Why are things for sale always freshly serviced?

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In todays time, its to keep customers from leaving bad reviews online. Example:

"I bought a used Pontiac at Big Jakes Auto and bigolly, I only put 300 miles on it and the check engine light told me I needed an oil change already".

Many dealers also give some sort of limited warranty on many, but not all vehicles they sell. They cant trust what the previous customer did to the vehicle.
If you already have a garage anyways, the oil & filter is cheap as are the grease monkeys hourly wage.
It's also a selling point that the vehicle has been checked, serviced and is good to go.
 
I did this when selling my previous car. Had the dealer do an oil change along with an inspection report. The buyer liked seeing the report. He pulled the dipstick and smelled it also. He didn't say anything negative about the car and only gave it compliments. The only thing it needed was a new rear light bulb which was only a few bucks.
 
I look at it this way:

For someone who is concerned about maintenance, they always discuss changing all fluids no matter what occurred pre-sale. Cannot trust the dealership or PO and you have to mark your territory! BITOGer addendum: If it came from the dealership it is overfilled with the wrong grade of oil, and you want to obtain a sample for a UOA anyway.

For the appliance buying crowd, it is just avoiding another cost/headache of having to bring their car somewhere for service. They do not care that there is bulk 5-20 conventional in their turbo GDI car, all they care about is not having to deal with mechanics for another 3k miles.

It is the same motivation in the end.
 
Almost due, overdue, or questionable service history will drive away many potential buyers. Those not scared off will often demand a much lower price since the buyer knows they will need to spend that money on service. Often the price drop can cost the seller more than what they spend on the service.

For example, the '04 XC70 my dad and I bought for my mom needed brakes and timing belt. The price presented actually took into account those services being done prior to sale, and the seller had the needed work listed in the documentation. Without the service, that car would be worth much less and be less attractive despite relatively low miles.
 
The downside to fully serviced is that you lose valuable information on how far the last owner pushed fluid changes. If you're buying a used 75K mile that has fresh tranny fluid (just done a week ago for the first time ever when it was due at 30K or 50K) that would be good to know. But, all you'll get is freshly serviced and A-ok. Fwiw, most of the used cars I've run into don't have fresh fluids, especially transmission. When I bought my 1999 Camaro in 2012 with 12K miles, the only fresh fluid in that car was the engine oil...everything else was probably 13 yrs old!
 
I suspect that potential buyers would be scared to buy a car with really disgusting looking fluids in it. It would give them impression that the car was not worth much money and not going to last a long time.

The price of the recent services is more than offset by the higher price a customer will pay because that customer is confident that the car is a good deal.
 
Years ago I was shopping for a used Pickup. I went to check one out and pulled the trans dip stick out to find a brown goop on the end of it.
The guy didn't have a clue. I think people service vehicles for sale just to cover up their lack of maintenance. They don't want you finding out how bad
they let it get.
 
There are 3 reasons: sales, sales, and sales

Remember,
-It's cheap
-Buyers are receptive to it
-Buyers expect it to be serviced

It's easy to turn off a perspective buyer with black oil or goopy transmission fluid. It an easy reason for them to walk away.
Mentioning fresh service is a selling point.

Most buyers are not actually interested in diagnostics based on fluid condition, they just want to know it was serviced recently.
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I did this when selling my previous car. Had the dealer do an oil change along with an inspection report. The buyer liked seeing the report. He pulled the dipstick and smelled it also. He didn't say anything negative about the car and only gave it compliments. The only thing it needed was a new rear light bulb which was only a few bucks.


When I sold my old minivan on craigslist last year ('01 Windstar 160k+) I printed out a spreadsheet of every service that was performed and had the receipts to back it up. Buyer was extremely happy about it.
 
if it wasn't serviced are you expecting to get a deal or make a lowball offer?
or would you add it up fairly and say oh its got old oil halfway through the oci so just take off 14.99
 
Originally Posted By: Blkstanger
I think people service vehicles for sale just to cover up their lack of maintenance. They don't want you finding out how bad they let it get.


This too. Put some 20W50 in the engine and put some sawsdust in (lol) with that fresh trans fluid.
 
Originally Posted By: road_rascal

When I sold my old minivan on craigslist last year ('01 Windstar 160k+) I printed out a spreadsheet of every service that was performed and had the receipts to back it up. Buyer was extremely happy about it.

...until he had to replace the transmission
lol.gif
 
Originally Posted By: road_rascal
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
I did this when selling my previous car. Had the dealer do an oil change along with an inspection report. The buyer liked seeing the report. He pulled the dipstick and smelled it also. He didn't say anything negative about the car and only gave it compliments. The only thing it needed was a new rear light bulb which was only a few bucks.


When I sold my old minivan on craigslist last year ('01 Windstar 160k+) I printed out a spreadsheet of every service that was performed and had the receipts to back it up. Buyer was extremely happy about it.


Precisely why I love to deal with an owner, not a used car lot. I have made some delightful purchases where the owner actually did have the vehicle's entire service history well documented.

We routinely sell cars and trucks here. They are always sold in ready to run condition, as is where is but everything works or is fully disclosed if it doesn't. I think most buyers appreciate it when there truck can be purchased and immediately put to work making money, that really seems to sell...
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
I think most buyers appreciate it when there truck can be purchased and immediately put to work making money, that really seems to sell...


Where is the fun in that? This is BITOG, not some type of truck driving businessman's message board!
 
I've been part of dealer sales where the car has black oil.

People also want a car that's been vacuumed and had the windows cleaned. Implies freshness and helps you forget that some total stranger was sitting in that seat for umpteen hours.

I've run into a certain percentage of people who DO NOT want to hear about maintenance or former repairs. They want to believe a car is "loyal" and has "never needed anything" because then the trend will continue with them. It's a spiritual thing.
laugh.gif
 
Originally Posted By: eljefino
People also want a car that's been vacuumed and had the windows cleaned. Implies freshness and helps you forget that some total stranger was sitting in that seat for umpteen hours.


Yes, one of my first jobs was a used car lot where I had to go down the line of cars and clean the inside of all the windows. Then go down the line and clean the tires/wheels. Used mostly Zep products back then. Interiors were in mostly decent shape if not vacuum then real well.
 
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