Service history book stamped at 54,000 on my Mazda mx5 on 53 plate. book and manufacturer states cam belt change to be carried out at this service. garage say only 81 point selling check was done.
how do i stand legally? surely this is fraud?
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That would depend if it also had what service was done written in the book. If not it just implies a service was done at 54,000 miles, not what one. Without an accompanying invoice its just a rubber stamp and should be treated as such.
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One of the reasons I am still carless, traders showing me meaingless rubber stamps without any reciepts. I have bought with my parents several cars in the last ten years, all the ones with receipts have been good cars, the two I bought with no history turned out to be sheds.
I have learnt the hard way make sure you have the receipts for at least the last couple of years.
Rubber stamps to me are just rubber stamps, and I am sick of being patronised by traders selling cars with full service history without any real hard evidence. I said this before but on my dads car we have a full box full of receipts since 1997 with most the work that has been carried out. It does not have full service history as we noi longer service it, but we have receipts for six monthyl oil changes, an airfilter part (I fitted) plugs (fitted) etc so all the most important work has been done, plus we have receipts for interim MOT work such as wishbones etc. This is what makes the car genuine.
As far as I am aware there is no law to service a car to book and a stamp is just that. There has been a couple of threads on here about people having to stamp a service when all it had was an oil change.
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i have the 81 point checking list, which corresponds with date of 54,000 mile service stamp. also service manager has admitted cam belt not changed or actual service carried out and only disc pads and brakes done. still feel some recourse here and will contact Trading Standards if they don't come good.
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Edited by L'escargot on 15/03/2009 at 09:26
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Sounds like somebody made alot of assumptions and is now annoyed at themselves for being naive. Sorry but a rubber stamp is proof of just about nothing unless you were told that the service done at 54k was indeed the recommended job.
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whats your problem, are you a garage owner or something? its not about being naive but about being mislead by a large car dealership!!
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What did you pay for the service, and did that service spec include having cam belt to be done?
I'm just thinking my wife's Focus recently had a "major service" from Nationwide Autocentre (do people know you can use Tesco points for MOT & servicing there?), but that had a list on the wall of what would get done for that, and it was a generic list for all makes, so I don't think their "major service" would ever include a cambelt change
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service was done prior to my purchasing the car, but the spec for that service on a Mazda MX5 states change of cam belt to be included. the cam belt hasnt gone luckily yet.....
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Yes. I bought a Mazda 6 last year and the book was stamped up but that obviously doesn't mean anything. I mean, the previous owner could have said to the garage "just do the minimum service, I'm not paying for anything else, I'm gonna sell it soon" and then the book gets stamped. After all, the car has been serviced so the book gets stamped.
I got most of the invoices with the car, but the last service was a major-ish one so went ahead and bought the car, then went round to the dealer and asked for copies of all the invoices detailing the work carried out for the previous owner. They printed it all off for me and I was gratified to find that the previous owner hadn't skimped and had forked out £400+ on the service prior to trading it in.
I am not sure how this works though in your case. You didn't pay for the work in the first place, the previous owner did. and he might have said "Don't bother with the cam belt, I'm gonna sell it" but the car has been serviced...oh hold on just noticed "...belt not changed or actual service carried out". Ok now that is a bit dodgy.
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more info? Where and when did this 'service' occur and where and when did you buy it?
How was the car described in terms of service history and lastly, has the cambelt now failed?
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service done by dealer's own garage, sept 07 and i bought the car in march 08. advert said full service history. cam belt hasnt gone yet luckily.
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'Full service history' in a car coming from a main dealer of that make does imply strongly that all scheduled replacements should have been done. On the other hand, what does the phrase 'full service history' really mean? It might mean the car's service history indicates that it has never been serviced, or only sporadically.
So whether medsec has actually been defrauded seems a moot point. He may be able to accuse the dealer of sharp practice, but then the dealer may find that flattering. Who knows?
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At least a cambelt failure on an MX5 isn't terminal and just needs a new belt fitting.
I have to admit still having the cambelt I bought 6 years ago to fit when I bought mine and not yet got round to fitting.
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'Full service history' in a car coming from a main dealer of that make does imply strongly that all scheduled replacements should have been done.
I can only speak for Peugeots, but AFAIK their service schedule doesn't include a cambelt change. A mileage/age is recommended separately, as it is for the change of brake fluid and coolant.
When the 205 engines switched in 1988 from chain to belt drive, there was no mention of changing cambelts. I don't think anyone knew how long they would last. After a few years they decided to recommend 50K miles. My daughter's car was serviced by a Pug dealer at 48K, but they didn't advise her to change the belt, which failed a couple of months later.
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service done by dealer's own garage sept 07 and i bought the car in march 08. advert said full service history. cam belt hasnt gone yet luckily.
A full service history DOES NOT mean the cam belt has been changed at specified interval, any more than it means the brake fluid was changed or the coolant was changed. All are optional at the customers choice, many choose not to have the extra work done
you have not a leg to stand on, just cough up and get the belt changed before it goes.
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I've noticed a lot lately if I ask when the belt was changed the trader will admit probably never and offer to replace it as part of the deal.
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