service history missing

[Doodle]

You would think that a fleet operator would know that they would devalue the car by not retaining the service records so doubt that's the explanation.

You're attributing retail sector sentiments to something being used as a disposable trade asset. They don't care, they will have got the car cheap because fleet discounts are significant (the lease on my Cupra received a 25-30% discount on list). It will be thrown at auction when they're done with it, where any perceived loss of value will be reduced. Taking it to the dealer means more admin, more time, more costs, when they can just push it through the fleet workshop and have it turned around in an hour, consumables bought on account.

 

[st13phil]

Or, if you do like the car... then I would accept in compensation a 4-year service plan and 3 additional years of MB warranty (on top of the 1 year Approved Used warranty).

^ This.

Looking at it dispassionately, if the OP was intending to keep the car for (say) three or four years and the car is in good shape other than a missing service history, any potential downside risk would be mitigated by extending the warranty. And a 3- or 4-year service plan would be reasonable compensation for what is almost certainly illegal mis-selling. Remember also that when the OP comes to dispose of the car (if indeed they keep it for 3 or more years) it will be a 7+ year old car, and undocumented services in the first three years will have little bearing on its value.

The dealer will undoubtedly want to keep the sale. If they take the car back they will be unlikely to retail it (although as a group they could punt it out through another outlet), so it will be disposed of through auction. That sets the level of financial wriggle room that the OP can reasonably exploit to his benefit if he wishes.

Alternatively, reject the car and move on.

 

[DSM10000]

Regardless of any deal offered I would be returning this vehicle and buying elsewhere.

The lack of due diligence on the part of the dealer in acquiring, preparing, and selling the vehicle would have eroded any trust I may have had.

 

[st13phil]

The lack of due diligence on the part of the dealer in acquiring, preparing, and selling the vehicle would have eroded any trust I may have had.

I agree to an extent but at the end of the day you're buying a car, not entering into a marriage with the dealership.

 

[markjay]

I agree to an extent but at the end of the day you're buying a car, not entering into a marriage with the dealership.

And, as long as any compensation offered (Service Care Plan, Warranty, etc) is an official MB product, and not the dealer's-own, this should be fine.

 

[DSM10000]

I agree to an extent but at the end of the day you're buying a car, not entering into a marriage with the dealership.

Indeed but you may well need to call on that relationship again during ownership. Also, I do not give my business to anyone who treats me as the OP has been treated.

 

[Fastcar155]

First thing I did when I looked to purchase a Mercedes approved car was to purchase a £19.99 Equifax vehicle check. Best £20.00 I have ever spent.

I asked the sales person who I spoke to will anything show up on the check to cause concern.

All the cars were C207 E400

1) Dealer forgot to mention outstanding fiance plus very off hand when asked registration date.

2) Car had a very colourful history *

3 ) Car had sketchy service history and really rude reply when mentioned to the salesman.

4) Car tyres of poor quality all round and front brakes in a poor state. ( Informed me discs within Mercedes specification)

5) The car I purchased was as described.

* Not Mercedes approved.

It did not put me off the car because I have worked in the motor trade and generally most dealer employees treat customers with utter contempt.

The MB dealer who services my car is pretty good but occasionally a service adviser gets carried away : my rely is" really".

 

[SarahAnn200]

I'm sure that they can't sell a car as approved if it doesn't have full MB history.
I part exchanged an Audi TT when I bought my first MB C class around 2013. The dealer that I had bought the TT from said that it had full Audi history and silly me didn't think to query this. I got the part exchanged price for the TT based on full Audi history.
When the Mercedes Benz salesman checked, he said it hadn't got full Audi history. He said that he would honour the part exchange price but wouldn't usually (the C class I was buying had been around for a while and they wanted rid I think, it was 2 years old and on the 5th row of cars back in the carpark, it took them ages to get it out)
He said that they couldn't sell my Audi as an approved used as it didn't have full Audi history so it would really be worth less to them

If they have already sold your part exchange, they have to give you the money for it (bank transfer). I part exchanged my MB C class c250d 2018 only had 5k miles plus cash on for a 2019 Audi S3 with 2k miles on. When I got it home, I found several issues, mainly paint and rejected the car. They said that they had sold my C Class (I saw it on autotrader at a different dealer), so they sent a bank transfer for the full invoice price of the Audi S3.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , years ago I worked for a company who serviced cars to the book but would not allow extra work to be carried out.

