The Importance of Service History of a Car

Every one of you, who decided to buy a used car must have heard that you should never buy a used car without checking its service history.

• Did you know, how important is the service history of a car?
• Did you know whether you should walk out from the purchase of a used car if the service records are incomplete or missing?
• Did you know the possible consequences of buying a vehicle which hasn’t undergone the proper maintenance services?

Facts to know

• The average vehicle in the United States likely have three owners in its lifetime
• Nearly, half the cars in the United States that are flood damaged, end up back on the road. Statistics shows, during Hurricane Katrina about 200,000 vehicles were dried out and resold.
• Used car consumers in the United States lose as much as $4 billion a year due to odometer fraud, with the average rollback being 15,000 miles.
• Texas has more used vehicles than any other state (more than 220,000) and Houston alone has more than 32,000 on the market at any given time.
• According to reports, Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Harvey destroyed more than 500,000 cars in August 2017.

Don’t worry!! We at VehicleCheckUSA will help you resolve all your doubts related to the importance of the service history of a car and we will help you find the complete history of service records.

The topics we are covering are:

• What all you should check in a service record?
• Is Service History Report a mark of good ownership?
• How will it affect you if a Vehicle has No Service History?
• Vehicle Check USA car history

What all you should check in a service record?

The service history of a used car will provide you with the details of any maintenance work done on a vehicle. It will also show the information, regardless of the frequency, difficulty or cost.

In vehicle service history, you should see all details very carefully, like minor maintenance performed on a vehicle, i.e. oil change and other costly maintenance like replacement of the cabin, engine air filters, batteries, windshield wipers.

Check if the tires are balanced and rotating well. A well-aligned car prevents uneven wear and helps you save a large amount you might have to otherwise spend on replacement of all four tires at once.

Check the details of spark plug replacement. Remember the engine will not operate efficiently, if the spark plugs are covered in a buildup or if they are simply worn out. Carelessness in checking a spark plug can lead you to extra fuel costs and maybe car breakdown in the future.

One of the most important records in the service history of a used car is its frequency of timing belt changes. It is required to change the timing belt in every 60,000 to 100,000 miles depending on manufacturer recommendations. Changing the belt is an expensive service and failing to perform it can result in belt snapping which can lead to sudden car breakdown.  

Service history of a car helps you know if and when this maintenance has been performed.

Is Service History Report a mark of good ownership?

Service history is a mark of good ownership and the greatest benefit you get after buying a car with the service history is peace of mind.

Looking at used car sales data, a car belonging to owners who invested their time and money in maintaining it regularly is considered to be better in quality, as compared to others.  

Keeping each and every maintenance receipt and handing it over to the buyer during the final sale deal will give a surety that the car is driven with pride and it is in the best condition possible.   

How will it affect you if a Vehicle has No Service History?

Many used cars in a dealer’s shop or even the ones sold by private owners don’t always have the complete service history. However, not having the service history of the car you are interested in doesn’t always indicate a red flag. Many times, there can be a genuine reason also for not having the vehicle service history like accidentally throwing the documents, or losing them during a move, etc.    

Don’t always think if the previous owner cannot provide you with the service records, it doesn’t exist at all. If the vehicle you are purchasing was serviced by an official manufacturer or franchised dealership, records are maintained in their computer systems, and it is easy enough to obtain these records from the dealership directly.

If there is no service record at all, it may be possible that the vehicle simply wasn’t serviced properly. These vehicles with no proper service record can be risky to drive and can cause accidents due to unforeseen mechanical failures.

Vehicle Check USA Car History

Thankfully, there is another,  easier way to find out the detailed history of a vehicle, i.e. through a vehicle history report. Vehicle Check USA helps you get the detailed vehicle history report and through this report, you can actually check the entire detail of your selected used car from its manufacture to the time it reached you.  

Along with vehicle service record, our report offers information like:

• Registration Information
• Vehicle Age
• Number of Owners
• Mileage Records
• Comprehensive Technical Specifications
• Vehicle Age
• Number of Owners
• Mileage Records
• Odometer Manipulation (e.g. odometer rollback, fraud, etc.)
• Title History
• And much more…

Every used car has a back-end story and some of them are nothing short of a nightmare. So, always look for the Vehicle History Report before purchasing a used car. It will help you know if a car has a clean history or hidden problems. We have data available for every used car sold post-1982.