Buying a car - would you pay extra for a thorough history?

Status
Not open for further replies.
If I know the owner personally, yes. Otherwise it is hard to trust the record. Obviously, I'll still pay more for a good condition.

I offer less for owners with bad attitude. If something happens and I want to call and ask I don't want someone that blame me for it or yell at me (that's quite common for a lot of the super senior people with rose tinted glasses).
 
Originally Posted by PandaBear
If I know the owner personally, yes. Otherwise it is hard to trust the record.


That's why I take pictures of every service event, yet even then, maybe 1 out 50 people really care about service records and the 49 others wouldn't give a frik and go buy the cheapest one. They have saved $1500 but 6 months later when they spend $2500 to replace the timing chains and $500 to replace the headliner, both of which your car has had done, they may realize the error in their ways. But I doubt it. I'm selling a similar demographic car, https://sites.google.com/site/atikovi2019/home/2008-pontiac-g8 for $6,000 and $4400 worth of service but can't get much interest even though "book" is over $7K.
 
Last edited:
Groovy looking G8. Well written sales blurb. WAY too many repetitive photos. Too bad about the mileage. That will scare people off.
I wish I needed a car like yours.

Again, it's the season to sell a zippy car like that.
 
Was the car ever fixed? This was the last post on a recent thread about the car for sale.

Originally Posted by tony1679
***Update***

frown.gif
Bad news... It's not the sensor.

Had time to hook it up again tonight with a cold start (about 50°F again). When it started, it slowly and steadily built pressure up to about 40psi over the first two full seconds (no instant burst of pressure). It held steadily at ~40psi until the idle started to slow, then the pressure fell. It fell to 24psi. What's really bizarre is it fluctuated between 22-44psi for the entire warm-up cycle. I recorded about 5 minutes of the pressure test to give a better idea of what's happening (sorry! I did the one thing I can't stand, I held the phone upright...
33.gif
). The video starts about 1-2 minutes after the cold start, but essentially you only missed the first 15 seconds, because after 15 it does the same thing until the video starts. Here's a YouTube link:
Pressure Test Video Link

I guess it's comforting knowing it didn't fall below 22psi
21.gif


I'm debating the scenarios in my head, wondering if it's worth it to fix it... I'd probably use OEM parts, and have it dealer serviced (because I have connections with employee discounts on both parts and labor). If this is the AFM pressure relief valve, how much will it cost to fix (or is this easy enough to do myself)? Looking for hours and part cost, I can calculate the rest. Or if it's the pressure regulator, what's the time and part cost there? I'm assuming it's a full oil pump replacement, and I'm assuming it's a LARGE number on the labor side. I definitely won't do this one myself...

Huge thanks again!
 
Overall condition of the vehicle is what matters to me. Maintenance records are neat to have and reference, but could mean anything and be made up for a used car.

Records and dealer maintenance means nothing come trade in time. Maybe $500-1000 best case scenario? Cost way more for your dealer maint.
 
Last edited:
No.

To me, the only time that would equate into any real monetary value would be if ( for example ) it was an older car with a rebuilt engine and all the paperwork associated with what was done fixing it up to sell. I did that years ago with my first car that I sold with a recently rebuilt engine and some other replaced goodies thrown in that impressed potential buyers of a relatively cheap car. The car you choose probably means more than the maintenance records associated with it.
 
Originally Posted by tony1679
This is kinda part 2 of my other thread. I'm selling a car with an absurdly OCD well-documented maintenance history. So absurd that I literally have every single bolt, oil, and gas receipt proving I used premium fuel it's whole life, all neatly placed in a binder. It has been beyond well taken care of. So I have 2 questions:

1. If you were looking at two identical cars, car B with this type of history, car A with no history, how much extra would you pay for the records assuming car A is worth $6K?

2. If you had several models in mind, how enticing is a maintenance history? To clarify the question, if your front-runner model was (for example) a Charger R/T, and my Impala SS was your second choice, would a lack of maintenance records move me to the top pick?

Looking for honesty, even if it's brutal... Thanks in advance!

Absolutely. Any car I purchase is for long term ownership.

I keep the same sort of records.

They would also help in the scheduling of future preventative and preemptive maintenance.
 
Last edited:
On a private sale, you can use the maintenance records to justify the price you are asking, but it generally won't get you MORE money.
The reasons that dealers don't care about your maintenance records at trade-in time is because... A. dealers clean ALL records out of the vehicle before they offer it for sale (privacy laws), and B. most used vehicle buyers don't believe them anyway because they think that the dealer is just using them to get more money for the vehicle.
 
Originally Posted by wag123
On a private sale, you can use the maintenance records to justify the price you are asking, but it generally won't get you MORE money.
The reasons that dealers don't care about your maintenance records at trade-in time is because... A. dealers clean ALL records out of the vehicle before they offer it for sale (privacy laws), and B. most used vehicle buyers don't believe them anyway because they think that the dealer is just using them to get more money for the vehicle.


I could not have said it any better.....well done.
 
I won't buy a car if it doesn't at least have a decent amount of service history. I don't have to see every oil change receipt, but I have to see enough to know that it was taken care of. If I see a car that shows power steering, diff, transfer case, transmission, etc. services at least once during its life, it is much more likely for me to buy it. I put service history and location ahead of the ideal color combination, but not ahead of the proper packages and options.

So, for me, it isn't an added value so much as I won't consider a car that hasn't been taken care of. I looked at one a few weeks ago that the guy had multiple blackstone results - that earned some points, but it was sold before I could get to it. Just the fact that he went through the process put that car in the running.

I am also kind of leery of seeing just electronically documented oil change receipts from the same place every 5k miles, I knew a guy who paid a shop to make him 3 years worth of maintenance records - for a BMW no less. It wasn't recently, but it was within the last few years. When someone buys my vehicles, they get a file of receipts, wrinkles, oil stains and all.
 
Originally Posted by CBR.worm
I won't buy a car if it doesn't at least have a decent amount of service history. I don't have to see every oil change receipt, but I have to see enough to know that it was taken care of. If I see a car that shows power steering, diff, transfer case, transmission, etc. services at least once during its life, it is much more likely for me to buy it. I put service history and location ahead of the ideal color combination, but not ahead of the proper packages and options.

So, for me, it isn't an added value so much as I won't consider a car that hasn't been taken care of. I looked at one a few weeks ago that the guy had multiple blackstone results - that earned some points, but it was sold before I could get to it. Just the fact that he went through the process put that car in the running.

I am also kind of leery of seeing just electronically documented oil change receipts from the same place every 5k miles, I knew a guy who paid a shop to make him 3 years worth of maintenance records - for a BMW no less. It wasn't recently, but it was within the last few years. When someone buys my vehicles, they get a file of receipts, wrinkles, oil stains and all.


Then you will never buy a car from a dealer-that the owner maintained himself. The Carfax won't show it. RECEIPTS-it's been shown on here they mean very little.
 
I mainly keep a record of all my services that I do for my own records so I don't have to guess when I did something I can flip through and know exactly when I did it and what I used where I bought it what I paid
 
Sold plenty. Documented maintenance history gets you more money period. Great example, I was given a one owner, very well documented first gen LS400, 188k on it. Needed the computer diodes replaced and was barely driveable. I fixed it, drove it for 8000 miles, then sold it for $4100. This was a couple years ago. Buyer stated he didn't haggle because of the records. I could have bought two equivalent cars without a history with the money I got for that car.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top