Second Hand Car with no Service History

caomhino

in a bit of a dilemma here. Looking for a 05/06 Audi A4 SLine TD. Test drove one last week, car looks perfect with 89k miles on the clock. NCT to the middle of next year. Clutch felt a little jumpy to me, guy claims clutch is brand new but couldn't produce an invoice for the work plus there was no service history on it. As i said, car looks in mint condition but with no service history i'm hesitant. Was think of bringing it too a garage for a full check. What do ye reckon ?

cheers

EPM

Not a very rare car. Walk away.

This should be a no brainer to be honest

djimi

Its not uncommon in Ireland for cars to have patchy or non-existant service histories, so its not necessarily a sign of something being wrong, but as EPM has said theyre not an uncommon car, so it might be worth the extra piece of mind to look elsewhere for a car which has a FSH, even if it means paying a little extra for it.

Henry Ford III

Why take the risk? Get another one with a known history.

The car you mention is a prime candidate for clocking/cloning.

Guy:Incognito

djimi wrote: »

Its not uncommon in Ireland for cars to have patchy or non-existant service histories, so its not necessarily a sign of something being wrong, but as EPM has said theyre not an uncommon car, so it might be worth the extra piece of mind to look elsewhere for a car which has a FSH, even if it means paying a little extra for it.

If people started insisting on service histories and left the ones without them sitting on forecourt or in sellers drivways it would become much less common for them not to have histories.

caomhino

cheers for the feedback. To be honest with no service history on a private sale it is a no brainer although getting a 2 litre in black with S-Line isn't easy but i guess i'll keep looking !

Lex Luthor

caomhino wrote: »

cheers for the feedback. To be honest with no service history on a private sale it is a no brainer although getting a 2 litre in black with S-Line isn't easy but i guess i'll keep looking !

keep looking..one will show up

Moanin

caomhino wrote: »

cheers for the feedback. To be honest with no service history on a private sale it is a no brainer although getting a 2 litre in black with S-Line isn't easy but i guess i'll keep looking !

Did you try the UK? You will get a good specd one over there.

no1beemerfan

Stekelly wrote: »

If people started insisting on service histories and left the ones without them sitting on forecourt or in sellers drivways it would become much less common for them not to have histories.

My girlfriend is English and she would embarress me with the file she keeps on her cars. When I met her 1st she'd a Ford Ka but had an A4 file of everything to do with the car. Her dad has a '02 Totota Hiace since new and he has a massive file kept on everything to do with it.
I keep a full service history on what I do but only have invoices here and there whereas my girlfriend and her father kept them all.

mickdw

Just assume that car you are looking at has at least 150k miles on the clock. If you are happy to buy on that condition & if you are happy that car is not ddgy in any other way, go ahead.

caomhino

yeah, seems to be a much better spec available in the UK alright, i've been browsing a few sites www.cargiant.co.uk and www.autoquake.co.uk

would you recommend going to these type of places or going to a main garage direct ? Had a look up north but mileage there seems pretty high.

caomhino

caomhino wrote: »

Clutch felt a little jumpy to me, guy claims clutch is brand new but couldn't produce an invoice for the work

complete and utter horsesh1t I would think

bazz26

If I was selling a car and just had the clutch replaced, you can bet I would have the invoice for the work to show a potential buyer. The lack of any service history would have alarm bells ringing.

As poor as the Irish are for keeping a service history and maintenance receipts, I would still expect an executive car of that age to at least have some sort of partial service history. The fact that it doesn't have one or it is missing would suggest there is a very high chance that the mileage is not correct. German cars are great candidates for clocking because they wear mileage extremly well especially their interiors.

Moanin

caomhino wrote: »

yeah, seems to be a much better spec available in the UK alright, i've been browsing a few sites www.cargiant.co.uk and www.autoquake.co.uk

would you recommend going to these type of places or going to a main garage direct ? Had a look up north but mileage there seems pretty high.

