Service history

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Matthewek

New Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2020
Messages
11
Location
Southampton
Car
C63 AMG Sedan 2017
Edit: I just noticed I posted in wrong section, can mod please move it? SORRY!

Hi all, it is my first post so hello everyone!

I just bought Mercedes C63 AMG Saloon (2017) with 8100 miles on the clock.

Car dealer claimed it has full service history, with last service in 2019 according to the schedule.

Now next service meant to be in one month time (I was aware and prepared) so I called local MB to arrange a service, but I was told there is a gap in my servicing history (saying last recorded service was in 2018, at 6k miles, so it appears missed service (albeit only 2k miles apart, but still GAP is a GAP)

Now I received a platinum warranty for the car, just got confirmation by post and even in warranty it says FSH ... but last service in 2018, so clearly this warranty will not be valid.

I meant to contact seller tomorrow, what would you do? Would you just return it? I was planning to keep it for myself for many years (i do little miles) but even though I am financially well now, who knows and in the future I might be forced to sell it and then gaps in service history will surly put people off?

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!
 
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Did you but it as an Approved Used form Mercedes? If so return it.

What did it show when you checked the Service History yourself before buying or did you not check?

If you have just bought it and were assured it has "Full Service History" (which you assume to mean it it has been serviced in accrodance with the manufacturers requirements) and it doesn't then take it back and ask for your money back.
Accept nothing less, as you say further down the line if you go to move it on it may be an issue.
 
Did you but it as an Approved Used form Mercedes? If so return it.

What did it show when you checked the Service History yourself before buying or did you not check?

If you have just bought it and were assured it has "Full Service History" (which you assume to mean it it has been serviced in accrodance with the manufacturers requirements) and it doesn't then take it back and ask for your money back.
Accept nothing less, as you say further down the line if you go to move it on it may be an issue.

They showed and gave me MB servicing history printout, with last service indeed in 2018 at 6k miles. I don't know how comes I missed that, anyway, I do have auto trader offer backed up, that clearly says that it has FSH (plus it says last service was done in 2019) it also says that it is FSH on my warranty they purchased. So I still believe I should have no issued returning it (as it is different from what was advertised)

Answering your question, no it is not 'Approved Used form Mercedes'

I fell in love with this particular car because it has all the options that I wanted, performance exhaust, forged 19" wheels, premium package, night package... but well having a well maintained car is more important.
 
FSH does not mean full dealer history.

yes it might be worth checking if it was serviced but just not updated on the MB system. I managed to negotiate a deal on my used E250 as it didn’t appear to have a full history - one was missed. I was a bit sneaky as before I bought it I noticed a little service sticker in the window that there was no paperwork for. I contacted the garage who’s sticker it was and they sent me all the paperwork, so it did actually have a full history.
 
My opinion FWIW. You have a full MB service history. The seller just got the date wrong. With 2000 miles since last service you would only have needed another if your schedule is based on time rather than mileage. If you are on a mileage schedule you probably haven't missed a service.
If you go into your information system it should say when the next service is due. That will be the most reliable source info.
 
If you look at the details of what a Main Dealer service includes you'll find it's pretty much an oil change and a check over the car. If the car only has 8k miles and the last service was 2k miles ago and 2 years ago then in practice it will have done the car no harm at all. BMW and VAG cars are fine with 2 years between services if the mileage is low.

I think the MB warranty is only 3 years anyway so a 2017 car will be out of warranty soon. However the exact date of registration makes a difference here because if it was a late 2017 car there still could be 9 months of manufacturer warranty left and I bet that "missed" service will void it.

Personally if the car is perfect in every other way I'd stick with it and I doubt any subsequent owners would be concerned because the mileage interval between the services is just 2k. Finding a perfect car is not easy.

However if the garage will give you your money back, and they have misrepresented the car, that's not a bad option either.
 
Given the low annual mileage, the service would be due every 12 months.

There are several possibilities here:

- The 2019 service was missed

Or:

- As Dr Feelgood said, the 2019 service was indeed done, but it wasn't carried-out by an MB dealer (did the advert say, FSH, or FMDSH?)

Or:

- The 2019 service carried-out by either an MB dealer (or a specialist with access to the DSB), but for some reason the service wasn't updated on the DSB (Digital Service Book)

If you ask the selling dealer to back-up their claim that the car has full service history, they should be able to produce some documents from which you'll be able to work-out which of the above is true.

And, if they are unable to back-up their claim in any way, then you will be entitled to some compensation because the car is not as described. In this case, I wouldn't worry about the missed service as such, but I would try and see what I could get from the dealer to put this right (for example, they could pay for the next service, etc).
 
