Dechipering a VW's Service History?

[atutto]

Enquired about a Volkswagen Approved Used 5 year old Polo which is advertised as having 1 previous owner and FVWSH. The VW Dealer in question has sent me a copy of the cars Service History which is stated as being on a Fixed Service Regime. Looking at the service history the car seems to be missing some oil and filter changes amongst other things?
I have asked the Dealer for some more detail regarding this history but haven't had a reply yet. Would you consider this service history to be what a FVWSH should look like?
Thanks.

[Dr G]

Annoyingly it's slightly too old to have digital service records (which you could access yourself).

Those dealer service prints are largely useless and show virtually no detail. A 15 Polo will have a service book so ask to see that.

[atutto]

Thanks.
The Dealer has got back to me to confirm that the Polo has infact had 2 previous owners not 1 as stated and that the service regime was changed at some point from 'flexible' to 'fixed'. This seems to tally with the 'Used Car MPC' at 18,020 miles when I guess the change of owner took place.
I will ask for a scan of the service book as you suggest and see what work that details as being done.
The Polo is a 1.8 GTI model and I would like to have seen more oil and filter changes ideally. I havent yet seen the car in person only website photo's and a walkaround video. From these it looks in nice condition and has a clean MOT history with no advisories.

[Adrian E]

The early servicing intervals/mileage look fine, but the gap from the (presumed) change of owner in 2018 to the service for sale in 2020 is rather longer than I'd like. Either it was done outside the network in 2019, or the owner has potentially tried to run it on a shoestring.....

As above, sight of the service book should hopefully fill in the blanks.

[atutto]

Thanks.
That's a good point regarding the 2nd owner and maybe some skimping on the service side of things.
As I understand it this model of Polo uses the EA888 Gen 3 engine which can have timing chain and excessive oil usage issues but is considered to be largely a reliable engine. These issues are thought to be reduced by regular oil and filter changes using the correct specified oil.
For these reasons and going with my gut I'm going to pass on this particular Polo and look for one with a better service history.

[Sheepshanks]

Adrian E said:

The early servicing intervals/mileage look fine, but the gap from the (presumed) change of owner in 2018 to the service for sale in 2020 is rather longer than I'd like. Either it was done outside the network in 2019, or the owner has potentially tried to run it on a shoestring.....

As above, sight of the service book should hopefully fill in the blanks.

It only did around 7.5K miles in that time so chances are they didn't bother.

I'd want to know the plugs had been changed - should be every 4yrs/40K miles.

[Adrian E]

Sheepshanks said:

It only did around 7.5K miles in that time so chances are they didn't bother.

I'd want to know the plugs had been changed - should be every 4yrs/40K miles.

Good point - I didn't notice the relatively low mileage between services. My S5 has done 5,500 since the last annual service, so I've extended it by a month on the basis it's barely going anywhere at the moment.

I think on a low mileage car like this one, extending plugs to 5 years old wouldn't be a major issue either, but might be a negotiating point with the dealer.

OP - I'd go have a look - vast numbers of these cars will have only seen a ramp and stamp every 24 months (failing to meet extended service intervals, which will never go right out to 24 months in normal use, never mind fixed intervals) so you might find it's a corker