Nervous about service history gap

hardlylikely

Hi All, longtime reader, first time poster.

I am looking at buying a 2017 uk diesel golf with over 60k miles however it hasn't had a service stamp for 18 months and 27k miles. The seller gave me a story about how it would have been serviced but not stamped but that doesn't sound too right for me on a newer car. What's more, the car alerts that an inspection was due about 100 days ago but it does state that an oil change is due in 2200 miles.

The car seems to drive well (from my limited knowledge of cars) and I do like it but I am used to servicing cars every 10-12k miles and this gap just feels too large. What's more, the car seems to come with a Mapfre warranty which feels to me like a garage washing their hands of responsibility but that's a whole other topic...

Should I steer clear of this one based on that gap? Or is it okay as long as the car gets a full service now?

Thanks, appreciate any inputs at all

Toyotafanboi

The interval for those is 20k miles or 24 months. There is two components to be reset after a service has been carried out, a service reminder and an inspection reminder as in different markets the cars can get engine services and inspections at different times but afaik the UK is like Ireland with no need for that. The service and inspection should be set to the same times.

27k miles is a fair stretch, even by my standards and that combined with the fact that whoever did service it at 27 didn't even know how to reset the two reminders wouldn't fill me with much confidence. All that combined with a Mapfre and i'd avoid like the plague.

Getting a good used diesel Golf shouldn't be hard enough to make you go with that one.

Casati

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The interval for those is 20k miles or 24 months. There is two components to be reset after a service has been carried out, a service reminder and an inspection reminder as in different markets the cars can get engine services and inspections at different times but afaik the UK is like Ireland with no need for that. The service and inspection should be set to the same times.

27k miles is a fair stretch, even by my standards and that combined with the fact that whoever did service it at 27 didn't even know how to reset the two reminders wouldn't fill me with much confidence. All that combined with a Mapfre and i'd avoid like the plague.

Getting a good used diesel Golf shouldn't be hard enough to make you go with that one.

You sure service interval is 20k miles? I have experience of Leon’s and Octavia’s with the same engines and the service interval is 15k kilometers. I was sure it was 10k miles in the UK on a Golf

If no history exists since 33k I’d leave that car behind as it could v easily have been clocked or simply not serviced

User1998

The business/fleet service interval is twice as long as the personal/pcp interval, even though its the same service

bazz26

There are hundreds of Golfs out there for sale, there is no need to dawdle on one that raises more questions than answers.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah they have variable intervals. You can service every 15k kms/ 10k miles or overy 30k kms/ 20k miles once long life oil is used, but in fairness long life oil is in everything by default these days.

Casati

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Yeah they have variable intervals. You can service every 15k kms/ 10k miles or overy 30k kms/ 20k miles once long life oil is used, but in fairness long life oil is in everything by default these days.

Humm I’d prefer one that was serviced every 15km I think

colm_mcm

They’d be right about the book not being stamped but a vw dealer would have the history on file if it was done by a vw dealer

Toyotafanboi

Casati wrote: »

Humm I’d prefer one that was serviced every 15km I think

Ah i think the 30's are fine, once you actually do it. Ms. Fanboi had a 16 mk7 and ran it on 30k intervals to around 150k kms, no issue, have a 19 now doing the same thing. Also running my 12 Golf the same.

They take to it absolutely fine to it. You never see carboning/ sludging issues with them etc. That being said, 27k miles is a long time to be waiting on it's first service.

I think they stopped coming with a service book for MY17, so the service history is online only?

hardlylikely

Thanks all for the responses. I have decided not to buy that car and the search continues but I probably won't purchase until after the lockdown now. Overall I have no idea what sort of driving I will be doing over the next 2-4 years so I had settled on a diesel golf as a sort of catch-all car but may need to review that again.

bazz26 wrote: »

There are hundreds of Golfs out there for sale, there is no need to dawdle on one that raises more questions than answers.

I've viewed more than a few and there seems to be some lingering issue with all of them from trashed interiors, exteriors or very high mileage/service history issues like this one. I'm getting a small bit frustrated with it but as above, I might instead just opt for something like a Kia Ceed to keep me going.

colm_mcm wrote: »

They’d be right about the book not being stamped but a vw dealer would have the history on file if it was done by a vw dealer

In this case, the car has had 2/3 services aleady and those are fully documented so I really don't buy the story from the garageman. I would probably have bought the car had he just been honest about it.

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I think they stopped coming with a service book for MY17, so the service history is online only?

This had a documented service history but it was waiting for a service (probably pushed back due to covid and the owner selling/lease coming to an end.

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The interval for those is 20k miles or 24 months. There is two components to be reset after a service has been carried out, a service reminder and an inspection reminder as in different markets the cars can get engine services and inspections at different times but afaik the UK is like Ireland with no need for that. The service and inspection should be set to the same times.

27k miles is a fair stretch, even by my standards and that combined with the fact that whoever did service it at 27 didn't even know how to reset the two reminders wouldn't fill me with much confidence. All that combined with a Mapfre and i'd avoid like the plague.

Getting a good used diesel Golf shouldn't be hard enough to make you go with that one.

Yeah, that pretty much sums it up. The Mapfre seems to be everywhere too which is driving me mad - it's the ultimate handwashing and a great win for the dealers.

Old diesel

colm_mcm wrote: »

They’d be right about the book not being stamped but a vw dealer would have the history on file if it was done by a vw dealer

Do dealers still confirm the service history of a car these days with GDPR?????.

colm_mcm

They did for me in Irish main dealer - but I already owned the car.

I had the history printout from the seller either way.

Can’t see where GDPR would come into it as no persons info was on it.

Toyotafanboi

Yeah the cars online history does not have any GDPR issues, it only give the model and chassis number and the work that was done.

What dealers can't do anymore is give you copys of the old service invoices as that has the previous owners details on it. The invoices are usually a bit more informative than the online history printout.

bazz26

Old diesel wrote: »

Do dealers still confirm the service history of a car these days with GDPR?????.

Would be a bit pointless having a service history especially a digital one, on any car if nobody but the current owner could access it due to GDPR. Not disclosing any personal information would surely satisfy any GDPR concerns?

Old diesel

bazz26 wrote: »

Would be a bit pointless having a service history especially a digital one, on any car if nobody but the current owner could access it due to GDPR. Not disclosing any personal information would surely satisfy any GDPR concerns?

Totally agree.

I just wasn't sure how dealers are working it.

My known experience of getting history details of a car from dealers was pre GDPR.

We had a Renault in family that had no service paperwork but a call to a Renault dealer confirmed it had a full Renault dealer history with them.

Never saw the inside of a Renault dealer again but it was reassuring to know that the car had been serviced regularly and the dealer was able to confirm the mileage matched the records they had.