I read on this forum all of the time; don't buy a car without a service history, but don't buy these cars if you can't work on them. What do people likrpe myself who work on their own cars cinsider a service histor so someday somebody, like say my Grandson may get some return on my labor. I bought my 2004 Xk8 3 years ago, have refurbed the rear end, changed all the coolant stuff, changed all the fluids, totally detailed the bottom, and replaced every wear item. I started a binder the day I got her and took pictures and kept part receipts. I consider myself a car guy; as my Dad was a mechanic and when I was 8 he gave me a gasoline lawn mower engine on a board for a birthday present which I took apart and put back together succesfully many times. I have worked in all phases of the auto industry for 40 years so seeing a car in 2000 pieces is not particularily scary. So how do you reconcile that with only buying a car with a complete service history?

 

Ideally I like to see a full packet of service receipts from the dealer from the time it left the showroom to the day I buy it. Realistic on a 12-20 year old car? Not really, and none of the three I own came with that much. Most of these cars were serviced at the dealer in their earlier years, so records from then are not as important to me as I can only assume a person buying a $70,000+ car can afford to maintain it. It is the later years and higher mileage logs I like to see, when parts start to wear and break.

I am generally happy to buy a Jaguar with a log of what was done at any given date/mileage. Receipts are nice to corroborate what was done, but in my eyes not completely neccessary if a detailed log was written as to what was replaced/repaired. Personally I write down the date and mileage of the repair, and the part, brand and number next to it. I’ll try to stuff the receipt in there with it, but I don’t always find it necessary. I like to see if someone used OEM parts or cheaped out on generics, so I am not surprised if said part fails prematurely after I buy it. I do like to see who it was maintained by-the owner or an indy. If by an owner I will ask more questions before purchasing to make sure they know something about the specific vehicle maintenence.

The ultimate gauge to how well a car was taken care of is visually, in my opinion. I take logs of repairs with a grain of salt if the vehicle doesn’t match what I think it should look/drive like with said repairs. Routine maintenance will only go so far if the vehicle has had an exceptionally rough life.

I am one who stresses the importance of buying a Jaguar with service records. But I am also a bit looser when it comes down to purchasing one with a complete A-Z service history. I also perform my own maintenance and repairs on my cars so if something breaks, I don’t stress it too much as I am not paying a premium for repairs. I know there are many that do pay for repairs, and to those I doubly stress the importance of buying with a full history, as they will pay the difference in a neglected vehicle much quicker than a DIY’er who is only paying for parts.

Good topic for discussion, I’m curious to hear other’s opinions as well.

 

Service history. On mine I have a full book of dealer stamped service records.

On top of that I have every receipt for every item I have bought for the car as well as full receipts for work done by independents.

Each individual receipt is in its own plastic sleeve and those sleeves are kept in a binder. I must have a good 60+ or so. Firm proof of work done and parts bought.

To cap it all off I have kept a record of all work done, with photos on a Jaguar forum.

To see the photos on the forum you will need the Photobucket fix so please
click on this link Photobucket Fix.

Then for the actual forum http://www.jaguarforum.com/showthread.php?t=75123&

I do not think you can get a better service record than that.

 

Prior to purchasing any pre-owned vehicle I am interested in, I use the associated Carfax to track where that particular vehicle lived and whether or not it moved around. I then use Google to locate and call every dealership in the surrounding area and ask for the service manager. When I reach him/her, I politely greet them, tell them where I live and explain why I am calling, then provide the VIN and ask for all service records they have on the vehicle. I do not expect them to provide me with the actual documents (although some are kind enough to do so), but I do ask them to take the time to talk me through the date, mileage, reason, and result of every service their records show for the vehicle in question. Once I obtain this information, I write each dealership's service history up as a separate document and store it in the manila folder I create for the vehicle. I know from many years of doing this to allow for at least one full business day to fully obtain this information depending upon service managers' availability and how many different dealerships I have to contact....

If I purchase the vehicle, I keep records of every penny I spend on it, from what vendor, what part number, for what reason, when, and at what mileage. I also include notes of what I did, what tips I may have learned while doing the repair, and where I may have found any supporting documentation that assisted me. This information goes into the vehicle's manila folder chronologically, newest on top. My 2005 S-Type was purchased in December 2008 - its manila folder is currently 1.5 inches thick. My wife's 2006 XK8 was purchased in February 2012 - its manila folder is currently 1.25 inches thick.

