Servicing Costs

[Jonathan]

Anyone cut deals with their servicing guys ?

I'm looking at 2x C services for the cars soon (GT3 needs it bad) but I can do more than 1/2 of it myself (ie re-packing bearings etc is a doddle)....part of me wants to do it anyways to get it right, use the right oil etc.

So I'm really left with just the belt changes and a few other tricky things that need a full lift to sort / inspect which should halve the costs of the service bill.

Anyone else do this ?

I'm not being a tight git, it's just that I don't like the idea of paying someone

[superdavelotus]

It's horses for courses Jonathon. That's the part of owning a top marque sports car, to keep values up you have to have a full service history from a dealer or specialist. I don't know many people on this forum who would buy an Esprit where it had been serviced by the owner do you? I know I wouldn't.

Save money now by servicing it yourself then pay later when over half you callers to your ad hang up when you tell them that you serviced it yourself.

Esprit ownership isn't cheap, it's cheap to buy and that's the problem we have. There's lots of people who buy them then can't afford to run them properly and sell them when it's due for a service or overdue! You see the same Esprits passing pillar and post on Ebay and other sites with 7 plus owners on the V5.

Book it into Esprit Engineering now and wait until they can fit you in. They are only half the cost on labour rates. That way you'll get two-for-one servicing!!!!

[ajax317]

When I get my Elan serviced at Sinclaire's I do a similar thing. Last time I got them to do a 'B' service but had already done things like the brake fluid, so I asked them to leave what I'd done off the job sheet but still got a stamp for the full service. I also supply the oil and they're good lads, I trust them to use it!

[snuffy]

SuperDave is correct. A buyer will want to see a fully stamped up service book. I would not mind that it was not a main dealer if it had well known specialists in the book. If you do it yourself ( and you may well be more than capable ) it will give the impression that you own thw car but can't afford to have it properly looked after. Only yesterday I was speaking to a mate who has a Honda S2000. I mentioned lotus/noble dealer rates of

[Jonathan]

When I get my Elan serviced at Sinclaire's I do a similar thing. Last time I got them to do a 'B' service but had already done things like the brake fluid, so I asked them to leave what I'd done off the job sheet but still got a stamp for the full service. I also supply the oil and they're good lads, I trust them to use it!

Thats the idea, tbh I've had a few attempts at pulling the wool over my eyes before and I don't really turst many people to take spanner to the car. After looking at the C service indepth any 1/2 competant mechanic can do 75% of the jobs on there with little to no instruction.

Just wondered how many home mechanics do it and whether its a common thing to get a stamp as well ?

Seeing how some 'specialists' do jobs on car's I'd be quite happy buying a car like this off of an tech head enthusiast - when it's "your" car you tend to take more care and time over it. Last time my GT3 went to a specialist it came back with numerous paint scratches, dumping coolant and the exhaust leaking from every angle and they didn't know that the car had 6 lots of flexible brake lines !

[Loose Cannon]

Thats the idea, tbh I've had a few attempts at pulling the wool over my eyes before and I don't really trust many people to take spanner to the car.

This is the crux isn't it? Trust.

I really wouldn't give a hoot whether a garage charged

[MKE40]

Seeing how some 'specialists' do jobs on car's I'd be quite happy buying a car like this off of an tech head enthusiast - when it's "your" car you tend to take more care and time over it. Last time my GT3 went to a specialist it came back with numerous paint scratches, dumping coolant and the exhaust leaking from every angle and they didn't know that the car had 6 lots of flexible brake lines !

Jono,

You just answered your own question.

These cars are never going to sell to other than an enthusiast.......

Forget taking your car to a main Lotus dealer that will put the Junior to work on your pride and joy cos 'Its an old car' and we dont want him learning on these new Elises !

Cooking car rules DO NOT apply here .

Would you trust the AA to advise you whether to buy ?

Of course not , you would take into consideration all aspects of the cars history and the apparant present condition and at the end of the day we are talking 'Bangers' here in current modern day buyers terms!

Who ever would pay 10 or 20 K, or even MORE for an old car ?

( I have just answered my own question ! )

I rest my case........

Gotta go now ........

The Viking Carlsberg calls..........

