When you’re looking for a used car (and also selling one), one of the most highly sought after features is the used cars service history, and preferably a full service history (or FSH, as you’ll often read in an advert).
If you were to ask people for one piece of advice when buying a used car there’s a high chance most would tell you to only look at cars with a Full Service History.
WHAT IS A FULL SERVICE HISTORY?
A service history is essentially a collection of paperwork that documents the history of a vehicle. A full service history will provide details of all work carried out on a car, when it was completed and by who. The service history should include the vehicle service book, which is a record of every service carried out on the car, with a stamp from the garage who carried out the work.
For a very complete service history, some owners also retain all MOT certificates (now available online) which detail advisory work suggested for the vehicle. They will then provide proof that the relevant work has been completed.
A lot of manufacturers are now dispensing with a service book and opting for digital service records (DSR) where the history of servicing is held on central computer at the dealership, the benefit being that the records can be accessed at any time by the current owner of the vehicle and avoids the issue of lost service books.
WHY IS A FULL SERVICE HISTORY IMPORTANT?
A car with a full service history demonstrates to potential buyers that the vehicle has been properly maintained. As well as showing the work that has been carried out it also gives a buyer insight into how the car has been looked after.
People are often put off by a vehicle that has high miles however if it’s serviced and years of trouble free motoring. This has to be preferable option to a low mileage vehicle with little or no service history maintained according to the manufacturers recommendations then it should provide many years of trouble free motoring. This has to be preferable option to a low mileage vehicle with little or no service history.
A well organised and detailed service history tells a buyer that the current owner cared about the car. While it’s not 100% proof of the cars history, it’s a very good indicator.
Before you buy a car, look through the car’s handbook, and see how much service history it has. Seeing a full history will not only give you the peace of mind that the car has been properly looked after and should be reliable, but also help to confirm the car’s mileage. And, of course, when you come to sell the car on, it will add considerably to your car’s value if it has a full history.
For a seller, the service history is important as it helps retain the value of your car. There have been a number of studies over the years into how a cars service history is viewed by potential buyers. A missing or incomplete service history can impact the price of a vehicle by between 10%-20%. With the vast majority of buyers expecting a fairly hefty discount off the asking price.
With an average used car selling for around £7,700 that would equate to a £1,750 taken off the value of the car.
MAIN DEALER SERVICE
A main dealer service history is one that shows that all work completed on a vehicle has been carried out by an official authorised dealer. This is often regarded as the most coveted service history. As it shows the owner has spared no expense in looking after their car.
The key benefits of using a main dealer to carry out work on a vehicle is the peace of mind that only approved parts will have been used and that all staff are trained to work specifically on your make of car.
Main dealer serving can be expensive as labour rates can be almost double those of independent garages. If an independent garage is chosen to service a vehicle its important that they are VAT registered and use approved parts so as not to invalidate the manufacturers warranty terms.
HOW DO I KNOW IF THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN SERVICED?
The trouble is, it’s perfectly possible to create a fake service history for a car, so how can you tell whether a car’s history is real?Perhaps the quickest way is to check the dealer that has supposedly stamped the book exists. If they do, call them to confirm the work was done. You can also check the location of the servicing dealers matches what you know about the car’s history. Finally, ask to see receipts for the work that has been done. Due current GDPR regulations you may be required to provide evidence that you are the vehicles registered keeper before the dealer will provide this information.
Why not take the guess work out of buying a used car by using the services of a professional car buyer.
Professionals get that title for a reason; they know exactly what they’re doing and how to negotiate a good deal. As the public doesn’t have access to most auction houses, they aren’t getting a good perception of just how many cars are available at such cheap prices. You can browse a complete collection of vehicles when buying a car at auction, working with your professional car buyer to draft up a list of vehicles to bid on.
We can attend a range of car auctions across the country to find the very best vehicle and price that suits your needs perfectly. To find out more, or to express your interest in buying from an auction site, please give us a call on 07999 728009. Alternatively, you can fill out our online form here.
