Buying without a service history

[Marsim]

Hi
I’ve just put a deposit on a T6.1 Kombi from a main VW dealer, however just learned there’s no service history with it, or not one that was passed onto them.
The dealer has put it through it’s 1st Mot, and because there’s no service history they’ll do a full service.
The van’s a 150bhp manual with 47k miles and in vgc with 1 previous owner.
I’m looking at taking out their 2 year extended warranty + services for £800.

This will be my first van and not familiar with servicing etc., I will push them to contact the previous owner to get the history but obviously no service history raises many alarms. I’m wondering if I should walk away if its not found or available.

Has anyone here any views?

Thanks
Simon
Ps Happy New Year

 

[TrevorK]

I’m looking at taking out their 2 year extended warranty + services for £800

Do you mean this - Volkswagen All-In Service Plan & Warranty | VW Vans

Although not perfect it should give peace on mind.

 

[DaveD]

Hi
I’ve just put a deposit on a T6.1 Kombi from a main VW dealer, however just learned there’s no service history with it, or not one that was passed onto them.
The dealer has put it through it’s 1st Mot, and because there’s no service history they’ll do a full service.
The van’s a 150bhp manual with 47k miles and in vgc with 1 previous owner.
I’m looking at taking out their 2 year extended warranty + services for £800.

This will be my first van and not familiar with servicing etc., I will push them to contact the previous owner to get the history but obviously no service history raises many alarms. I’m wondering if I should walk away if its not found or available.

Has anyone here any views?

Thanks
Simon
Ps Happy New Year

A service history is obviously important because you want to know that it was serviced on schedule, but it does more than that, it is good corroboration of the mileage.
You say that it has just had its first MOT, so the government MOT database doesn't help you to ascertain its true mileage, you rely largely on service history to do that.
There are a lot of vehicles out there that have had their odometers "adjusted", be careful that you don't buy one.
I'd be very suspicious of a van that is roughly 3 years old, with fairly low mileage and no service history.

 

[Marsim]

Do you mean this - Volkswagen All-In Service Plan & Warranty | VW Vans

Although not perfect it should give peace on mind.

Do you mean this - Volkswagen All-In Service Plan & Warranty | VW Vans

Although not perfect it should give peace on mind.

Hi David
Yes it’s their All-in plan.

Your ‘although not perfect’ implies you’ve used it or got it, what’s your experience?

Depending on whether specialist tools were needed I’d planned on servicing myself but as you say it offers some peace of mind, but then it’s only 3 years old so should be ok anyway!!
Rgds Simon

 

[jimc91]

You could buy a van with a FSH and it still goes wrong, 47000 seems reasonable for 3 years - 15600 a year, if its been clocked then I would expect to see a warn steering wheel, seat, foot pedals etc. I think the all in extended warranty should give you peace of mind and the full service from VW is a good start. Remember there are people on here who service there own vans very diligently but this wouldn't count as an independent service. I would only be concerned if the van still has its original oil as that should have been changed by 18600 miles or 2 years. So by now should have had at least 2 oil changes, not sure how you would find out but I would ask if the previous owner bought it new from the same VW dealer

 

[Droneshadow]

It could have an ‘electronic service record’ with a dealership somewhere, if it could be traced. Is there any paperwork available with the previous owners details, anything in the book pack etc, if so they could be contacted and asked about service history.
As said by others above, without service history the mot will be the first official record of mileage, it could easily have been clocked just before it was mot’d, a good look at the steering wheel, pedals, gearknob etc May reveal more wear and tear than 47k worth of use.
Also I believe plugging a Carista box in would give mileage readings, there’s a big post about that on here, worth buying one anyway if you’re set on a T6 etc.
Some investigative work required, or just walk away. It’s a buyers market at the mo, traditionally slow this time of year and even more so with the current economic climate. There are lots of good vans out there.
Good luck whichever way you choose.

 

[DaveD]

It could have an ‘electronic service record’ with a dealership somewhere

That was my first thought too, but he's buying from a main VW dealer so they'd have access to that if it existed.

 

[Droneshadow]

Just adding to that, surely any VW dealership could put the reg or vin number into the system and pull up the service history, if any.
They will all be linked so any main dealer services should show up.

 

[Ayjay]

I might have missed something here but is it being sold as 'VW Approved' with a 12 month VW warranty to which you are adding a further two years? If that's the case, I don't think it can be the 'All In Plan for the extra 2 years as I thought that you couldn't buy that while another warranty is live. If it's being sold without an initial warranty (ie. NOT as VW approved) then I would be wondering why not. I might be wrong on this as well but I thought that a condition of buying the 'All In Plan' was that the van had to have been serviced according to VW schedules up to the point that you buy it (the All In that is). It follows that if you can't provide evidence a a full service history, any claims might be rejected.

There's always another one around the corner and it's a lot of money to be spending on something with even the smallest question mark on it.

 

[Mooncat]

For the sake of undoing a few spring clips you can remove the air filter to see how clean it is and the manufacturing date on it. Assuming it is newer than the van you then know it's had at least one service. The fuel filter and oil filter will also have date codes on them - obviously the oil filter is just the element so you'll not see that until the service is done.

