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Had heard Haynes Manuals had gone bust b On Sun, 2011-02-06 at 18:22 +0000, Rob Beard wrote: > On 06/02/2011 13:40, Gordon Henderson wrote: > > On Sun, 6 Feb 2011, tom wrote: > > > >> On a lot of modern cars there is an attempt to prevent you accessing > >> the cars computer via DRM laws etc. There was a law going through the > >> European Parliament to make it illegal to have your car looked at > >> anywhere other than an approved garage. Not sure if it got kicked out > >> or put to one side for later. > > > > There's something called the "Block Exemption" law passed in 2003 > > which means that your car manufacturers warranty is valid if it's > > serviced at a non-manufacturer owned garage, but AIUI, it still must > > be "approved", however I don't know who does the approval - I suspect > > you need the right diagnostic kit and facilities. Once outside > > warranty, then it's up to you, of-course. > > > > I guess in a way I'm lucky that my warranty has run out. It'll be a few > years before I can afford a car young enough to have a warranty. > > > I've just used the facilities of http://www.servicingstop.co.uk/ to > > get my car serviced and MOTd, however I would not recommend them, nor > > will I use them ever again as their price was actually higher than > > Mercedes would have charged me for a standard "level 2" service - > > Merc. includes all the consumables in the price they give you, > > Servicing stop didn't - and they didn't warn me of this either. I also > > found it very frustrating to have to deal with a call centre (in the > > UK) who then called the garage, etc. rather then deal with the garage > > directly. They seem to tie the garages up into exclusivity contracts > > too, so while I was happy with the garages work, I can't go directly > > to them, but must always use Servicing Stop... > > > > Ahh I see so they're like a scheme for garages to get customers? > > I'll make a note to avoid them. > > > My cars original 4-year warranty expires this month anyway, so I'll be > > shopping around for the next service, and doing bits of it myself - > > changing oil/filters, coolant and brakes isn't a big deal for me, but > > the garage can use their diagnostics to check the tuning, emissions, etc. > > > > I use Mobile Car Services who are based in Torquay, I believe they don't > have a web site but they can be found on Facebook here > http://tinyurl.com/mobilecarservices > > Although I think it's about time I did learn the basics. > > > And does anyone actually check the service records when buying a 2nd > > hand car privately? I'm not sure for a car over 6-8 years, it's worth > > it unless it's a really good car... > I've had a look at the service history on my car. Isn't much there, > tyres, brakes, that's about it. I'm going to get the cam belt and water > pump done as a precaution as I don't know when they were last done. > > Rob > > -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq