Unusual Vehicle History

efunc

Hello all, I wonder if any of your more experienced car people and professional traders could cast you opinions. I went to see a car I'm interested in buying. A 2005 C-Class Mercedes Estate. The car is apparently one owner from new, although it's listed on the V5 as two owners because the reverted from his private plate (W90 RUS) to the car's original plate (YF55 UPA) last year.

What seemed unusual is that the service book had several main dealer stamps in it (from memory):

2006 Mercedes Newcastle
2007 Mercedes Newcastle
2008 Independent Newcastle
2009 Vauxhall Gateshead
2011 Gateshead Recovery Centre (no service details given, just milage reading).

2011 - Present: No service history

The trade seller (who seems to be based out of a body shop) says it nothing to worry about, it's all HPI clear, the owner just serviced it himself in the later years. (7 years, and no invoices or receipts for oil, filters, brakes, tyres, etc).

That in itself was a bit strange I thought, but what would you make of that last service book stamp? "Gateshead Recovery Centre", or something like that, from 2011? It doesn't look like it was a service because none of the service checkboxes are ticked.

The car seemed average and drove OK. I'm inclined to get a history check done myself using instantcarcheck.co.uk (5 car multi check looks OK), but I suspect if it's been in an accident or anything it won't really show up in the history because it was probably done 'in house'.

Am I being paranoid or does this genuinely sound a bit unusual? I'm not all that experienced in these matters.

Strider590

Both my cars are self serviced, this way I can guarantee that some min wage 17yr old dealership technician didn't skip the service to meet targets.

The last time it went to a dealership I walked into the service area just as the tech was about to pour used engine oil back into my engine.

Iceweasel

Well first off, swapping over plates does not increase the number of owners.

The 2011 service sounds well dodgy- I'd run away if I were you.

Plenty more 11 year old M-Benzs to be found with straightforward histories.

efunc

Thank you both for the input. After posting this I started to think it would be ridiculous to be concerned about an 'issue' from 5 years ago. The MOT history shows it's been in regular use over the years and whatever was done 5 years ago (if anything at all) shouldn't be a problem at this point. Am I now not being paranoid enough?!?

The V5 I saw showed two owners, and they were both the same person. i.e., the first owner transferred it back to himself as the 'new' owner. I was told this related to the fact that it reverted to its original number plate. Is this not correct? The MOT history itself is odd. YF55 UPA only has one entry for December 2015, while the bulk of the car's MOT history is under a separate search on W90 RUS (2008 - 2014). I guess this can happen, but normally you see all the history under the current registration number.

Regarding self-servicing, I agree that I don't give undue importance to main dealer servicing, however when someone services something themselves I expect that they would at least keep a record of what they've done, including receipts, etc. I guess he either misplaced them or didn't think he would need to keep them with the car. Clearly the suspension spring was changed last year, for example, the MOT history shows that - but no receipt for the part or anything.

At the end of the day it's an old car so I don't want to seem overly expectant, but at the same time I don't want to squander the money for nothing. It drove well and seemed nice in other respects. decisions, decisions..

loskie

dont be shy in trying to google and contact the previous owner on the V5. I have done that in the past and usually folks are more than happy to tell you about their old car.

efunc

Yes, I agree! I did that with two previous cars I bought. It was very revealing and they were only too happy to tell me anything I wanted to know. Unfortunately I just glanced at the V5 and didn't come away with the owner's full name and address. I guess I could ask the trader to send me a photo of it, but I hardly think he'd oblige.

Iceweasel

Reverting to the original number does not normally add to the number of keepers.

Loskies' suggestion to contact the previous owner is a good one - hopefully he can explain it.

W90 RUS is on a 2010 RangeRover Sport now by the way.

s_b

gaining an owner when you take your plate off is very common with the dvla to the point i expect it
the history for mot goes when plate changed
the history does indeed sound suspect
as loskie says speak to owner on log book prior to purchase is the best course here
your data check is but useless in cases like this

s_b

Iceweasel wrote: »

Reverting to the original number does not normally add to the number of keepers.

Loskies' suggestion to contact the previous owner is a good one - hopefully he can explain it.

W90 RUS is on a 2010 RangeRover Sport now by the way.

it most often does rather than less often

Iceweasel

s_b wrote: »

it most often does rather than less often

Fair enough - but that's that's not been my experience on more than 10 changes.

s_b

Iceweasel wrote: »

Fair enough - but that's that's not been my experience on more than 10 changes.

no probs but the times ive had to show customers same last 2 names in log book really is lots
maybe your name flashes up at dvla towers as a moneysavingsuperbloke:D:D