I'm curious about the trade-in value of dealer-service vehicles. Full disclosure: I've never traded a vehicle, although I've tried a few times. The economics always worked out to do a private sale, instead. The question, though, for those that have traded cars is this: has any dealer ever inquired about where a car was serviced and stated or implied that a dealer-service vehicle would command a higher wholesale price? I've never had a private buyer ask where routine service was performed. Likewise, when trying to trade/sell a vehicle back to the same brand dealership have any ever asked about where service was performed. It doesn't seem like it matters.

I'm really curious if others have a different experience. BTW, I like free coffee and donuts as much as the next guy!

 

Never. I've traded-in maybe 30 cars over my rather lengthy lifetime - including two to a Lexus dealer in the last two months. Never has a dealer asked about the sites of service or even the performance of routine service (which I always have performed on schedule at a reputable private shop or at a dealer). Nor have any asked for the VIN, which might have allowed them to trace servicing,

 

Ive traded many as well and never an issue on service history. They typically will check the VIN for things like accidents if any but nothing more than that.

 

They have so many ways to unload traded cars - buyer-beware sales at the dealership, trades to other dealers, auctions, etc. - that they just don't care. These things are just slabs of metal to them.

 

As a retired Cadillac dealer, I can assure you the service history can become important on a trade and will increase the value. The evaluation of the vehicle's value and methodology is not something that becomes a long discussion with the owner of a potential trade. On the other hand, any negatives absolutely would be fair game for discussion.

 

Just change the oil at the correct interval and all will be fine. All the other 5000 mile intervals are not necessary and do nothing to increase value or performance. Most all of the items are just inspections.

 

You can make it a point as it is a verifiable asset! The dealer will not offer more to you, so you have to press go get a better value, but will ask more money from the buyer when selling because of this verifiable asset.
The dealer is trying to make as much money as possible and it's up to us to bargain the best we can.

 

Can you expand on when service performed by the dealer "can" become important and what the incremental value is? (eg. 'we'd be willing to offer X more to buy are as trade value of a vehicle worth Y if its service had been performed as a dealer.) As a former dealer, you have a unique perspective compared to the rest of us.

I get that, but I just don't think dealer service has material value, @jallen4 's comments notwithstanding. I do wish I had a vehicle to sell now in this crazy market, just for the fun of it. No way would I try to 'bargain' its value, though. I'd take it to half dozen dealers in the morning and say something like, "Here's the vehicle and it's history. You have 20 minutes to evaluate it. Bids are due at 2pm. The winning bidder must cut a check to me and take possession by 5pm. Are you in or out?" I'd bet anything I'd beat the bargaining approach. What would be a fun experiment would be to that with 12 dealers, giving 6 of them dealer service records and giving the other 6 no information about service history. The resulting bids would give us a much better idea of the actual wholesale value of dealer-performed service history.

 

One must admit that your responses are somewhat humorous. You want an explanation from someone who actually knows what they are talking about but already have made your mind up that they are wrong!

 

I understand the value of documenting service through the dealer, but would the difference in trade in value be anywhere near the additional cost of service at a dealership?

Most Lexus service is oil changes, inspections and tire rotations. So service up to 60k will cost a DIYer a couple of hundred bucks. The dealership cost must be much more than that.

As I have said previously, I actually enjoy working on my vehicles if the job is not crazy complex. An added bonus is that I save a ton of money.

Any dealership buying back a vehicle would throw it on a scan tool and look for items that need work. Not sure the cost differential would be much benefit either way.

 

Following the service requirements of the OM not the dealer's wish-list the additional cost over 3-4 yrs would be around a few hundred dollars.
One of the benefits is knowing that the work done is according to specs and with the correct fluids.
Now let's put ourselves in the shoes of the buyer, what would the buyer be willing to consider added value and be willing to pay more for, a service record by an indie (often non existent) or a verified record by the dealer?
I know which way I'd lean. The unknown is how much would a buyer be willing to pay for this.

 

In a private sale I would think that it might matter more to have dealership records, but again, if the vehicle only have 60k - 100k on it then most of the work is very basic...filters and fluids. Maybe brakes. I keep a detailed spreadsheet of the work I do. I keep all receipts for the parts/fluids that I use, along with the TIS procedures that I download from the system.

I did not crunch the numbers but dealer service over 3 or 4 years according to the owners manual (for me) would probably cost at least a couple of thousand dollars. I think that my dealer charges about $150 for a 5000 miles service and like $250 for a 10000 mile service. I typically drive 25k-30k per year. The cost for me to do the work would be maybe a few hundred bucks total.

Dealer service is great but you pay for that. My dealer is not real close and again, I enjoy doing the work. Money is not my primary factor for doing my own work. For many people the peace of mind is worth the price and that is great.

I have sold vehicles to both dealerships and private sales, and in every case no one asked about my service records. I actually had to make an effort to show the last buyer my records and he was like "cool" after a 2 second glance.

 

Just want to add my 2cent about dealer service... They provide a great lounge with coffee, snacks, shuttle service, and documentation and peace of mind via "not letting the customer into the service area"

​​​​​As for the work, it really depends on your luck who was working on your car. Stripped drain bolts, over tightened filter housing, forgotten cabin filter, and squeaky brake jobs are not unheard of.

Heck, I've seen it with my own eyes the tech not following procedure on setting transmission oil level after warm up on my 2017 rx350 using MOC atf fluid instead of Aisin WS.

If i wanted that half-*** of a job I might as well let a quick lube station do it.

 

Great. We all need an extra laugh now and then. Glad I could help.

 

I took my wife's 2020 RX 350 to our local dealer today for routine service. I asked my service advisor about the 12 months/10,000 miles interval for oil changes. He told me that that interval has been in place for the RX since 2010. He also said he has never seen an RX develop an engine problem that could be attributed to lubrication with oil changes at the stated interval.

He did state that their service department checks the oil at the 6-month service interval to determine if it is advisable to change the oil earlier than the stated interval.