Anyone can have stamps made up - cost is about £20 for the auto-inking ones.
Years back some of the more dodgy traders would use a 'John Bull Printing Kit' to make up their stamps - remember those?
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Indeed I do...
Well used as well :-0
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It'd be interesting to see if the buyers of these "collector's items" happen to sell a car of the relevant marque at a later date.
V
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I have also, in the past, seen service stamps for sale on Ebay from Ford Main Dealers who have closed down, complete with Ford blue oval logo in the design.
Value of a fully stamped service book? No a great deal, in my opinion, unless accompanied by a set of receipts, too.
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I work in the print/documentation industry and recently got a stamp and company seal made up to certify processes we do from the states for $40. I could easily source and duplicate any stamp should I wish too and you would find it difficult to tell the difference. I would never trust anything stamped in a service book as being correct.
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I heard of a new, unissued MB service history book being sold for £1000 (privately, not on Ebay) - could have been a tall tale, but it's believable.
Note that sad people can also get a cert of passing SAS selection for £7.99 - tinyurl.com/32to44
Interesting - I passed it too, but no-one gave me a certificate! No need to, I suppose, as we all knew each other, and it was on our service records.
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By the same token, it is ridiculously easy to fake receipts as well though. Possibly even easier than stamps -- all I need is a decent quality colour laser printer, a scanner and any standard spreadsheet application. Since dodgy dealers tend to work in networks (who doesn't with web forums everywhere?), and it's not exactly hard to come across templates to copy (genuine receipts), the materials are all there -- and who actually checks receipts up? Lots of back-street garages don't keep copies of receipts for more than a couple of years anyway.
It would be possible to employ a near-foolproof system -- have a national database of service receipts like the MOT database recently deployed -- but there is not the political impetus to do it.
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HJ - perhaps you or a journo colleague should buy the stamp, and then make a programme/write a piece about the fraud that could be committed with it. Then doorstep the seller and Ebay?
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It's up to the car buyer to exercise caution and common sense.
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at least genuine toyota stamps use 2 colours these days, makes it a tiny bit harder to copy
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I went with a Nigerian woman acquaintance to look at a Golf she wanted. The seller was a woman too (English).
It had not one but two service books with lots of stamps. After examining them, and the general absence of other records, I came to the conclusion that the FSR was falsified and the car had been clocked, and suggested she make a low offer. Unfortunately she had already agreed to pay the asking price, so that was that. It wasn't a very good car although not a total pile of carp. But if people won't be advised, why do they ask for advice?
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I don't quite see how any blank/unused Service book could be worth £1000, even for an MB. They are obtainable from the dealer for a fee. Just order it by part number and it will be supplied for something under £10. The worry is what happens to it after that - see above discussion re fake stamps!
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£1000 for a blank MB service book? No way!. I can get one for a couple of quid. I have known them being sold with a set of stamps, but blank to put the reg. no. and VIN number etc for around £30-40.
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