Low mileage cars with part service history
Discussion
Dear all,
I’m a relatively inexperienced buyer and have been in the market for a second weekend fun car. In particular I’m currently looking at a Mazda MX-5 ND.
My preference is a lower mileage car, but I’ve really begun to notice many cars with unusually low miles often have incomplete service histories. It sort of makes sense to me that someone who has done 2k miles in a year would skip a service, but at the same time they would be driving around for a year with a service indicator light on.
I’ve seen threads here about incomplete service history for regular or higher mileage cars, or older cars.
But supposing you saw a 2018 car on 8k miles with 3 or 4 stamps instead of 6 or 7, would the fact it has missed 2 or 3 services due to low miles put you off? In my case it’s a car through a Mazda dealer and they’ve just serviced it but it wasn’t serviced since 2022 prior.
It seems hard to find a low miles car with annual services completed for this exact reason - do others experience the same, or actually am I wrong and most cars out there are serviced annually even when doing such low miles per year?
My only concern is passing it on to the next seller / it being hard to shift due to part service history.
I’d appreciate your comments.
I’m a relatively inexperienced buyer and have been in the market for a second weekend fun car. In particular I’m currently looking at a Mazda MX-5 ND.
My preference is a lower mileage car, but I’ve really begun to notice many cars with unusually low miles often have incomplete service histories. It sort of makes sense to me that someone who has done 2k miles in a year would skip a service, but at the same time they would be driving around for a year with a service indicator light on.
I’ve seen threads here about incomplete service history for regular or higher mileage cars, or older cars.
But supposing you saw a 2018 car on 8k miles with 3 or 4 stamps instead of 6 or 7, would the fact it has missed 2 or 3 services due to low miles put you off? In my case it’s a car through a Mazda dealer and they’ve just serviced it but it wasn’t serviced since 2022 prior.
It seems hard to find a low miles car with annual services completed for this exact reason - do others experience the same, or actually am I wrong and most cars out there are serviced annually even when doing such low miles per year?
My only concern is passing it on to the next seller / it being hard to shift due to part service history.
I’d appreciate your comments.
I do think it odd, especially for an unusual/enthusiast car. My Elise only does 1k ish per annum, yet gets serviced as per the Lotus schedule.
There’s a particular car in the Pistonheads auctions at the moment, which has had one service in seven years. There’s some puff in the description around “The car has covered very few miles, so has not required much servicing”, which for me is a flowery way of saying “I’ve not bothered servicing it to schedule”.
Something like an MX5 should be plentiful enough to find what you want, with it being maintained properly.
There’s a particular car in the Pistonheads auctions at the moment, which has had one service in seven years. There’s some puff in the description around “The car has covered very few miles, so has not required much servicing”, which for me is a flowery way of saying “I’ve not bothered servicing it to schedule”.
Something like an MX5 should be plentiful enough to find what you want, with it being maintained properly.
itcaptainslow said:
I do think it odd, especially for an unusual/enthusiast car. My Elise only does 1k ish per annum, yet gets serviced as per the Lotus schedule.
There’s a particular car in the Pistonheads auctions at the moment, which has had one service in seven years. There’s some puff in the description around “The car has covered very few miles, so has not required much servicing”, which for me is a flowery way of saying “I’ve not bothered servicing it to schedule”.
Something like an MX5 should be plentiful enough to find what you want, with it being maintained properly.
Yes exactly, I’ve become familiar also with “comprehensive service history” which is a way of saying not annual. And also “full Mazda service stamps”. Seems that even FSH can often not be a full history but stamps going back to new, with gaps.There’s a particular car in the Pistonheads auctions at the moment, which has had one service in seven years. There’s some puff in the description around “The car has covered very few miles, so has not required much servicing”, which for me is a flowery way of saying “I’ve not bothered servicing it to schedule”.
Something like an MX5 should be plentiful enough to find what you want, with it being maintained properly.
Thanks for your helpful comment.
Speaking specifically about mk4 MX-5s, I really wouldn’t get too worked up about not having had every annual service if low mileage.
The engines are generally solid things so sporadic history on a low miler really wouldn’t concern me.
The most important thing is to be looking underneath it to assess the condition there , I’d far rather a clean underside with iffy history than vice versa.
The engines are generally solid things so sporadic history on a low miler really wouldn’t concern me.
The most important thing is to be looking underneath it to assess the condition there , I’d far rather a clean underside with iffy history than vice versa.
Forget the service book, if it has one? Research the seller, the car, and the previous owner if you can.
