Having a good service history will help you out when it’s time to sell.
Your car’s service history has a big impact on its value when the time comes to sell. Even if a buyer is not put off by an incomplete service history, they will almost certainly use it to knock down the price. To achieve the highest price possible, you’ll need to have the complete records of all the work carried out on the car throughout its life.
There are several ways to ensure your car’s service history is an asset, not an obstacle, when it comes time to sell. The first is to make sure that you only buy cars with a good history. It doesn’t matter how well you look after your car if there are gaps in its service history from before you bought it. There is nothing you can do about those missing services, and they will negatively affect the cars value. Also, while it might be tempting to go for a cheaper car with an incomplete service history, the chance of it developing costly faults while you own it is much higher.
If possible, always get your car serviced by a main dealer approved franchise.
If possible, always get your car service by a main dealer. A full, main dealer service history is the most valuable kind. This is because main dealers can be depended on for having high standards of work and only using manufacturer approved parts. Your local garage might provide the same standard of service for a cheaper price, but someone buying your car will not know that. This is why a main dealer history will allow you to fetch the highest possible price.
It is incredibly important to make sure that your service book is stamped every time you have your car serviced, and to keep all documents detailing work you’ve had done to your car. Being able to prove that you’ve had work carried out on your car, such as having your cambelt or brakes replaced, will enable you to use that as leverage for a higher price. If you realise you’ve forgotten to get your service book stamped, return to the garage who carried out the service as soon as possible. As long as it hasn’t been too long, they should still be able to stamp the book.
What to do if you’ve lost your car’s service history.
If you lose some or all of your service history, it may be possible to track it down. If you had it serviced by a main dealer they will probably have records which they can provide you with, once you have proved you are the owner of the car. This another advantage that main dealers have over independent garages, who usually won’t keep comprehensive records in the same way. If you aren’t sure where you got your car serviced, you can run an MOT check on the government’s website and then enter your 11 digit VC5 number to see where tests were performed. This might be able to point you in the right direction, although if you got your car serviced at a separate garage this won’t be any help.