Warranty & Servicing Not By Mr-T

[2912pwil]

I'm considering replacing my 2008 140k+ Avensis, which has never gone wrong (well done guys!) since I bought it with 7.5k on clock, it having been probably-hire-car-company, from a car supermarket.

The same car supermarket - they claim to have the cheapest cars, but who doesn't.. - have some less-than 10k mileage Avensis's, but they have serviced them "to Toyota standards & you can have that in writing". They are unclear if service book is stamped but if not they state they are happy to. Prices are "attractive" (& cars are probably-hire-car-company).

I had been hoping to buy an un-serviced less-than-10k car then get Mr T to service it, stamp book etc... I do not want to find, should I have a later warranty claim, Mr T declining to cough up..

Options...

a) Buy one & hope Mr T is kind...

b) Buy one, have it serviced at-or-abouts 10k by Mr T, get another stamp in the book, swallow the costs..

Views?? It seems to me for a (say) £13k+ investment the cost of a perhaps-unnecessary-service is a reasonable insurance policy...

Mr T's 2nd-hand prices are significantly higher (way, way more than service cost...) for similar spec/mileage vehicles (some also probably-hire-car-company!).

Regards & thanks for any ideas or suggestions...

[FROSTYBALLS]

Servicing is every 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever occurs first - the cost of a 10,000 miles service under Toyota's Fixed Price Service scheme is £169. Presumably the cars are less than one year old?

Under Block Exemption any independent VAT registered garage can service the car to maintain the new car warranty, provided that parts, etc are equivalent to OE. However should a warranty claim be questioned, the onus would be on the owner to prove the car has been serviced according to the manufacturer's schedule and that parts equivalent to OE were used.

Really it boils down to a personal choice - if you would rather not take a chance, then compared to the purchase price of the car, paying for one intermediate service by a Toyota dealer to ensure the warranty is maintained is a small price to pay, and at least you would know that correct consumables were used.

[Whitewagon]

If you can get one with less than 10k on the clock and less than 1 year old I'd definitely have it serviced by Toyota whether it had been done by the seller or not. The cost of the service compared to the cost of a failed warranty claim is peanuts.

[Heidfirst]

Servicing is every 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever occurs first

the book for my Avensis also says 12,500 miles.

I believe that the new facelift Avensis with BMW diesels may have even more extended intervals.

[2912pwil]

Thanks guys!! Confirmed my views..