Is this is a scam or not?

looking4advice

I went to see a car the other night and I just want to run something by any car buying experts here because I am very much a novice.

First of all the car price seems like a good bargain but nothing extraordinary good as there is a similar car for the same list price.

My main issue is that the car has no service history. The seller didnt seem too comfortable answering that question and just said that it is normal for Ireland for that to be the case and that the person must not of gone to the dealership for the service.

The car is 4 years old and has 50,000 miles on the clock. It looks in good nick. I'm doing a cartell check on it but should I run a mile already based on what I've said?

Thanks

jock101

Yes i'd leave it. Sounds dodgy, as its a buyers market!

deceit

For the first few years too keep warranty people would use main dealers so would seem strange not to have any.

2yung2adm

I think the seller is quite truthful when he says that many Irish cars do not have a service history, especially in the rural areas where everyone will know a good local mechanic and few are prepared to pay main dealer prices.
You certainly could not decide it is dodgy on that alone.
See that he has the registration book and that the chassis numbers add up.
View the car at his home or place of business, never in a public car park or the likes.
Try and get a bit of background on the seller.
There is not much business getting a mileage check as the car is only four years old and perhaps just on the NCT register.

windy squid

dude leave it there's 2 reasons #1no service history=no go when buying #2if he wont answer your question and acts scitchy hes hiding somthing
hope i helped

Yakult

You could probably find a the same car with some service history if not FSH. if in doubt pull out and you seem in doubt. Saying that he could be totally legit but is it worth the risk with thousands of other cars out there at your feet?

Vertakill

Do the Cartell/Motorcheck or whatever and get some info and make your decision after that.

There's craploads of people that are fairly handy with a car that wouldn't bother bringing their car to a main dealer just to get a stamp when they can do the services themselves.

That wouldn't completely turn me off a car.

R_H_C_P wrote: »

You could probably find a the same car with some service history if not FSH. if in doubt pull out and you seem in doubt. Saying that he could be totally legit but is it worth the risk with thousands of other cars out there at your feet?

If he's looking for a specific car with a specific spec/engine, there may be 10's nationwide, rather than 1000's!

I'm having that dilemma myself at the moment!

Wibbs

Vertakill wrote: »

There's craploads of people that are fairly handy with a car that wouldn't bother bringing their car to a main dealer just to get a stamp when they can do the services themselves.

That wouldn't completely turn me off a car.

Very much agreed. My car has no real service history since I got it. I do 90% of the stuff on it myself servicing wise. I could show you reciepts for oil, pads etc, but that's it.

If he's looking for a specific car with a specific spec/engine, there may be 10's nationwide, rather than 1000's!

+1

looking4advice

The motorcheck test seems fine albeit without the chassis, NCT and licensing cert number at hand i.e. I just used the license plate. If it had some service history I'd probably go for it but I don't think i could risk the money (about 5 grand) on it?

What would somebody be hiding by not having the service history?

maybebabie

I wouldn't have a service history stamped in the book for my own car, but I could show a buyer all the Invoices for yearly services that I've had done in my local mechanic's garage.

Tragedy

Brother and sister use an indy who doesn't stamp or provide receipts, neither of their cars has ANY s/h even though they both bought theirs second hand(one from Merlin, one from Naas Kia)

ottostreet

I wouldn't run a mile based on the car itself, just check it out in detail. Bring a mechanic with you, motorcheck it, if its been NCT'ed, ensure mileage on the cert corresponds to current reading.

However, if the guy who owned it started acting differently or more uncomfortable when you raised that question specifically, youve got to wonder why.

amacachi

ottostreet wrote: »

However, if the guy who owned it started acting differently or more uncomfortable when you raised that question specifically, youve got to wonder why.

Not really, if you think there's something fishy going on then some things are going to look suspicious when they're not.

