Sign in
Forgot your password?
or Sign up
News

Mondial t and/or 348 owners: Advice requested

Discussion in 'Mondial' started by buzzm2005, Sep 15, 2005.

  1. buzzm2005

    buzzm2005 Formula 3

    Aug 23, 2005
    1,684
    NYC
    Full Name:
    Buzz
    #1 buzzm2005, Sep 15, 2005
    I'm new here and I have to say this forum is much richer in useful content than the fluff & noise on benzworld.org.

    I have a quasi-dilemma; your advice is valuable to me.

    I bought a 1989 Mondial t cab with ~15.7K miles at the end of August. The dealer is reputable (Wide World in Spring Valley NY) and I have a 90 day full warranty. I was assured that I would receive all books & records including a "major" maintenance done 30 months ago.

    After chasing down my salesguy for 2 weeks, I finally got a FedEx with the books & records -- only there are no docs for the major service done 30 months ago. A 15K major was done in Dec 2000 when the car had 14770 miles and the docs are good for that, including a line item receipt and a signed stamp in the warranty book. It has travelled very little in the past 5 years. The manual suggests routine maintenance every year regardless of the miles (fluids and such) but the conventional wisdom I've heard/seen/read is that after 5 years a major should be performed regardless of the mileage. In fact -- and I know you're all going to ding me for this -- I have no hardcopy records of any work done on this car since Dec 2000.

    Everything else seems to be operating fine. A/C blows cold, all switches operate, drivetrain is smooth when at normal operating temp, etc. Convertible top is irksome but forget about that.

    Question/advice: Should I go for a major? Just fluids and such?
     

    2. To remove this ad click here.

  2. jtremlett

    jtremlett F1 Rookie

    Feb 18, 2004
    4,112
    #2 jtremlett, Sep 16, 2005
    When I bought my 348 (which had the book fully stamped), I still took it for a full service and look over first time. I would recommend the same for you really. No-one wants to spend more money than necessary, but better, I think, to have a solid starting point for your tenure of the car where you know what's been done and can then plan for what's likely to need to be done in future.

    Jonathan
     
  3. SEAL2CC

    SEAL2CC Formula Junior

    Jan 19, 2005
    347
    #3 SEAL2CC, Sep 16, 2005
    I agree, it would be great to start out with a "clean slate" so to speak. Seems to me the car was marketed and vouched for as having a "major" done 30 months ago. To me, a "major" on the t implies 30k service and if it had the 15k done in 2000, then it wouldn't make sense to have done another 15k ~2 years later. If the dealer can't provide proof of the 30k, then you should have some recourse to get it done by them at least partly on their nickel. On the one hand you mighta/shoulda seen the records before purchase; on the other hand it seems they didn't have them at hand and took weeks to get them to you.

    Good luck..

    Chris
     
  4. BT

    BT F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Mar 21, 2005
    14,791
    FL / GA
    Full Name:
    Bill Tracy
    #4 BT, Sep 16, 2005
    I would get an estimate for the cost of the 30k service from the selling dealer. Take the total and divide it by 60 months. Then ask for the pro rated difference between the time the service was supposed to have been done and the date of the 15k service that you have a record of. Explain it is really a fixed monthly cost that you budgeted in when purchasing the car, so you did not anticipate paying for the new service for a few years. Maybe they will offer to split the cost with you.
    BT
     

Share This Page