These places are selling mainly ex fleet cars that would have been well maintained by mostly main dealers.I was in Cargiant a few years ago.It's a fine place with plenty to choose from.In the end I ended up purchasing from a main dealer in Gloucester.The quality of customer service there was unbelievable compared to the grunts I was getting when entering many main dealers here.I presume this has all changed now with the way the economy has gone.My experience was 4 years ago but I would go back to the UK again even if I wasn't saving money.From my point of view you get a better minded car (If you get the right one).Good luck with your hunt.

OldmanMondeo

I was chatting to a guy in the trade this morning and even thought the service history is not an issue in Ireland he reckons it will be soon. A lot of people are buying parts online and fitting themselves, since the dealers can not confirm that the work was done to a minimium standard the car will be quoted less on a trade in. I used to keep a full service history on previous cars only got them serviced in a main dealers, but soon found it didn't effect the trade in price I stopped keeping it. However my current car has a full history and I will be keeping that up. Only ever service in the one dealer.

keithclancy

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

I was chatting to a guy in the trade this morning and even thought the service history is not an issue in Ireland he reckons it will be soon. A lot of people are buying parts online and fitting themselves, since the dealers can not confirm that the work was done to a minimium standard the car will be quoted less on a trade in. I used to keep a full service history on previous cars only got them serviced in a main dealers, but soon found it didn't effect the trade in price I stopped keeping it. However my current car has a full history and I will be keeping that up. Only ever service in the one dealer.

Wouldn't trust a Dealer over a trusted indie.

OldmanMondeo

keithclancy wrote: »

Wouldn't trust a Dealer over a trusted indie.

I have bought my last 5 cars through dealers, the OH bought her last 3. And we would only consider if it had a full history. I would only use a trusted delaer over an unknown indie...

djimi

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

I was chatting to a guy in the trade this morning and even thought the service history is not an issue in Ireland he reckons it will be soon. A lot of people are buying parts online and fitting themselves, since the dealers can not confirm that the work was done to a minimium standard the car will be quoted less on a trade in. I used to keep a full service history on previous cars only got them serviced in a main dealers, but soon found it didn't effect the trade in price I stopped keeping it. However my current car has a full history and I will be keeping that up. Only ever service in the one dealer.

My problem with the FSH debate is that I can do a basic service on the car myself (oil, filters, spark plugs etc), and in doing so I can get the parts for less than €100 compared to paying €250+ to get it serviced by a garage. I know that I have no way to prove any work I do apart from keeping invoices, but its annoying that I would have to go to a garage and pay ridiculously high prices for something I can do myself, just so I can prove it was done. Im not complaining about the system; obviously if you cant prove that work was done then its got to be assumed that it wasnt, but its an annoying situation nonetheless.

keithclancy

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

I have bought my last 5 cars through dealers, the OH bought her last 3. And we would only consider if it had a full history. I would only use a trusted delaer over an unknown indie...

A good Indie will follow a service schedule based off experience.

A Dealership will take the "Computer says no" approach and follow what the service schedule says.

Volvo told me the service interval on a 2.0D S40/V50 Timing belt is 240,000 kilometers.

My Indie told me you would want to have your head examined to leave it over 160,000.

Indie will also let me purchase my own parts and just charge for labour.

Volvo will just charge the h*le off you and then charge a crazy labour rate on top.

bryaner

RoverJames wrote: »

complete and utter horsesh1t I would think

+ the dual mass flywheels are a regular fcuk up on these.

OldmanMondeo

keithclancy wrote: »

A good Indie will follow a service schedule based off experience.

A Dealership will take the "Computer says no" approach and follow what the service schedule says.

Volvo told me the service interval on a 2.0D S40/V50 Timing belt is 240,000 kilometers.

My Indie told me you would want to have your head examined to leave it over 160,000.

Indie will also let me purchase my own parts and just charge for labour.

Volvo will just charge the h*le off you and then charge a crazy labour rate on top.

