Pre reg cars and servicing schedule

[tygar2]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone offer advice on servicing pre reg cars?

Car reg date: 30/03/019
Car delivery date: 30/04/2019
1+11 PCH deal 8000 miles ending 30/04/20
Current mileage - 6900 miles

I have had the car for 11 months but the broker is saying I have to service the car as it was registered on 30 March 2019. The thing is the car has a service indicator which tells you the number of days before the next service is due. Going by it this works out as the service being due on 28 April yet they are saying that does not matter and the car needs to be serviced by 30 March seemingly just because it was registered.

I'm curious to know what registering a car with the DVLA has to do with vehicle wear and tear. The car was probably manufactured months before registration, shipped to dealer and parked in a compound until just before it was delivered to me. Whilst parked someone processed a form and the vehicle was registered at the DVLA. The car was still parked. At some point it was prepped and the service counter activated before delivery to me. I think the service schedule should start when the car starts getting used - i.e when the customer gets it and in this case it was.

According to the broker my options are I return the car early and basically give them free money to cover the last month or I keep the car for my full contract term but have to pay £280 for a service that is not yet due - neither option seems right. Apparently I will be charged if I return it unserviced any day after 30 March. I have asked for T&Cs sections covering this but none have yet to be sent.

Anyone with experience of this or know where I stand legally?

Thanks

[PorkInsider]

There's no 'legally' about it.

You have 3 choices:

1) keep it for the full term and follow the manufacturer's service schedule.
2) keep it for the full term and ignore the service schedule.
3) hand it back early.

If you choose option 2 there will be penalties as laid out in your contract.

The fact the car wasn't used between registration and you taking delivery is irrelevant to the service schedule.

Some of it may be based on mileage, some of it will be based on time since registration, some if it may well be based on time since manufacture - so even the registration date is irrelevant (brake fluid is an example of something which usually comes under that one).

The car may or may not be asking you to do the right thing but the service schedule is still there in the handbook.

Are you saying that you thought a pre-reg car would be treated as if it was first reg'd when you took delivery?

[oldaudi]

I had a similar "issue". I had a new car in 2018, it was all registered and set for delivery but then we had some snow, which put it back, then some other issues meant it arrived 5 weeks late. Lease company were fine about my initial payment not being paid because I didnt have the car, but I was certainly expected to get it serviced and inspected 11 months later. Despite it being on the back of transporter for 5 weeks 300 miles away from my house when the 12 month count down started,

Probably best to get it serviced on time to save even more questions when you give it back IMHO

Edited by oldaudi on Friday 13th March 07:31

[tygar2]

PorkInsider said:

There's no 'legally' about it.

You have 3 choices:

1) keep it for the full term and follow the manufacturer's service schedule.
2) keep it for the full term and ignore the service schedule.
3) hand it back early.

If you choose option 2 there will be penalties as laid out in your contract.

The fact the car wasn't used between registration and you taking delivery is irrelevant to the service schedule.

Some of it may be based on mileage, some of it will be based on time since registration, some if it may well be based on time since manufacture - so even the registration date is irrelevant (brake fluid is an example of something which usually comes under that one).

The car may or may not be asking you to do the right thing but the service schedule is still there in the handbook.

Are you saying that you thought a pre-reg car would be treated as if it was first reg'd when you took delivery?

Thanks for the response and yes, that is exactly what I am saying as the car is new when received by the customer. This applies to other consumer products -your warranty starts from the date you receive a product and not before. That is why a end of line TV or washing machine which may have been sat in a warehouse for years still receives a full warranty when eventually sold.

As far as I know when cars are prepped for delivery that means all the fluids are changed at that point. Using your point about brake fluid, cars are manufactured in batches but not all sold at the same time - how is this accounted for? The day a car is registered is not the day it received fluids as it rolled off the assembly line. Also, the using that logic, the service counter should therefore run from date of assembly and not date of sale. If a new car is parked for a year before delivery does the brake fluid start to degenerate only after the car is registered? That is why I think they say cars are prepped before delivery. I believe that to mean a full service. In my case someone probably did one and set the service timer to accordingly.

Mileage probably has nothing to do with it as I am well under the the 10000 miles. the service counter also still subtracted days when I was away on holiday. Just sharing thoughts and I am happy to be corrected!

[silentbrown]

tygar2 said:

As far as I know when cars are prepped for delivery that means all the fluids are changed at that point.

Really? I'd just expect fluids to be checked, and maybe washer fluid topped up..

The broker can require you to service the car every week if that's what the contract says. But usually it will be "according to manufacturers service schedule".

When does your service record (printed or online) say the next service is due? I'd expect the clock to start when the PDI is complete, which would normally tie in with the on-board service interval.

[Sheepshanks]

On a lot of cars the service indicator doesn’t start counting down until the car has done 250 miles.

[Pica-Pica]

I suspect you are obliged by the terms of the contract (which you presumably have agreed to, but not seen!).

The whole issue of condition-based service, registration point etc., is another matter

[Wildcat45]

I don't understand the issue. A car's "life" begins at registration. That covers warranty, road tax)SORN and service schedule.

If the car needs servicing at 12 months or 12,000 miles that's from the date it was registered not when a subsequent owner took it over.

