Went to look at a 2001 Octy Elegance for my father-in-law last week. The car was being sold by a non-Skoda dealer in the West of Scotland, and was immaculate in every sense, but there as something not quite right about it, something which I couldn't quite put my finger on.

The dealer was extremely keen to point out the extensive Skoda service history book, the last service having been carried out by a Skoda dealership in Paisley in March 2005.

Before my father-in-law made a decision on whether to buy this car, I contacted Skoda Customer Services regarding this service history. They were able to tell me that the Skoda dealer who had apparently stamped the service book went out of business in September 2004, and so could never have carried out the March 2005 service. However as the car was out of the 3-year warranty and was not being sold by a Skoda dealer, I was told that they were not interested in taking the matter further. A quick call to trading standards proved equally fruitless, they were not interested either.

Confronting the dealer with this information provoked a change of attitude from him, where it was made plainly obvious that we were no longer welcome on his premises, so we then left.

Having since made further enquiries about this, it woud appear that this practice of using either fake or 'dodgy' service stamps is quite common amongst 'non-franchise' dealers and traders, as this can result in a car fetching a higher selling price.

I am interested to know if anyone else has experienced this practice? Also, how many people actually check out a car's service history prior to purchasing?

Regards

Gordon

thats terrible, they should not be able to do that surely its fraud?

Glad you discovered it out before buying it. Personally I dont often buy cars over a year old and normally not from non franchised dealers anyway. But will bear it in mind just in case.

I can see why Trading Standards wouldn't act, as you can't prove that the dealer put the fake stamps in the book. For all we know, the dealer bought it with the fake stamps there.

Their keenness to kick you off the premises doesn't exactly support their trustworthiness, though - an honest dealer would show that THEY were upset and offer you a discounted price or whatever, rather than kicking you out so that they can mug another punter.

Shame the rouge garages program is not still on tv ;-)

Seen not only dodgy stamps but also missleading ones where old dealers keep the same kind of stamp just omit the Skoda logo.

Stamps in book dont really mean alot, you need the invoice to back it up.

Whereabouts did you buy that car? (Dealer/Location)

The Skoda dealer in Paisley did definatly go out of business before March as it was taken over by Arnold Clark and is now Seat IIRC.

As for trading standards, contact them and speak to them. That is definatly mis-representation and is no better than clocking the car.

Name and shame them!

It's a shame but there are so many garages and individuals doing this - a colleague gets his car serviced by a mate of his dads who scanned and copied a VW stamp which then goes in the service book - I think this is shocking practice and would report the guy in a second if I knew who he was.

For those of you with a couple of gaps in your service history, I find a suitable stamp can be fabricated using a sharp knife and half a potato...(CBBC has it's uses after all !)

The manufacturers need to have a central database for their dealers to record services against but for most its down to individual dealers to hold the records.

So all you can do is phone each dealer if several have been used. If they've gone belly up or out of warranty, I can understand why the manufacturer /importer washes their hands to a certain extent.

i used to have a mazda 323, it was a high mileage ex lease car, but had a full service history. when i took it to my locl mazda garage, they just typed in the registration, and they could tell exactly which dealer had done what to it when!.....right back to which dealer ordered the car and PDI'd it!

i have to admit i thought all dealers ran a similar system, but i could be wrong.

yeah i was sitting reading this thinking there isnt a skoda dealership in paisley.

what garage is it that has the car

That was lucky you spotted that really. I guess it goes to show how easy it is for people to be conned even if they are careful.

I allways keep the recipets for the services as I think the stamping system is so open to abuse

I would just like to confirm the Skoda do not keep any records and it is just left to the dealers.

I recently bought a Fabia for the wife as a run-about, the dealer insisted it had a service history which he had seen, but it had not been brought in with the car (as it was a part-ex) and I would need to contact the previous owner.

The previous owner has not returned any calls, so I went digging, because like others here I would have assumed that the manufacturer would keep at least the scheduled services as this relates directly to the manufacturuers warranty, but then don't:(

The dealership in Hull where the car was bought and presumably serviced has been sold, but, they didn't hand any service data to the new franchise.

So no means to verify any history for any skoda in the humberside area!!

This REALLY supprises and disappoints me. How will skoda know what is genuine? or is it going to be a case all warranties void because the dealer closed!:eek:

This thread is 3 yrs old mate......but thanks anyway.

My service stamp isnt stamped and ?I dont have that many receipts either.

I do have a record of what has been done to it though.

On a 10yr old car I doubt people will be that picky unless they are car enthusiasts.

a vauxhall garage near to me did this stamped a book out for the first 4 services it claimed were done by them. each stamp was same colour ink, each section for mileage was written in the same colour ink and in the same handwritting, the last owner also lived near maidenhead so i couldnt see why they would come 40 miles for a service when maidenhead and reading both have vauxhall dealers. i did point this out and was told there was no problem, but i felt cheated by it.

SMS, maybe the owner worked near your local garage? There's a garage 2 minutes walk from me, but I rarely use it, because there's another one much nearer work, and easier to arrange a lift the rest of the way in from.

but the point was the handwritten bit in the service book for each service was in the same ink, same handwriting and the garage was a big dealership always getting new service staff. the book was brand spanking new with not even a mark or a spec on it and normally the pages/ink fade a bit with time (age even). coinsidence? think not!!

There is one explanation, but this would be backed up by invoices.

We have customers that forget to bring in their service books with them. A few services go by and then they remember to bring it in. As we have it on our system that we did the service I update the book thus having multiple services stamped at the same time with the same pen etc.

Alternatively, whilst any tech might be assigned the service for a specific vehicle, and they come and go, the service manager runs a system where the tech does the job, but he signs it off, and he has a marked preference for a specific type of pen?

I was thinking about this thread when washing my car and prob will contradict what I said previously

If the dealer says full service history then it shouldnt matter the age of the car etc.

Lummox is right in saying some people forget to bring the book in, but as the services are usually on a dealers database when the book is brought in then this can be stamped off.

Although this can go the other way where a dealer loses the service book.

yeah could have lost the book, but out of all the service books ive had in the past you can see where the ink has faded on say the first service to the last service.

Mine hasn't faded. Although i just note in the book when it gets serviced now.

Neither has mine. Of course, between services it stays closed and in a "dark place" (the glovebox).