Look out for missing service history
Discussion
I'm in the market for a little runabout for my Mrs.
Some of you may have seen my thread on here the other day when I had a run in with a trader who misrepresented a car saying it had full dealer history when in fact it had none.
Whilst that was an extreme case and turned out OK thanks to help from people here, I'm amazed at how many cars I'm finding with no SH or incomplete SH at less than 3 years old.
I've even seen adverts for cars where the trader shows a photo of the service book with 1 service when the age/mileage suggests it should have had 2 or 3.
What's concerning isn't just that the car may have suffered extra wear and tear but that manufacturers warranties which on occasion can be 5 or 7 years, are completely invalidated.
The worst example I've found was a 2 year old car, 36K, should have had 3 services and has no record of any!
In that last example, who would buy a car that has missed 3 services? It must be worth thousands less (which in fairness to the trader, has priced the car appropriately).
Why are so many cars missing services these days? It seems crazy when many cars even have in built indicators to tell you when a service us due!
Some of you may have seen my thread on here the other day when I had a run in with a trader who misrepresented a car saying it had full dealer history when in fact it had none.
Whilst that was an extreme case and turned out OK thanks to help from people here, I'm amazed at how many cars I'm finding with no SH or incomplete SH at less than 3 years old.
I've even seen adverts for cars where the trader shows a photo of the service book with 1 service when the age/mileage suggests it should have had 2 or 3.
What's concerning isn't just that the car may have suffered extra wear and tear but that manufacturers warranties which on occasion can be 5 or 7 years, are completely invalidated.
The worst example I've found was a 2 year old car, 36K, should have had 3 services and has no record of any!
In that last example, who would buy a car that has missed 3 services? It must be worth thousands less (which in fairness to the trader, has priced the car appropriately).
Why are so many cars missing services these days? It seems crazy when many cars even have in built indicators to tell you when a service us due!
Pistom said:
Why are so many cars missing services these days? It seems crazy when many cars even have in built indicators to tell you when a service us due!
Maybe because some are bought on PCP's and the owner intends to just hand them back at the end of the agreement so they think it doesn't matter?I've also seen this a lot lately.
te I've seen stamped in books is laughable. Even a stamp signed M Mouse is at least some acknowledgement that some thought has been given to maintenance but it is the complete lack of anything on a 2 or 3 year old car which I find surprising.
What else has not had attention?
On an older owner maintained car, I can understand that stamps are less expected but without the service records on newer cars, be it digital, paper or on the car itself, the manufacturer warranty is void.
Of course it is possible that a car has been better maintained away from a garage and no receipts, stamps or proof of work are available but I suspect that work just hasn't been done.
What else has not had attention?
On an older owner maintained car, I can understand that stamps are less expected but without the service records on newer cars, be it digital, paper or on the car itself, the manufacturer warranty is void.
Of course it is possible that a car has been better maintained away from a garage and no receipts, stamps or proof of work are available but I suspect that work just hasn't been done.
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