Service History vs. Reciepts
Discussion
R7YN said:
Hiya folks,
Was reading an interesting article online about service books and them not being worth the paper they are printed on due to the fake stamps you can get hold of on ebay and people making up a service history.
Just wondering if you bother with the service book or is it much better to do your own servicing and keep your invoices and reciepts? (which is what I have done).
my 911 has both, FSH for last 27 years and receipts for EVERYTHING, I have two A4 folders full of receipts and two service books fully stamped. Was reading an interesting article online about service books and them not being worth the paper they are printed on due to the fake stamps you can get hold of on ebay and people making up a service history.
Just wondering if you bother with the service book or is it much better to do your own servicing and keep your invoices and reciepts? (which is what I have done).
I never bothered myself keeping any receipts or getting the book stamped (despite having my cars serviced every 6 months), I have now vowed to do the same as the Porsche for the reason it gives the new owner a good overview of how much I look after my cars.
To be fair almost every single car I have owned has been sold onto a family member as they know how well maintained they are.
R7YN said:
Hiya folks,
Was reading an interesting article online about service books and them not being worth the paper they are printed on due to the fake stamps you can get hold of on ebay and people making up a service history.
Just wondering if you bother with the service book or is it much better to do your own servicing and keep your invoices and reciepts? (which is what I have done).
Depends who the stamps are from. As you say, they could be eBay stamped, but most main dealers keep electronic records. So if the stamp tells you the dealer then you know who to ring to verify, so they do have a value. Also, bear in mind that anyone with a printer can knock up convincing looking "invoices" for whatever they like. Goes for things like MOTs too. As such I place more reliance on things which I can independently verify, rather than anything the seller tells or shows me. Cynical, moi?!Was reading an interesting article online about service books and them not being worth the paper they are printed on due to the fake stamps you can get hold of on ebay and people making up a service history.
Just wondering if you bother with the service book or is it much better to do your own servicing and keep your invoices and reciepts? (which is what I have done).
I think depending on the buyer it could go either way, which is why I do both.
Buy all parts myself from Renault/Peugeot garage with invoice which I keep. Buy fluids from Opie and keep invoice. Get the stuff fitted at local trusted garage and keep invoice.
All 3 get stapled together and put into folder which looks great (to me anyway)
Oh, the garage who fits the parts also stamps the book.. For those people who think that bit is important!
Buy all parts myself from Renault/Peugeot garage with invoice which I keep. Buy fluids from Opie and keep invoice. Get the stuff fitted at local trusted garage and keep invoice.
All 3 get stapled together and put into folder which looks great (to me anyway)
Oh, the garage who fits the parts also stamps the book.. For those people who think that bit is important!
Both, book with the stamps and receipts. I personally wouldn't ever buy a home mechanic serviced car even with receipts. You don't need any level of competence to have a 'go' yourself and just look at the hilarious thread of cock ups people have made. Not to say dealers/specialists don't make mistakes but on the whole it's better than a 'have a go mechanic' plus resale is always something I think about.
EddieFelson said:
Both, book with the stamps and receipts. I personally wouldn't ever buy a home mechanic serviced car even with receipts. You don't need any level of competence to have a 'go' yourself and just look at the hilarious thread of cock ups people have made. Not to say dealers/specialists don't make mistakes but on the whole it's better than a 'have a go mechanic' plus resale is always something I think about.
That to me very much depends on who i am buying the car from, If say a Office jokey type who as never swung a spanner for a living i would have doubts but the likes of a Engineer who is in most part over qualified to just swing a spanner then i would have no problem if all the receipts are there to back it.Reason being and depends very much on what type of car but i am talking more specialist type here than day to day drivers, The enthusiast type seems to have more attention to detail and self pride in ones pride and joy. Plus i have had more cars with "FSH" that is clearly never had the work fully carried out by the book and that is even from main dealers, Becomes very apparent when i do the service my self and some components classed as consumable have never been changed like plugs ect...
Edited by scotty_d on Wednesday 10th October 07:51
With my old car I kept all the reciepts and had the book stamped but was of no use as the car was written off.
My current car I dont bother with either as I knew I wouldn't be selling the car and if I did it wouldn't be worth much anyway.
I am looking at changing my car soon and I'm in 2 minds to try and sell it or donate it to a college of some sort.
It does have a full history but has nothing documented for it - It is 13 years old - has 107,000 miles on it but is still soldiering on as tough as nails.
My current car I dont bother with either as I knew I wouldn't be selling the car and if I did it wouldn't be worth much anyway.
I am looking at changing my car soon and I'm in 2 minds to try and sell it or donate it to a college of some sort.
It does have a full history but has nothing documented for it - It is 13 years old - has 107,000 miles on it but is still soldiering on as tough as nails.
Both but I'm very anal.
I've had my M3 for almost 11 years and it had FSH before I got it but not many invoices. Granted it was only 10 years old then, so you'd expect usual maintenance but maybe not the invoices you'd expect of a 10 year plus car.
Since then its had two stamps per year both inspection 2, invoices detailing the work and any advisories have been marked with the date the work has been carried out plus every single reciept for items I've bought.
My daily gets the same detail as do all my cars but I might not spend as much on the daily as I do the M3, Boxster or Clubsport.
