Service History

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My Current L322 came with history, all stamps from Main Dealers - phoned my Local Dealer and asked them to check the history of the vehicle and they confirmed it had been seviced as per the book according to their computer.

Regardless of that I have still had to:

Recalibrate Ride Height
Clean a Dicky Height Sensor
Replace Thermostat
Replace OSF ABS Sensor
Replace Fuel Pump
Replace Rad

Since May this year.....Stamps don't mean much....

BUT all fluids are clean and clear, the filters are clean, Oil Filter is clean and the pollen filters are clean!!
Rad doesn't really count as you broke it. But those items are electronic, you can't detect electronic faults with a visual check. You just have to wait for them to fail. In modern vehicles, with more and more complex electrical systems, a FSH is becoming irrelevant as the mechanic is looking for signs of mechanical failure.

For sure you want to know oil and filters have been replaced, but if the seller has a couple of invoices from motor factors, it is worth just as much as a rubber stamp. I'd put more weight on the owner, if it was someone like Wammers or Datatek are selling a P38, you know you're getting a tidy motor. Someone like me and you might want to haggle down the price. :p

ive never understood the keeping of invoices etc rr owners i see often do .why?

It is so when you meet up with another RR owner you can brag about how much yours has broken down and you have the invoices to prove it.
 
You've also got to remember one important thing...a motor can have a full service history, loads of invoices, etc., but if the owner(s) have ragged the hell out of it there's no way of knowing...until it falls apart!!

Unfortunately, even with all the combined experience, etc., you still sometimes have to just pay your money and take your chances.
 
ive never understood the keeping of invoices etc rr owners i see often do .why?

1.They are unchallengeable third party evidence that at least you BOUGHT the new part you said you fitted.
2. You also need them as evidence of purchase in the event of guarantee/proof of purchase issues
3. They don't exactly take up a lot of room and are more useful than in the bin.
 
always service a car when you buy it, my disco i boght the grage said it had a full service.the air filter hadnt even been changed !!! :rolleyes:

rather than stamps in the book right up to date you buy it- its nice and aids the sale, and nice when purchasing, if it has a service book and service history and then all the old mots,tax, reciepts, owners folder, etc, are nice to have, particularly when a car you want for years to maintain well, possibly not go down in value or be an investment

thing is, when a car is 10-15,20 years old...they rarley have proper stamped bang up to date service stamps, a garage sometimes charges £100 just for an oil and filters change basic service - who really pays that , not forum/enthusiast types who do a bit of car maintenence and love their cars
 
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but on the subject of range rover classics, and any classic cars (im alao a classic bme e30 owner and lover) a nice original car with genuine milage backed up by all old mots and has all the service book and a wad of reciepts and original owners books etc, is always going to be worth a premium more

the thing i really hate- is when a 20 year old car has had a 50/100k hair cut, and say a load of original mots from 1st 10 years, then a chunk "missing" that have been thrown away from the next 10 years, where its then had a hair cut, then the rest of more recent mots...and people trying to claim its genuine milage backed up, when really its not, way i see it, its still the same car,engine etc, and would be nicer and more honest, if it hadnt had that hair cut and had that missing chunk of mots, and being a good honest car that if in nice condition regardless of its milage, showed its quality that it has got 200k on and a real testament to its owners that have al looked after and mantained it to be so nice after 200k , especialy wiht old bmws,that if maintained and clock up 250-500k !!
 
if you go to the DVLA website, you can actually now recall ALL the mots done on your car. all you need is the ref number off the V5 and reg number if i remember correctly. it then tells you all the details of where, when, how many miles, who did it, the test centre, the phone numbers and any advisories that were listed. also if it was tested on petrol or LPG, any reg changes and things like that.

i had all the mots when i bought mine, and i still checked them against the data base.

but i too had no service history. but found out that a local dealer in Sutton sold mine new and they had done the first 2 services on it. 28,000 miles in 1 year! lost track after that but had the last service invoice sent from the previous owner. that included new EAS pump, door lock, and a few other items.

brakes were advised on the last mot, so got the fronts done today. what a b*****d that was! broke the 1 disc getting it off, the other just slid off when i removed the caliper bkt. hope the backs are not a pig to do.
 
if you go to the DVLA website, you can actually now recall ALL the mots done on your car. all you need is the ref number off the V5 and reg number if i remember correctly. it then tells you all the details of where, when, how many miles, who did it, the test centre, the phone numbers and any advisories that were listed. also if it was tested on petrol or LPG, any reg changes and things like that.
Indeed you can, it is worth the couple of minutes to check as you can find some interesting and scary truths about your vehicles. But it does mean there is little scope for trimming mileage these days. Which I imagine will upset many older BMW owners.
 
