umesh 336 Posted February 22, 2014 How much difference do YOU put on a value of a car with & without service history? Customer came in last week to look at an Audi A3, Liked it didn’t have time to test drive and didn’t come in the car they wished to Part exchange BUT wanted the Audi, so they put a deposit on subject to test drive and me inspecting their car today ( One week from putting deposit on it) price for their car I had said between £5000 -£5500 ! Happy with those figures ! They’ve just been in want my car...but their car is worth the £5000 which they would accept, However the FSH – Mercedes B Class- has no service book – they have not removed it from the car since buying it 18 months a long , all other books present – How much adjustment would you make on the value of the car? Any? And would you hold the car for any further time whilst they go and see if Arnold Clark will supply the full service history which they thought the car had when they bought it ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
used car seller 8 Posted February 23, 2014 i would not rely on the history turning up, even if it does exsist whats in it for arnold clark to pull out stops to get it to you asap ? sorry. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
c_cars 56 Posted February 23, 2014 As above, the history isn't likely to turn up after 18 months especially with a dealer like Arnold Clark.. Id be trying to knock them a few hundred quid for the service history, if they don't accept get the sold car back on sale rather than waiting for the history to turn up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin@Rousdon 137 Posted February 24, 2014 How old is the B Class and how many owners? Reduce the part exhange price by £250-£500 and take the change that you can find some history for it. Check the service indicator as a sign that it has been serviced (some customers reset them themselve but lots don't know how to) and check MOT history and ring around. Sometimes a few hours work can provide a FSH. Don't expect anything for Arnold Clark, if they had the book they would of sent it on by now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
umesh 336 Posted February 24, 2014 Thanks for all the feedback , appreciated. Here is what I did. I explained the value difference was £1000 – the couple agreed I was being reasonable, however could not justify to themselves losing all that money. I said I would give the higher price IF the service history turned up but my dilemma was I had couple of calls on the car ( not saying they would buy it). I asked did they want to buy the car even if the history didn’t turn up , they said they simply could not accept the lower figure but totally agreed it was fair. I said on that basis I would refund the deposit as I couldn’t really hold it and if they felt they could accept the lower price or the history turned up then give me a call and I’d honour the deal. ( I even down to £800 to try & close the deal !) Interesting the two callers would NOT leave their name/ contact numbers – both withheld numbers , they just kept saying they’d call back! Took a call from one of the ‘ mystery caller ‘ “was the car sold or not?â€, told her it was for sale and explained the reason why, they came down and announced themselves as the ‘ mystery caller’ – Long story short! Sold Just for interest: I had a similar situation a few years back, customer on holiday in the peak district from Inverness spotted my Avant S Line- told me over the phone all about his GTI , Gave him approx figure and we’d agreed subject to both cars being what they were deal done. Came down couple of days later , no books in the GTI he said I always keep them there, the garage that services it for me may have taken them out but definitely got them. I said I’d obviously valued it with the FSH and without it its worth £1000 less. He rang the garage but they couldn’t put their hands on while he was with me, so promised they would be posted to me. I said I’m more than happy , However I would take a £1000 – ‘holding’ deposit on his credit card so that once I’d got the books I’d refund, all typed up agreement and that he had to send them registered post – within 3 weeks of day. He said totally understand I’ll ring you when I get home and tell you I’m posting them ! Nothing ever arrived in the post , I rang him a few times – he couldn’t find them , I even said after 6 weeks post them down I’ll refund the money , nothing . After 2 months I wrote to him to say as far as I was concerned the matter was closed and I’d sold the car with ‘no service history’ and no refund would be given ! so the question would be was there any history? £1000 is a lot of money ! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreenGiant 287 Posted February 24, 2014 In the old days it would've been a duplicate service book, out with the old John Bull printing set and then it was like the Post Office on Giro day. ...in the old days, I said... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autolink100 34 Posted February 24, 2014 Interesting thread. I have a similar scenario going on at the moment. I took an Audi A3 TDi in from a guy about a month ago and he promised me faithfully that the car had full history and cam belt change etc, he told me the history was with his mechanic and he would collect it and send it on.Needless to says to say it never arrived and I am probably out of pocket as I valued his car as having history. I have emailed him a couple of times but have not received a reply so time for a call I think!.It's my own fault, I took the guy at face value as he seemed a decent genuine guy but he was in fact a lying scumbag, his car also had some issues that I had to get to the bottom of which he also lied about. Anyway, lesson learned I suppose, I hope for his sake that he doesn't have any problems with the car he bought because he won't be finding me particularly helpful! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GreenGiant 287 Posted February 25, 2014 Yep, ain't that the rub - they can drop them on your toes with dodgy gearboxes (only happens when warm), Cold start issues (only happens next day of course) and no scruples shown or comebacks entertained ("didn't happen to me"), but if the one they bought has a squeak coming from the parcel shelf, you're a worthless piece of crap and you get dissed all over t'interweb and reported to Trading Standards. Welcome to the retail motor trade people! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gavin@Rousdon 137 Posted February 25, 2014 We sell a £1000 car to person who wears the clutch out and Trading Standards want us to pay. On the same day a estate agent can sell a £1/2Million house with a 100's of faults and not have any comeback. Seems very wrong to me. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
