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smoove said:
now why on earth would you like to know that for? ;);)
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Obviously it's because i'm in the market for a Ford Focus without any service history...

Ok... you got me. I'm not. But i did see people posting about a dodgy garage on PH that was selling clocked cars. Ok it's not likely, but can't hurt to check.

I was actually also going to look around the internet, for you, to see if the garage has had any people accusing of it of selling dodgy cars.
 
Walk away and find a different one, Should have at least a part service history at 40k miles surely?
 
When I bought my Mk3 Mondeo with 95k on the clock I received a large folder full of the paperwork for it. At 40k there was a shed-load of stuff, all the things done under warranty, every receipt for brake pads, tyres etc. Every service and MOT cert. is in there. There's even some fuel receipts in there from service stations up and down the country.

The guy who owned it from new, after a year, went to the Ford dealer and bought a V6 badge for the boot, the receipt for the badge is in the folder.
 
could be a repo car got from an auction with no papers but a dealer, with half a brain, would go down the dealer and get a reprint of the history

id bet its a blag
 
Hot hatch car, 7 years old, 40k miles - 5,700 miles a year on average.

What you have to ask yourself is who owned the car for so little mileage, yet didnt care enough to keep the history with it?

Does it 'look and feel' right - my dad picked up a car many years ago of a similar age, (9 years old ish) with 16k on the clock. And it actually was genuine. The dealer who serviced it every year confirmed that the little old lady who owned it did about 1200 miles a year.

May be worth a look at the Focus, look at the wheels, suspension, underbody, and more visual clues - steering wheel wear, gearstick wear, upholstery condition - does it look like its only done 40k?

For instance, my car has done 140k and its obvious, areas are worn that you'd expect to be worn. If I clocked it back to 40-50k, no-one would believe it had only done that.
 
matt_fsr said:
May be worth a look at the Focus, look at the wheels, suspension, underbody, and more visual clues - steering wheel wear, gearstick wear, upholstery condition - does it look like its only done 40k?

For instance, my car has done 140k and its obvious, areas are worn that you'd expect to be worn. If I clocked it back to 40-50k, no-one would believe it had only done that.
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It's not that simple though. My Mondeo would easily pass for a 50k model with a couple of small changes as the only bits that show the true mileage are the steering wheel, gear knob and gaitor.
 
I know someone who just bought a 03 Saxo VTR with 36k on it. Nothing wrong with at all. Like people have said about the MOT thing, do that and most franchise garages like Kwikfit etc put the milage in. Ive know cars with full S/H that are 8yrs old and have done less than 4k a year cause the person who ran it used it for short runs rather than the epic drives to work like most people do.
 
Gribs said:
It's not that simple though. My Mondeo would easily pass for a 50k model with a couple of small changes as the only bits that show the true mileage are the steering wheel, gear knob and gaitor.
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Precisely. It's all a gamble, you get a feel for these things. I'm certainly no expert on car buying, and a good valet can hide some things but not others.

At £4k, we're not talking a massive difference in value between a 40k miles model and a 100k miles model, if it "feels" right, perhaps use the lack of service history as a stick to bargain down the seller?
If the MOT paperwork looks and sounds OK, its probably legit.
 
i could put a new steering wheel and de-bobble my drivers seat and my golf could pass for something with 100k less than it has. id bet mine is in far better nick than a lot of much lower mileage cars though
 
HPI check might reveal something and its only a couple of quid?

Car I got had done 44k, 10 years old, only had part service history, but I checked some of the MOTs available (only goes back to 2004?) and in 2006 2 years before I got it, its MOT was only 39k.

But a car with no service history at all? Keep looking mate :)
 
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