Would you buy a car without a full service history?

sansnom

sansnom

sansnom

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I'm kind of in two minds, I've been searching for a used 2009/2010 FX50 for some time now.

Finally managed to find one with 58,125 miles on it but the guy has no provable service record. It looks pretty clean from outside and inside to be honest, minor rim scratches, minor other scratches here and there but nothing major as far as I can tell.

Drives ok too, didn't notice gear slipping, random vibrations etc when I took it for a test drive.

Given the 17,000 he's asking for (again, a bit below market which makes me raise an eyebrow) I'm a bit hesitant to go ahead but I'm not really sure what I can do to gain peace of mind. A full check-up still won't tell me if he's serviced it on time/schedule and do the necessary maintenance over the years. It might look ok under a full check up now but is that enough?

Alternatively, I have found another one with 55,000 miles, worse condition i.e. scratches outside and inside, drives about the same but at least this one has a full service history. He's asking the same price.

Not sure what to do
 
commited said:
Call the main dealer with the reg/chassis number and see what service records they have?
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yep did that, they dont have any records for the car beyond 10,000 miles. He's openly said he's been servicing it in garages here and there for "oil changes" and that's it.

Kinda worrying on a car that costs close to 50 grand new. Don't understand why people are happy to pay that kind of cash for a car but then stinge on services and are happy to take it to any old O & Jo for servicing.

I suppose what I'm wondering is, What are the chances this car is actually in good shape and is a bargain. And if it isn't, would a full check up really yield much? If it doesn't pickup all the issues, how bad of a mistake could this turn into? I mean, with these kind of cars, is it possible to have a complete lemon or would it mean maybe just marginally more $$$ upfront to repair any damage he might have caused without proper servicing?
 
sansnom said:
yep did that, they dont have any records for the car beyond 10,000 miles. He's openly said he's been servicing it in garages here and there for "oil changes" and that's it.

Kinda worrying on a car that costs close to 50 grand new. Don't understand why people are happy to pay that kind of cash for a car but then stinge on services and are happy to take it to any old O & Jo for servicing.

I suppose what I'm wondering is, What are the chances this car is actually in good shape and is a bargain. And if it isn't, would a full check up really yield much? If it doesn't pickup all the issues, how bad of a mistake could this turn into? I mean, with these kind of cars, is it possible to have a complete lemon or would it mean maybe just marginally more $$$ upfront to repair any damage he might have caused without proper servicing?
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Honestly speaking, nowadays, does it really matter if a car has a full service history? It's just an oil and filter change...I really don't think that needs to be done at the dealer but that's just me.

However, I would also agree that at that price range I'd probably prefer that it had a full service history if I was going to pull the trigger. I don't know, it just seems a bit wrong to not have kept a record of the service history for an expensive car like that.

And also, 55,000 miles is nothing. That car should be able to go 250k miles without flinching. I remember reading about a guy who managed to rack up 450k miles on his 2004 fx35 and it was still going strong with only minor servicing along the way.

Amazing cars
 
Car like that id carry on looking, I don't know how long the manufacturers warranty is but not servicing it voids that.

Also it will be harder for you to sell on possibly?
 
I wouldn't buy it, for this kind of money you can choose to be picky. I've bought older and cheaper cars 2nd hand and they've always been serviced at the dealers for the first 3-4 years.
 
If I was going to pay £17,000 for a car I'd want it to have a full service history. Hell, we just spent £7,000 on a Qashqai and I wouldn't have entertained buying one of those without FSH. I don't know when the FX50 was introduced but I'd rather buy an older car in good condition with FSH than an newer one with patchy history.
 
There is no way I would pay £17k for that sort of car without SH.

Though to be honest there is no way I'd buy an FX50 either, it's a very rare car for a reason.
 
You'd be mad to buy a car at that price and age without full history. There is no good reason for a car like that not to have a full manufacturer history at 3 years old!

You'd also never be able to sell it for decent money until it was much older, not worth it imo
 
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Agreed with all, came to my senses and told him no thanks. Just no reason not to have a full service history.

Going to keep an eye out for a cleaner one.
 
No service history should go hand in hand with a suitable discount

Then you decide whether you can justify not having a service history for the sake of that discount
 
Also bear in mind, it will be a headache come sale time, you wont get top dollar yourself with even a partial history.
 
sansnom said:
May I ask why? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts
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My experience of Infiniti was that from the outside they look great but step inside and it feels very, very Nissan. Which is fine in a sub premium car but very not much not fine in a supposed premium car. The interior was fairly low rent, the centre console screen was comically low resolution, it honestly was like using some sort of early 90's Amiga and it all generally just felt very.. Nissan.

But then they charge almost BMW/Merc/Audi money for them? Granted this was a G37S not an FX50 but the FX50 has the G37 interior so I'd be very suprised if it wasn't very much the same story. They kinda work in the US where people get them on a cheap lease but sinking £17,000 of your own money into a 4 year old one?
 
[TW]Fox;25491422 said:
My experience of Infiniti was that from the outside they look great but step inside and it feels very, very Nissan. Which is fine in a sub premium car but very not much not fine in a supposed premium car. The interior was fairly low rent, the centre console screen was comically low resolution, it honestly was like using some sort of early 90's Amiga and it all generally just felt very.. Nissan.

But then they charge almost BMW/Merc/Audi money for them? Granted this was a G37S not an FX50 but the FX50 has the G37 interior so I'd be very suprised if it wasn't very much the same story. They kinda work in the US where people get them on a cheap lease but sinking £17,000 of your own money into a 4 year old one?
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I'm not sure there's much better for the money. I can't stand audi, I mean honestly audi interiors are dated by about 10 years and so so cheap imho. I do love BMW for a driving experience but I feel they kind of went downhill in the last 5 years. Plus I'm not a huge fan of their designs.

I suppose there's Merc but that tends to be overpriced and a bit meh. Only other car I've considered is a jag xf but I kinda feel like I should be about 20 years older to look right driving it.

Mind you at this rate I don't think I'm going to find what I'm looking for anyway. Been searching for ages for a decent fx50
 
[TW]Fox;25492392 said:
I can only imagine you've not found an Infiniti to sit inside yet...
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I have indeed. I've owned a 2008 fx35 and 2012 g37 coupe. Personally I love infiniti interiors. My brother in law owns an audi a5 and q5 and my brother an m3.

I absolutely detest the audi interiors and since my brother in law used my coupe for about 200 mile trip he's since placed an order for the jx and q50 and wants to get rid of both audi's...

But hey different strokes different folks. Takes all kinds right?
 
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