Mike

[WayneB]

Mike, have you seen this?

Its the worlds tiniest violin!

[Paul C]

My car is with steve right now. His labour rate is good and he's been working on Esprits

since well before the SE was made, there's nothing he'll find while working on my car that

he won't have the tools, skills, or past knowledge to mend.

It's like with anything, in my job if i have 20 identical things to do that i've never done before

then the first one will take 2-3 the amount of time than the last one, the second one will be way

quicker than the first, and then every one after gets a bit quicker still. The quality of the last one

will be better than the first. I will know all the tricks of that particular task by the end.

The Esprit has thousands of potential jobs waiting to happen. A service stamp to me is worth the

money as i know the cars been with someone for two weeks that will not only do all the work with

the speed and knowledge of having done it hundreds of times, but the stamp also means that someone

who knows the car inside out has spent time looking for any faults that they expect to find.

As Mark said, it's trust.

I don't know whats wrong with my brakes, or the cost involved. My words to steve on the subject were

"If its just a new servo, do it. Or if it needs new lines, discs, calipers and everything, do it". And thats

what it's all about.

If you have the kind of place that rings you every other day to ask you to come look at 'this thing the've

found', or 'that thing that needs doing', then you're dealing with people that feel the need to justify what

they are doing...

[MKE40]

Mike, have you seen this?

Its the worlds tiniest violin!

Wayne,

Your violin looks very nice.............

Thats all very well but has it a fully stamped service book .......? Otherwise I really could not make a decision to purchase such an item.

I mean ,, really , Just who has been working on it and were they fully apprenticed and trained by Stradivarius himself ?

I am becoming all neurotic about buying ANYTHING after reading this thread.

P.S

Paul ...

Do you buy your own Creme Eggs or would you trust Vicki to pick them up with the weekly shop ? ( With certification from Cadbury Of course !)

[Mod: Paul C, Actually, every day for the past two months, my

apprentice has brought a creme egg for me on his way to work...]

Mike

[Jonathan]

PMSL - Wayne, here's a link for ya :

http://www.sarcasmsociety.com/howtobesarcastic/

Yup - point taken about the stamps in the book, tbh looking at one now I wouldn't care less as long as the last 2-3 years was covered but thinking back to when I 1st looked at an Esprit having a fully stamped in the right places was impressive and a tick in the box.

The beans of this thread was the fact I was just looking at the next service and spotted the 'to-do list' on it and thought on most of the items "hang on this has only just been done !" - paying someone to change for example brake fluid 4-5 months after it's already been done is - to put it bluntly - flushing

[Mark Blanchard]

Give Geoff a ring at Esprit Engineering. He'll just do the belts for you in you want and charge

[WayneB]

PMSL - Wayne, here's a link for ya :

And heres one for you:-

How to change the timing belt on your Esprits.

[cly_mitchell]

I think we may be chasing our tale a bit here. We all agree dealer stamps are great when it comes time to sell. I.e you will get more money for your car. But you have also invested more money in your car. I you are not a wrench turner, then leave the work to a trusted pro. If you have talent in this area, the money you loose at the sale could be greatly eclipsed by the money you saved by doing the work yourself.

I personally love wrench work. And nobody cares about my car the way I do. A shop can't afford to clean every bolt and chase every thread the way I do. I keep a photo journal and records of every thing I do. If I ever do sell I will have the car inspected by a qualified mechanic to verify my work.

As far as getting more money at sell time,apply the following formula:

Basis(purchase price)+maintanence cost - sell price = loss (a negative loss is a gain)

I know.................I know....................I'm a smart ass

Cheers

Clay

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the link, it is a good guide - tbh changing the timing belt is something I'm not to keen on doing as getting it done by a garage you at least have some come back if they screw the timing up.

[Loose Cannon]

Also worth mentioning in relation to newbies being impressed by service stamps, mine had a stamped C service from a big main dealer that upon examining the reciepts (after purchase natch) amounted to no more than an oil change while it was part of their 2nd hand stock

[Paul C]

TBH Jon, you do so much yourself anyway i'm kinda surprised you asked on this anyhow.

Clay is right here of course. Example being my last Esprit, owned for five years and sold with