Fake Service History?
Discussion
I was viewing a 5-year old used car recently, at a main dealer, and it was basically all good, until I came to the service book.
I'd asked the dealer if it had a service history, and they said yes but independent, not main dealer stamps.
The stamps in the book seemed to confirm this, but then I looked closer.
It was as if the owner had made up a rubber stamp himself, put 5 stamps in and added some notes in biro.
The name of the "garage" matched the owner! I.e. Fred Bloggs Garage Ltd.
The 5 entries were all the same handwriting, all the same pen, as if it had all been entered in about 10 minutes. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but to me, entries made spread over 5 years will have slight differences in writing, and in colour/shade of biro.
There were realistic additions too, like "new brake pads" on one of the services.
Never seen anything like this. I guess the remaining warranty would not be valid. In theory 3rd party services are accepted, but I think in this case there would be a problem?
I'd asked the dealer if it had a service history, and they said yes but independent, not main dealer stamps.
The stamps in the book seemed to confirm this, but then I looked closer.
It was as if the owner had made up a rubber stamp himself, put 5 stamps in and added some notes in biro.
The name of the "garage" matched the owner! I.e. Fred Bloggs Garage Ltd.
The 5 entries were all the same handwriting, all the same pen, as if it had all been entered in about 10 minutes. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but to me, entries made spread over 5 years will have slight differences in writing, and in colour/shade of biro.
There were realistic additions too, like "new brake pads" on one of the services.
Never seen anything like this. I guess the remaining warranty would not be valid. In theory 3rd party services are accepted, but I think in this case there would be a problem?
M4cruiser said:
Never seen anything like this. I guess the remaining warranty would not be valid. In theory 3rd party services are accepted, but I think in this case there would be a problem?
As a buyer, I see this a lot. Plenty of crooked dealers have stamps made up.Just last week, a fully stamped book, where the service mileages matched the MOT mileage records, but were over a 100 miles apart, MOT in Cambs, services in Derbyshire.
You mention warranty?
If you mean something like a Kia warranty, they would need to see evidence of the serviving to keep the warranty intact.
Or it could be a replacement service book and all the history is genuine.
It could be the original book was lost and the servicing dealer/ garage checked the service history from their records and restamped the replacement service book (which might explain the handwriting).
Why not calling the garage which serviced the car and confirm the history?
It could be the original book was lost and the servicing dealer/ garage checked the service history from their records and restamped the replacement service book (which might explain the handwriting).
Why not calling the garage which serviced the car and confirm the history?
It's why I haven't bought a car from a dealer for about 15 years. If you ask for invoices, they mutter GDPR or similar. Well, not directly anyway. Dealers often submit cars to classic auctions if they're old to avoid any warranty provision. They then leave all the invoices going back many years, so why do the ones on the forecourt not have this? 
Private sellers (including myself) keep invoices and receipts for everything and are often proud to do so. Much better than a stamped book.
Try and see if these garages exist. On my current TVR, I contacted the companies with stamps in the book to confirm services. One was happy to email me a photo of the original invoice from 5 years before. Big up to X-Works.
Some had of course gone under.
It's one of the reasons why so many manufacturers have gone to storing the service history on a database. My last 2009 Mercedes didn't have a service book, and neither does my current MX-5. Mazda had digital service records from 2006 at least! I'm slightly surprised a 2021 car would even have a service book.
Private sellers (including myself) keep invoices and receipts for everything and are often proud to do so. Much better than a stamped book.
Try and see if these garages exist. On my current TVR, I contacted the companies with stamps in the book to confirm services. One was happy to email me a photo of the original invoice from 5 years before. Big up to X-Works.
Some had of course gone under.It's one of the reasons why so many manufacturers have gone to storing the service history on a database. My last 2009 Mercedes didn't have a service book, and neither does my current MX-5. Mazda had digital service records from 2006 at least! I'm slightly surprised a 2021 car would even have a service book.
paddy1970 said:
Wow, even a Porsche West London Centre?Benbay001 said:
I once bought my dad a service stamp once as a jokey Christmas present.
I think it said "kerbside motors" or something.
I would trust a car serviced by my dad than any car serviced by a garage, because he owned the car and therefore had a vested interest in doing the service well.
That's a fair point, but I think the real issue isn't vested interest, it's capability. If a car is less than 7 years old, manufacturers often push "in-life" software updates or enhancements during a service. These aren't always formal recalls, but they can address serious underlying issues that a home mechanic simply can't access without the right diagnostic tech.I think it said "kerbside motors" or something.
I would trust a car serviced by my dad than any car serviced by a garage, because he owned the car and therefore had a vested interest in doing the service well.
The second issue is ability. While your dad might be brilliant with a wrench, mine is honestly crap at i....he’d still have a go but miss half the service items. A stamp from a garage at least guarantees a checklist was followed, whereas "Kerbside Motors" depends entirely on whether the person under the bonnet actually knows what they're looking at....
paddy1970 said:
Yeah this or you can buy fully stamped up service books on eBay... you just message them what you want them to say/write/stamp.This is why I quite like the digital way BMW/MB do their service history.
Sir Bagalot said:
paddy1970 said:
A stamp from a garage at least guarantees a checklist was followed,
Trust me on this, it doesn't. It should do, but it doesn't alwaysWhat they actually did was some software updates and washed (quite well, to be fair, bearing in mind it's dark blue) the car.
As said, stamps in a service book mean nothing. My Audi does not have one, same with all Audi’s.
When I purchased this car it came with a file of invoices from a good Indy, with the previous owners visa receipt clipped to each one.
I had a full record of everything done and parts replaced,
When I purchased this car it came with a file of invoices from a good Indy, with the previous owners visa receipt clipped to each one.
I had a full record of everything done and parts replaced,
CrippsCorner said:
Yeah this or you can buy fully stamped up service books on eBay... you just message them what you want them to say/write/stamp.
This is why I quite like the digital way BMW/MB do their service history.
This can also be faked. It’s possible to add services to the idrive so it looks like it’s all been done with the right tools, but the second it syncs with BMW it all disappears. This is why I quite like the digital way BMW/MB do their service history.
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