Partial vs. Full Service History Value

[SW-Q7]

Recently purchased from a garage a Q7 advertised as having full service history.   It transpires that the car has a partial service history.  This was raised with the garage and they have offered to carry out the missing service items.  I have explained that doing service items retrospectively does not resolve the issue whereby the value of the car with a partial service history will be worth less than one with a full service history.

My question is where can reliable data source be found on pricing information for a car with partial service history and one with full service history.  I intend on claiming the difference against the garage for mis-selling the vehicle to their financial benefit.

[WPAWS]

some info to help here Shawn

https://www.whatcar.com/advice/owning/how-to-find-your-cars-service-history/

[Magnet]

Hello Shawn,

Sorry to hear of your problem.

It might be wise to get this into perspective, by first judging how much of this service history is actually 'missing' - bearing in mind that longlife service schedules can extend between-service mileages to around 18k + miles.

Perhaps you could fill in the detail for us. 

OK, the dealer advertises the vehicle as having full service history, but it could be worth appreciating that a buyer could be expected to confirm such fact before proceeding with purchase. Yes, easy to say in hindsight, but when buying anything secondhand, there must indeed be a 'responsibility' on the part of the buyer to use all available resources to substantiate claimed facts. 

Sources of expertise with comparable values? Paul's pointer is useful, but ignore the part about DVLA providing details of previous keepers - this service is no longer available. Having said that, I always recommend that interested buyers always contact the previous registered keeper before proceeding with a purchase. Without being cynical, I doubt if this advice is generally followed, since the buyer has already fallen in love with the vehicle - and we all know what that means! So the shine outweighs the risk of not doing. 

So Shawn, you can proceed with a claim (Small Claims Court that was?), but you would need to support your claim with an 'expert witness' at your initial cost. This witness would have access to the trade values - CAP guide on line etc. - and would need to provide this evidence to the court. If you win, you can claim it back. 

Again, complications may arise if part exchange was involved since the seller may have inflated the incoming value of that part part exchange to secure a deal, so the 'difference to pay' figure may -just may- not be that far out from that if the true value of the vehicle you bought had partial rather than full service history.

Apologies for the ramble, but without knowledge of the extent of 'partial' history, and the deal itself, it's difficult to advise whether it's worth bothering to claim money rather than take up their 'offer to service'.

One compromise could be to get agreement (in writing) to have this vehicle serviced and inspected at an independent. Battles and claims are just that, and compromises are always better, since irrespective of the potential for some extra money (how much?) in your pocket the vehicle still remains as being not what you wanted/expected. But even bad experiences pay dividends in the end! 

Good luck with sorting this out.

Kind regards,

Gareth.