Service History - Does It Still Matter?

[Focused87]

Hi. 

I'm just enquiring as to whether Part service History / Full service History still matters to motorists. 

I try and go for cars or look into cars that have FSH but a few of the last private sellers have either mentioned house moves (I know this is either a common reason to lose it or a common thing to say if you don't have any history to a vehicle), lost it or just don't have it in general. 

A seller recently told me he had to phone the place he purchased a car from to see what history his car had as I was interested in buying it from him. Needless to say I left that alone. 

I read a few months ago that if you trade in a vehicle with dealerships / showrooms etc that they now scrap the history or dispose of it - is this correct? 

How come any service History doesn't seem to matter too much? 

Thanks for reading. 

Focused87

[TomsFocus]

Data protection means dealers cant give the new owner anything with the previous owners contact details on.  So the only thing they can really pass on is the service book which should be in the car anyway so no chance of losing it (yet somehow people still do!).  Truth is though, a few stamps in a book don't prove anything, the car can still have had a very hard life between servicing...and service books are easy to forge as well.

Personally I 'like' a fully stamped service book as it makes the car easier to sell on, but I wouldn't put any trust in them myself...

[zain611]

I'd personally would like a car if its said to have FSH. Yeah there's that risk it might not be legit but better to have tangable evidence than for the owner to say he's had it serviced when he didn't. 

My fez for example the owner said he did the EGR, clutch, mountune remap and injector seals. Car drove nicely with no concerning fault codes. Bought it and the owner said some of the paperwork he is going to post over. Nothing turned up since and no rolling road printout of a remap. 

He had the guts to reply to my dad's email saying he's busy and he lost the rolling road printout. Was just a conartist and sadly a Ford enthusiast. Contacted mountune and they sadly said they have no data of my car coming to them for a remap. 

I really am happy I got this car because of the rare optional extras on it but I was upset and put off it for the first several months I first had it. 

[Guy Heaton]

Wouldn't buy a car without one.  Also want to see proof of claimed work.

Doesnt have to be main dealer, I'm happy with a good indy.

The dealer should only shred documents that have your personal detals on, cos of GDPR.  When I traded in my last car I took my details off all the garage printouts cos I wanted the next owner to know what had been done.

Also on trade in the Ford dealer was interested in the history, but mostly that there were no check lights on the dash.

[Micro]

I passed on all invoices from the previous owner (from when I got the car) plus all invoices of mine (minus payment receipts), for the invoices I had on email only I did print those off but obscured my email address phone number etc as was able to.

 

Personally I'd rather see invoices for little bits here and there plus the service stamps rather than just a standard stamp in the book as it shows someone has looked after the car continuously not just every time it has a service.

 

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[Freddy42]

I don't think Ford dealers bother these days.  On the occasions I have traded in, they ask if the vehicle has a FSH.  On being told that it has and I do the routine services myself, that was accepted and didn't affect the trade-in price.

[RAIDER32]

This issue has bothered me since I got my car 3 months ago.

I pondered over the AutoTrader listing for ages, went for test drive and went for it a week later,
I knew it had 1 previous owner (4 years) but I never asked about FSH or noticed it on the website (my fault),
When I collected the car I was told they would try to get a service Book from Ford, that was the first I knew there wasn't a service Book (or any paperwork)

When I got my V5C I could check online to see where the last service was done,
So I tried twice by email to see if they (Hendy Ford) could reprint it's history, obviously no chance of getting Stamps anymore.
I didn't hear anything back, so I got them via an Online Chat one night and asked again,
Gave all my details (3rd time now) but she made no promises, and I never heard anything again.

Looking like a dead end I remembered the owners name on the Sync 2 phone screen and I managed to find him on Facebook,
He was the nicest guy (a family man), he told me he traded in the ST to Audi Sheffield with everything,
They weren't interested in the paperwork if the book was Stamped, it was fully Ford Serviced and Stamped from new at the same garage,
So somewhere between Audi Sheffield and Peugeot Bradford they lost the Service Book,
I contacted my guy in Bradford with this info (and the dealers name), he said he'd have a ring around and see what he can do, never heard anything.