Vertakill

looking4advice wrote: »

My main issue is that the car has no service history. The seller didnt seem too comfortable answering that question and just said that it is normal for Ireland for that to be the case and that the person must not of gone to the dealership for the service.

ottostreet wrote: »

However, if the guy who owned it started acting differently or more uncomfortable when you raised that question specifically, youve got to wonder why.

The OP may be completely correct to be a little wary or suspicious.

However, I know if went to look at a car and I was a little paranoid or unsure about something, no matter what the owners responses were to my questions, I'd probably come up with the worst conclusions in my head!

Vertakill

amacachi wrote: »

Not really, if you think there's something fishy going on then some things are going to look suspicious when they're not.

Hah, beat me to it by a minute!

ahal

Tragedy wrote: »

Brother and sister use an indy who doesn't stamp or provide receipts, neither of their cars has ANY s/h even though they both bought theirs second hand(one from Merlin, one from Naas Kia)

This just got me thinking ... maybe it's one of the thousands of repo'd cars? Could this account for the lack of service history in any way I wonder? Do repo cars tend to lack them as a matter of course? Just a thought.

I'd bear in mind that if selling on, any money saved from the fact that a car has no service history will be lost further along the line if you do sell it for the same reason. It's a bit like the nearly new Micras for 3k. less, for which you get 3k. less at trade in time lol.

I have to say the Irish are dire when it comes to service histories anyway. FFS buy a 1919 Model T in the U.K. and they have the original bill of sale in a folder and inch thick.

Oops this is turning into a rant

Best of luck,

Tony.

Tragedy

It's an 02 car bought in 06 with 19k miles on it(had original tyres and brakes that only got replaced this year at 38k so I'd say they mileage was accurate).

Who knows really.

irish_star

Over the years Due to lack of funds, My hubby did our car services , He got so good at it ,we could not be bothered to go to a dealer for an expensive car service, (pure ripoff truth be known) I am talking about 3 cars from New, over a period of 15 years . Something else to think about, lol I just thought I would throw that in

peanuthead

deceit wrote: »

For the first few years too keep warranty people would use main dealers so would seem strange not to have any.

I agree

2yung2adm wrote: »

I think the seller is quite truthful when he says that many Irish cars do not have a service history, especially in the rural areas where everyone will know a good local mechanic and few are prepared to pay main dealer prices.

However, I also agree and fall into this category.

djimi

It used to be very common in Ireland for cars not to have service histories. From what I can see its only in the last few years that as buyers we have started to think about it.

I used to get all of my cars serviced by a mechanic I know. In truth he is the best I have ever seen at what he does. I have never gotten the book stamped after a service but I can tell you 100% hand on heart any car I had that he looked after was in perfect nick.

If youre worried then walk away, but not having a FSH is not necessarily the worst thing. A good mechanic should be able to tell if a car has been looked after.

sharkbite1983

bring a mechanic & do a cartell check. the €50 youd give a mechanic to look at the car, is better than the €5000 you could end up giving him to fix it.

i bought a brand new 2006 astra from opel a few yrs back, in 2006 i think

anyway, ive serviced myself since, cos i know id do a better job for 1/4 the price. ive no service history, but the car is immac. if there was something really sus about the car, it would be more obvious than just no service history.

im not a mechanic, but look for all the signs, even google "what to look for when buying 2nd hand car" print out the list and bring it with you.

andykells

Service history means nothing really if u have someone look at the car for you. I bought a bmw second hand last year and ok it did have service history but last week i took it to the main dealer to get it serviced and when i enquired about the price hthe guy told me €180 an hour for labour and parts on top of that. Told him i usually like to enjoy getting fu**ed and left. A friend of a friend is doing the service for me at the weekend and not charging a fraction of that. Ok i lose my service history but car is perfect and no plans on changing any time soon anyway

Yakult

Vertakill wrote: »

If he's looking for a specific car with a specific spec/engine, there may be 10's nationwide, rather than 1000's!

I'm having that dilemma myself at the moment!

OP hasnt mentioned what car so I guess hard to tell