How a Full Service History Helps Sell your Car
How a Full Service History Helps Sell your Car
Posted on September 24, 2021
Planning to sell your car soon? Having a full service history can benefit your plan regardless of whether you’re selling it privately or selling it to a dealership.
Today we’re going to discuss how having a full service history can improve either the value we offer for your car or improve your chances of selling it.
What is a full service history?
A full service history is when every part of the service book has been stamped with the relevant minor or major services. Each car is different and manufacturer-recommended service intervals will be different.
A full service history will have all recommended services at the specific intervals.
Servicing doesn’t have to be carried out at a main dealer but they do carry a little more weight with buyers if they have.
Main dealer vs independent garage
There is an element of snobbery but there is also a practical difference between a main dealer service and independent garage service.
Aside from costing more, main dealer servicing has a guaranteed minimum quality. Manufacturers demand quality and the use of brand parts, so the service ‘should’ be of a minimum standard to earn the dealer stamp.
That isn’t true though as you can imagine and it takes nothing away from independent garages.
We’re talking guarantees of quality here, not actual quality. We know many independent garages that outperform many main dealers!
Why service history is important
A service history is the story of your vehicle’s life. It shows how well it has been looked after and how well it has been maintained.
While many home mechanics can provide quality servicing and maintenance, it isn’t demonstrable, where a service stamp is.
It’s proof that you have looked after your car properly, serviced it when required, given it the love and investment it needed. While this is in no way a guarantee of quality, it’s a good indicator.
A service history isn’t the whole story
A service history is just one aspect of your car’s life. It doesn’t show how the car was driven or looked after. It doesn’t show how often you cleaned it, kept it out of Canadian winters and kept road salt off the paintwork.
It’s one part of your car’s story but is the one part that is tangible and demonstrable and that’s the important part.
We could tell the new owner of your car how well you looked after it or how you always drove it sensibly but there’s nothing to say they would believe us. We are in car sales after all!
A service history is different as it’s proof. Stamped by the dealership over time and beyond the reach of most individuals or car dealers.
That’s why a service history is so important. Whether you sell your car to a dealership or privately, the paperwork is all a future buyer has to go on.
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