Knowledge base · Your rights
Servicing outside the dealer: does your manufacturer warranty end?
"If you don't go to the dealer, your warranty is void." Almost everyone hears that line at some point. Within the European Union it is not true: you may have your car serviced wherever you like, including during the manufacturer warranty. There are conditions — and they are reasonable.
The starting point
Within the EU a manufacturer may not require you to have servicing done exclusively within its own dealer network in order to keep the warranty. Servicing by an independent garage is allowed. The manufacturer may, however, require the work to be done to specification.
The three conditions
- According to the manufacturer's service schedule. The right intervals, the right operations. Not "oil changed" but the complete service belonging to that mileage.
- Parts and fluids of matching quality. Oil to the correct manufacturer specification, filters and parts meeting the requirements. We state on the invoice which specification was used.
- Demonstrable. Itemised invoices and, where applicable, a completed service book or a record in the brand's digital service system.
When a dispute arises, it almost always comes down to that third condition. An invoice saying only "service" is weak evidence. An invoice naming the schedule performed, the oil specification and the part numbers is strong evidence.
What can affect the warranty
To be fair: there are situations where a manufacturer can reject a claim — for instance when a defect is demonstrably caused by incorrectly performed servicing or an unsuitable part. Then it is not about who did the work, but about cause and effect. Modifications to the car — chip tuning, removed emissions components — are a different story too; we don't get involved in those.
How to document it properly
- Ask for an itemised invoice with date, mileage, work performed and part specifications.
- Keep all invoices together; photographing them takes ten seconds.
- Have the service recorded wherever that is possible.
- Keep the replaced parts too if a warranty discussion is conceivable.
If you drive a lease or company car, the contract terms apply on top of this — separate from the manufacturer warranty. What applies then is covered in lease and company cars: who pays for the repair?
How we work
We follow the manufacturer service schedules and record what was done, to which specification and with which parts. For the makes where we have the original factory diagnostic equipment, we also carry out the corresponding service resets and adaptations — that is part of the job, not an extra.
Belongs with brakes and servicing in Tilburg — measured, not guessed.