Service History - Am I unrealistic?

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Wed 28 May 2025 11:28
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Sulphur Man

Our petrol auto Honda FR-V, after 15 years of unwavering service and a thorough rinsing from two toddlers growing into big teenagers, is in need of substantial welding, making it economically unviable. Pity as the engine, gearbox, electrics are all A1.

(FYI all FR-Vs eventually rust into the suspension arches, if you're keen on one).

So we're looking at an MPV replacement. Not for high miles, just for pootlng and leisure, and because they're so much better than an SUV. Feel free to argue on this, but you will always be wrong.

The more I look and enquire, the more I find that Full Service History does not come with any actual paperwork. Just a stamped log book.

In fact, it's remarkable just how much paperwork never makes it into a used car dealer hands. I've always kept my service and repair bills - they have an instrinsic value that helps sell a car.

We looked at a promising car on BH Monday. It has a fully stamped log book of main dealer and recent independents. Someone had written, in biro, 'timing belt changed' across a service stamp from two years ago. The dealer claimed to have rung that garage and had verbal confirmation - couldn't produce a copy of the invoice though...

Am I being unrealistic? Is there nothing to fear from a stamped log book with no actual work statements on a 7 year old car, which otherwise seems in good working order? Or is it a GDPR thing, to protect identities of previous owners?

I fear that finding the right car, with actual full history, is going to take a loooong time....

Edited by Sulphur Man on 28/05/2025 at 11:31

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Wed 28 May 2025 11:43
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - misar

You don't mention the make/age of your target car but these days there is a trend to record service etc history online. The trade should be able to access it, especially if your dealer is a franchise for the make.

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Wed 28 May 2025 13:22
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Chris M

Unfortunately I think you need to temper your expectations. Having just helped my DiL buy another car, I've come to the conclusion that dealers must be able to fob the majority of buyers off with a pile of bull.

The i30 she eventually bought from a multi franchise main dealer (but not Hyundai) came with 8 stamps in the service book. No idea what was actually done at any of those services other than the last one which was an oil/filter change despite it requiring a "major".

Some of the ads I viewed which claimed FSH were laughable. Big gaps e.g. 30k miles between services. A nice looking 4yo Corsa with 80k miles serviced annually by Halfords.

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Wed 28 May 2025 13:34
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - elekie&a/c doctor
Once new cars have done the warranty period, very few stay in the dealer network. With labour rates exceptionally high not many people can afford to continue. Unless you’re buying a car that still has any manufacturer warranty still running, you’re unlikely to find any useful service history.
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Wed 28 May 2025 16:49
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - focussed
Enjoy the ride. Up to 7-years warranty with Dacia Zen. Benefit from an additional 1-year of warranty by servicing your vehicle at Dacia, up to 7-years or 75,000 miles cover.

Conditions.
Your Dacia is less than 6-years old and has done less
than 75,000 miles.

Have your next manufacturer service carried out in our retailer network

www.dacia.co.uk/maintenance/dacia-zen.html

Applies in France too, so our Dusty Bin gets serviced at the dealer - a no brainer!



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Wed 28 May 2025 17:30
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Chris M

But if you buy say a 5 year old Dacia from Joe Bloggs Car Sales with "FSH", that needs to include not only the stamped service book, but also detailed invoices from any services carried out outside the Dacia dealer network. That relies on the previous owner being bothered to keep them and hand them over upon trade in and for them to stay with the car as it travels through the trade to Joe Bloggs. Joe Bloggs then has to be happy to let you have them. Enjoy the ride.

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Wed 28 May 2025 18:31
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Random

Unrealistic? No, but you'll probably have to be patient. Four out of my last five purchases (cars all over 10 years old) have come with not only stamped service books but all the receipts to confirm.

