Selling a car with no traceable service history
Discussion
So, the time has come for me to sell up.
When I bought my 350Z, I did my usual trick and forgot to check certain things and in this case it was for the service history, I have since found out it doesn't have any record of any.
I've attempted to contact various dealers, as well as writing to the previous owner but have come up empty handed.
I now know this will have to be priced very keenly to sell.
The car requires a service, but is it worth paying for a full service, would this help it sell?
How much do you think I would have to knock off the price for the lack of history?
Any other thoughts? I know it's a case of getting whatever I can for it really. I've been offered £3,600 trade in which was clearly less than what I expected. The cheapest 350Z Convertibles seem to go for £5,500 or so. Mine is a little newer than those examples I found, but also has more miles (140,000).
When I bought my 350Z, I did my usual trick and forgot to check certain things and in this case it was for the service history, I have since found out it doesn't have any record of any.
I've attempted to contact various dealers, as well as writing to the previous owner but have come up empty handed.
I now know this will have to be priced very keenly to sell.
The car requires a service, but is it worth paying for a full service, would this help it sell?
How much do you think I would have to knock off the price for the lack of history?
Any other thoughts? I know it's a case of getting whatever I can for it really. I've been offered £3,600 trade in which was clearly less than what I expected. The cheapest 350Z Convertibles seem to go for £5,500 or so. Mine is a little newer than those examples I found, but also has more miles (140,000).
You'd get a better answer from those 'in the know' but as a punter:-
1. Yes, have it serviced but if you are going to do this only have it done by a main dealer or else 'buyer' may well think "Oh so he's got a mate with a spanner to change the oil and filters and say they've looked over it." ie you'll be wasting your money.
2. At this price point it's not the end of the universe not to have a FSH but none? That would worry me and so it would have to be worth my while taking the gamble. It's a Nissan after all so should be okay but I would want at least £250 and more like £500 off the price of the same car but with a FSH.
As said just my thoughts.
1. Yes, have it serviced but if you are going to do this only have it done by a main dealer or else 'buyer' may well think "Oh so he's got a mate with a spanner to change the oil and filters and say they've looked over it." ie you'll be wasting your money.
2. At this price point it's not the end of the universe not to have a FSH but none? That would worry me and so it would have to be worth my while taking the gamble. It's a Nissan after all so should be okay but I would want at least £250 and more like £500 off the price of the same car but with a FSH.
As said just my thoughts.
Do you have no history from your own ownership?
Only thing you can do is list it and say you have no history prior to your own ownership, although depending on the costs, having it serviced may ease some buyers minds but wont necessarily get you any extra dosh.
A high milage one like yours with no history would ring alarm bells in anyones mind. You might be settings your sights a little too high if you think people will pay a decent ammount for a high milage car with no history.
£3600 might sound like a pisstake but the dealer isn't stupid. He will probably have to stick it throgh auction to shift it so wont see a big return on it.
Only thing you can do is list it and say you have no history prior to your own ownership, although depending on the costs, having it serviced may ease some buyers minds but wont necessarily get you any extra dosh.
A high milage one like yours with no history would ring alarm bells in anyones mind. You might be settings your sights a little too high if you think people will pay a decent ammount for a high milage car with no history.
£3600 might sound like a pisstake but the dealer isn't stupid. He will probably have to stick it throgh auction to shift it so wont see a big return on it.
Upatdawn said:
go to VOSA's website, pull up all the previous MOT's, ring the garages concerned, if your lucky they might have serviced it
or buy a new book and get your own stamp.........lol
NO.....i was jokng!
Point one is good asvice and point two is tempting, but as posted only said in jest as it is fraud and from reading a few of your previous posts you have enough issues in life already!or buy a new book and get your own stamp.........lol
NO.....i was jokng!
Thanks for the replies.
A P3 service at Nissan is not TOO outrageous from what I've heard. My thought is to whether it would help with the sale, and whether I'd get the price of the service back.
Good suggestion about the MOT certs (in fact I believe i have most of these). I'll give them a try.
I'm certainly not expecting to get a good price for my car, but it has to go regardless. The MR2 I tried to P/Ex with was £4200 - TBH if it had been a straight swap I would have done it.
A P3 service at Nissan is not TOO outrageous from what I've heard. My thought is to whether it would help with the sale, and whether I'd get the price of the service back.
Good suggestion about the MOT certs (in fact I believe i have most of these). I'll give them a try.
I'm certainly not expecting to get a good price for my car, but it has to go regardless. The MR2 I tried to P/Ex with was £4200 - TBH if it had been a straight swap I would have done it.
I would, as above, give it a full service at a Nissan dealers (or a specialist if there is such a thing?). That combined with a well-written advert and decent pictures could recover some of the money you'll lose through no history, and if nothing else make it a lot easier to sell. All IMHO 
S3_Graham said:
Have you done an advert? Would you mind emailing some details over?
PM me what you want to know, and I'll fill you in on the details.alfabadass said:
Depending on how much you paid for it, £3600-4k private sale might be a good shout.
5k seems to be the starting rate for a 350z.
4k cash sale if you get lucky...
I think at this point, if I could get anything >= £4K I'd probably be OK with it. It'll be a fairly hefty loss, if I'm honest, but sometimes you have to accept that you either cut your losses and move on, or let it continue to be a financial burden, while still being worth not very much.5k seems to be the starting rate for a 350z.
4k cash sale if you get lucky...
TameRacingDriver said:
I'll try but the dealers were adamant there is no central database for this stuff.
That might be true, but how would Nissan administer/check on warranty claims if they're not recorded centrally?The trade in price might not be as bad as you think, as the asking price on the private ads may bear no relation to the selling price, and I can easily see some of them being knocked down £1000.
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