I am in the process of changing my car and again have experienced total apathy from dealers about a full service history. The vehicle has a complete main dealer history and every receipt from new (3.5 years) but both main dealers who I have approached for p/ex were not the slightest bit interested. Both told me it has no real effect on the p/ex value nor were the slightest bit bothered about seeing the history documentation. This exact same scenario happened when I purchased this car and part ex'd the old one in 2004! It makes me wonder about the necessity of maintaining that nice neat row of dealer stamps to keep up the value of the car when it has no bearing on what I am offered for it. Having said that, when I called their bluff and said that I may as well bin the history there were a few stutterings of "no need to do that sir" but neither did they say it would reduce their p/ex valuation on my car. Can someone explain this?
I will always maintain a vehicle to manufacturer guidelines but with the light usage it gets I sometimes wonder why I make the effort. It all seems to be geared around future owners and to show them how well the car has been cared for, but if dealers don't care then why should I?
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It is all part of the sales cycle / pitch.
FSH
When selling a FSH has little value, when buying it is a BIG plus point (and worth £00s if not £000s on the price)
Rarity Value
If you are buying you could be told - There are few of these around - this makes it different / special and worth £££'s investment. When selling the same car - Not many of these were sold - they were not popular so they are worth ££s less than other makes of a similar specification.
Colour Choice
Buying a silver car - lots of them about as they are the most popular. Selling the car - Silver - my forecourt is full of them and as such they are worth a lot less tahn say a dark green/blue or whatever colour yours is not.........
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Could be one of a number of reasons spring to my mind:
Your P/X will be going straight to auction (although I again am unsure what a FSH will do to an auction price)
Actually they do your like your full FSH and receipts but don't want to show their delight in case you ask for more money on the P/X
I would expect that if you took a car without FSH that they would sell on their forecourt you would be cut down on the P/X value. They want desirable cars to sell (presuming they are not a back street £50 a car place)
As the car is now out of warranty (I presume it is) they really are not worried about a FSH.
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I tend to keep a full service history - every tyre purchase, tracking documentation, MoTs, including the emissions test - even old VED roundels (I've paid enough for them). Of course all service documentation/check sheets also go in.
But I may discard receipts from bodyshops etc.
It may help me sell the vehicles, but I don't think it affects the price I get - but then I'm not a good negotiator
When I look at a so called service history for a car, I can bet that bits are missing - probably the bits that I would really like to see; I'd like to see when brake pads / fluids get changed, cambelts replaced and what oil got used (or charged for ...)
I wouldn't rate dealer stamps in a service booklet. I'd be looking for an A4 binder full of paper, from delivery and PDI onwards - and even then I wouldn't necessarily rate it highly in monetary terms.
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wouldn't you be better off selling it privately? you'd probably get a lot more for it as FSH and light usage would make it more attractive to a private buyer than a dealer. You'd then be able to go back to the dealer with more cash in hand and you'd look more attarctive to him.
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Dont forget about warranty . Without an appropriate SH you'll not get too far !
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On a 15-20 year old Merc or Audi, FDealerSH might be worth the difference between £500 and £1500 to the sales price. With good reason.
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The above should not be construed as a recommendation or advice. Be
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I was happy to pay what I reckon was about £250 extra when I bought a 10-year old Peugeot 306 diesel last year. That reflected somewhere around 25% - 30% of the purchase price. It had done 102,000 miles and had every little bit of paper associated with its use thrown in as part of the package.
I've got main dealer estimates, main dealer invoices and all the MOTs and so on. It's 10 years old and I know when it had a cam belt, brake pads, brake fluid changes, power steering pump, oil & oil filters, coolant changes (lots), lightbulbs, wiper blades and the rest. I've even got an invoice for the new wheel and tyre the poor owner had to buy when his first spare was nicked in 1998 from the underboot cradle.
This information was well worth a few hundred quid to me. But, somehow I doubt if there are too many nutters / obsessives like me around.
When I get roped into looking for a S/H car for the offspring I'll again pay over the odds in a similar situation.
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A FSH is relevnt to me
I went to see Lexus GS - Y Reg 62,000 mls - Services @ 10,000, 21,000 & 32,000........then a long pause - at 62,000mls the selling dealer (not Lexus) said it would have a full 12mth Warranty backed by his Manufacturer - they had serviced it, replaced pads and disks all round, brake fluid etcetc.
However 2.5 years and 30,000 mls with no service history I walked away. (Checked with Lexus dealer they had done 2 x intervening MoTs but no servicing). With no proof of an oil change it was too risky - nice car / reasonably priced but too high a risk.
I would say FSH is a must.
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It's a long time since I last bought a used car, but I would never consider one without a FSH.