That said, if it was my van it would have had four services as a minimum at 47k. Even one of the well known oil blenders has publicly recommended to change long life oil at no more than 10k if possible. Without knowing the service history I'd be walking away from that particular van.

 

[Chippie1]

I’m finding hard to believe that a vw main dealer would be willing to buy and sale a van with no service history at that sort of mileage

 

[RobertO2023]

Buying a van without service history from a main VW Dealer is very unusual. Unless you can verify that the servicing has been done I’d be walking away. Any vehicle without proof of service history is a potential ticking time bomb and should be reflected in market value.
As mentioned above warranties require proof of correct servicing ( not necessarily by a main dealer ) otherwise the underwriters are left wide open to all sorts of claims.

 

[Mocko1962]

Buying a van without service history from a main VW Dealer is very unusual. Unless you can verify that the servicing has been done I’d be walking away. Any vehicle without proof of service history is a potential ticking time bomb and should be reflected in market value.
As mentioned above warranties require proof of correct servicing ( not necessarily by a main dealer ) otherwise the underwriters are left wide open to all sorts of claims.

I’d second that

 

[JOG]

A VW-approved yet no service history….sounds like a sparkly unicorn! Challenge VW to back up their warranty offer…..you’d want three years! They need to provide you with a written guarantee that no warranty claim will be voided due to “no evidence of service”

 

[RobertO2023]

Bob hope and no hope! VW manufacturers warranty will not entertain anything but following the service schedule - no exceptions.

 

[Phil_j89]

A VW-approved yet no service history….sounds like a sparkly unicorn! Challenge VW to back up their warranty offer…..you’d want three years! They need to provide you with a written guarantee that no warranty claim will be voided due to “no evidence of service”

He hasn't said it's a vw approved vehicle, unless I've missed that somewhere.
It may be a Vw passenger car dealer, which is why there would be no manufacturer extended warranty, so they can have the 'all-in' as said in the original post.

Would also make sense as to why they can't check the service history 'online' as they wouldn't be able to access VWCV database if they are a passenger car dealer.

 

[Marsim]

Many thanks to all the replies, very helpful thanks.

All sorted now and I've now done the deal - I collect my van in early Jan.
Been pondering this for far too long, but I'm now the proud owner of 2020 Kombi 150 Highline and can get on with my life.

Re service history; the VW dealer received the records today from the previous owner. They'd serviced it at 19,000 (shown as oil & filter), another at 30,000 (shown as oil, air & fuel - assume this was a major?), and a final one before being sold to VW at 46,000 (shown as oil & filter).
To add to the above, and because VW hadn't at the time got the service history, I insisted they gave it a full service before I bought it. This has now been done (gave it a major service), so overall a good result I think.

Regarding warranty; it was only because I wasn't sure about its service history that I'd planned on taking out VW's 'All in extend warranty plan' - this also includes 2 annual services, mots & recovery, however thanks to all your above comments I quizzed them further about VW approved vehicles and warranties - turns out the 12 months warranty is available.....and also includes 2 annual service - free of charge!!!
I've gone with that and can think about the All in Plan at a later date (although prefer to do my own servicing where possible). In fairness I think the reason the dealer didn't dig deeper into the 12 month warranty was because we'd concentrated on including the 'All in plan' into the deal, mainly to overcome, or help sweeten, the service history issue. At the time the sales guy wasn't aware that 12 month warranty also included two annual services.

On a final note: because my funds are tied up and not instantly available, I took out VW finance until early Jan when funds will be cleared. Once cleared I'll pay off the finance in full - there's no penalty for doing this, apart from a £10 admin fee. There's no interest charges as long as I settle in full before the end of Jan.
Added to that VW give customers a £250 cash back incentive when taking out finance - £240 in pocket after admin fees - I'll go with that.

Cheers
Simon

 

[Bigsidavies]

He hasn't said it's a vw approved vehicle, unless I've missed that somewhere.
It may be a Vw passenger car dealer, which is why there would be no manufacturer extended warranty, so they can have the 'all-in' as said in the original post.

Would also make sense as to why they can't check the service history 'online' as they wouldn't be able to access VWCV database if they are a passenger car dealer.

My VW indi garage (primarily cars) can access and update the VW and Skoda dealer service database so I’d be surprised if a Main Dealer can’t, even if they are car not van.

 

[Phil_j89]

My VW indi garage (primarily cars) can access and update the VW and Skoda dealer service database so I’d be surprised if a Main Dealer can’t, even if they are car not van.

You can't, for a fact. A dealer can only access their respective brand.

Your independent will pay a certain amount to access each specific brands database.

 

[Bigsidavies]

You can't, for a fact. A dealer can only access their respective brand.

Your independent will pay a certain amount to access each specific brands database.

Thanks for explaining that.
Seams a bit bizarre that a dealership within the same brand can’t access service data across their linked brands but a random guy down the road can see it all. But a lot of VW makes no sense.