hello-
If there is a someone out there that works at a dealer, could they do a VIN check for me? I called the dealer where the car was serviced and the said they couldn't help me. I also called Jaguar North America and all they would tell me was that the car had no recalls. They said all records associated with the VIN were private and confidential, which seems ridiculous to me. I would really like to see a service history if possible, as the records with the car were sketchy.

 

Service records are private and confidential. They contain previous owner's personal information and the dealer is not allowed to pass that information on to any third party except the manufacturer without the expressed written permission of the previous owner. A dealer can pull a warranty claim history without disclosing the previous owner but then that can put the dealer in a liable position so they generally will have a policy of not doing that. Having been a service director for a large automotive group, I can tell you that any reputable dealer is not going to violate this privacy act.

What exactly were you looking for?

 

Thanks for the reply-

I don't mean to offend anyone by asking, and what you say makes sense to a degree, but as I am the owner now I don't see how the delership telling me over the phone if any major work has been done violates anyone's privacy. I just wanted to know whether or not the major things like the timing chain tensioners have been repaired/replaced. Also just how well maintained it has been. I know that It was serviced by two dealers, Darien Jaguar, where it was purchased, and then by Denoyer Jaguar, the Kalamazoo dealership where it lived for a couple years. It was inspected and put out for sale by Jaguar of Grand Rapids, who sold it at auction to the dealer I bought it from, which gives me some confidence, as well as the fact that it is in almost flawless condition, but I have only ever bought cars from private first owners before, and it makes me nervous to have so few records. I have the original owner's name, phone, and adress from the warrenty card. Do you mean that if I wrote to him and got permission, the records could be relesed?

 

The dealers that serviced it are going to be your best bet. Considering you already know the name of the original owner, there is no reason that they shouldn't be able to look up and tell you what kind of work has been done to the car. That doesn't violate anyones privacy. They just don't want spend the time. I have done this before with other vehicles and have never had an issue getting the info. If it were me, I would go there in person, if possible, and tell them you want the cars service history (nothing to do with the owners...who's privacy would that violate?!?) Good Luck.

 

Well I suppose you could write the original owner and get permission. The dealer could potentially get in trouble because they should have not passed on the warranty card with that information on it. Would you want your personal information passed on to a potential stranger who buys a car you previously traded in?

Some dealer's management systems can pull up service records performed at their location without revealing the previous owner's personal info. Most can not. If a dealer is willing to print copies then black out the information that's another way, but that's a big if.

This issue became real sensitive when a stalker purposely bought a vehicle previously owned by a celebrity and used VIN information provided by a dealer to track her down and kill her.