Hi,
I have a Mondeo III 04 (53 plate) 2.0 TDCi 130 with approx 116,500 mileage and owned it for about 2 years.
I had it serviced at an independant garage last year at 104k but I guess it was not a major one as the pollen filter was not changed. The service history is up-to-date until last year.
The mondeo is now due for a service and I cannot decide whether it's worth doing it at a garage to keep up with the service history _or_ whether I should do the servicing myself from now on.
As the car is probably worth £2,500 - £3,000 max. Is there any benefit for me to keep up with the service history?
If it is worth it, when is a good time to start servicing it myself?
what factors should I consider?
how much value does a car lose with limited service history?
any ideas how much a major service would cost in the south?
Thanks.
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I sold my 52 plate TDCi 130 earlier this year, at a similar mileage. I had kept up a stamped Ford service history and I'm sure this helped to ensure there were eager buyers when the time came to sell. I guess there's no substitute for a full service history when you buy a car at this sort of age and mileage. You say your car is an 04, so it is still within Ford's 6-year perforation warranty. There have been a few body problems with Mondys at this age, such as bottom edges of doors. Ford will only consider a warranty claim if you have a stamped-up service book.
It might still be possible, by ringing around and asking for best price etc, to get a Ford service (not complicated on the diesel) for £99.
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Ford will only consider a warranty claim if you have a stamped-up service book.
And the body check is separate to a service. There will be stamps for a service but the body work checks with stamps are optional extras. I know because my Mondeo (company car) did not have the bodywork checks and ended up rusting and Ford would do nothing about it.
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For warranty purposes its essential.
For resale value I'd say not. As long as you can show the car has been serviced and looked after that should be good enough.
It wouldn't put me off buying a 2nd hand car anyhow and its never been a problem when I've sold 5 or 6 year old cars without full dealer service history.
I keep all old bills and receipts for work done even for new tyres, in a folder. When selling a car I present this to the interested party and its always worked for me.
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And the body check is separate to a service. There will be stamps for a service but the body work checks with stamps are optional extras.
Good point, though the funny thing is that some Ford service books have a place holder for a separate body check stamp, and others don't. My daughter has a Ka which does, but our Focus doesn't. AFAIK, the Mondeo didn't either. The Focus is still going strong at 8 years old and is unusual in having a 12 year perforation warranty, which I have already claimed on twice and will use again if necessary. But yes, check the back of the service book and see if there is a space for body check stamps. If there's nothing separate to stamp, they just photocopy the main service stamps. The other requirements for a successful warranty claim are that it must actually be due to perforation and must not have been left too long, or the vehicle recently bought from a previous owner who should have reported a problem, but didn't.
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The service book for my Mondeo definitely had pages for the bodywork check stamps. Which was blank.
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The service book for my Mondeo definitely had pages for the bodywork check stamps. Which was blank.
Not surprised. Service Reception can usually manage to stamp the book once, but have to be reminded every time to stamp the body check page at the back (if there is one, sometimes there isn't), in my experience of running 3 Fords. Worth adding that they will usually be willing to stamp the body check page retrospectively, if asked nicely.
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For my car the lack of body work stamps was nothing about someone forgetting to do it. It was a company car via a lease company. They chose not to pay for the optional bodywork check to save money. Multiply £15 per vehicle by "lots" of vehicles and it soon adds up. And most were kept for 3 years or less.
Trouble is mine was on a four year lease and did rust ;-)
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It sounds like the lease company might have negotiated the lowest possible price for servicing by specifically excluding the body check. As a private customer, it's always been included as part of a standard service and I've never seen it itemised as an extra charge. As a private customer, you wouldn't be impressed if you had to specifically ask, and pay extra, for a body check whenever you book a service. Of course, the majority of Mondys are probably leased......which you might say, if you wanted to be cynical, helps to keep warranty claims to a minimum.
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My point is my Mondeo didn't have the checks so how many others don't.
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Hi and thanks to everyone for their advice.
I just checked my Service History Log and it does have a "Body & Paint Record" section but nothing has been stamped.
Regards.
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Not sounding good. Sorry.
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Why not sounding good? To quote them and what they asked:
As the car is probably worth £2,500 - £3,000 max. Is there any benefit for me to keep up with the service history?
If it is worth it, when is a good time to start servicing it myself?
what factors should I consider?
how much value does a car lose with limited service history?
any ideas how much a major service would cost in the south?
No word of rust and no stamps anyway. So surely no reason not to go to the local "independent"?
Edited by rtj70 on 29/07/2009 at 19:41
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Worth asking a Ford dealer about the service because they have special rates for 'older Fords', which could mean a dealer service for the price of an independent.
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Hi again,
I got some quotes for a major service for the Mondeo at garages and they are all between £150-250. I thought the mobile engineers would be cheaper but they weren't, I got a few quotes.
Anyway, I've been quoted £130 inc VAT for a full service all-in and will probably go for that one. I've used that garage before so hopefully there should be no problems.
Regards.
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