What colour should the oil be on a dipstick?

[Ben82]

I, too, think that the engine oil wasn't changed so I will ask the Citroen dealer to see if the engine oil they drain out looks less than a week old. I suspect it will be old oil. I won't be returning to this indie.

For the cost of getting Citroen to do it, you could probably source all the tools, oil etc, do it yourself, and use the money you save to take the family out for a meal

More importantly you would know the job was done properly, and in fact had even been done at all...

Oil change and filter is bread and butter DIY work, no need to let the shysters charge you for doing it...

Indeed, has kinda forced me into realising over here that with the costs even that the indys charge, I can do a lot more on the car for the money, and in some cases, potentially use better parts.

I am actually starting to think that if I did go for another 2nd hand car at some stage, I would prefer to see records from someone buying the bits etc, rather than just having a stamped book from a dealer/indy. Especially if there is years of it. That's probably very rare here, and probably wouldn't be classed as a "highlight" to the joe public here.

[addo]

It can potentially tell you a lot about how deep they dug; when you see receipts for things like oil pump chains and aux belt idlers you've an idea that the owner was fairly attentive to the motor inside and out. Also, looking for breaker's marks on pieces (eg, starter or swing arm) is another telltale of service attitudes.