service history and diy!

[TVR Beaver]

Just keep all the bills / invoices you can in date order of bits you buy and may be photo's of major work (body off / engine re-build / re-sprays etc) and let this become your service book...

In the 5 years I've had my car I can prove it's had much more care and attention than taking it for an annual service

[dnb]

My service book is full. I don't bother with it these days.

[cavebloke]

As above, I just keep all the receipts. I'd much rather see quality products have gone into the car every year/when required. If a car has been going to a garage working to a tight budget god knows what economy parts have been chucked on without care or attention. Particularly at service time it's rare for a garage to put decent oil in.

You need to trust the guy you're buying from though if that's the case with a car you're interested in. I've seen a few home-mechanic disasters.

[Barreti]

I have all the receipts and thousands of photos of everything I've done to my Griff but not kept the service log up to date as its now more than 20 years old so it counts for sod all.

If I ever get around to selling it the potential buyer will be in for a shock. I will be vetting HIM not the other way round.
Who ever gets my car will be lucky to have it and have to convince me it will be looked after properly.

[ruaricoles]

Whenever I do anything to my car I write it on the service cards in the black owners folder thing (which you can print more of if you need them); services get filled in as a dealer would have done it, then any extra stuff between services I write on the back of the service card as a record. I keep the receipts to back it up, but I'm not planning to sell the car so it's more to remind me when I last did stuff.

[steve-V8s]

I have bought two TVRs, one came from a main dealer with just a service record the other from a self maintainer with a folder full of receipts and photos.

The Private sale one was absolutely mint in all respects and ran without fault for several years, the one from the dealer quickly needed significant remedial work and turned out to be quite expensive.

[Griffithy]

Same here.
We do a lot of self maintenance ourself and are keeping all invoices and add everything to the service booklet.
Mainservices or more important or difficult efforts are done at the specialists.

But especially time consuming maintenance is best done inhouse as it is there, where specialist are not good, as they try to avoid it as they will not get it paid.

Experience showed, that usually are still things left to do, even after the most extensive maintenances
done by even the most recommended TVR specialists. (often not only small things).

From the buyers view I would not hesitate to buy a partly homemaintened car, provided it is done properly of course.

Not TVR related, but for modern cars with long servicing distances we also very often do some additional
maintenance work between, like oil change etc.
Never had a buyer who was complaining about it.
They only wanted to be informed first, when we would have another car for sale.

[ESDavey]

I do both !
I have the Griffith serviced annually at Racing Green & keep the service book updated. I also have a simple doc where I note all the changes, track days, services, DIY work, owner changes since new, etc

Racing Green are very thorough & I trust their work 100%. Happy to send anyone my history doc if interested.

[gavgavgav]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I would suggest a slightly different view, which is that people who frequent this forum are more likely to maintain their own cars. (Like me!)

[Marty V8]

When I got my Griff it had a full dealer history with it as well as a lot of invoices and receipts detailing what had been done to the car every time it went near a Dealer. 4 figure sums were not uncommon and for the mileage that car had done between services, the amount of work that was apparently 'necessary' was mind blowing. However its possibly a bit of cause and effect - if the car isnt used or is hardly driven between services then its probably whilst being serviced that normal wear items that would have been replaced on a higher mileage car throughout the year, are identified and 'have' to be changed.

I got a bit pee'd off when I was being quoted best part of £550 for what was essentially a change of fluids and a check over, especially when I knew that it was in better condition after I'd played with it than when I bought it from the Dealer.

I ended up doing all my own work on the car and as others have said, kept all receipts in a big lever arch folder. I also photographed everything I did. The current owner seemed to appreciate the photo-evidence of what had been carried out to the car before he bought it.

As Cossers has said, I'm also OCD about my cars as well and I knew I could spend £550 more effectively on the car than just handing the money and the car over to the dealer for a couple of days for an oil change. These cars arent complicated beasties to work on as long as you have the space to get round them and especially under them. Some of the ancillaries can be somewhat of a PITA to get to at times but I would rather put the hours in and know its been done right than hand it over. My hours are for free when Im working on my car so I'm not in a position where I have to rush the job to get it done for a customer.

Edited by Marty V8 on Friday 18th January 01:29

[red griff roger]

I did a lot of my own spanner work, but still got the annual service. Partly I am not an expert, and like one to look at the car adn give it a thorough check. Partly even at 15 years old, it is (was - sadly sold now) worth a lot (a big lot) more than my relatively young BMW. And the BMW definately is not going up in value.

[T1pper]

I think it depends if you ever intend selling the car, as a fully stamped dealer history will always attract buyers plus as the prices of the more genuine and sorted cars seem to rising, I belive a yearly basic service is never wasted money and could be repaid if a car is ever sold.

Additionally having it dealer serviced could pick up some items that you may have missed so this is not a bad idea?

I do however do some work myself and therefore save any receipts and take photos as proof of this.

In all I save any document that shows servicing/repair history to show a cars has been well cared for.

[Russell B]

I am using this http://motortab.com/

They have promised to add a £ on the cost column. I like the export function too.

[PeteGriff]

I carry out all my own servicing and repairs, unless it requires particular specialist involvement. I am fortunate in having a large double garage where my Griff is kept which also doubles as a workshop. I record everything I do on a specific record sheet which I created (if anyone is interested in seeing a copy just PM me, I will email through a copy). The record sheet gives my car, registration, date, mileage, work/service carried out and notes. I have accumulated 12 full sheets now (5 entries per sheet). I use all quality parts and oils, so I know exectly what has been done. I have no problem with this and do not believe it will affect the value of the car. At least I can show a comprehensive catalogue of works carried out, including any external specialist stuff like the recent wheel refurbishment. Regards, Pete