It’s easy to check mileage at DVLA MOT history.
I bought a rare 13 year old Audi ( Audi’s don’t have paper service books ) with 49K on the clock. It came with a file of invoices. All the MOT certificates. Serviced every year, a number of repairs, even the invoice when bought new. All invoices with the same name in the V5. It all proved it was a well maintained one owner car.
It’s easy to check mileage at DVLA MOT history.
I bought a rare 13 year old Audi ( Audi’s don’t have paper service books ) with 49K on the clock. It came with a file of invoices. All the MOT certificates. Serviced every year, a number of repairs, even the invoice when bought new. All invoices with the same name in the V5. It all proved it was a well maintained one owner car.
Buy on condition. If the advert has the car absolutely filthy and parked awkwardly on a kerb in a rough looking estate then that sets the tone for the car. If someone has bothered to clean it, take it somewhere and got some really nice photos, imagine what effort they're putting into their car's maintenance. It doesn't take long for deferred maintenance to start adding up. So it needs a service. Oh but it's a major one with brake fluid and all that in. Oh the pads are worn out because the previous owner went to ebay > cheapest first and they've lasted 2,000 miles before scoring the disks. £1000 later and you'll wonder why you didn't buy a nicer one.
As people of said, MX5's aren't rare cars. There are plenty about in all trims. Pick a good one.
As people of said, MX5's aren't rare cars. There are plenty about in all trims. Pick a good one.
What does 'service history' actually mean?
A lot of cars, the actual scheduled servicing doesn't really consist of much.
A few checks and change the engine oil every two years.
Look at the schedule in the handbook or whatever and decide what matters.
Some owners prefer to change the oil themselves, using their preferred brand.
Sometimes I'd rate that, above taking it to a chain of retailers whose apprentoids don't really know much and care less.
A lot of cars, the actual scheduled servicing doesn't really consist of much.
A few checks and change the engine oil every two years.
Look at the schedule in the handbook or whatever and decide what matters.
Some owners prefer to change the oil themselves, using their preferred brand.
Sometimes I'd rate that, above taking it to a chain of retailers whose apprentoids don't really know much and care less.
RazerSauber said:
Buy on condition. If the advert has the car absolutely filthy and parked awkwardly on a kerb in a rough looking estate then that sets the tone for the car. If someone has bothered to clean it, take it somewhere and got some really nice photos, imagine what effort they're putting into their car's maintenance. It doesn't take long for deferred maintenance to start adding up. So it needs a service. Oh but it's a major one with brake fluid and all that in. Oh the pads are worn out because the previous owner went to ebay > cheapest first and they've lasted 2,000 miles before scoring the disks. £1000 later and you'll wonder why you didn't buy a nicer one.
As people of said, MX5's aren't rare cars. There are plenty about in all trims. Pick a good one.
Exactly this. A car dealer once gave me a tip after he’d sold me a car - when you look at pictures of a car for sale - don’t look at the car first - look at the surroundings of where the pictures have been taken. Look at the effort that has gone into those pictures etc. before you look at the car itself. As people of said, MX5's aren't rare cars. There are plenty about in all trims. Pick a good one.
It’s stood me in good stead over the years.
My GT86 only does about 1K a year so it gets a full service every 2 years. Even then the oil is clean as it's SORN from October till April so not doing any very cold starts.
BMW think it's perfectly ok to service my X1 every 24 months, and that's a PHEV with lots and lots of engine stop / then start at high revs cycling.
BMW think it's perfectly ok to service my X1 every 24 months, and that's a PHEV with lots and lots of engine stop / then start at high revs cycling.
APC1 said:
Thank you all very much for your suggestions- it feels clear to me that full service history is a must.
Load of rubbish…. Why change perfectly good oil and filters when its not needed… how do these items degrade if they’re not used! It’s just a con by the manufacturers to extort cash out of us and its a waste natural resources. Service on mileage and not on age!super7 said:
APC1 said:
Thank you all very much for your suggestions- it feels clear to me that full service history is a must.
Load of rubbish…. Why change perfectly good oil and filters when its not needed… how do these items degrade if they’re not used! It’s just a con by the manufacturers to extort cash out of us and its a waste natural resources. Service on mileage and not on age!1) I’ve read here about an owner who had a significant engine failure on a Mazda which was not covered by their extended warranty as the previous owner had missed a service.
2) also seen many people suggest they would only buy a car with full service history (the majority in this thread being an example), which limits the pool of buyers when I come to sell on.
Still think I’m talking rubbish?
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