I've had my M3 for almost 11 years and it had FSH before I got it but not many invoices. Granted it was only 10 years old then, so you'd expect usual maintenance but maybe not the invoices you'd expect of a 10 year plus car.
Since then its had two stamps per year both inspection 2, invoices detailing the work and any advisories have been marked with the date the work has been carried out plus every single reciept for items I've bought.
My daily gets the same detail as do all my cars but I might not spend as much on the daily as I do the M3, Boxster or Clubsport.
philmots said:
I think depending on the buyer it could go either way, which is why I do both.
Buy all parts myself from Renault/Peugeot garage with invoice which I keep. Buy fluids from Opie and keep invoice. Get the stuff fitted at local trusted garage and keep invoice.
All 3 get stapled together and put into folder which looks great (to me anyway)
Oh, the garage who fits the parts also stamps the book.. For those people who think that bit is important!
Ah, I do the exact same. Although sometimes I fit the stuff myself (new horn, washer pump, back box etc) but I still file away the invoice.Buy all parts myself from Renault/Peugeot garage with invoice which I keep. Buy fluids from Opie and keep invoice. Get the stuff fitted at local trusted garage and keep invoice.
All 3 get stapled together and put into folder which looks great (to me anyway)
Oh, the garage who fits the parts also stamps the book.. For those people who think that bit is important!
Personally, I will be servicing it myself, keeping ALL of the receipts for it. If I want, I can get it stamped pretty easily with no bother.
I still don't get the deal with people still wanting full dealer service history. Fair enough, if you can't do it, take it to an independent you trust and ask them to use genuine parts (or buy the parts yourself and pay them to do it). I'd trust a well known independent over a dealer, but ultimately I'd trust someone who'd been servicing the car themselves if they had all of the receipts for it, because you know everything will have been changed.
I still don't get the deal with people still wanting full dealer service history. Fair enough, if you can't do it, take it to an independent you trust and ask them to use genuine parts (or buy the parts yourself and pay them to do it). I'd trust a well known independent over a dealer, but ultimately I'd trust someone who'd been servicing the car themselves if they had all of the receipts for it, because you know everything will have been changed.
a service book is a handy reference, especially if it shows different places or a respected specialist/dealer has had the car.
It means little on an older car unless you see bills (especially recent ones) for the work done. My Puma couldn't be described as having FSH but it has a few stamps and reciepts that date back to 2002, including (this is what sold me the car) ones for over £2k of work done over 2 years and 2500 miles before I paid £1k for it.
It fared well against the Focus I viewed a month earlier that had 'Full service history' which was details of a 1500 mile oil service and an oil change done at 80,000 miles by a fast fit place. Any other work was done to get it through MOTs.
It means little on an older car unless you see bills (especially recent ones) for the work done. My Puma couldn't be described as having FSH but it has a few stamps and reciepts that date back to 2002, including (this is what sold me the car) ones for over £2k of work done over 2 years and 2500 miles before I paid £1k for it.
It fared well against the Focus I viewed a month earlier that had 'Full service history' which was details of a 1500 mile oil service and an oil change done at 80,000 miles by a fast fit place. Any other work was done to get it through MOTs.
I only ever spend one or two 'bags' on cars that are a decade or more old, FSH is a bonus but not mandatory as I buy on condition, upkeep and the owner's knowledge of what needs to be done to keep a car running. The worst car I've ever owned(mechanically speaking) had full history right back to the beginning - sales paperwork, receipt, lists of authorised repair shops, business card of the original salesman, receptionist's phone number etc etc, the best had none whatsoever but was in very fine fettle indeed despite 9 previous keepers and a Cat D write-off. Agree that FSH on an older car isn't nearly as important as receipts and so forth for work done (or at very least, parts purchased to do said work) for the last two years or so.
Keeping the receipts is worth a lot but again they can be forged as easily as service book and stamps. Buy a new service book, get a mate's garage to do all the stamps, forged history no problem. However, when I went to see a MK2 Golf GTI 16v, the bloke said it had just had a new alternator and starter motor, and showed the receipts for it, from his friend's garage - the friend conveniently came along to the sale to prove he had done the work. However, even any idiot looking at that alternator could tell you it was not "1000 miles old, fitted last month", and looked like it had done 160,000 miles like the rest of the engine bay. When he went to start it and the "brand new" starter motor was failing, I knew the whole deal was as bent as a £3 note, no matter how many receipts and stamps said otherwise.
I bought my last car with a stamped up book, had checked out the car and was happy with the deal, services or not.
When I was checking the dates of the previous services I spotted that one had been dated as a Sunday! Sure enough when I phoned the service department in question they had no record of the car ever having been in.
Long story short, and after a small claims court drafted claim for fraudulent misrepresentation (remember service book doesnt come under buyer beware - especially as the car was one owner from new) and I had a cheque for the price of a full service sent to me!
:-)
When I was checking the dates of the previous services I spotted that one had been dated as a Sunday! Sure enough when I phoned the service department in question they had no record of the car ever having been in.
Long story short, and after a small claims court drafted claim for fraudulent misrepresentation (remember service book doesnt come under buyer beware - especially as the car was one owner from new) and I had a cheque for the price of a full service sent to me!
:-)
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