Service History

[antonyj]

What is the general consensus regarding the importance service history?

My Griff is a '92 , so it is nearly 12.5 years old.
The history is complete up to 48k and its only just over that now.

Just had a look through the service schedule and 90% of the stuff I can handle anyway.


And on the same subject any reccomendations for servicing around Stoke on Trent?

[v8 racing]

personaly its not worth the paper its writen on, its the quality of the car when you come to sell it......

[antonyj]

So look after it myself and use a specialist for the bits I cant do?

[ian8542]

antonyj said:

So look after it myself and use a specialist for the bits I cant do?

That is what i would recommend.Being the owner you are more likely to do a more thorough job as at the end of the day the dealership services vary in quality.
Some even omit scheduled work (the diff oil change is one example), the occasional hard to get at/remove spark plug (left in) etc.
Providing you have got adequate facilities and take your time there should be no problems.
Service items are very easy to source maybe with the exception of B7ECS spark plugs.(not normaly stocked), but available same day.
Buy them in 10's as it works out cheaper.

[crankedup]

The only thing I can say is that when I was looking for my Griff' if the car did not have a full TVRSH I am wary from the start. If good indies have looked after it then fine IMO. If I am keen on the car I would need to assess the owners capability regarding maintenance. Having said that I am sure that there are many fine cars out there running superbly from home maintenance. Just be careful with the inspection of your prospective car.

[Griffer]

I look after my precat myself, and agree with the previous comments. Record what you do to the car and keep all receipts as evidence should you decide to sell later though. Particularly with an older TVR I can see little justification in dealer history, I would much rather buy from an enthusiastic owner that knows his car than from someone who knows nothing but has a book full of stamps.
Good luck with it.
Griffer

[crimsonchim]

v8 racing said:

personaly its not worth the paper its writen on, its the quality of the car when you come to sell it......

I'd agree with that, however I think we're probably in the minority and what really counts is the buyer's opinion and they, in general (especially first time TVR buyers and newer cars I would guess) would opt for a car with specialist S/H over one without.

I wouldn't say service history is always worth what it can cost, but I do believe it helps to shift a car later. Even if you have to take the car home and put right what some "professionals" have done!

[ian8542]

There is also some argument relating to how much you would save in the long run. If you were unlucky enough to have to drop your asking price slightly, i am sure that it would not amount to anywhere near what you have saved in servicing costs over the years.
Obviously if you do not own the car for long this would be different.

[crankedup]

One other thing I would like to add, the Griff' is already acknowledged as a modern classic. Whatever you do make sure that you file with the car all invoices for everything you purchase for your Griff'.

[davidd]

People buy from people, if the car is good then it should speak for itself, IMO a good history is essential, dealer, indie for main jobs inc annual servicing. I made a call a few years ago (when I had my Griff) to stop using TVR dealers for servicing and take it to a specialist, I'm sure the price I got for the car in the end was no different and the savings I made and better service I got were significant.

If I had decided to do it all myself I think that although I would have saved cash I would have spent a lot of time on it (time is not something I have in abundance) and no matter how much I did on it my knowledge and experience would always be well short of an indie. Also I could not afford to be without a car.

Maybe at some point in the future when I get another (note when not if) then hopefully I'll have the luxury of another car and also somewhere nice to work on it.

D

[simpo two]

I would take it to a good indy. I'm sure you're competent but a prospective buyer doesn't know that, and the 'I service it myself' angle would put many off I think.