Dealership history means nothing, the mechanics don't own the business and are just getting through them as quickly as possible, the don't put the time and care in that a indy garage will, the have the training and equipment at VW but some off the work is pretty bad and overpriced.
Very sweeping statement and to say dealership history doesn't mean anything is not true , is it .
Independents are not run just by the person that owns the business are they ? So the same could be said of them ? The garage i take my other cars to is an independent , the owner never works on any of the cars , he employs 11 people . He cannot check everyones work can he ?
It is a sweeping statement and in a great many cases it does apply. When you buy a new/used vehicle one usually experiences a sense of wanting to do the best for the car and this may include main dealer servicing. Main dealer servicing means something to many and equally nothing to some. After Peter Cooper sold me mine it went to JKM the next day for an appraisal at which several faulty/broken items were identified that I would never have known of otherwise. Successful warranty claims were made against Peter Cooper for these items. This attitude to vehicle care is prevalent here, you can regularly read posts regarding individuals carrying out works ahead of service schedule regardless of cost.
To counter your other statement which is equally sweeping, Jim (co-owner with his sister) is hands on, he usually looks after mine himself. Those that know JKM will recognise the value of a sheaf of invoices from them accounting for vehicle history. I won't claim that it adds provenance but it should inspire confidence in a prospective buyer.
Main dealer metrics for completing work are speed usually. This would be why Peter Cooper don't even remove a road wheel when servicing (including brake fluid change) unless pads need changing. This would also be why I needed a 5 foot extension bar and 3 hours to undo all my wheel bolts to fit winter wheels. All my bolt threads were destroyed and these were also replaced under warranty.
I get better service and save around £35/hour in labour by using JKM.