the parameters they have for second hand cars

If you are selling privately then it will sell quicker than other and yes you should be able to command a larger price,

Now all is irrelevant if you plan on keeping for a significant period and putting high mileage on it. At that stage it probably won't matter once you had a full service history.

kirving

The thing about brakes (and tyres) really is that they're either done or they're not - the dealer can always put new ones on come resale time if they're not OEM, or are worn.

They don't need to be done at a time or mileage interval, and don't have expensive implications if they're not to OEM spec. (outside of a crash if they fail). The dealer might beat you up a bit on trade in value due to having to do them themselves, but it doesn't necessarily put them in a position where they're forced to sell to the trade.

For all other servicing, including brake fluid, you'd need to be giving it to the dealer tbh. In my experience of BMW and Mercedes, they don't cost much more for basic servicing than anyone else, and to be fair to the dealer, they cannot sell on a car that has skipped a €150 oil/filter change as an "approved used" car.

The thing is though, you need to drop the car to the dealer with the brakes already done, so that they don't mark it as an advisory / necessary item on their checklist.

BrianD3

There are many variables here e.g. how long do you plan to keep the car, what is the difference between the main dealer and an independent. In general, people get too caught up with resale values. Nobody can predict the future market and cars (with very few exceptions i.e. some classics) are not investments. The safest assumption is that any high end/executive/expensive car will be a disaster for depreciation no matter who services it. Even more so in the case of a 2018 Merc SUV with an internal combustion engine given the move toward EVs.

silver2020

get the brake discs and pads done wherever you get the best value.

Once the standard service is done in a merc garage, you still have a full service history.

Plenty of independents that specialise in Mercedes that will not charge €90-€120 / hour labour rate and then charge out each element separately even though its done together.

Dazed2020

Thanks all for the feedback.

Got a quote from a Mercedes specialist, who'd use all OEM, update the digital service record etc. Only marginally cheaper. Which gives me comfort that I wasn't being ripped off by the main dealer at least.

In terms of reselling, I bought it in the UK last year so might sell it on after 12 months + and trade down (if the wife allows). So will likely reassess at that point. While I could go to another independent garage, using non-OEM parts, it would interfere with the potential near-term sale.