Assembling these manila folders in this meticulous order helps me maintain our vehicles properly and allows me to quickly find and reference a long-ago repair if I need to. And most importantly, these manila folders become the star of the show in allowing me to sell our vehicles to the next buyer quickly and for top dollar. The folks who have purchased our vehicles during the last twenty years or so are always stunned at the amount, order, and detail of my information that automatically comes with the vehicle....

 

I love seeing a folder full of invoices and receipts when buying a used car. I don't care if they're 'meticulous records'.....so long as they're there. In 3 minutes of perusing I can get a feel for how well a car has been maintained.

And, if an older car, it has to be more than just oil-and-filter changes. Doing the bare minimum year after year doesn't suggest that the seller was truly concerned about proper upkeep.

If it's a specialty car like a Jag I like seeing evidence of "enthusiast maintained". Lots of TLC lavished on the car....probably a lot more than was actually needed.

If I see repairs for smaller items that most owners would shrug off as unnecessary it leaves me with the impression that the seller really cared about keeping *everything* in good order.

(I'm reminded of a family member who boasts about her Toyota "never needing any repairs". Couldn't be further from the truth. I've driven it, many times. It needs lots of repairs. She simply doesn't have them done because they're not absolutely essential. But, by god, she DOES have the oil changed religiously!)

Cheers
DD

 

In addition to items detailed in frankc's post, I contact:

1. DVLA (registration agency) for details of first registration and all previous owners.
2. DVSA for previous MoT (annual test) history
3. Jaguar Dealer for specification and warranty history
4. previous owners - for recollections etc

After collecting all this information, I then write a summary of the vehicle history from leaving the factory and throughout my ownership.

My last XK is presently being advertised for sale by a London dealer. One of the photos on their website is of my summary:



There's also a fat file of invoices to accompany this.

The buyer is unlikely ever to find a more comprehensive record of a used Jaguar.

Graham

 

If I had been smart, I would have turned tail and ran after seeing the history of my Jaguar. It read like an episode (season !) of the TV show, Unsolved Mysteries.

But the owner found a "greater fool." That is someone who thought he was smarter than the last guy. HA ! We'll soon see if I'm a "greater fool" or a smart guy. Certainly, I've been that greater fool, but I'm hoping to nudge the needle toward the other extreme.

 

Better a record of bad news than no record at all.

The youngest XK8/XKR is now approaching thirteen years old and the oldest are nearing twenty two years old. It will be a very rare example that has had no faults or doesn't still have some.

Good luck with the needle nudging.

Graham

 

You've touched on a pet peeve of mine. Low or even NO maintenance required is a major selling point of modern cars. The Marketing Department of every major manufacturer has stretched the Engineering Department's recommendations so that they can say no maintenance required until its changed hands enough to no longer have any impact on their ability to sell new or lease return cars. Usually there's little recommended but oil changes and tire rotations till 100K miles.

Sadly, most people today buy into the Marketing Department's hype. Typically the only thing besides engine oil that the "book" says to change before 100K miles is brake fluid. People don't realize just how critical that is because many types of brake fluid are hydrophilic and yes, the system is sealed, but its designed to keep the fluid in, not so much to keep water out.

Brake master cylinders and calipers I typically have to throw away because they are too far gone to repair. If I can't get a new one, I'll have to bore and sleeve it. The book usually say's every 2 to 3 years and doesn't tie to mileage. Thus nobody ever has their brake fluid flushed anymore. The dealer might recommend it when they are in for an oil change, but they'll decline and say they'll do it the next time because they are in a hurry. The next time, they've forgotten and are in a hurry too. With oil change intervals ever increasing, by the next time, they've traded it in.

Another thing I NEVER see anymore on a used car is the maintenance book in the glove box filled out. When you go to the dealer for repairs, and some oil change chains, the records are kept in a database in the cloud somewhere. Then you try to get the records and half the time, they won't give it to you citing privacy or some ****. I just tell the seller no records, no sale.

On my own cars, I keep receipts for parts (not so much for fluids because I buy in bulk for several cars at a time). But I write down in the log every mechanical repair and service. If I replace a piece of trim or something cosmetic I don't worry too much about that as who cares if it was replaced, just that it obviously looks good.