OK not new news, but I was shocked.

[uumode]

I know it happens, but was shocked at the proportion of bad servicing
- over 75% of service centres service cars incorrectly
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4111534.stm

 

[PJH]

Makes you wonder why "Full Service History" is so important.

 

[andy_k]

Makes you wonder why "Full Service History" is so important.

it's not but it's an excuse the "trade" used to knock down the price of a car which has filtered into the used car market.

Quite honesatly as soon as a potential buyer of a car opens his (or her) mouth and asks if the car has a full service history the vendor thinks "sucker!!!!"

You want a full service history? No problem sir, it takes 10 minutes, a £5 rubber stamp and some old MoT certificates to create but adds thousands to the value of a car. As a means of screwing the unwitting punter it's worse than clocking a car.

When you are buying a second hand car you buy because you trust the seller not the paperwork - well I do anyway. Service history is seldom worth the paper it's printed on once you leave the dealer network and i have absolutely no idea why so many people place such a blind trust in it

Andy

 

[shrekky]

Totally agree with you andy.................anyone worth his salt can tell if a car has been looked after or not,i've lost count how many times i've seen cars with supposed FSH,and they engines are in worse condition than some second hand cars without.

 

[Sidney Plowman]

I totaly agree Dealer service history means that the engine oil is changed about once a year or longer and for most people doing short trips this is no good. I do my own oil changes every six months or 6000 miles which means my car does not have service history but the oil in the engine is in first class condition as well as my engine.Honest the in the Telegraph does not recomend buying a car with full service history(based on 10000-12000 mile intervals) and 100000 miles on the clock unless it has had extra oil changes in between as the engine could be done in

 

[andy_k]

As I said earlier a full MB Service History means nothing unless it's an MB dealer offering it. Even then reading peoples dealer related horror stories I'd use it as an excuse to lower the price rather than raise it

Pay someone who knows what they are doing £100 to look at a car for you, spend a few quid on an HPI check and buy a car that's been looked after meticulously for £2K below book or alternatively trust the guy who has all the stamps in his service book yet doesn't give a stuff about the car.

Andy