Service History

[poorability]

What is the general perception of a car with some missing service history. For instance, if a car has one or two omissions in the service book?

Second, what does going without a service for a period of time do - even if the car has not been used a great deal?

[angry]

This really is one of those?s that is down to opinion,personally having a fair knowledge of what to look for and depending on price little or even no s/h doesnt bother me.I bought a 993 c2 in 2003,previosly the best car i had owned was a 1989 944,the 993 had had the 1st few services done at an opc,but then there was a gap of 28000 miles before some more history at indys,but it was a bit vague.
The car had done 72000 and ran very quietly,didnt have any leaks and didnt puff any smoke,there was a bit of stone chipping on the front and sides by the rear arches and it was up for 27995,so i took the gamble.
The car is now nearly on 100000,and has been used as a commuter in heavy traffic and also been ragged round the nurburgring several times all without missing a beat.
What i am saying is you need to have a good unhurried look at the car,consider the price and get a hpi report,but if your not happy simply only buy a car with fsh.

[lanan]

Does the history stop early in the cars life or is there a large gap.
Do the MOTs back up the mileage claimed.
Does the mileage recorded reflect the condition of the car.
If the book is not stamped, are there invoices for work carried out.
Has it had many owners.
Are all the pages of the service book still there, some dealers are known to rip out the pages of service books to lighten the mileage.

[POORCARDEALER]

This country is the most hung up in the world about FSH...........get the car checked over, if its fine its fine, market forces dictate it worth less money with FSH, so buy accordingly, if the car drives great thats what matters, you dont drive the service history

[iain_cam]

Yes, I agree - if the car drives fine, and has been inspected it doesn't really matter.

And if the car is a bit older, and is missing a couple of stamps but has had services since then, it doesn't matter at all - any problems will have been rectified at the services since, so it won't make any difference to you.

[poorability]

Thanks for the responses.

[Pickled Piper]

If the car PPIs OK then a few missing stamps is not going to hinder your enjoyment. However, when you come to sell the car a dealer will "slice and dice" and lowball you. A private buyer will um and ah as you are doing now.

Just my opinion.

pp