buying a van – can get brand new for not much more than the average used price with 30 k on the clock-just over the 3 year mot barrier -ex lease mobile…looking to keep the van for as long as possible doing ave 10k a year

very tempted by the new one – dealer offering 4 years/80k miles servicing and warrenty vs 1 years warrenty at the discount pre reg places – difference is about 1000 + vat quid between discount/dealer…obviously ill be hagling but still

now as i understand it free servicing is labour only but is it still the way of the dealer to try and take you for a ride on these free services ? ie my grand parents nearly got stung for a set of brake disks & tires on a 15k old car at evans halshaw during free service- second opinion from independant – nowt wrong with em…

would it be better idea to take the discount car – buy an aftermarket warrenty extension and just get my local specialist to service it ….

4yrs/80k free servicing is worth about £500-600 if it includes fluids and filters. Surprised you state it to be only labour. If its labour only then i would be a bit more dismissive as you could get stung for costs for parts etc. If thats the case i would say the servicing pack is worth less than £200-£300. Oil is one of the most profitable things in a garage.

The above is based on 20k service intervals at about £150-£200 cost depending on the service.

The warranty is deffo worth the balance though (Is it manufacturers warranty as they are normally 3yrs). If there is only £1k differance between pre reg and new and you are getting the servicing and warranty extra i would go new

Oh and free servicing doesnt cover wear and tear items like brakes. Thats is Service AND MAINTENANCE which is much more expensive. Servicing is your routine service intervals.

oh i understand – but what im geting at is family experiance with free servicing is that you WILL need maintainance parts at every service regardless of the condition of said parts …or have dealers got morels these days?

it is labour/fluids and filters sorry – just checked.

Are you unable to say NO when the dealer suggests you need new brake pads/discs at the service? Its your choice to have them done or not.

If you consider dealers to not have morals then i suggest you dont buy a new vehicle. IMO if you buy a vehicle with that attitude in mind, you are never ever gonna be a happy customer regardless.

After thinking about it again, you are only doing 10k per annum. Most of my vans have 20-25k service intervals so you may only be looking at 2 free service. Still its still worth about £200-300 to you and the warranty has good value.

ok perhaps i am being a little un fair – i do know your work in the trade. I used to get it in the neck all the time in the bike trade.

basically my local dealer is being a cock so im heading to glasgow for a vehicle now … he is dead against selling me a van and thinks a corsa with a built in bike rack is more what i need for "just carrying bikes"

The years of working in the motor trade have taught me one major lesson. You treat others the same way you wish to be treated yourself.