Buying a fairly new car with no service history?

[amar101]

I've looking at buying a 2015 Hyundai i20 from a dealership but there's no service stamps in the book or any record they've been done with Hyundai. Obviously this voids the warranty with Hyundai but the dealership's offered to throw in a 2 year warranty for free (which matches what would be left with Hyundai). It's about £1000 cheaper than any equivalent but I'm not sure if the extra money is worth it to get the service history. Does any one have any experience with something like this/have any advice?

[DuraAce]

amar101 said:

(which matches what would be left with Hyundai).

So the dealers (Hyundai main dealer or not?) warranty matches the hyundai warranty in terms of time BUT does it match the original warranty on terms of items covered, items excluded, max claim limit etc? (A cynic would doubt it!)

Do not forget you'll have issues selling it on (unless you've kept it for so many years that the cars low value renders a service history almost irrelevant)

I wouldn't get involved. Buy something else.

Tread carefully if you go ahead, easy to get burnt here..

[trickywoo]

How many miles?

If it’s 10k I’d not be worried if it’s 50k I’d run away.

[amar101]

DuraAce said:

So the dealers (Hyundai main dealer or not?) warranty matches the hyundai warranty in terms of time BUT does it match the original warranty on terms of items covered, items excluded, max claim limit etc? (A cynic would doubt it!)

Do not forget you'll have issues selling it on (unless you've kept it for so many years that the cars low value renders a service history almost irrelevant)

I wouldn't get involved. Buy something else.

Tread carefully if you go ahead, easy to get burnt here..

I'm going to check the warranty terms before I head back tomorrow, but it definitely has the same cover in terms of mechanical faults.

How badly do you think it would affect resale? I'm planning on keeping it for probably 3-4 years so it'll be about 7 years old when I sell it. Obviously I'd be saving about a grand now, but do you think I'd end up losing more than that on an equivalent resale with FSH?

[amar101]

trickywoo said:

How many miles?

If it’s 10k I’d not be worried if it’s 50k I’d run away.

It's 35k, so somewhere in between. Looks in pretty good condition but the interior needs a valet pretty badly.

[WaferThinHam]

I'd say your average Hyundai owner wouldn't know what a service history is.

How many miles on it? Will the dealer not complete a service and stamp the book for the most recent as part of the deal?

[miniman]

Surely part of the point of the i20 is the 5 year warranty? And there must be plenty out there?

[amar101]

WaferThinHam said:

I'd say your average Hyundai owner wouldn't know what a service history is.

How many miles on it? Will the dealer not complete a service and stamp the book for the most recent as part of the deal?

35k miles and it's a 1.4 diesel. Yeah he's agreed to do a full 30k service on it before I buy it so it's just how badly it affects resale/how cautious should I be?

[amar101]

miniman said:

Surely part of the point of the i20 is the 5 year warranty? And there must be plenty out there?

Yeah that's why I'm looking at them. The dealerships agreed to put on a 2 year warranty though but I just need to comb the terms and make sure coverage is the same. There's loads out there but this is about £1000 cheaper than any at other dealerships and I reckon I could probably knock another £300-£400 off.

[sedatepace]

Ex-rental? Usually first registered in Chelmsford so the plate will start with an E. These would of been serviced, well just an oil and filter change by either a mobile mechanic onsite or taken to a local national chain.

Either way buy on condition and budget for brake and clutch changes.

[DuraAce]

amar101 said:

35k miles and it's a 1.4 diesel. Yeah he's agreed to do a full 30k service on it before I buy it so it's just how badly it affects resale/how cautious should I be?

It isn't just resale value.

What's in a full 30k service? Just oil and filter? Or all other consumables, air, fuel, pollen filter, brake fluid etc?

What if the lack of servicing manifests itself in an issue in 2 yrs time (when your 'warranty' is up) then the car needs major work?

35k is a long way on a gallon of oil.

[Torquey]

amar101 said:

WaferThinHam said:

I'd say your average Hyundai owner wouldn't know what a service history is.

How many miles on it? Will the dealer not complete a service and stamp the book for the most recent as part of the deal?

35k miles and it's a 1.4 diesel. Yeah he's agreed to do a full 30k service on it before I buy it so it's just how badly it affects resale/how cautious should I be?

At a guess, I'd say at 7year old, I'd expect it to be about £500-1000 cheaper than other cars due to the missing service history for the first few years.

So it probably wouldn't work out as a bargain.

You could take a gamble, buy it, then contact the last owner and ask them about the service history. Small chance the service history was lost after they sold it and they could point you as to where it was serviced. You'd then ask them to stamp your new book.
There are probably other methods of tracking down lost service history, if it was lost rather than not done.

[amar101]

DuraAce said:

It isn't just resale value.

What's in a full 30k service? Just oil and filter? Or all other consumables, air, fuel, pollen filter, brake fluid etc?

What if the lack of servicing manifests itself in an issue in 2 yrs time (when your 'warranty' is up) then the car needs major work?

35k is a long way on a gallon of oil.

I'm heading back over tomorrow so I'll have a proper look at the service then. Anything to keep an eye out for assuming everything's been checked?

[amar101]

Torquey said:

At a guess, I'd say at 7year old, I'd expect it to be about £500-1000 cheaper than other cars due to the missing service history for the first few years.

So it probably wouldn't work out as a bargain.

You could take a gamble, buy it, then contact the last owner and ask them about the service history. Small chance the service history was lost after they sold it and they could point you as to where it was serviced. You'd then ask them to stamp your new book.
There are probably other methods of tracking down lost service history, if it was lost rather than not done.

Yeah fair enough. Haha saving the money now seems like a more attractive proposition but it could end up biting me in the ass! Fairly sure it definitely won't have had a service though as it's definitely the original service book that's included.

[Wooda80]

Torquey said:

amar101 said:

WaferThinHam said:

I'd say your average Hyundai owner wouldn't know what a service history is.

How many miles on it? Will the dealer not complete a service and stamp the book for the most recent as part of the deal?

35k miles and it's a 1.4 diesel. Yeah he's agreed to do a full 30k service on it before I buy it so it's just how badly it affects resale/how cautious should I be?

At a guess, I'd say at 7year old, I'd expect it to be about £500-1000 cheaper than other cars due to the missing service history for the first few years.

I'd side with WaferThinHam on this one.

Most importantly, buy the car (or not) based on its overall condition today
Has the car never had a service, or has it been done and the paperwork has been lost?
Do things like tyres and brakes look like they are in good condition? Is the bodywork in good condition.
Get / pay for someone else to check these things if you aren't comfortable / competent / confident to do it yourself.

Trying to base your decision on what someone else might think when you sell the car in the future is not sensible.

Whoever buys the car in 4 years time will buy it solely on the condition that it is then , in other words how you have looked after it. If you have had the car regularly serviced and it's still in good condition they won't care the early paperwork has gone missing - the condition of the car will speak for itself ( good or bad ).

Value of a 7 year old i20 diesel with around 80k miles is probably only £2-3k trade / £3-4k retail so you'd be hard pushed to drop £1000 off that in any case!