Documents unobtainable

bananaboy19

I purchased a van a while ago which did not come with the service documents.  It was an ex council van and so servicing was done in-house.
I have since contacted the said council to get hold of the service documents but they stated that they were unable to pass them onto me by law.
Sounds a bit ridiculous, is this true?

Car_54

Ask them which law.

Usually it's "data protection", which is nonsense. DP is about protecting humans' data, not vehicles'.

EssexExile

I doubt there's any law saying you can't have them, I also doubt there's any law that says you can.

Were you told you would get the service documents? If so I'd chase whoever told you, if not then I suspect you won't get them.

400ixl

It is not entirely nonsense. It is probably the effort to redact any personal information (names, addresses, email address, telephone numbers etc) which may be on things like invoices and receipts that is driving them to say they cannot be shared.

This for example was the reason the V5 no longer shows the name and address of the previous owner, as despite it being about the vehicle it would identify an individual.

They can do it, but it has a cost to them in man effort to do it. Not sure if you can force them to do the work to release them.

born_again

Same as any 2nd hand purchase. You get what you are provided with.
Maybe rephrase the question & ask can they confirm that it was serviced in line with manufacture service schedule..

But if in doubt. Anything like cambelts etc. look at getting them done & van fully serviced.

user1977

Given it's a council I suppose you could try a Freedom of Information request...

Though of course there's no guarantee they even have the information you're looking for.

Car_54

400ixl said:

It is not entirely nonsense. It is probably the effort to redact any personal information (names, addresses, email address, telephone numbers etc) which may be on things like invoices and receipts that is driving them to say they cannot be shared.

The vehicle was ex council. Would there be any personal information?

400ixl

You could maybe ask for a summary document on their headed paper. Something like

01/01/2020 - Full Service completed
01/01/2021 - Interim Service & MOT
01/01/2022 - Full Service with brake Fluid
etc.

Pretty much all you get from the online history for a used car from the dealer these days.

bananaboy19

Thanks for all your advice and help.  

Baldytyke88

bananaboy19 said:

I purchased a van a while ago which did not come with the service documents.  It was an ex council van and so servicing was done in-house.
I have since contacted the said council to get hold of the service documents but they stated that they were unable to pass them onto me by law.
Sounds a bit ridiculous, is this true?

I have recently bought an ex-Royal Mail van, the seller did say that he he would get me the service history, but he never did.

Not sure if it makes any difference to me, timing chain is not due yet, but other service items will be done when required.

Hoenir

If the service work was conducted in house. Then there may not be service "documents" as such. Also how old is the vehicle as data may well also have been erased/destroyed.