Question of the week: Do I need to have my lease car serviced by a franchised dealer?
Dear Honest John,
"I am about to lease a new Ford Puma Gen-E with Octopus. Can I have it serviced at my local garage or do I have to have it serviced by the local Ford dealership?
I was told by my local garage that the government made some rule changes in 2023 with regard to servicing and whether warranties were invalidated if cars were serviced at other than the relevant car dealerships."
- JK
Dear JK,
Some EU block exemption rules were retained by the UK after Brexit, one of which was that a manufacturer cannot void your new car warranty if it is serviced at a non-franchised garage.
However, it must be serviced according to the manufacturer's service schedule and specifications including parts and service items used. Plus a suitable record of the servicing must be kept.
We'd suggest checking the terms and conditions of your lease, as these may specify that servicing must be carried out by a franchised dealer - as the vehicle is being leased it remains the property of the finance company at all times, so they may make specific stipulations in order to ensure it retains its value over the period of the lease.
Ask HJ
When does the warranty start on a new car?
My wife has just bought a 2025 plate Honda e:Ny1 with 142 miles on the clock which she absolutely loves but we have just found out through paperwork in the glove box that the vehicle was actually made in 2023 having found a pre inspection form dated October 2023. The car according to dvla was registered in June 2025 so we are really confused with
1 should our warranty start from June 2025 or when the car was built
2 should we have paperwork or online servicing to show it was Inspected in 2024?
Is this normal for a car to be sat for a period of two years before being registered and should we have been informed as we feel like we’ve bought a 2 year old car now
Generally speaking a manufacturer's warranty begins from the date that the vehicle is first registered, but this is something you can clarify with the dealership or Honda UK if it is not shown on the vehicle paperwork. We would not expect a vehicle to be serviced while it is unregistered as it is likely to be kept in storage with pre-delivery protective coverings, and while there is a significant gap between the date of manufacturer and of first registration, the car's age is effectively taken from its date of first registration. There is always a gap of at least several months between the date of manufacturer and registration, but this gap can be affected by several factors. While it was built in October 2023 it may not have reached the UK until 2024, and it is possible that it was a cancelled order which meant it remained unregistered.
Answered by David Ross
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