So basically I have a very sound car that's been well looked after, with the best previous owner I could wish for, but no history or stamps of any kind,
I've no intention of selling anytime soon, but when trading my 2009 Focus, FSH was very important to them and wanted everything,
I can imagine if I traded it in now I'd probably lose £2k of value, that's really annoying me right now.

I've read that Ford log all work online if serviced at official Ford garages, normally I go to the garage at the end of my street,
but I'll probably go to my nearest Ford garage for it's next service and find out if they can pull up previous work and print it.

[Paulkp]

I have read recently that unless the service book, even with all the necessary stamps, is supported by corresponding service tick sheets, then the vehicle may not be considered as having a FSH.

As for GDPR, does not the V5C still show name and address of previously registered keeper ?

[Nick Y]

19 minutes ago, Paulkp said:

As for GDPR, does not the V5C still show name and address of previously registered keeper ?

No, they don't. The V5 I was sent by DVLA when I bought my Mk 7.5 ST-Line lin May 2018 doesn't show the previous keeper details, nor did the little slip you get given when it has been sold. 

[RAIDER32]

10 hours ago, Paulkp said:

As for GDPR, does not the V5C still show name and address of previously registered keeper ?

I assumed my V5C would have previous owner details, it did when I bought my previous car 6.5 years ago.
I was going to write to them about the missing service Book, but all it said was the number of previous owners.

[TimST2]

FSH is a must, but buyers only want the service book fully stamped these days. As has already been said, you don't get a folder full of receipts with cars bought from dealers now so there's no longer a demand for that from private buyers either.

You want to buy on condition anyway. Do lots of receipts mean the car has been looked after irrespective of cost, or just that it's a lemon that needs constant maintenance?

Interestingly there's not even service book for our 2017 Mercedes GLC - it's all held electronically with the dealer network!

[Guy Heaton]

When we got our Yaris about 8 years ago, the Indy didn't have the service book.

But they rang the main dealer while I was there and got them to send an authorised printout.

Any decent garage should do something like that for you.

 

[Eric Bloodaxe]

53 minutes ago, Guy Heaton said:

Any decent garage should do something like that for you.

Yes, the "service Portfolio" booklet for my car states "The service history of your vehicle is securely stored in the Ford Digital service Record System" and "All dealers have access to the Ford Digital Service Record System".

[Incontro]

I've been told by a Ford dealer that I have a free service registered to the car (previous owner bought a dealer servicing plan I guess?), but I have absolutely no idea how to check or obtain proof of this.

Is there a way to check online or on ETIS?

Or do I have to ask the dealer?

Interestingly they didn't mention this when I purchased the car!

[jace1969]

First thing is I would never have a service at a ford dealer as this ford stamp means nothing to me, a good garage gives you better work and customer service/parts.

I think it all depends on the price of the car and as said above it's a blob of ink in a book and an invoice on work is 100% better to me even a service invoice than a stamp.

A person sees a Genuine stamp and think ''must be a good job'' not always the case, means to me a rush job per hour.

[Micro]

Yes, the "Service Portfolio" booklet for my car states "The service history of your vehicle is securely stored in the Ford Digital Service Record System" and "All dealers have access to the Ford Digital Service Record System".

Except ford customer services state that this is not something they can send to you online ...

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[Micro]

No, they don't. The V5 I was sent by DVLA when I bought my Mk 7.5 ST-Line lin May 2018 doesn't show the previous keeper details, nor did the little slip you get given when it has been sold. 

My V5C received in August 2019 has the previous keeper details (I also got given all the history and historical invoices with their details on).

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[Eric Bloodaxe]

1 hour ago, Micro said:

Except ford customer services state that this is not something they can send to you online ...

The "service Portfolio" suggests your dealer should provide you with an updated printout of the Digital service Record, it doesn't say you can get one online.

[ShamusUK]

When I part exchanged my Volvo, i presented a fully stamped book AND all the (main dealer) invoices.

The Ford dealer took the service book, but said they could not accept the invoices due to data protection.

That's probably how it works now. It's a step backwards in my opinion.

 

[TimST2]

Yes, when I part-exchanged my Fiesta Zetec for my Fiesta ST they didn't want the service receipts - said they weren't allowed to take them. My ST's V5 just says there was 1 previous owner, but no other details. In both cases it was just the stamps in the book that mattered.