Would you buy a car with no service history?

Empor

I was looking to buy a 63 plate Mazda3 with 21k miles on the clock. Turns out though that it's not had a service since new (the service interval is 12k miles). This invalidates the manufacturer's warrant, but I can purchase a third party one for 3 years at extra cost.

Steer well clear or should be ok? Any advice welcome!

DoctorFoster

Will a third party warranty cover a car with no service history?

The are a !!!!!! for not paying and are generally mechanical warranties. Can we therefore assume you have lost the anti corrosion warrant too.

AdrianC

Remember that the third-party warranty won't be anywhere near as comprehensive as a manufacturer warranty, and that the sell-on value of the car will be hit (although, as it gets older, that hit will diminish).

If, with that in mind, it's cheap enough compared to all the other similar cars out there, then go for it.

uknick

How much is it when compared to other cars with FMSH?

Have you checked to see the original warranty is invalid, or are you just guessing?

Why not ask Mazda if they'll put their official extended warranty on it? Some manufacturers will let you buy one if you get the car serviced and pay for any corrective work. I would have thought a Mazda at 12 months and 21k miles would have little, if anything, wrong with it.

motorguy

Empor wrote: »

I was looking to buy a 63 plate Mazda3 with 21k miles on the clock. Turns out though that it's not had a service since new (the service interval is 12k miles). This invalidates the manufacturer's warrant, but I can purchase a third party one for 3 years at extra cost.

Steer well clear or should be ok? Any advice welcome!

Probably wouldnt be the end of the world for the car, but i'd get a FULL service done as soon as i bought it.

Third party warranties arent usually worth a fiddlers.

Are you absolutely sure theres no history? Often the work is done but the book not stamped. Might be worth ringing the previous owner / supplying dealer.

If it definitely hasnt, make sure its priced accordingly - check autotrader prices across the UK for a similar car - you'd need to be buying this at least £1,000 cheaper than you otherwise can

marlot

Mazda don't use service books. All the history is online

forgotmyname

If it was a couple of hundred £ shed to get you mobile quickly then fair enough. But with something that could be very expensive to repair i woud not touch it.

Its rare for cars these days to have major faults, But it does happen and will you want to pay out thousands for a new engine if it did go wrong?

Iceweasel

marlot wrote: »

Mazda don't use service books. All the history is online

With that information in mind - how do you know that ity hasn't been serviced.

There are also loads of BMWs around with not a stamp in the service book - some don't even have a service book.

If you want a service book and ye olde service stamps you have to ask for one.

Empor

This is the one.

It's from Fords of Winsford. They seemed sure there was no service history and the manufacturer's warranty was invalid. They quoted £549 for a 3 year warranty, it sounded fairly comprehensive.

Price-wise it seems about right compared with others on autotrader, but I can't really tell on there if they have a service history or not.

jimjames

Iceweasel wrote: »

With that information in mind - how do you know that ity hasn't been serviced.

There are also loads of BMWs around with not a stamp in the service book - some don't even have a service book.

If you want a service book and ye olde service stamps you have to ask for one.

I bought a car with 90k miles a few year back apparently with no service history.

But a quick call to the BMW main dealer confirmed that it did have FSH and they then provided me with the complete details along with a new stamped service book to verify.

AdrianC

So 62 plate, not 63 - which means you're only losing one year of warranty, not two.

And it's nowhere NEAR cheap enough.
Here's a 62-plate with 13k miles, Mazda-approved, for less money.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201410027870457