Quick question if I may

Umm yes I have. The ad stated "full volvo service history" but I called my local dealer for the VIN to complete the HPI check. I just enquired because I have always had a fault sheet when I have had my car serivced and because of the listing said the A/C isn't 100% I was hoping that Volvo would be able to tell me what was on the fault sheet. But Volvo only have records of the car being serviced up until 59K miles. I haven't seen the service book yet but I was under the impression that Volvo keept records of a car they have serviced.

[pyaap]

>I haven't seen the service book yet but I was under the
>impression that Volvo keept records of a car they have
>serviced.

Yes, they do and if they don't have a record of it, its likely its not been done (this is something they're fairly religious about because they base out of warranty "contributions" on it). Another option would be to call Volvo Customer Services and ask them to look up the service history on the car.

[cootuk]

You need to go back to the seller and tell them that Volvo have no record of the services. If the seller cannot provide the evidence then you could pull out of the deal as the item "wasnt as described". This might also stop Ebay giving you a non-paying bidder blackmark against you.

I was once looking at a car that supposedly had FSH, but the last few were done by a backstreet oil/filter change place.
The 'missing' services were probably the critical one for the cambelt.

[oilburner]

Further to all of the sound advice given above, it must be remembered that a stamped service book tells you nothing at all of any meaning.

A bunch of itemised and dated receipts or a printout from a main dealer is more reliable.

I know from experience within the industry (names withheld though) that if you know the right person and ask them nicely they'll give you a blank service book/stamp it for you no questions asked.
Yes it's illegal but it does happen. Be aware of this.

Knowing that the service book is bunk, you can also assume that the recorded mileage is probably bunk too.

Even if the service book is 100% accurate and conforms to manufacturer guidelines, the car could still be duff. But if that bit isn't right then it's a really bad start and indicates a scary motor through and through.

Steer clear of this one and go elsewhere.

p.s. Volvo keep very accurate central records of all work done to vehicles within their network of dealers and if the computer says they didn't do some of the services then they probably didn't

Thanks for the sound advice all. I have withdrawn from the sale. I'm glad I asked about the servicing now. Just hope the next person is as wise. Thanks all.

[liuleichan]

>Thanks for the sound advice all. I have withdrawn from the
>sale. I'm glad I asked about the servicing now. Just hope the
>next person is as wise. Thanks all.

And just to give you some reassurance about this, when I bought my S70, it had a full volvo service history - fully stamped up book, and all the sheets for the services, and invoices.

As I'd bought it with 82k on the clock, and knowing that the 80k service is when the cambelt should have been done, and the service was done a little early at 78k, even though the sheet had it ticked, I still wanted to be sure.

So I rang the dealer (bearing in mind this was in 2001) and they could confirm the service, and also could confirm the cambelt change, because they could tell me which parts were booked out for that particular service.

These days, with everything being computerised, if a main dealer can't tell you a service has been done, unless there's some weird problem, it's a reasonable assumption it hasn't been done.