I have a 4 year old plus 4 which I may trade in next year. It currently has a full Morgan service history.

Do I take it to a main dealer for a service to preserve the history or take it to a local garage who do great work at a reasonable price? Will it cost me when I swap the car in a years time?

From a resale value point of view, it certainly would not bother me if it had a service from a non Morgan agent.

Despite all the hype about professional servicing, I have never, in 50 years of motoring, been asked to inspect the service book prior to trading in. The important thing if you are a buyer though is to have some record of servicing on a regular basis. I would rate many home mechanic enthusiasts as good,or often better than professionals, especially as they are more likely to put more time into the task.

Stamped service book is worth £1m in my street, I just purchased the Aero on the strength of that

Personally, I think the only thing you can guarantee from a stamped service history is that someone, at some point has put a rubber stamp in a book. No guarantee that the service was done fully/correctly or even done at all (unless of course you know and trust the previous owner and the service technician responsible for every service).

Know many cars that have been sold with Full Service History that's been produced for a 'drink'. Also caught out a few dealers who have claimed FSH but when quizzed have tripped themselves up (one once claimed a full 90,000 mile dealer service history but then admitted that the cambelt hadn't been changed at 60,000 miles as per the service guide).

Give me a trusted local mechanic over a main dealer any day of the week.

My thoughts: modern cars with complex electronics need servicing by a main dealer or a specialist who has all the electronic diagnostic stuff.
For a simple mechanical car, where the electronics are limited to the engine management computer I think it is much less important.

Our Mercedes cars don't have a service record book, it is all in the on board computer that the dealer can access remotely through the "cloud".
It will only get worse.

Any independent worth their salt will have diagnostic kit equal to a main dealer, they cant work without it these days.

I wouldn't hesitate in using a local known guy over a main dealer any day although i do all of my own servicing and keep records of what's done and parts used. Every time ive sold a car or bike its been more than adequate to satisfy a prospective buyer.

Very rare for a main dealer sales exec to check the book when pricing a p/x.

It has made no difference on the older Mogs I have sold on.

A car is only as good as its last service.

David Byrne

Yes, that‘s the point. If you‘re able for a good DIY and keep the MOG for a long time, doesn‘t matter. As I‘m fanatic in old classic Minis I think better a good DIY than a bad professional. A MOG is (as a Classic Mini) a little bit special, so a good specific service is a real benefit.

René