I went to see a Fabia advertised as FSSH. However, the service book showed that it had missed a service at 20k miles. The owner had done a service at 11k then at 34k (although only a year apart). I think he had not understood that it was 12k miles or one year, whichever is the sooner.

How much of a worry is this? Should I 'walk away'? How much do you think this reduces the value of a car - 5%?

Thanks

James

Avoid.

Hmmm...

Missing a service is not a good thing. However, if a service is missed, there is usually a reason for it. It is usually the case where if someone misses a service and he knows it he 'services' the car himself by refilling it with oil without changing the filters, probably just having the cleaned, like the air filter.

I suggest you get the car checked first by a dealer. Let him know you are interested but you need to have it checked first before you make a decision.

The value cannot reduce because of a missed service..you CAN however bargain for it.

Get it checked dude, or tell him to get it checked and go with him. I wouldn't risk it.

23k miles is a lot in one year and if it had no service in that time how else was it mistreated? Was the oil ever changed in that year (or even topped up?) The owner might be the sort who saves money by thrashing a car and sells it on as soon as the problems start to show.

If it's a dealer selling it you can negotiate a guarantee from them, it it's a private sale I'd walk away, quickly...

Sal

Walk.

I went to see a Fabia advertised as FSSH. However, the service book showed that it had missed a service at 20k miles. The owner had done a service at 11k then at 34k (although only a year apart).

Did it actually miss the service, or just the stamp? Mine's missing a couple of stamps because the dozy technicians sometimes struggle to find it hidden away there on top of everything in the glove box...

Other alternative is possibly that the owner received a ridiculous quote for it from a dealer, so changed the oil, etc. themselves or got an independent to do it.

If the car's in good nick, personally I wouldn't be too bothered about a missing stamp.

Rob.

The (transferable) new car warranty - if any is left - will have been invalidated by the missed service.

I'm guessing that it's a car that is only just over 3 years old? (no warrenty left?) Personally I'd look for another car unless the dealer can prove in writing that the car does indeed have SFSH. If not there are pleanty more cars out there to be had

I went to see a Fabia advertised as FSSH. However' date=' the service book showed that it had missed a service at 20k miles. The owner had done a service at 11k then at 34k (although only a year apart). I think he had not understood that it was 12k miles or one year, [u']whichever is the sooner[/u].

How much of a worry is this? Should I 'walk away'? How much do you think this reduces the value of a car - 5%?

Try thinking about it another way - suppose you're trying to sell it on in a year or so's time. Someone turns up very interested but won't entertain it because it has an incomplete service history...

I'd have thought there were other examples around WITH service history to obviate going to this one?

Its a buyers market, go find another one with all the stamps, if in doubt leave it.

Mine's missing a couple of stamps because the dozy technicians sometimes struggle to find it hidden away there on top of everything in the glove box...

Sounds like it would be a good idea then to take the service book out if your car is going in for work and leave it somehwere obvious. Some techies dont like routing through peoples stuff, it upsets some customers and in some cars its down right dangerous.

Depends how cheap it is.....

Thanks for the (mixed) advice. It's a 51 plate so out of warranty. It's a private sale but I have inspected and driven it already. Everything seems kosher and this was the only sticking point - apart from that it appears immaculate. It is cheap at

My 51 plate cost me

Look elsewhere

Sounds like it would be a good idea then to take the service book out if your car is going in for work and leave it somehwere obvious. Some techies dont like routing through peoples stuff, it upsets some customers and in some cars its down right dangerous.

A fair point, but:

a) All the non-dozy techies manage to open the glovebox and spot it easily enough.

The dozy techie actually claimed to have looked for it, so I don't think he was shy about routing through the car. Nor indeed playing about with the stereo...

Rob.

Look elsewhere

I agree. I took a car dealer's 'word' for it regarding missing service stamps once - never again...

(Was a dealer at a well-known national chain too - bar steward - so imagine the tricks a private individual might try to pull.)

According to Parkers what he is asking for the car is about right so you can always negotiate him down about the missing service and see what he's willing to go with. How long are you planning on keeping the car? 3 years or more, and it's probably not going to be worth anything so having a full service history will not make a much difference then. Any less and you might want to think about the impact....

If you want peace of mind over the state of the car, get a local friendly mechanic/AA/RAC to give the car a once over.....

Chris

I remember an occasion when a dealer getting out his stamp to stamp up the service they had just done before handing over a car to me and jokingly saying "how much service history would you like, then sir? ", so the moral is, the stamp is not worth the paper it's stamped on, really.