The companies argument that the car has a full service history ( extra work is not part of the service history)

They only came unstuck once when the local Jaguar dealer refused to service the car as the dealer said this car is not roadworthy.

Solution was to sell the car with a full Jaguar service history !

No come back for the company.

 

[Jockcl500]

Hi , years ago I worked for a company who serviced cars to the book but would not allow extra work to be carried out.

The companies argument that the car has a full service history ( extra work is not part of the service history)

They only came unstuck once when the local Jaguar dealer refused to service the car as the dealer said this car is not roadworthy.

Solution was to sell the car with a full Jaguar service history !

No come back for the company.

I would have thought that service history would have to include items needed at years/mileage, so if the brake fluid was due and you said don't do it, would the car still have service history if the service was not followed to MB spec?

 

[Fastcar155]

I would have thought that service history would have to include items needed at years/mileage, so if the brake fluid was due and you said don't do it, would the car still have service history if the service was not followed to MB spec?

Hi , this car was purchased by a trader who also informed one of the directors that the diff was worn out and it was.

Cannot remember was the deduction was but car was going to auction.

Regarding your last sentence I think it really is down to the dealer.

 

[Benz17]

I would have thought that service history would have to include items needed at years/mileage, so if the brake fluid was due and you said don't do it, would the car still have service history if the service was not followed to MB spec?

In this instance technically speaking the service per schedule hasn’t been completed, therefore the dealer should be saying we are not going to log the service on the DSB, or stamp the book, otherwise service history is not worth the paper it’s written on.

Surely one can’t pick and choose what part of the schedule service we want, especially at the dealer, and also retain the full MBSH, that’s making a mockery of the full MBSH.

 

[markjay]

In this instance technically speaking the service per schedule hasn’t been completed, therefore the dealer should be saying we are not going to log the service on the DSB, or stamp the book, otherwise service history is not worth the paper it’s written on.

Surely one can’t pick and choose what part of the schedule service we want, especially at the dealer, and also retain the full MBSH, that’s making a mockery of the full MBSH.

What's more, since ESS is a clever system, it should clearly flag-up any missing items on the service history printout. Instead, as things stand, the service history printout only tells you what was done, and it's down to the potential buyer to compare it to what should have been done, which is an unreasonable ask.

 

[vaibhavk]

Sorry to bump up a dormant thread but I'm in a similar situation as the OP and a new member on this forum.

Loved a 4-year old C220d; put in a deposit only to be told later that the trade seller is only able to find first (February '18) and last (Nov '20) service details. Everything in between is missing but the trade seller promised to get it to me in due course (which means nothing!).

I'm a noob and this is my first car but my friend (who test-drove it for me) loved the handling, etc. and we were convinced about the quality of the car. The price is approx. £700 - £800 below anything comparable I could find for a similar make/mileage in London area.

Reg number: KT66GZA; VIN number: WDD2050042R165292

A kind soul from here looked up the vehicle details (not sure in what database) and confirmed that he can also see only these two services, i.e. from Feb '18 and Nov '20.

Does this mean that the car hasn't been serviced at all or not serviced by a registered dealer/garage for a whole 2.5 years?

Wouldn't this have invalidated the warranty given that it was a Dec '16 make? Which leads me to my final question (sorry, asking for advice) is that is it worth the punt?

What would some of the experienced members here suggest?

I have been exchanging a lot of messages with the trade dealer/seller who obviously told me that he is in touch with the current owner trying to get the missing docs but the owner is unable to find it. Per the trade seller, he would like to progress with the sale (of course) and will share the missing service details later.

Shall I ask him to bring down the price further because of missing service details and maybe paying for professional vehicle inspection by RAC or should I let it go? I intended to keep this (to be my first car) for a couple of years before I moved to hopefully a newer Merc.

Thanks in advance to the MB experts here!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

If it were me i would hold off until the paperwork is available. It may have been serviced but just the records are missing, or it may have missed the services - there's no way of knowing until any supporting docs are found. If the original owner can remember where they had it serviced you should be able to get the records from the garage. This happened to me - but i made sure it had been serviced before i closed the deal.

