Buy a car that's never been serviced. Bad idea?

iolanthe07

There are loads of used cars out there to choose from. I wouldn't touch something that was three and a half years old and had never even had an oil change.

facade

Depends on what it is, and whether it is known for engine problems.


For example the 1 series BMW suffers from premature camchain wear. Missing a service by a few thousand miles would give BMW a perfect get-out on that expensive job.


On the other hand, small Suzukis often manage 60 or 70 thousand miles without ever being serviced (if the couple I know about are representative, then there must be thousands across the country)


If it is cheap, and the dealer will stand by the warranty, (it has only done a few thousand miles more than recommended after all) it could be a good buy.

FreddieFrugal

We bought a car in January which was approved used from Skoda.

Coming up to 3 years old, 33K miles and a very good deal on price as got a much better engine for similar price to the entry level.

The only negative thing about it was that I couldn't find any service history save for a check and basic service at a year old.

They MOT'd it - but that wasn't worth the paper it was printed on as there were no advisories at all. Despite the fact I already knew the tyres were really low, only had a mm spare in the tread.


Since I'd always rather be safe then sorry I booked it in straight away for a major service at my own regular garage, since I trust them to do a proper job and knew they'd give it a proper check over.

Everything was fine and in great condition.