Disappearing Car Service History and GDPR
Discussion
On previous cars I've owned I've pulled together a quick spreadsheet outlining all the service history and detailing receipts.
This helps to verify mileage, show what works been done to the car and when and I hope makes it more attractive when I come to sell.
I occasionally spot old cars which and one of them was advertised with massive gaps in the history as a dealer/owner has obviously binned/lost the paperwork.
With the new GDPR rules are we now seeing car service history documents being lost?
It certainly de-values a car if it doesn't have all the paperwork.
This helps to verify mileage, show what works been done to the car and when and I hope makes it more attractive when I come to sell.
I occasionally spot old cars which and one of them was advertised with massive gaps in the history as a dealer/owner has obviously binned/lost the paperwork.
With the new GDPR rules are we now seeing car service history documents being lost?
It certainly de-values a car if it doesn't have all the paperwork.
Jawls said:
When did digital service records start being phased in? (I’ve never had a car that had one)
Does that solve the problem?
Partly. My 320d has had additional oil changes over the 'standard' 18k intervals but BMW don't want to put those on the digital service record! So anyone buying my car in the future can see it's had the minimum service requirements undertaken but the value (in terms of possible increased reliability) of the additional changes has been lost.Does that solve the problem?
Jawls said:
When did digital service records start being phased in? (I’ve never had a car that had one)
Does that solve the problem?
With my Mazda it is all online with an App, as long as you own the car you can view and print out, what is good is that when you print it only prints the service details and no other details so GDPR safe I guess.Does that solve the problem?
I actually asked the garage I bought my Merc CL from about service history and GDPR, as to whether they have remove names etc. They looked at me like I'd just spoken another language, and the car came with the full wad of paperwork. Same with my Saab from this year.
But sadly, it seems some dealers, I assume larger, main dealers have done this. Ultimately all they have to do is redact the persons details. I suspect they'd rather chuck it in some case.
But sadly, it seems some dealers, I assume larger, main dealers have done this. Ultimately all they have to do is redact the persons details. I suspect they'd rather chuck it in some case.
Jawls said:
When did digital service records start being phased in? (I’ve never had a car that had one)
Does that solve the problem?
I have a Merc from 2007 that has a digital service record. I had the lot printed out by a specialist as despite knowing who I bought from, it's good to have a hard copy. Does that solve the problem?
Master Of Puppets said:
Have a look at the salvage auction yards, there are wheelie bins dotted all around the yards into which goes
all documentation, folder packs and service history, all the cars are emptied of any personal info and if they come
with a V5 the owner details are blacked out.
Indeed, Copart don’t even hand over the V5 certificate, just email the reference number.all documentation, folder packs and service history, all the cars are emptied of any personal info and if they come
with a V5 the owner details are blacked out.
Master Of Puppets said:
Have a look at the salvage auction yards, there are wheelie bins dotted all around the yards into which goes
all documentation, folder packs and service history, all the cars are emptied of any personal info and if they come
with a V5 the owner details are blacked out.
Surprised any company would do that, especially any of the big salvage yards. You cannot simply bin documents. You need to shred or if you are ghetto, burn them. I am a tiny company and pay for documents to be shredded.all documentation, folder packs and service history, all the cars are emptied of any personal info and if they come
with a V5 the owner details are blacked out.
_Hoppers said:
Partly. My 320d has had additional oil changes over the 'standard' 18k intervals but BMW don't want to put those on the digital service record! So anyone buying my car in the future can see it's had the minimum service requirements undertaken but the value (in terms of possible increased reliability) of the additional changes has been lost.
I recently took a chance and bought a C class estate with intergalactic mileage very very cheap from BCA. It said it had no history, which would have had quite a some effect on the value. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find a honking great pike of paperwork in the glovebox - full history, two services a year. Very pleased _Hoppers said:
Partly. My 320d has had additional oil changes over the 'standard' 18k intervals but BMW don't want to put those on the digital service record! So anyone buying my car in the future can see it's had the minimum service requirements undertaken but the value (in terms of possible increased reliability) of the additional changes has been lost.
I recently took a chance and bought a C class estate with intergalactic mileage very very cheap from BCA. It said it had no history, which would have had quite a some effect on the value. I was quite pleasantly surprised to find a honking great pike of paperwork in the glovebox - full history, two services a year. Very pleased When I sold at wbac they said they didn’t want the paperwork, just the service book.
The last car I bought from a dealer came from an auction and had no paperwork. Dealers wouldn’t give me copies (citing gdpr), but I got in touch with the previous owner who got copies and sent them to me.
So I suspect it might be becoming common now for paperwork to get binned when going through these channels, because GDPR (rightly or wrongly).
The last car I bought from a dealer came from an auction and had no paperwork. Dealers wouldn’t give me copies (citing gdpr), but I got in touch with the previous owner who got copies and sent them to me.
So I suspect it might be becoming common now for paperwork to get binned when going through these channels, because GDPR (rightly or wrongly).
When I traded in my last car I gave the salesman every service record & every invoice for my 6 years of ownership. All had my name & address ripped off. As I drove away in the replacement car I saw the salesman dump the lot in his waste paper bin.
On a visit to the dealer 3 months later the car I had traded on was in the carpark at the rear of the building & I learnt one of the. mechanics had bought it. I asked him when & he said he had bought it the day I traded it in. Had the salesman given him all the paperwork? - No!
On a visit to the dealer 3 months later the car I had traded on was in the carpark at the rear of the building & I learnt one of the. mechanics had bought it. I asked him when & he said he had bought it the day I traded it in. Had the salesman given him all the paperwork? - No!
Glosphil said:
When I traded in my last car I gave the salesman every service record & every invoice for my 6 years of ownership. All had my name & address ripped off. As I drove away in the replacement car I saw the salesman dump the lot in his waste paper bin.
I’m going back years and a salesman did that in front of me - the only thing he kept was the current MOT cert.The digital records are a nightmare - VWs app was ridiculous for wrong info with VW and the dealer blaming each other. They canned it while we owned the car and then pxing at a Skoda dealer they said some services were missing from the VW Group system. Then had a row when taking the Skoda for its second service as the service record shows just an oil change at 12mths but the dealer was adamant it had a major service so only needed an oil change this time.
A few years ago I sold my TVR to a main (non-TVR) dealer as they were offering well above the TVR indys.
No hard feelings with the TVR guys - they didn't have the spare cash from a household brand name to offer that much, and I needed the money for a house deposit.
Anyway, I had prepared the car with all of the paperwork - the previous owners had done so too, so every single piece of paperwork outside of fuel bills was in this folder.
When I dropped the car off to the dealership, I said here's the paperwork. Section 1 is the original build stuff, section 2 is the service history, section 3 is the MOTs, etc.
The car went to auction and I saw it for sale about 6 months later, for £2,000 less than I'd part exchanged it for. The description also said that there was no service history.
I never found out where that TVR went, but I'm hoping it's in good hands.
No hard feelings with the TVR guys - they didn't have the spare cash from a household brand name to offer that much, and I needed the money for a house deposit.
Anyway, I had prepared the car with all of the paperwork - the previous owners had done so too, so every single piece of paperwork outside of fuel bills was in this folder.
When I dropped the car off to the dealership, I said here's the paperwork. Section 1 is the original build stuff, section 2 is the service history, section 3 is the MOTs, etc.
The car went to auction and I saw it for sale about 6 months later, for £2,000 less than I'd part exchanged it for. The description also said that there was no service history.
I never found out where that TVR went, but I'm hoping it's in good hands.
The issue is GDPR. If the paperwork is left in the car there’s a temptation by a new owner to contact the previous owner to discuss issues, work done etc. There in lies the problem. The owner could report the selling dealer for a GDPR breach.
I called an owner a couple of years ago hoping to get info on a car. He was livid and demanded to know where I’d got his info from. I politely said goodbye and hung up.
I called an owner a couple of years ago hoping to get info on a car. He was livid and demanded to know where I’d got his info from. I politely said goodbye and hung up.
Main problem with digital records is that only authorised dealers can put data in them (in the case of my Merc at least) so useless if you use independents as the car will not have a complete history without bills.
There is no onboard record so you have to log in to a site which is a faff.
There is no onboard record so you have to log in to a site which is a faff.
Robertb said:
Main problem with digital records is that only authorised dealers can put data in them (in the case of my Merc at least) so useless if you use independents as the car will not have a complete history without bills.
There is no onboard record so you have to log in to a site which is a faff.
Some independent garages can pay to access the databases of some manufacturers so they can update service records. Tends to be the marque specialists that buy and use lots of OEM parts from the manufacturer.There is no onboard record so you have to log in to a site which is a faff.
In the past I've left a card with my number in the handbook folder: "
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff