Buying a car with no service history -

[Kodirl]

Hi folks, I am close to doing a deal on a car for my daughter. The car is in excellent condition but has no service history as the service book has been lost/misplaced etc. It is a 2015 registered original Irish car and has 90,000 Kms on it.

If I was to find out which garage supplied the car originally and if they did the first service or two would they supply a service book and stamp it for me?

Any thoughts on above appreciated.

[Flet]

I've had some success with that in the past but it was more in terms of a printout that showed the completed services rather than a stamped book.

[Mike205]

I would stay away from anything without service history. I've learned my lesson.

[Smythy411]

I don't think I've ever bought a car with service history, or at least never bought/not bought a car due to it's service history. I just go by the condition the car is in when I inspect it. If the mileage is accurate per NCT certs or a Cartell report, and I'm happy I've checked the car over thoroughly, I'm usually happy with it

[Aontroim]

I would stay away from anything without service history. I've learned my lesson.

I'm the same. I've been burned by this before.

As others have pointed out, even with a service history, you should still consider the car's condition.

Obviously a service history is not a guarantee of a happy ownership experience but it is an indication. By the same token, a lack of service history is (to my mind) an indication of potential lacklustre servicing.

The other thing I like about service history is it tells you what was done and when. Many people have a different idea of what 'fully serviced' means. For example, I have gone to look at cars which are advertised as 'fully serviced' because there's a stamp for every year... but the car has done 25-30k km each year or something.

Obviously this suits my preferences/priorities and may/may not suit yours so ignore me if the car/deal is the right one for you (or if you are able to locate some information).

By the same token, although mileage is always a consideration, it usually doesn't bother me as long as there is adequate service history to back it up.

I wonder would the seller be able to do this leg-work for you if they want you as a buyer? Maybe you'd rather sort yourself for peace of mind would you?

[derekjohn]

I’d be a bit of a stickler for service history and personally wouldn’t buy a car without a good history unless it was for small money. Are their any NCT certs with the car? Not a service history as such but would at least help to verify the mileage.

With GDPR some garages will not share details of work carried out on the car prior to your ownership. Best they will do is confirm they have serviced the car at some point in time

[Kodirl]

Thanks for the feedback folks. Some very valid points. 👌

[911 SC Cab]

I bought a classic car last year with a well stamped book, but no receipts to give detail.
I have contacted a number of said garages with stamps in the book and they all conform they have carried out works but will not give me any detail due to GDPR concerns... FFS...

Sent from my SM-A528B using Tapatalk

[Johnny_Limerick]

Didn't realise people were so finicky on service history. Its Ireland. You could be waiting a long time to find the car you want with one.

[JohnH]

If it’s below €15k I wouldn’t worry about a lack of history. Most Irish cars don’t have one.

[BrianC1]

Yeah I wouldn't be too pushed on service history if I'm happy with the condition when I view it

But depends on the car as well, a daily I'd buy without any history if I was happy with it but maybe not a car I wanted to hold value come resale time.

[Bazg2]

If it’s a modern enough motor, I’d be wanting service history, especially if it was for a family member, if it was for myself, I’d be less concerned, but still.... http://www.backroads.ie/forum/car-re...ervice-content

[TuneR]

If it’s below €15k I wouldn’t worry about a lack of history. Most Irish cars don’t have one.

This, i'd be more adamant about one the more money it costs.

[Tristan]

Never bought a car with full history.
Irish people in general are terrible for recording it, anyway.
We've hundreds and hundreds of customers, and I'd say not 10 of them are bothered having the book stamped.

And having witnessed a less than scrupulous acquaintance filling out"years" of service records in a book, in one go, even down to different pen colours, different stamps, I don't know if I'd trust one!

[Aontroim]

As a nation, we aren't great at service histories. A lot of people wouldn't know to look for one and a lot of mechanical work is done without receipts etc. So yeah, if you're like me and want a history, expect to be waiting a while and looking around a lot.

But I must admit, this isn't an aspect of our culture that I like. It's something I'd like to see change. The whole 'no history' thing certainly isn't something I'd like to promote.

Anecdotal data of course, but I feel our attitude to history/servicing contributes to the sea of scrap on the market. Which in turn makes it hard to buy a good car and must be difficult for traders too I imagine (traders: please correct me though if I'm wrong)?

I'm not knocking anybody- how you spend your money is your decision and I'm happy if you're happy but I'm always amazed at people's focus on mileage and year. To me these are waaay down my list of priorities.

Again, not a criticism of anyone's choices but I just can't get my head around it. I can look at an oil cap or dipstick and I can look for smoke from the exhaust but I'd be nervous about a lack of history given that I can't see big end bearings, turbo internals or the inside of a fuel injector.*

*Full disclosure: I nearly always buy cars with full/good history but I have bought cars with no history in the past so no sanctimony from me. That said, in my experience, it was always the ones without histories that caused the heartbreak for me personally.