Used car with no service book

[Bassetts]

I am new here and looking for a bit of advice with buying a used car.

I have been looking for a Mk4 Golf 1.9 GT TDI 130/150 and found what looks to be a fairly nice example with about 125k miles under its belt, leather seats, climate control, cruise control. I know basic things to look for, cambelt change, regular service intervals, rattling noises from the engine etc. However, after contacting the seller they have stated there is no service book for the vehicle. They have offered to carry out a service and change the cambelt at a trade price. Having never bought a used car this old I have no idea if this is a normal thing and if I should avoid it or take a look and just be extra cautious.

Is it still worth taking a look at or should I avoid it altogether? If I do go to look at it what should I look out for? I have a mechanic friend, who is unfortunately busy when I would be going to look at the car, so I am not overly bothered about the garage doing the cam belt at trade price as I could probably still get it done cheaper myself, so what sort of price range should I be looking at for the car?

[Sir Bagalot]

First thing I would check is the mileage. Although not fool proof all you need is the MOT certificate number and pop along here.

Buying from any sort of garage I would need to see a genuine service history otherwise you nmight as well go private

[Qwert1e]

1. Buy on condition.
2. Be careful who you're buying from - how long have they owned the car?

[X5TUU]

Personally speaking with any car over 12yrs old and less than £2k I wouldn't expect to see any real history and as long as everything seems ok (ie mot check online vs mileage) and the expected wear and tear signs marry up as well as the usual used car checks are ok I wouldn't be put off. It's not like you can have the same expectations of a used car dealer (esp old and low value) as you would at a main dealer where they will likely not have anything older than 3-4yrs old tops.

[Mr GrimNasty]

X5TUU said:

Personally speaking with any car over 12yrs old and less than £2k I wouldn't expect to see any real history and as long as everything seems ok (ie mot check online vs mileage) and the expected wear and tear signs marry up as well as the usual used car checks are ok I wouldn't be put off. It's not like you can have the same expectations of a used car dealer (esp old and low value) as you would at a main dealer where they will likely not have anything older than 3-4yrs old tops.

I'd expect to see a good history for the first few years, and then patchy stuff.

These cars are very easy to superficially clock as they last so well, as above check the MOT history. The true mileage could be double that showing.

(Not that that would help on mine as the garage always messes it, -30k 1 year, + 33k the next - I should sue!)

[Bassetts]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I am going to look at it and see how it looks in person. I have done a basic check and everything came back fine, the only thing I am wary of is the mileage is listed as: 122,000 miles recorded on 20 Feb 2014, 80,000 miles recorded on 14 May 2009, 53,000 miles recorded on 17 Dec 2008.

It seems a little strange for the car to have done 53k over 6 years, then ~27k in 5 months, then to have no record for 3 years at which point it has supposedly done 42k miles over that period. Are those kind of time gaps normal in the mileage on these reports, is that something to be worried about at all? I know I won't be able to get a proper idea until I see the car and get a look at the MOT history though.

[johnnyBv8]

There's rarely a good reason for a missing service book, irrespective of age. Incomplete or patchy, yes - missing altogether, no. Whilst they sometimes (surely not often?!) get lost by owners or retained as they pass through auction, there's a fairly good chance that if it's missing it's to hide a previous mileage adjustment. At the age/car type you're looking at it probably doenst make much difference to value though, hence the advice to buy on condition.

[edc]

Just buy at the right price. I've bought a Range Rover and a Porsche with no service book or no papers/invoices. Some fantastic bits of paper which are 10 years old are quite worthless if nothing has been done to the car since then.

[Drive Blind]

Bassetts said:

It seems a little strange for the car to have done 53k over 6 years, then ~27k in 5 months, then to have no record for 3 years at which point it has supposedly done 42k miles over that period.

that would make me very suspicious.

Due to having absolutely zero service history, assume it's done 250K miles and pay on condition.