Would you still buy the car with the missing services? Bear in mind it could be more difficult to sell on (irrespective of the loss in value), especially if you only want to keep for a couple of years. The dealer selling the car to you would have agreed it's value based on service history amongst other things, so the fact they don't have the history means they are either sloppy or they know it's not been serviced and paid less for it.

 

[Steeve]

Does this mean that the car hasn't been serviced at all or not serviced by a registered dealer/garage for a whole 2.5 years?

Wouldn't this have invalidated the warranty given that it was a Dec '16 make?

All this means is it hasn't been serviced by Merc or by a Merc specialist with access to the Merc system (STAR) to update the record. So it may well have had a basic service elsewhere, but without paperwork you'll never know.

This has invalidated Mercs anti corrosion warranty, but lots on here get their cars serviced by Indies (me included) and have foregone the warranty, no big deal IMHO. It's a 4.5 year old car, full Merc SH wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

Check this site for what was due at the 4 year service in Nov 20:

Mercedes-Benz UK | Electronic Service Sheet

Were all the required bits carried out per the record provided? If not get them to do it now before sale, by Merc or an Indie who has access to STAR so it's recorded.

 

[markjay]

Sorry to bump up a dormant thread but I'm in a similar situation as the OP and a new member on this forum.

Loved a 4-year old C220d; put in a deposit only to be told later that the trade seller is only able to find first (February '18) and last (Nov '20) service details. Everything in between is missing but the trade seller promised to get it to me in due course (which means nothing!).

I'm a noob and this is my first car but my friend (who test-drove it for me) loved the handling, etc. and we were convinced about the quality of the car. The price is approx. £700 - £800 below anything comparable I could find for a similar make/mileage in London area.

Reg number: KT66GZA; VIN number: WDD2050042R165292

A kind soul from here looked up the vehicle details (not sure in what database) and confirmed that he can also see only these two services, i.e. from Feb '18 and Nov '20.

Does this mean that the car hasn't been serviced at all or not serviced by a registered dealer/garage for a whole 2.5 years?

Wouldn't this have invalidated the warranty given that it was a Dec '16 make? Which leads me to my final question (sorry, asking for advice) is that is it worth the punt?

What would some of the experienced members here suggest?

I have been exchanging a lot of messages with the trade dealer/seller who obviously told me that he is in touch with the current owner trying to get the missing docs but the owner is unable to find it. Per the trade seller, he would like to progress with the sale (of course) and will share the missing service details later.

Shall I ask him to bring down the price further because of missing service details and maybe paying for professional vehicle inspection by RAC or should I let it go? I intended to keep this (to be my first car) for a couple of years before I moved to hopefully a newer Merc.

Thanks in advance to the MB experts here!

The date of first registration is December 2016.

The car did 45k miles by April 2019, that's an average of nearly 20k miles per year - so most likely it actually needed an extra service at some point due to mileage. So potentially there's an ever bigger gap in the service history than just the missed services.

But unfortunately there's no way of telling if the services weren't done, or they were done but not recorded.

 

[tonysmb]

Company car, maintained in-house or by their own 'preferred' garage?

Unfortunately, it seems that many companies are now simply throwing servicing records away, using data protection as the reason. Incorrect, but it seems to crop up regularly now.

 

[Crispian22]

I found out yesterday that my recently acquired Ml63,which was sold with a "full and comprehensive" mercedes history,had,in fact,missed a gearbox service and rear diff service according to the main mercedes dealer it is in at for repair.(its overdue by 2 years)

Luckily for me,the dealer its at is part of the same group that I purchased it from,I told the service manager to get in touch with the supplying dealer with regards to cost for the work as I wasn't expecting to spend several hundreds of pounds to get the car to the standard as it was sold to me as.

Half an hour later I got a call to say the dealer I bought it from have agreed to stand the bill for the diff and gearbox service.

Result.

 

[tonysmb]

Good result.

Unfortunately, in my experience, the MB system isn't foolproof; in my case the ESS wasn't flagging-up a gearbox fluid change and the only reason we could think was that it was under mileage and because I booked it in slightly ahead of the time schedule (but only a matter of weeks), it wasn't showing on the system as due. The car was on sevice plan and they initially refused to do it because it didn't flag up. Long story short, after a 'discussion', they changed it.