I totaly agree with you, but ant the end of the day, I usually trade my car in and want to get the best deal possible. I am actually thinking of getting the service done by the dealers,but anyother work done by an indie, with me suppling my own parts.

voxpop

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

I totaly agree with you, but ant the end of the day, I usually trade my car in and want to get the best deal possible. I am actually thinking of getting the service done by the dealers,but anyother work done by an indie, with me suppling my own parts.

Thats hardly a full dealer service history though - unless you are going to be sneaky.

caomhino

bryaner wrote: »

+ the dual mass flywheels are a regular fcuk up on these.

on the a4's ??

OldmanMondeo

voxpop wrote: »

Thats hardly a full dealer service history though - unless you are going to be sneaky.

No, it would be a SERVICE history and not a MAINTANCE history... I am in the position off being able to get parts for cheaper than most motor factors, but due to the fact they are charged on my payslip, I am not willing to show the receipt. I am sure I could get a receipt showing goods from the indy showing goods were fitted correctly.

keithclancy

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

I totaly agree with you, but ant the end of the day, I usually trade my car in and want to get the best deal possible. I am actually thinking of getting the service done by the dealers,but anyother work done by an indie, with me suppling my own parts.

Would you get a better deal on straight cash sale over trade in ?

i.e. sell it privately and then haggle the price ?

johnos1984

Just to add to this don't take a service history at face value in Ireland or Britain!

Just because a piece of paper says work was done is not a guarantee it was.

Check out ebay for dealership stamps and service histories for particular models.

If there are invoices I would pick one out at random and call the business and check if it is genuine.

Agreed service history records are very poor in Ireland but once a car gets to a certain age/mileage I would look at its condition. A good mechanic will give a good indicator of the real mileage if they can inspect the engine bay and under the car. Certain parts tend to wear and accurately correspond to the mileage

Moanin

caomhino wrote: »

on the a4's ??

Yes on most modern diesels.They tend to go around 100,000kms and can be pricey to replace.

bryaner

caomhino wrote: »

on the a4's ??

Yup anywhere from around 70000 miles up

OldmanMondeo

keithclancy wrote: »

Would you get a better deal on straight cash sale over trade in ?

i.e. sell it privately and then haggle the price ?

Twice I purchased form a dealer with no trade in and yes you do get a better deal. Having sold a few cars privately over the years, I couldn't be arsed trying to do it again.

VolvoMan

caomhino wrote: »

in a bit of a dilemma here. Looking for a 05/06 Audi A4 SLine TD. Test drove one last week, car looks perfect with 89k miles on the clock. NCT to the middle of next year. Clutch felt a little jumpy to me, guy claims clutch is brand new but couldn't produce an invoice for the work plus there was no service history on it. As i said, car looks in mint condition but with no service history i'm hesitant. Was think of bringing it too a garage for a full check. What do ye reckon ?

cheers

Most likely the car has racked up at least 150k in the UK as a fleet car and has ended up here with a haircut and vanished service history, like most other used Passat/A4 TDI's that enter the country.

voxpop

OldmanMondeo wrote: »

No, it would be a SERVICE history and not a MAINTANCE history..

I think for most ppl service history = maintenance history - but if dealing in semantics makes you sleep better at night then make the distinction :P

Guy:Incognito

no1beemerfan wrote: »

My girlfriend is English and she would embarress me with the file she keeps on her cars. When I met her 1st she'd a Ford Ka but had an A4 file of everything to do with the car. Her dad has a '02 Totota Hiace since new and he has a massive file kept on everything to do with it.
I keep a full service history on what I do but only have invoices here and there whereas my girlfriend and her father kept them all.

I got a full history with my Xantia I bought in the UK at the start of 08. I have all the stuff in a folder now, with the receipts for anythign I;ve done to it. Everythign from the ferry ticket to a full copy of the V5 , OT history printed from the VOSA site, each of the old tax discs etc. I get great joy from adding to it.

I have one for the missus 05 Scenic and my dads Laguna too. Startign on efor the mother new Megane now