An example. One of my cars was built in August 2017. It was registered in late September 2017. It has a 2 year, 20k service schedule and got serviced in late September 2019, two years after registration. Its warranty runs out this September, not August.

[Olas]

read the contract - the detail you need is in there.

[Pica-Pica]

Wildcat45 said:

I don't understand the issue. A car's "life" begins at registration. That covers warranty, road tax)SORN and service schedule.

Not true for service, that starts from production date, in particular time-related items.

[AlwynMike]

Certainly BMW's have some service items from date of production (3 year brake fluid) but the rest are from date of registration, as is the warranty.

[Olas]

brake fluid is every two years,but oil sits in the ground for 65 million years before we bottle it and sell it.

new brake fluid for safety from a technical standpoint, send a sample of oil to Millers for analysis before you decide wether to change it or not, and measure the pressure delta across the air filter before you decide wether to replace that.

Or.....here we go again.....buy your own car and service it how you want, or accept that when you're borrowing someone elses car oyu have to do as they say. (ducks for cover)

[silentbrown]

Pica-Pica said:

Wildcat45 said:

I don't understand the issue. A car's "life" begins at registration. That covers warranty, road tax)SORN and service schedule.

Not true for service, that starts from production date, in particular time-related items.

Well, you're both somewhat wrong. I've just check the docs on my S4.

For Audi, Warranty (and the Service schedule timing) starts when the manufacturer says so. Audi call this the "delivery date" and it's clearly stated on the service docs and should be writ large in the service schedule handbook. It's not necessarily when you pick up the car, but is normally when the PDI is completed.

Road tax obviously begins at registration, which or may not be the same day. My "delivery date" is three days before registration (which is the day I picked up the car).

As before, whatever your PCH contract says trumps all else.

[Sheepshanks]

silentbrown said:

For Audi, Warranty (and the Service schedule timing) starts when the manufacturer says so. Audi call this the "delivery date" and it's clearly stated on the service docs and should be writ large in the service schedule handbook. It's not necessarily when you pick up the car, but is normally when the PDI is completed.

"not necessarily" and "normally" don't help. What is Audi's definition of "delivery date"? In the absence of anything else, I'd argue it's "delivery to customer" - but that's just my opinion.

It's probably not a regular issue on leased Audi as the servicing is variable anyway. I have a Merc and it crops up regualrly on Merc forums as they have fixed annual intervals - dealers tell customers it's 12 months after they get the car. On Mercs the service counter doesn't start until the car is in use, and the dealers say to go off what the service indicator says.

[silentbrown]

Sheepshanks said:

What is Audi's definition of "delivery date"? In the absence of anything else, I'd argue it's "delivery to customer" - but that's just my opinion.

It's whatever date they record as "delivery date" in your documents and the online service record.

[quote]It's probably not a regular issue on leased Audi as the servicing is variable anyway.

Audis can be configured either way. I wouldn't be surprised if the lease co required them to be on fixed servicing. (Mine's not leased...)

[Sheepshanks]

silentbrown said:

Audis can be configured either way. I wouldn't be surprised if the lease co required them to be on fixed servicing. (Mine's not leased...)

Leased VAG cars should always be left on variable servicing as they're regarded as fleet.

[tygar2]

Sheepshanks said:

"not necessarily" and "normally" don't help. What is Audi's definition of "delivery date"? In the absence of anything else, I'd argue it's "delivery to customer" - but that's just my opinion.

It's probably not a regular issue on leased Audi as the servicing is variable anyway. I have a Merc and it crops up regualrly on Merc forums as they have fixed annual intervals - dealers tell customers it's 12 months after they get the car. On Mercs the service counter doesn't start until the car is in use, and the dealers say to go off what the service indicator says.

Yes, the car I have is a Mercedes.

[Sheepshanks]

tygar2 said:

Yes, the car I have is a Mercedes.

It usually comes up in forums where people have a Mercedes service plan (ServiceCare) and they take it in at 12mths only for the dealer to say it doesn't need servicing as the service indicator isn't calling for it.

[tygar2]

Sheepshanks said:

It usually comes up in forums where people have a Mercedes service plan (ServiceCare) and they take it in at 12mths only for the dealer to say it doesn't need servicing as the service indicator isn't calling for it.

Thanks. That is helpful info which reinforces what the dealer said to me. They said go by the service indicator. Why service a vehicle that does not need servicing?

I have also read on other forums of people servicing vehicle a bit late so that in the second year they return the vehicle before the service indicator comes on.

[Sheepshanks]

tygar2 said:

Thanks. That is helpful info which reinforces what the dealer said to me. They said go by the service indicator. Why service a vehicle that does not need servicing?

I have also read on other forums of people servicing vehicle a bit late so that in the second year they return the vehicle before the service indicator comes on.

I misread your OP a little and was thinking you’re only keeping the car for 11 months, but it seems, unless you return it early, you will have it for 12 months.

To be honest, as the car is on annual serving and you’ll have it for a year, then it’s taking the piss not to get it serviced.

People do delay the first service to try and get away without having the second but you don’t have that option on a 1 year deal. If you leave collection until 30th April the car will be asking for service.