Servicing- independent or mate?

[Patrick Bateman]

Own a 320td, 53 plate, 90,000 miles and one of my close friends is a mechanic for BMW.

What would you do with regards to servicing? I'm unsure if he'd be able to get a stamp in the book but parts will be at trade price, labour will be cheap and I will know exactly what gets done to the car.

Assuming he couldn't get a stamp in the book, would this likely affect the resale value etc?

What would you do or how would you get round it come resale time?

[LC23]

If you are going to run it into the ground then it doesn't matter about the stamp in the book. Personally I wouldn't buy any car without a fully stamped up service history (with the back up to prove the work was done), either BMW or independent.

[Patrick Bateman]

Well I won't be running it into the ground, ideally keep it for another 1.5/2 years.

[TPS]

I dont know the value of your car so dont be offended but if the value of your car is around £4,000(just looking at prices on the web for a guide) then i would not worry to much about lack of stamps.
Its a 7 year old car with nearly 100k on the clock.If possible keep receipts for all tha parts and write in the service book what was done and when.That is what i use to do.
Work out how much you will save in servicing costs and then see if you think it will effect the resale value more.
You will always get people who want a full main dealer service history,i once had someone ask me if the 11 year old £800 car i was selling had a full main dealer history.

[Patrick Bateman]

TPS said:

I dont know the value of your car so dont be offended but if the value of your car is around £4,000(just looking at prices on the web for a guide) then i would not worry to much about lack of stamps.
Its a 7 year old car with nearly 100k on the clock.If possible keep receipts for all tha parts and write in the service book what was done and when.That is what i use to do.
Work out how much you will save in servicing costs and then see if you think it will effect the resale value more.
You will always get people who want a full main dealer service history,i once had someone ask me if the 11 year old £800 car i was selling had a full main dealer history.

Yeah it's worth around £4500 max.

[MoonMonkey]

Just keep hold of the receipts and write down in the service book when it was serviced... At the age and mileage will not make any difference. I'm sure 'your mate' could borrow the stamp from work though if he really wanted too. lol

[Patrick Bateman]

So if I were to go down that route just ensure all the receipts are kept. Is there anything else, short of taking photos, that would be worthwhile?

[MoonMonkey]

Yep, that's all I would do.... When you come to sell in a year or so's time evidence that the car has been looked after is far more important than a stamp in the book IMHO.