Hi all,

I'm looking at a 2016 AMG GT S, the car has been imported from Germany 2019-03 (after 32 months in Germany) and has been serviced once since it was registered in my country, service is due now.
The service should be carried out every 12 months if I'm not mistaken. How big of a dealbreaker would you say that it is in this case?

It should have been serviced:

2017-06, 2018-06, 2019-06 which has not been carried out (at least not according to the electronic service history).

The car has low mileage, 26000km(16k miles) and the first documented service was carried out at around 20000km (12.4k miles).

Very thankful for your input.

 

In the U.S. proper maintenance is considered important and that service history would be disqualifying since it may very well affect the warranty. If the car you are looking at is not in warranty, for whatever reason, I'd say it should be a deal breaker. If the prior owner was careless enough not to service his vehicle, what else was he doing (or not doing) to it?

 

I have never heard of warranty being affected; but I suppose it could be, depending on what the warranty issue is. The ONLY things to do on the car in the first 4 years are: Oil changes (annually), brake flush (every 2 years). Cabin filter (every 20,000km). That is it. The GT/GTS may need a transmission/differential oil change early on, but the GTC/GTR does NOT. The lead AMG tech at my dealership has confirmed this.
Anything else is a waste of money.

My main concern is that this car has not had annual oil changes. So it would be a deal-breaker for me.

 

That would be my concern too. Only one record of an oil change in 5 years, IF the one service record even shows an oil change....

...and, a possible unknown is how this car was used in that 5 years...If a garage queen maybe, but if I were negotiating price, I would be stubborn, and if the car shows signs of being tracked, then no price would work for me.

 

An oil change only will definitely be recorded in the car’s service records, if done at the dealership. I’ve said it before: doing (only) oil changes at the dealership is great insurance and helps with resale.

 

Thank you for your input, I've dug deeply into the history, when the car was tested pre-export it was 17 days due to service
When imported 2019-03 it was service due in 311 days
When service 2020-08 it was 138 days remaining until service

The car is out of warranty but it seems like the oil has been changed a couple of times, I hope..

 

Trouble with the onboard service record is it can be reset w/o actually doing any of the service work, so someone could have reset it and can be done w/o any special tools. The only verifiable record would be a service provider's receipts, either dealer or independent.

Best with it whatever you decide!

 

I'm trying to figure out why someone would buy a 160k car and not service it, I'm thinking that he might have done it on his own / on a local shop

 

Yes, I COMPLETELY agree with you...but w/o documents, you just can't be 100%. Whatever that percentage is in your mind, has to be worth something to you...in negotiations.

 

You're right, have to think of the resale value also.
I'll take some time to consider it, but it is absolutely loaded with equipment (every option possible except full leather + high end Burmester, roughly 50k USD options) and the condition is superb.

Also RENNtech stage 1 with HHT, not a con in my point of view.

 

Sounds like a very nice car. If it satisfies you...all that counts, even in resale.

I like everything about it except the aftermarket mods. But, here too, I'm not the buyer. If it meets your expectations it meets mine too....haha...

 

Or the buyer was so rich (and feckless) he didn't give a ship.

 

Yes, it is cheap insurance. I change mine every 5k miles, and i do not reset the maintenance reminder. So when it comes back up that it need service it gets oil service done at dealer. I dont track or really drive my car that hard, but for me being in the auto repair industry since I was a kid oil is oil and no one can tell me it can last 10K miles. I do this to all my cars. OEM filter, OEM Engine oil and plastic plug runs me about $150. Yes for someone like me it is easy, have shop, tools, hoist etc.