Hello all, thanks for helpful responses.

So the car dealer confirmed (via text message so I have a proof) that indeed service from 2019 was missed (Even though description stated that, I do have a backup)

Now I will give myself some time to make a decision should I keep it or get a refund.
 
So what is the actual definition of Full Service History? In terms of the literal definition, this car does indeed have a full service history as all its services have been correctly reported. It doesn't match the manufacturers recommended service regime though. Pedantic I know but definitions are important when they are potentially weasel words.
 
So what is the actual definition of Full Service History? In terms of the literal definition, this car does indeed have a full service history as all its services have been correctly reported. It doesn't match the manufacturers recommended service regime though. Pedantic I know but definitions are important when they are potentially weasel words.
In law, the meaning of "Full Service History" would be that which is normally ascribed to the term, i.e. "full" means "complete (so no gaps), and carried out to the required standard and schedule as laid down by the manufacturer".
 
As others have said 8100 miles is exceedingly low. The thing that would worry me would be missed service and oil having exceeded its drain interval, clearly NOT the case here. On the assumption that you are happy with the cars condition, have found no defects and it drives as it should I think it comes down to how good a deal did you get on the car. An MB dealer wouldn't (all their stuff has to have full MB service history to qualify as approved used) have sold the car so you should have paid less then similar spec/miles car from an MB dealer.

If you keep the car going forward, to protect its resale value you must use an MB dealer or independent with access to the digital Service Record system so future services are done to the MB spec and recorded accurately. personally I keep all the paperwork and invoices for service and repair work on my vehicles.
 
So what is the actual definition of Full Service History? In terms of the literal definition, this car does indeed have a full service history as all its services have been correctly reported. It doesn't match the manufacturers recommended service regime though. Pedantic I know but definitions are important when they are potentially weasel words.
“Full”, in my experience, is subjective.

On more than one occasion - when I’ve been told the car has “full” service history - the vendor thinks because there are stamps in a book at random intervals that constitutes “full” history as in “the full history of the car” and not “serviced to schedule”.

To be fair, the general populace have got almost zero interest in cars and their servicing history so it’s not that much of a shock.

A car dealer will know exactly what “full” service history will mean though...
 
“Full”, in my experience, is subjective.

On more than one occasion - when I’ve been told the car has “full” service history - the vendor thinks because there are stamps in a book at random intervals that constitutes “full” history as in “the full history of the car” and not “serviced to schedule”.

To be fair, the general populace have got almost zero interest in cars and their servicing history so it’s not that much of a shock.

A car dealer will know exactly what “full” service history will mean though...
To me FSH means the seller has a record of all servicing which has been carried out on the car. This is not the same as saying it has always been serviced to MB specification supported by physical records.
 
A gap in service history is not that literal when you’re talking such little mileage between services.

My CLS has under 18k on the clock, it’s been serviced the equivalent of every 1500 miles yet that’s not been every year. It’s been serviced for use as the mileage is so minimal. My recent purchased S Class has a gap but had only covered 6k in this time. Cheaper car to purchase I’m sure but it’s really not phased me.

If the lack of service impairs the warranty then agreed you should query that. Handing the car back because of it would be overkill in my opinion. Modern oils can sit for years and be still effective, many cars have 2 year service intervals.

With the mileage it has this really won’t impact the value of the vehicle at all.
 
Why don’t you contact the warranty people and discuss it with them. If they will cover you ask for it to be put in writing. You are far better off finding out now whether the warranty will cover you than further down the line. If they refuse to cover the car then that should help you come to your final decision about whether to keep it or not.
 
To me FSH means the seller has a record of all servicing which has been carried out on the car. This is not the same as saying it has always been serviced to MB specification supported by physical records.
That’s a great example; that’s what it means *to you* whereas to some forum inhabitants if I car isn’t serviced exactly to the manufacturers recommended schedule then it’s basically a scrapper!
 
That’s a great example; that’s what it means *to you* whereas to some forum inhabitants if I car isn’t serviced exactly to the manufacturers recommended schedule then it’s basically a scrapper!
When I bought my car the history looked OK. Later I sat down with all the paperwork, not just stamped book, and loaded up my beloved Excel.
I found that the car had not been serviced according to MB schedule. It had been overserviced - spark plugs, filters, poly v-belts, oil changes and more. After that, and talking to ignorant MB service managers, I drew up my own service schedules up to 150000 miles.
I could go on but.......................
 

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