My current car is nearly five years old and I've kept all the paperwork.
Clk Sec
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Of course, if they are planning to clock th car, your FSH will be of absolutely no use to them!
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People posting on here are interested in cars and will value a service history.
My own experience is that an awful lot of buyers don't ask about SH, if they are told that it will be serviced before sale (i.e. oil and filter change) then they are happy.
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The golden rule is, to get maximum value from your old car, sell it privately rather than going thru p/x.
If you cut middle man, both buyers and sellers will be happy!
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You are right there, movilogo. I bought my last used car from a colleague. We were both around £1000 better off. He sold to me rather than part exchanging for a new car - I bought from him rather than from a dealer.
That was back in the early 90's
Clk Sec
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If you are part-exing or selling a car to a dealer it has no extra value or anything special about it, other than what is listed in cap/glass's, or what can be made in another part of the deal. Your nice stamped book has no value.
When they sell your car, *everything* has value - specially your nice stamped service book.
People seem to forget car dealers are there to make money. The classic way is to buy cheap and sell dear.
When i buy cars, I expect to see history, does not have to be main dealer, but i want paper history.
The old clio was sold with all its bills and history in a nice plastic folder. Thats what I expect to see.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Having said that when I called their bluff and said that I may as well bin the history there were a few stutterings of "no need to do that sir" but neither did they say it would reduce their p/ex valuation on my car. Can someone explain this?
I would have kept the history in that case, unless they stumped up more px money for it.
I only maintain FDSH while the car is under warranty, then I DIY with a top quality oil and OEM filter every 6 months and changing/replacing everything else as they become due by age or mileage, keeping records and receipts along the way.
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then I DIY... keeping records and receipts along the way.
Many people would view DIY work as worse than no history.
______________________________
The above should not be construed as a recommendation or advice. Be
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"Many people would view DIY work as worse than no history."
Well, it depends, doesn't it? Whether its been DIY'd by a knowledgeable and capable person, or the sort of buffoon who would wire an ABS light to the ignition! ;-)
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Many would view a main dealer history as worse than that. ;-)
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
97 Ford Fiesta 1.4 16v Chicane (for sale)
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Many would view a main dealer history as worse than that. ;-)
I'm one of them! I'd rather see receipts from an indie garage rather than a big main-dealer invoice. From experience, it tends to be the less knowledgable drivers who take their out-of-warranty cars to a main dealer for routine servicing. This makes me wonder how many times the bonnet's been lifted between services for level-checks etc.
I've given my car a DIY service every year, with oil/filter changes in between to keep the timing-chain sweet (so oil/filter every 6k). Nobody can tell me that a main-dealer-serviced car will have been better maintained. It will, however, have been more expensively maintained, as my last oil/filter change set me back £13. Is due for a "big" service now, which I expect will cost about £40!
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Thanks to all for such a good feedback to my original question. The dealer's apathy at my car's service history is all the more strange when you consider that it is a vehicle that does attract the more eager type of driver, hence I am keen to show that it has been lovingly cared for. It is an 04/53 Astra 2.2SRi with 31K and owned by me since 5 months old from Network Q, no bumps/knocks/accidents, always garaged, spotless inside and out, good tyres, full history wallet with all receipts from new etc etc.
Private sale is tempting but I am concerned that the car will attract chav test-pilots, although my price guide of around £5.5K may be out of their reach. I suppose I am just keen that I get some sort of financial benefit for the cost of trying to keep the car pristine during ownership. Naive, I know.
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Unless I was buying from the original supplying dealer or the first owner who had had it serviced locally I would tend to go on condition and ignore the SH. Why? Some years ago I brought a four year old car with FSH from an independant specialist. I went back with a minor problem a few weeks later and found him less than helpful. This made me suspicious so I decided to trace back a bit. The previous registered keeper was evasive and the more I dug the more inconsistent the history became. Unfortuneately I could never prove anything but suspect that the car had covered 50k+ more miles than recorded and had been irregularly serviced. Someone also told me that there is quite a cottage industry creating FSH for cars. Buyer beware!
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Someone also told me that there is quite a cottage industry creating FSH for cars. Buyer beware!
Using a popular auction website, it's possible to buy blank service books for some cars, and main-dealer stamps. Full main-dealer service history isn't worth the paper it's written on, if it's purely a stamped book. I like invoices and lease-company print-outs.
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>>> From experience, it tends to be the less knowledgable drivers who take their out-of-warranty cars to a main dealer for routine servicing. This makes me wonder how many times the bonnet's been lifted between services for level-checks etc.
I've used independents and main dealers for routine servicings over the years. Perhaps I'm in the minority here, but I've had far less to complain about with the latter.
The bonnet gets lifted from time to time, as well.
Clk Sec
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