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Thu 29 May 2025 12:40
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - focussed

But if you buy say a 5 year old Dacia from Joe Bloggs Car Sales with "FSH", that needs to include not only the stamped service book, but also detailed invoices from any services carried out outside the Dacia dealer network. That relies on the previous owner being bothered to keep them and hand them over upon trade in and for them to stay with the car as it travels through the trade to Joe Bloggs. Joe Bloggs then has to be happy to let you have them. Enjoy the ride.

No service books involved - it's all computerised and we get an invoice which we keep. If we part exchange it for something else we'll get a better p/ex deal with a main dealer service record, that's why we get it MD serviced to keep it in warranty. It's not over expensive either. I am enjoying the ride in our 3 1/2 year old from new Duster 4x 4 diesel :-)

Edited by focussed on 29/05/2025 at 12:50

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Thu 29 May 2025 21:18
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Chris M

"No service books involved"

I suggest you read the T&C's.

"...ensuring the service schedule booklet is stamped by the business carrying out the service, and a detailed printed invoice(s) is supplied including the following: date of service, vehicle mileage, vehicle details and information of specified parts, grade, viscosity and quantity of oils/fluids used."

Maybe French T&C's are different?

Edited by Chris M on 29/05/2025 at 21:19

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Wed 28 May 2025 18:54
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Andrew-T

The more I look and enquire, the more I find that Full Service History does not come with any actual paperwork. Just a stamped log book.

The only reliable 'service history' is a clutch of invoices showing what was done, and when. Many cars which have been dealer-serviced now have computerised records kept by the dealer netwoek. It has long been known that replacement warranty record books can be easily got online, and dealer records should be a safer bet. And if your car is serviced by independents you have to offer the book to be stamped, or it doesn't happen.

So when you buy a used car there is very often a skimpy record anyway.

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Wed 28 May 2025 19:00
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - SLO76
A very common way for backstreet dealers and private punters trading in to add value is to fake their service record. It’s much harder to get away with clocking a car that’s older than three years thanks to the Mot history check. I used to regularly see cars with little or no history reappearing at dodgy Glasgow dealers with a mysterious “full service history.”

It’s easy to buy a stamp online and stamp the book up, so you’re ideally looking for invoices to back it up. Sadly this is all too rare these days so you’re left having to use your own eyes to gauge if it has been looked after and call the servicing dealer if there’s a service record by googling the number rather than using the one in the book if there’s one. Check to see if they’ve ever seen the car or if they even exist. I’ve caught many fakers out this way.

That’s why I like to buy privately, I want to bypass dishonest dealers and speak to the owner face to face.
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Wed 28 May 2025 19:23
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Adampr

Depends on age. If I want something relatively new and expensive, I tend to buy through a manufacturer's approved used scheme. Toyota and Lexus will give you up to ten years warranty, Kia and Suzuki seven, Hyundai and Dacia five.

It doesn't by any means guarantee a genuine full service history but you get a better chance and the warranty to back it up.

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Thu 29 May 2025 06:19
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - gordonbennet

For a while we were going to sell one of the cars and spend out a considerable sum on a Toyota hybrid, probably Rav4 but more likely the Suzuki Across clone (several £thousand cheaper used and generally lower mileage to boot), perusing the adverts reveals them to be almost all ex renters with fairly varied SH not many of which would satisfy any future warranty claims, ie first service at 21k some 18 months old and often carried out by indy, this on a car around the £23/25k mark, er no ta.

Its a minefeld out there, as a buyer who keeps cars till they are very old you want to know that future warranty and goodwill are as gold plated as possible.

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Thu 29 May 2025 10:03
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Andrew-T

... perusing the adverts reveals them to be almost all ex renters with fairly varied SH not many of which would satisfy any future warranty claims, ...

These days claiming under warranty may be a bigger monetary consideration than it used to be, but in my personal experience it may be an exaggerated worry. After 60 years of car purchases (only private ones since 2008) I have yet to make such a claim, so I assume I never will. That is mainly because I have never bought brand-new, and only three times less than a year old. I remember once returning a Maxi when the dealer claimed that his salesman had undersold the car and demanded it back - I suppose I could have made a fuss, but I couldn't be bothered at the time.

