Dealers and receipts
Discussion
Morning chaps and chapettes. I recently looked at a car for sale at a large main dealer, I havent bought from a dealership for some time anyway the car was 6-7 years old and I noticed the engine block looked shiny but bits bolted to it looked all of their years. Back at the desk the sales guy brought up all the dealer network history on the car and it had an engine swap last year. I walked away not because of that, but because they said due to GDPR they cannot supply any paperwork at all with the car outlining the engine work.
The particular car I want generally seems to only be on sale at dealerships, so I am assuming this is common practice. I do though want to have some previous historical documentation of big jobs on any car I buy so when I sell it on I can show potential buyers the car history.
My question is, what have people been doing with dealerships since May 2018? Is there a way to get the cars documentation without contravening GDPR? I asked them if they would redact all the PII on the documents but they declined.
Note: this is not intended to start any arguments about GDPR/Dealers/Brexit/Snowflakes/critiquing my views on what I should receive when I buy a car etc.! I just want to know if anyone has found a sound and legally satisfactory way to obtain the historical work on a car to keep when buying from GDPR compliant dealerships.
The particular car I want generally seems to only be on sale at dealerships, so I am assuming this is common practice. I do though want to have some previous historical documentation of big jobs on any car I buy so when I sell it on I can show potential buyers the car history.
My question is, what have people been doing with dealerships since May 2018? Is there a way to get the cars documentation without contravening GDPR? I asked them if they would redact all the PII on the documents but they declined.
Note: this is not intended to start any arguments about GDPR/Dealers/Brexit/Snowflakes/critiquing my views on what I should receive when I buy a car etc.! I just want to know if anyone has found a sound and legally satisfactory way to obtain the historical work on a car to keep when buying from GDPR compliant dealerships.
Lots of businesses are now using GDPR as a cop-out, I suspect another regulation will have to be brought in soon to prevent this kind of shenanigans. Businesses can never be trusted to do the right thing (hence the need for regulation from government), all they care about is maximising profits.
I think walk away is the best option tbh. Unless of course the car is massively cheaper than others that haven't needed a new engine? What car is it?
I think walk away is the best option tbh. Unless of course the car is massively cheaper than others that haven't needed a new engine? What car is it?
I work at a main dealer as a service advisor. We are flat out not allowed to provide anyone who asks with previous receipts from our system if they are not the person on the paperwork, details hidden or not. GDPR is the reason given. Not many people call to ask to be fair. I offer to write an email with work undertaken and dates if it's logged.
Any paperwork that comes with a car we've brought in or taken as part ex gets shredded.
Any paperwork that comes with a car we've brought in or taken as part ex gets shredded.
W201_190e said:
I work at a main dealer as a service advisor. We are flat out not allowed to provide anyone who asks with previous receipts from our system if they are not the person on the paperwork, details hidden or not. GDPR is the reason given. Not many people call to ask to be fair. I offer to write an email with work undertaken and dates if it's logged.
Any paperwork that comes with a car we've brought in or taken as part ex gets shredded.
The bit in bold is not because of GDPR - it’s because of the way your company has decided to behave. It categorically does not have to do this under UK GDPR.Any paperwork that comes with a car we've brought in or taken as part ex gets shredded.
I did some digging and even cardealermagazine had an article running in 2019 which had lawyers saying redacted receipts are perfectly fine. Which of course they are because they do not contain PII. If it was an air filter and an O2 sensor I wouldn't care, but when we are talking about a £6k engine replacement, its the kind of bill you need to keep with the car as it moves through its lifetime.
So I guess other than asking for redacted paperwork (which is GDPR compliant) there is no other alternative, and if the dealer says no, unless you really want the car, you walk away.
So I guess other than asking for redacted paperwork (which is GDPR compliant) there is no other alternative, and if the dealer says no, unless you really want the car, you walk away.
Panamax said:
I bought a used car from a UK main dealer (three pointed German brand) earlier this year. All of the previous owner's paperwork was neatly arranged in the glove-box with full name and address etc. Including, bizarrely, full service invoices for the car she'd owned before this one!
Similar here when I bought a four-ringed German brand earlier this year. I have all the receipts with their names and addresses on. SL22 said:
W201_190e said:
I work at a main dealer as a service advisor. We are flat out not allowed to provide anyone who asks with previous receipts from our system if they are not the person on the paperwork, details hidden or not. GDPR is the reason given. Not many people call to ask to be fair. I offer to write an email with work undertaken and dates if it's logged.
Any paperwork that comes with a car we've brought in or taken as part ex gets shredded.
The bit in bold is not because of GDPR - it’s because of the way your company has decided to behave. It categorically does not have to do this under UK GDPR.Any paperwork that comes with a car we've brought in or taken as part ex gets shredded.
When the wife px'd her Saab they only wanted the service book left in the glovebox & we were to take home & bin the folder of invoices (the car had every invoice from new detailing everything ever done to it)
The car was going straight off to auction so I hid the folder of invoices in the boot under the spare wheel as I was cleaning out the wife's junk
About a month later I got a txt from the new owner saying he found the folder & thank you
I really couldn't careless that a new owner has some paperwork with my name, address or phone number etc
The car was going straight off to auction so I hid the folder of invoices in the boot under the spare wheel as I was cleaning out the wife's junk
About a month later I got a txt from the new owner saying he found the folder & thank you
I really couldn't careless that a new owner has some paperwork with my name, address or phone number etc
Pica-Pica said:
coldel said:
If the previous owner said 'here take this pass it to the next owner' effectively giving permission then thats fine?
.. and to all subsequent owners? Is that OK?Captainfred said:
I recently phoned a Volkswagen garage to find out the history of the car I have just purchased the other month. I kidded on I was the previous owner and they didn’t do DPA with me. I was not expecting that.
About 9 years ago, I'd bought a used MINI, and brought it to the dealer for a service. I was told that I couldn't have the RK details on their system changed by the officious service advisor unless I brought in the V5C and proof of purchase/ID/address - all I had on me was my driving licence. About a month later there was a recall and another service advisor simply changed the details over.When I've sold cars, I've left a card in the service folder for the new owner to contact me for the service receipts and any other goodies that I didn't hand over with the car as thingas tend to go missing. I'd say that 10 of the 12 new owners have contacted me.
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