dealer servicing and resale value

[birdseye]

Has anyone any hard experience of resale value being affected by doing your own servicing?

I run BMW cars as well as a BMW bike - and so far have had them dealer serviced because the dealer has the ability to check up through the BMW system even if servicing has been done abroad. So he can take it into account with part ex prices.

But do they?

 

[(RIP) sherpa]

Not just resale

Mate of mine recently had a problem with a seal going on his GS.
Expensive to get fixed by dealer.
Contacted BM through goodwill and was told no way as he had serviced the bike himself.
I guess if you don't put owt into the system you can't really expect to get owt out of it either.

Sherpa

 

[Marty Hill]

Guess were lucky. That would be against the law in the US. Most of us do all service after 1000km service.

 

[Wicker]

Post warranty claim

I had my R1100S regularly serviced by a non-BMW dealer in Scotland. The seals on the rear shock absorber failed whilst on holiday in rural sth France. Result = 1 week waiting for a new shock & a 700 euro dent in the holiday money.

The bike was just over 3 years old and had 37k on the clock. I contacted the local BMW dealer in Scotland who in turn contacted BMW UK. Initial reaction was to reject any goodwill claim however I thought it worth a few stamps & wrote to BMW UK myself. I argued that BMW's are sold as a premiun price to other bikes and also on the basis of their 'quality'. I felt it unreasonable for a shock absorber to fail at such a low mileage especially as it somewhat spoiled a large part of the holiday.

BMW did try the argument that the bike had not been serviced by them, however I pointed out that the shock absorber is a non-service item. The law also states that vehicles do not have to be serviced by main dealers even during the warranty period; I was able to demonstrate regular servicing at the proscribed intervals.

BMW also indicated that they would not normally replace shock aborbers even under warranty if in excess of 30k miles. I would be curious to know if this logic has been applied to any high milegage rider's warranty claim within the first two years as it appears to undermine the interity of BMW support.

It took a couple of months but they agreed to refund the parts cost; result ! BMW also got a result as I have just bought a new R1200ST Persistence pays (in some cases).

 

[birdseye]

Know what you mean _ I got a cylinder head gasket job done at 50k miles and 5 years old foc through BMW UK and the dealer, so the next time I bought a new car I bought another BMW. Mind you I think you did well on a shcok absorber since they are consumeables like tyres rather than something that should never go wrong like a head gasket.

Its clear you will be better looked after when its discretionary ie out of guarantee. But my question was really about part exchange. In other words do you actually get more for a bike with a dealer service history or not?

 

[jonnie comet]

Its clear you will be better looked after when its discretionary ie out of guarantee. But my question was really about part exchange. In other words do you actually get more for a bike with a dealer service history or not?

Not too sure about getting more for a 'bike, but a full main dealer service history will give you a lot better chance of selling it, than one without. Think about it. Two identical 'bikes, one with history, one without. Which one would YOU buy ? I know that there are some first class independent BMW tecs out there.....some useing this site.....but as far as trade in/ resale goes, a full main dealer service history talks volumes.

It might not necessarily be "right" but by and large, it is the way it is.

 

[BBB61]

I was told that the lack of a BMW service history on my old 1150 knocked the trade in by £500. In the time I had it, I carried out the 12k, 24K and 36K services and 2 minor services. Cost of them in a BMW dealer would have been about £1100 at least. So that's me £600 up straight away. I was also able to sell the bike privately for the price I wanted (£1100 more than I was offered in part ex) so that has put me a long long way ahead.

 

[birdseye]

Thats just what was going through my mind.

 

[Alan1963]

My understanding is that whilst the bike is under warranty (2 years in EU) then provided the servcing has been carried out to the manufacturer's schedule, using parts to manaufacturer standard (i.e. parts made to the same standard, by the same manufacturer, even if not branded BMW) then the warranty is valid and the onus is on the manufacturer to prove that work has not been done to the required schedule/standard. After the warranty expires then you are into goodwill, at which point it is likely that you will get more goodwill if you have had the bike serviced by a dealer. This incidently is the same legal position on both sides of the Atlantic, albeit the warranty period may differ. Goodwill of course is exactly that and how hard you are prepared to argue your case. All that said, at the end of the day it is all about the total cost and if you can save more than you may lose in resale value then you're ahead.

If like me, you enjoy the easy job (bolt on new hugger etc) but don't like getting into the service work, then you need to factor in whether you can in fact be arsed to do it anyway...

 

[Jimb]

Birdeyse

'Tis me that Sherpa refers to, but BMW's refusal to replace the failed oil seals was not as a result of me doing my own servicing, it was simply out of warranty, and at 26,500 miles the gearbox oil seals failed and the crankshaft oil seals were weeping so all of 'em were replaced while the bike was in bits, I was lucky to catch it early and the clutch was OK, its off the road anyway for winter, BMW GB did not want to know when I asked them if it was normal for oil seals to fail at such low mileage, but further investigation proved it a very common failure, even more so on 1200's as there is no felt washer on the gearbox input shaft like there is on an 1150. Iv'e only had Japanese bikes before the BMW and Iv'e got two Jap bikes as well, the BMW has been more trouble than the other 4 Japanese bikes put together so when the BMW goes its back to Japan for me or maybe Hinkley, but absolutley not BMW.

Marty, Its against the law here also, the warranty is not affected by servicing carried out by third parties so long as the original manufacturers approved parts and lubricants are used.

That was outlawed some years ago in a car case.

 

[birdseye]

Jimb
Thanks for your comments. I think the previous poster was right - its when you get to 'out of warranty' probs that you find the value of having the dealer fighting for you. The dealers know who to appeal to, and the arrangement usually seems to be that the company provides the parts and the dealer the labour. That way neither side has a big bill to lose and the customer is happy..

Thats certainly what I found with my BMW car, and in that case I did effectively recover the extra cost involved in dealer servicing.

If however the bike is reliable (no probs so far touch wood) then it is questionable whether you get the dealer servicing extra cost back in extra part ex value. I doubt it but dont know for sure.

Sympathise with your problems. There is no way that seals should fail at that mileage. Can only be poor quality machining of the shafts or bad assembly since seals are standard components and well established technology.

 

[birdseye]

Did the obvious thing today and asked the Cardiff dealer. The answer was that they would knowck off the cost of the next major service (whether or not you or a non BMW dealer had done it) as BMW "wont allow" them to sell BMW approved used bikes without an up tp date BMW service record. So I suppose the answer is to do all your own service but chop the bike in just as a major service is due. Would still be worth it on a bike you kept for a few years - mind you, how old a bike would they take in part ex anyway?