Service book stamped, service not done

[markweatherill]

Hi,

this is a hypothetical situation for now please.

Someone buys a car from a dealership (it's a franchised dealership and the car is another make). The salesman says it was serviced when the dealership acquired the car in part exchange, a month before. The dealer stamped the service book with mileage, date and a signature.

The buyer takes the car. He looks it over, and the air filter looks like one that's been in for the last 6000 miles and not a recent one; the oil is black; the oil filter doesn't look like a new addition; the spark plugs don't appear to have been looked at.

The buyer intends to ask the dealer just what the service stamp represents in terms of work done!

I'd appreciate any thoughts as to what the buyer's next actions could be.

 

[Rybo89]

Tell them to service it properly. False advertisement.

 

[Peerzy]

I guess before you start pointing fingers you need to check what they count as a service.

As it's a franchised dealer with a car from a different make one would assume they would just follow what the service book says - they may claim however that they 'serviced' it by just visually inspecting everything and giving it a nice clean.

You need to find out what they define the service they gave to your car as;

1) Visual check
2) Service as stated in the manual
3) 'Basic' service or oil and filters

Either way it does sound like they've tried to pull a fast one.

 

[robj20]

Stamped books mean nothing to me, i much prefer to find invoices for parts and work done.

 

[Third Opinion]

I find a lot of them stamp the service for just a PDI. It is wrong because something essential like a cambelt or something could be missed.

 

[markweatherill]

find out what they define the service they gave to your car as;

The buyer is going to email the dealer and get a written reply, for sure. The implication was that at least the oil had been changed (on the test drive the buyer mentioned to the salesman that the oil on the dipstick looked black, and the salesman replied that they'd serviced the car)

 

[pepsilol]

A minor service would only be oil and filter.

Oil goes black instantly on dervs and filter, well that gets dirty quickly.

 

[Django x2]

Sadly, this happens a lot. Even with large main dealers, can anyone really prove that the scheduled work has been carried out? No.

 

[markweatherill]

The buyer now has copies of invoices for the service and also some other work done.
The only service items listed are oil and filter.

I've owned a car before that turned oil black straight away, and the oil filter is quite exposed. I guess I'll try and find out if oil going black quickly is normal on this car. (Can anyone advise? It's a Mitsubishi 'i' 660cc turbo)

 

[mjt]

Dp..

 

[mjt]

Sadly, this happens a lot. Even with large main dealers, can anyone really prove that the scheduled work has been carried out? No.

I had remove the air filter to replace a lightbulb the other week and was pleased to see a brand new air filter. It had had a service the previous month.

Not sure why, but I was surprised!

 

[markweatherill]

The invoice showing the oil change lists 3 litres of oil. The engine takes 3.9 litres and the dipstick is at the full mark.

So perhaps they did do it, the lazy way,and sucked the old oil out the dipstick, leaving 0.9L of old oil in there...