Guy i used to work for had plenty of expensive motors (Porsche, Bentley, Rangies etc). He used to get them clocked on a regular basis, usually just before a service. He reconned the guy who did the work did loads of high spec cars daily - even for dealers & charged between £80 - £120 depending on make.
I no longer pay any attention to mileage - just proof of whats been serviced / replaced & when.
 
Guy i used to work for had plenty of expensive motors (Porsche, Bentley, Rangies etc). He used to get them clocked on a regular basis, usually just before a service. He reconned the guy who did the work did loads of high spec cars daily - even for dealers & charged between £80 - £120 depending on make.
I no longer pay any attention to mileage - just proof of whats been serviced / replaced & when.


thats exactly it, land rovers are probably not doen so much due to not really clocking up the mega milage saloon cars can

always look for condition over milage
 
if you go to the DVLA website, you can actually now recall ALL the mots done on your car. all you need is the ref number off the V5 and reg number if i remember correctly. it then tells you all the details of where, when, how many miles, who did it, the test centre, .


ALL ??????

i belive its only recent ones-last 3 or 4 or something, or all mots if its a newer car and not a 10-15-20 year old car ?

but agree, in future years, it will be a good thing that tis all recorded, seen the state of the mot certificate now ? i asked my mot guy about the last one, he said "thats not a certificate its just a reciept to show its been logged and recorded/updated on the computer system" , its all going digital
 
Unless I'm buying an expensive car where I want to retain some market value, I'm not bothered at all about service history, the condition if the car is what matters most - after all I'll be servicing it from then onwards anyway.
 
ALL ??????

i belive its only recent ones-last 3 or 4 or something, or all mots if its a newer car and not a 10-15-20 year old car ?

but agree, in future years, it will be a good thing that tis all recorded, seen the state of the mot certificate now ? i asked my mot guy about the last one, he said "thats not a certificate its just a reciept to show its been logged and recorded/updated on the computer system" , its all going digital

well, its got all of mine on there, and mines a 51 plate. :)
 
ALL ??????

i belive its only recent ones-last 3 or 4 or something, or all mots if its a newer car and not a 10-15-20 year old car ?

but agree, in future years, it will be a good thing that tis all recorded, seen the state of the mot certificate now ? i asked my mot guy about the last one, he said "thats not a certificate its just a reciept to show its been logged and recorded/updated on the computer system" , its all going digital
I just checked the website, they only have records from 2005 to current online.

Linkage. Makes for interesting reading. I've already seen my vehicle has had the same bushes replaced a lot in the last 7 years. 3 times all of the rear trailing arm bushes have been replaced. :eek:
 
You can only go back as far as the MOT's were computerised 2004/5 i believe?

Also on the mention of keeping reciepts to prove what you have done and service history -

I change things on my car to make it nicer for me to drive and mostly "preventative maintenance". Now i know my list will be a lot longer than somone else's, and my car has had alot more work in the last year than the rest of its life probably, but its piece of mind for me. Now if i went to sell my car i would know exactly how much was done to it and the overall condition of each area of my car but i have to prove that to the buyer. Now you compare that to the average person on the street who barely stick to routine service intervals, only fixes the car to pass an MOT but have a few stamps in a book then their car will sell easier as it has "service history"
 
My expierience of service history is basically as said its a stamp in book that looks great when selling but in reality its over priced minimum metainance a well looked after well serviced car serviced at home is a better car...

I service mine twice a year and do full serive then small service plus all the jobs in between if i paid a dealer i couldnt afford it....
 
The new Mots coming out next month have 3 previous mileadge records on apparently so say this years mot, will have current miles and then 2011,2010,2009 previous mileadges at mot...
 
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