I suppose my point is that if you trust your judgment you can probably save by skipping the offered warranty on a used car. So far I haven't been caught out. The present car is an 'ex-renter' 8 months old, and is now 17 years old.

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Thu 29 May 2025 10:22
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Orb>>.

I remember once returning a Maxi when the dealer claimed that his salesman had undersold the car and demanded it back - I suppose I could have made a fuss, but I couldn't be bothered at the time.

Remembering some of the problems we had with Maxis, then that was the best thing you ever did for yourself.

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Thu 29 May 2025 11:11
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Steveieb

Buyers of second hand Kia and Hyundai are possibly the safest regarding servicing history because of their aggressive attitude to those who are late or forget a service.

I heard of one case when a warranty claim on a Kia regarding a blown engine during the seven year period was refused because the owner was late with a service . But this was due when the dealer was closed during the lockdown . New engine was in the region of £6.5 k

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Thu 29 May 2025 13:21
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Bromptonaut

I've traded two cars with Motorway in the last 3 months; rationalising the fleet to one car.

In both cases there was a folder of documents from acquisition (brand new in 2013 for one of them) through to most recent service.

I suspect however, as they have my name and address on the GDPR etc means the dealer cannot/will not pass them on.

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Thu 29 May 2025 13:55
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Andrew-T

Remembering some of the problems we had with Maxis, then that was the best thing you ever did for yourself.

Never had many problems with mine (five of them) including taking the last one camping in Switzerland. There was one awkward moment driving down a Welsh farm track when a metal gate-pole hidden in the grass knocked the oil filter off the front of the engine. Luckily I noticed the trail of oil in the rear mirror ...

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Thu 29 May 2025 14:08
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - pd

Fewer and fewer cars have invoices these days. They pop up occasionally but either people don't keep them, dealers won't pass them onto due to being terrified of GDPR, sellers won't pass them on even if they have them due to being terrified of people stealing their info (I see lots of V5s where the owner has blanked their name and address), dealers won't give out info also scared of data etc.

A lot of dealers will still tell you whether major work like a timing belt has been done or at least confirm they have seen the car at some point but some are getting reluctant to even do that.

I'd be careful of obsessing about one aspect of a car (invoices) too much as you could easily find one with loads of invoices and then buy a duffer simply because you've been so pleased to find the invoices you have missed something else. Ultimately the condition of the car at point of sale is more important than what happened years ago.

Ultimately though the main reason dealers don't concentrate on it much is service history isn't a big factor in selling many cars. A lot of buyers are not interested and they don't sell for much if any more money. It's just the way the modern market is.

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Thu 29 May 2025 15:44
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Andrew-T

The more I look and enquire, the more I find that Full Service History does not come with any actual paperwork. Just a stamped log book.

In fact, it's remarkable just how much paperwork never makes it into a used car dealer hands. I've always kept my service and repair bills - they have an instrinsic value that helps sell a car. ..

I think it is very rare to find a dealer selling a car with full paperwork - for the reasons above, plus the problem of filing it somewhere, as the dealer won't want to keep it with the vehicle. The obvious answer is to buy privately, which solves all these problems. But that's not what we are looking for here, is it ?

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Mon 2 Jun 2025 11:54
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - Archie35

(FYI all FR-Vs eventually rust into the suspension arches, if you're keen on one).

My 2007 FR-V is rust-free :-) Just sailed through its MoT, no rust visible to the garage. Maybe you'll find a similar replacement - they are good cars.

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Thu 5 Jun 2025 11:11
Service History - Am I unrealistic? - barney100

No invoice for the belt is a bit concerning. If you can identify the people who put the timing belt in from the stamp give them a ring. Had the same thing iand a call confirmed the belt replacement.

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