Finding service records from past service shops

[riddl3r]

Hey all,

Can people share tricks and tips about how to retrieve past service records from shops where your car was serviced prior to your purchase? I've called dealers and provided the Vin with little success. Anything beyond 5 years old doesn't seem to exist.

Thanks in advance
Asif

 

[Zmoney]

If the car was serviced at a dealer, the Car Fax should show that. If not, then the only way is to actually call the shops that the car was serviced at and see if they have any records saved on file.

I hate taking my car to the dealer and this is EXACTLY the reason that inspired me to create the app that I am launching, AUTOsist.Users will be able to store and manage all their service records with their mobile device - and transfer them to anyone with one click. It will be launched for iOS in the next 2 weeks and then for Andriod a few weeks after that. Check it out at www.AUTOsist.com - Cheers!

 

[Bram]

Excellent idea....AUTOsist

Bram

 

[Zmoney]

Excellent idea....AUTOsist

Bram

Thanks Bram!! Really excited that's it's almost here and hope others find as much value in it as I do.

 

[nsxtasy]

Carfax may or may not have service records. (In my experience, it usually doesn't, more often than it does.)

Servicing as part of recall campaigns by Acura is recorded centrally by Acura. In fact, you can enter your car's VIN on Acura's website, and it will display the status of all recall campaigns for the car.

Other than that, though, service records are not maintained centrally. So you need to get them from the dealer or independent shop that serviced the car. There is no established policy in the industry for maintaining service records (either hard copy or electronically). Many shops/dealers have a complete history going back to before the NSX was introduced in 1990, while many others will dispose of records after a certain number of years. You have to contact each individual shop/dealer to see what they may have.

 

[BamaFan]

I think that stinks. One of the advantage of getting a car serviced at the dealer should be that they can pull up your records anywhere. There are two BMW dealers in town with the same name owned by the same person, and they can't even pull up the same records on my BMW's.

 

[Speedmaster]

I was wondering the same thing. I have a two inch thick stack of receipts that I went through and inputted into a log. Had these been centrally collected, I could put it all on a usb or in the cloud into perpetuity.

On a similar note, I also have the names of all the owners up until now. Seems weird to share that as I am unsure I want my name broadcasted forward with any new purchasers.

 

[Zmoney]

I think that stinks. One of the advantage of getting a car serviced at the dealer should be that they can pull up your records anywhere. There are two BMW dealers in town with the same name owned by the same person, and they can't even pull up the same records on my BMW's.

Agreed - its pretty sad that actually happens. I have had mixed experiences.