Would this gap in service history put you off?

[MitchT]

19 plate BMW 118i the OH is interested in.
Big gap in service history - 3 years, two months / 21,389 miles.
Run a mile or no biggie?



Also, looking at the time between the dealer's Multi Point Inpsection Check and the fact that it's been "in preparation" since then and the photos only uploaded today, I can't help wondering what on earth they've been doing with it for the last 3.5 weeks.

But it's exactly what she wants.

[Dynion Araf Uchaf]

Is it a Y*19 plate.

Probably an ex BMW staffer or demo car. Registered in 2019, low ish mileage driver for the first 18 months or so then sold to the dealer.

Second owner followed a mileage service plan. So a big gap.

I doubt it’ll be a problem as it’s not a diesel.

It’ll have a warranty and you can get the dealer to service it before sale

[SteBrown91]

BigMW - Run a mile.

[stevemcs]

SteBrown91 said:

BigMW - Run a mile.

The same, the missing service isn't half as bad as it being sold by big motoring world

[twing]

SteBrown91 said:

BigMW - Run a mile.

Came here to say this

[Richard-390a0]

I see a bigger gap than you do! 4yrs & 30 odd thousand miles between oil services.

[MitchT]

Dynion Araf Uchaf said:

Is it a Y*19 plate.

Yes, YM.

SteBrown91 said:

BigMW - Run a mile.

Yeah, I know but, ultimately, it's a case of where the car you want crops up for sale. Then, checking it's a decent car, buying it and moving on with your life. I'd treat anything other than an approved used BMW as a private sale and do the relevant due diligence as the warranty on a used car from any independent won't be worth the paper it's written on anyway.

[MitchT]

Richard-390a0 said:

I see a bigger gap than you do! 4yrs & 30 odd thousand miles between oil services.

Good point!

[Sardonicus]

Wouldnt touch that with a ten ft barge pole frankly , ridiculous oil ch history

[Pugster]

Apart from the near on 30K mile lack of oil and filter change it looks like it's never had the plugs changed either.

I take your point about BigMW but to me they seem to buy the crap that decent places swerve.

There's a ton of these out there why risk it?

[Trevor555]

twing said:

SteBrown91 said:

BigMW - Run a mile.

Came here to say this

Run a marathon.

[MitchT]

Think that's a consensus then... unless there was an oil service in Feb '23 and they've missed it off the list!

I'll tell the OH to keep looking.

[rottenegg]

Lol, classic PH condemning a car without even looking at it. I bet most people on here wouldn't even know what they were looking at under the bonnet anyway, even if they did step away from the keyboard for 5 mins.

ALL used cars are a gamble.
Are ALL used cars neglected in spite of what the servce records say? No

[Trevor555]

rottenegg said:

Lol, classic PH condemning a car without even looking at it. I bet most people on here wouldn't even know what they were looking at under the bonnet anyway, even if they did step away from the keyboard for 5 mins.

ALL used cars are a gamble.
Are ALL used cars neglected in spite of what the servce records say? No

I think you'll find the people on here saying "run a mile" (myself included) are referring to the selling dealer.

[doc261]

I know very little about engines but I wouldn’t buy a car from this dealer because if there was an issue there is a strong possibility that it would be very difficult to resolve (just do an internet search). Also whilst a service history is no guarantee that a car is well looked after missing services on a newish car would be a red flag to me. It isn’t as if there aren’t lots of cars out there.

[Mr Tidy]

They aren't a rare model so it shouldn't be hard to find one without a 29K mile gap in it's service history, which seems to be a third of the mileage it has covered.

I'm not sure plugs need changing in that sort of time period, but my 2005 330i always shows 19K miles until the next service when the OBC has been reset. It still should still have one in no longer than 2 years though regardless of mileage.

I'd give that one a miss and keep looking!

[MitchT]

doc261 said:

... I wouldn t buy a car from this dealer because if there was an issue there is a strong possibility that it would be very difficult to resolve...

As I mentioned earlier in the thread, if I were buying a BMW anywhere other than a main dealer I'd treat it as a private sale on the basis that any issues will more than likely be a complete pain to resolve and it'll come with a warranty that isn't worth the paper it's written on. Ultimately you can't predict where the right car will crop up so you might have to buy it from a dealer that you'd prefer not to do business with. Just a basis of doing your homework and buying a car on its actual condition. As has been said though, these are not exactly rare, so worth dodging this one because of the service gap.