Interestingly, at least in the UK, Jaguar have started putting service data online for cars built from June '13 onwards. I assume this is only accessible to the owner, but at least there is a repository which should, in theory, be available to subsequent owners. I don't know what level of detail would be available, and it obviously won't show any non-dealer work that gets done, but better than nothing.

I actually wrote to the previous owner of my car (name & address shown on the registration docs.) to ask if he'd ever experienced any issues or had any out-of-the-ordinary warranty work done. He kindly replied by email and told me the car has been hassle-free, which was good to know. Of course, I'd already bought it, but it might have highlighted areas to watch closely during the remaining warranty.

 

Contacting the previous owners was a smart idea.

 

Interesting that you mention brake fluid. That seems to be one of those things that nobody actually does, but it is probably a good idea to do it to keep moisture out of your brake system. I'm behind on the brake fluid changing on all three of our cars!

 

The two year interval is a carry-over from the 1950's. I strongly believe it's no longer appropriate but get beat up each time the subject comes up.

 

Slightly off-topic but I read where many dealers (of any/all brands) never realized the service records were going to CarFax.

In the USA there are two primary vendors for dealer computer systems/operating systems/software, Reynolds and Reynolds and ADP. ADP, apparently, automatically sent dealer service records to Carfax unless the dealer actively "opted out" when contracts were signed or re-upped. It was apparently something that ADP just sorta "slipped in" and often made no mention of. They'd go into dealer systems (remotely, of course) and grab the info every week. Some of the dealers were very unhappy.

All the dealers I ever worked for were on Reynolds and Reynolds and the subject never came up and service records were never reported. I think the agreement was exclusively between ADP and Carfax.

Things may have changed in the last few years; I dunno.








On Reynolds systems (I'm sure other systems as well) the dealer can customize how long service history for any VIN is kept. You had "summary history" and "detail history" and could set different parameters for each and tie it in with how much activity a VIN has.


Cheers
DD

 

After I bought my 2009 XKR in May 2013, I took it to the dealer within a month for an oil change, filter and multi check inspection.

Then about 2 weeks later I looked at the CarFax and sure enough the vehicle registration, and service for the oil change from the Jaguar dealer showed up on the Carfax report. So it appears that Doug above is correct, on the reporting and can only assume the Jag dealer must be linked up with ADP (Automatic Data Processing).