To service or not to service before a sale

A service personally done is better than a preserviced one. You will not recoup the money you put unless the shop will provide a substantial warranty of the job they did maybe one year and/or 12k miles.

 

I think I'm with you on this one, Troy. I think having the receipts for a recent service at a reputable shop takes a lot of the mystery / risk out of buying the car. The new owner knows they can just hop in and enjoy.

 

The dealers to whom you have spoken all want to get the service money for themselves. The market has never changed on this issue. It prefers "turn key needs nothing" cars.

 

I say service. There is a lot of (understandable) hysteria surrounding how the car was cared for while in the possession of the previous owner. If they see the car is past it's service date, alarms go off and the owner assumes that the car was neglected. Belt service date is one of the biggest questions I see asked. I watched (and missed out on by a day) a gated 360 go for somewhere in the low 60's that was a few months late on belt service...there were a couple other things also, but if the owner would have invested probably $5k before selling, then it would have probably been an $80k car.

The only reason I bought the car that I did was because of it's recent service, but I hounded the owner until every receipt for every part was accounted for before I sent a dime. I still have a few things to do, but I was confident that the major stuff was cared for.

 

I think you did the right thing, regardless of making a few extra $ I also like to put a solid, good, serviced car out there instead of one with needs - making it a good experience for the new owner also means something! At the end of the day it should also increase the market and make it an easier sell.

 

I think you did the right thing by having a reputable shop do the work. You just took a substantial price negotiation lever off the table and made the car more "salable".

Buyers who claim to prefer wanting to have their own shop do the work? That's code for "I'm a flea-market bargain hunter and want to continue deferring service" or they're just a time-waster/keyboard expert. Seriously, why would it matter who did the work so long as both shops are qualified?

Buyer Tip: Be dubious of any dealer selling an F-car while loudly proclaiming they just did the service themselves. Difficult to prove/disprove but there are plenty of visual clues. Service invoices on the selling dealer's letterhead are worthless. Well, that's not entirely true...I'm sure you could use to light a fire.

 

On your first point I don't agree. While the market prefers serviced cars I do not and same with many who have an established relationship with a Ferrari mechanic. Those people prefer to get it done by their guy at their standard. They just happen to be in the minority though.

Your second point has some validity.

 

Assuming work is done and documented by a known/reputable shop (dealer or indie):

Better to play offense, then defense when negotiating as the seller.

- Seller position with service...'car is turn key and ready to go. Worth the extra $$'.

- Buyer position not serviced...'car needs work and maybe hidden work. Worth less $$.'

Dealer wants to make the most money possible. Avoid their recommendation.

I personally would prefer it not serviced (as a buyer)....rather pay my trusted mechanic to do for better piece of mind.

 

I'm a buyer and am passing on all non-up to date cars. Good you serviced it - price it accordingly.
IMHO a non-serviced car should already be priced lower and, as a buyer I should not have to ask to knock $4k off just for that. It should already be cheaper.

 

I looked for recently serviced cars, by date and not mileage, when making my purchase.

Sign and drive.

 

Fair comment. There are absolutely some folks out there who either have a well established relationship with a qualified shop (as you said) or are very knowledgeable and prefer to do the work themselves. Definitely a minority.

 

Yeah.. not sure I agree with you here. I don't "know" alot of the reputable shops out there. And as you said.. any shops letterhead can be faked. When I bought mine.. I was in communication with my mechanic from the beginning of my search. I wanted HIM to do the belts and the service because I trust him.

I think automatically assuming that the guy who wants to do their own service might not serve a seller. It's the same stupid decision that assuming only people who wear a suit when they walk into your dealership are the ones who will buy a luxury car. I deliberately wear a t-shirt, shorts and flip flop when I drop by the dealership. Good salesmen don't care.

Edit: saw you addressed this above while I was typing.

 

THIS. I dealt with this (on the car I ended up buying). Asked for service records after they claimed to have spent $18k on it and they gave me invoices from the shop that the dealer owns. I offended the owner by telling him (via not very nice email) that they were worthless and I wanted receipts for every part they claimed they replaced. Wasn't satisfied until they sent me about 6 grand worth of receipts from Ricambi with their name on it, and then I verified the parts online. Of course I still got the PPI and researched the car with my local dealer before buying. The entire process took almost 2 months, but I definitely can't say there were any corners cut.

 

Well, serviced or not the buyer would require a PPI, and the PPI will show If new components have been installed recently.
If "service is due" then you can negotiate a reduction on the price, but beware with the buyers who will want a -10k reduction because they "only" service their cars at the most expensive dealer (and most likely will not)
Me personally I prefer a serviced car at a reputable place.

 

what would you think if someone serviced it themselves?

I would not trust many DIYers, however, I will do mine, but I am in a unique situation.

 

Me too, Matt. On my 360, I knew from the first moment that the pages of parts & services claimed by the dealer's own service department were horseshi t. I did my homework (PPI) and negotiated the price to a level I found acceptable - discounting for the work I would *really* get done - without raising a protest over the faked invoices. There just wasn't going to be anything accomplished by calling out the owner for being a lying, fraudulent, shi t gibbon. I wanted the car. Of course, my good nature was further tested when they sat on my registration taxes and fees for months before processing with DMV and receiving my title.

 

Intrinsically, I have no problem with a DIY as a owner/seller. In fact, I think you could make a strong argument that the work is often done to a higher standard by such an individual because it's done with great care and devotion. However, I will share my one personal experience that fits this scenario.

I bought a '67 Alfa Spider from a retired Engineer who did all of his own work on cars. A real car guy through and through. I spent a lot of time getting to know the guy and looking at his shop, his other cars (5 or 6), and the work he was doing. I felt quite confident that I was buying a turn-key classic from him (as he had represented to me). Nope. Total disaster, the car almost killed me (not an exaggeration) on the 50 mile drive home and gave me plenty of other scares/headaches after that as well.

Moral of the story, always get a PPI.

 

I would prefer to purchase a car that had recently been serviced. Or was ok for at least 6 months/~3k miles before a service is needed (depending on the kind of car).

 

My opinion is I'm not looking to "pay up" on a car bc the previous owner says they performed a service regardless that they may have paperwork to show me,,, unless they offer a guarantee

That said I would like to know that past services were performed timely and if another one was due at sale time I would have no problem owning that requirement.

When is your car hitting the market?

 

If trading it in, do not service it - you won't get your money back.


If selling privately, have it serviced.

 

I did exactly that a couple of years ago. I had a very nice F355 spider, 15,000 miles, triple black. The first major service set me back $13,000+ at the stealer. When the second one was due I had lost interest and tried to sell at a local exotic shop. The car was un-sellable, period. Didn't want to give it away. Ended up trading it for a new Mercedes and got $45,000 for it in trade, so netted $49k with the sales tax I saved on the new car purchase.
The dealer then "sold" it to another dealer where is sat for 9 months until that dealer realized they had to do the service. They took it to an indy and paid $8k for the service then sold it for low $60's. Not much profit made and would have been a push for me to get the service done + the hassle.

 

The dealer does not want you to service the car pre-trade in, as you would be removing a profit center from their end of the deal on re-sale.

In selling the car to an individual, most buyers would prefer a fully serviced, turn-key car, It also takes a major bargaining chip off of the table. NOTE: For myself as a buyer, I prefer a car to not be freshly 'serviced' and would rather take that on upon purchase to ensure that it is performed to my standard. However, I think I find myself to be in the minority against the overall Ferrari-buying population. IMO, a car serviced by a seller (dealer or private) in order to facilitate a sale has motivation to prioritize economy in the bare minimum level of work over the full breadth of 'while you're in theres' that a car may need.

 

It depends upon the individual, and how meticulously it was documented.

Absolutely.

I suppose that all depends upon how much you trust the word/reputation and documentation. Of course, there are stories out there of shops that market a car as having specific work performed, then X amount of time down the road with a new owner, it is discovered to have never been done. A service invoice and receipts for the parts should be pretty definitive for most reasonable people. However, you can never tell if the parts actually made it into a car if they're not readiliy viewable from the exterior. It is all a calculated risk.