service history and its effect on resale values

[chrishill 0]

ok, so its another 'whats it worth' thread thinly disguised as an attempt to spark debate on the value of a service history but none the less...

 

I've owned my vr for about 7 months and will be selling it within the next 6 months or so. I bought the car from ChrisVR6nos whos an ex VAG mechanic and knows his way around the corrado like no one else I know (except maybe H8RRA!) and as such he serviced/matinatined it himself. I was confident buying the car off him as I trust his skills and the total lack of service history didnt really bother me too much. Now I'm thinking of selling up a few issues about the car are concerning me in that they'll effect value in the negative.

 

1. total lack of history save for one or two previous MOT's

2. lack of paperwork for the mods carried out since they were all DIY jobs

3. engine swap, albeit for a lower milage engine and lack of corolation between engine miles and miles on the clock. (clocks show 96k, engines done aprox 130k)

 

otherwise the cars sound, but I have a distinct feeling the above points will put off buyers. Is there anything I can do via VW to get its previous service history? I take it I'll need a code off the engine rather than the chassis number since the engines been swapped? Is there anything like an AA inspection I could carry out to reassure buyers that the cars in good nick or is that a waste of cash and the buyers job? oh and what do you lot reckon its worth?

 

cheers for any advice!

[Musicman 0]

I can't help that much, but if I may perform a slight hijack and widen debate as I was about to post almost exactly the same topic from the buyer's perspective...

 

I went to look at a stock, early G60 in Orpington on Saturday which is beautifully turned out. Apart from one 10p sized bit of rust under the rear lights and a small collection of stone chips on the bumper, the bodywork is immaculate. The underside looks clean and the engine sounds silky and pulls strongly, grey leather interior is very tidy with only slight wear on the driver's bolster. All leccy toys present and working.

 

I reckon with a few hundred pounds spent on it, it could hold it's own in a show and shine.

 

Thing is, the vendor purchased it two years ago at auction and as he runs a garage, he's been servicing it himself (new CV joint about 2 weeks ago being the most recent). The one departure from standard is the removal of the cat.

 

He's asking £3000 for it, but I'm wary of a G60 without any service history. As far as he's concerned, the charger has never been rebuilt, so I guess I should budget for a visit to G-werks...

 

Is it a 'walk away' item, how much should a service history be worth?

[dutch 0]

Don't want to put u off but I went through this recently when buying my VR. If the owner had no record of service I walked away...not saying that all buyers will be this way but just be perpared to knock some off the price for no service history...unless u sell the car to someone who u know or knows the pervious owner...

[chrishill 0]

I dont think it is, sure you have to budget for a charger rebuild but at least once thats done you know its going to be fine for a long time. If the rest of the car looks in good nick you can probably assume its well loved and so well looked after. My personal opinion is (and not just because I'm trying to sell a car without one!) service history shouldnt matter too much, judge the car on its merits and get it serviced yourself as soon as its yours!

[davidwort 0]

I can't help that much, but if I may perform a slight hijack and widen debate as I was about to post almost exactly the same topic from the buyer's perspective...

 

I went to look at a stock, early G60 in Orpington on Saturday which is beautifully turned out. Apart from one 10p sized bit of rust under the rear lights and a small collection of stone chips on the bumper, the bodywork is immaculate. The underside looks clean and the engine sounds silky and pulls strongly, grey leather interior is very tidy with only slight wear on the driver's bolster. All leccy toys present and working.

 

I reckon with a few hundred pounds spent on it, it could hold it's own in a show and shine.

 

Thing is, the vendor purchased it two years ago at auction and as he runs a garage, he's been servicing it himself (new CV joint about 2 weeks ago being the most recent). The one departure from standard is the removal of the cat.

 

He's asking £3000 for it, but I'm wary of a G60 without any service history. As far as he's concerned, the charger has never been rebuilt, so I guess I should budget for a visit to G-werks...

 

Is it a 'walk away' item, how much should a service history be worth?

 

General condition is more important on a car of this age than service history, I wouldn't value a perfect VAG history much myself on a 10 yr plus car. If it was a five year old golf then that's a different matter, but with a Corrado most of your potential customers will have enough trouble finding a tidy one, let alone one with all it's history laid out.

Try to get as much info and paperwork on the car together as you can, receipts for anything and the name and contact details of any garage that has serviced it. You can always say to any potential customer they are free to take it for an MOT, and if they buy you'll knock it off the sale price?

AA reports etc.. seem too pricey to me.

 

David.

[coolrado 0]

a folder full of receipts for service and repair parts would impress me 10x more than a list of dealer services, as you can never really gurantee what has been done on a service.

and i dont trust any garages tbh with the exception of places like g-werks.

 

my car had full dealer history up untill i bought it including dealer receipts for 3 g-laders before it had even reached 90k including 1 a month before i bought it at about 1300quid a time, a couple of months later my charger started having problems after a seal started leaking oil onto the small belt, which stripped all the teeth off the belt, luckilly there was no damage to the charger and darren at g-werks diagnosed a blocked oil feed.

i removed the feed line and sliced it open and the bore had shrunk down to less than a mm across, so the vw dealer (somewhere in slough i think) had changed the charger 3 times and not actually thought about why the charger was failing, that and a few other bad experiences have put me off having any work whatsoever done at the dealerships.

 

a lack of service history is likely to affect the value a bit as the majority of buyers wont touch a car without some sort of history, and the ones that know a bit more about the cars and can see if its been well maintained without the paperwork will probably use it as a bargaining tool.

[Jim 2]

Just hope you end up selling to an enthusiast. They should see the arm fulls of reciepts as far more valuable in understanding the previous life of the car, rather than someone just looking for 'FSH', a load of stamps in the book, and nothing more.

[veeDuB_Rado 0]

Its the same here really

My clock says 141k but in know its not the orgiginal engine and that its done a fair bit less than 141k but i dont know how much.

Also dont know why engine mileage put off people, because ive never had engine problems and nor did the previous owners, i thinnk these engines are solid a fook!

[vr6storm 0]

i still have mine serviced every year by VW.............just purely cos if i was in the market for one,I'd be more inclined to go for one with FVWSH................just as a sign that no expense has been spared in its upkeep........luckily i've found my $tealer to be very efficient and reasonably cheap...............so to me FVWSH is just for if i need to sell it'll hopefully be more attractive to a potential buyer

[GIXXERUK 0]

:-) oddly enough my oil is draining as i type , £3k or under the service history would'nt bother me BUT i would want to see some service history , if the existing owner claimed he has done it himself then this is easy to verify with a few questions and the general appearance of the car/engine

 

the supercharger is the only thing i would be very wary of

 

mine did come with a folder with photo's and masses of receipts and lots of history but not all up to date

the clock showed 140k and the service history ran til 120k when awesome rebuilt the engine but i was happy with that

i think to a certain extent it depends if you know what to look for,the prices some storms are going for now dont justify the VW prices for servicing

 

my mk5 just cost me £181 for a service and it was basically an oil and filters change ! but being a year old it has to be kept with fsh

[bristolbaron 10]

chrishill, If i was in the market for a VR6, i wouldn't discard yours because of lack of history. i'd guess thats probably true for many of here, because we know the car. If the car was on autotrader and an unknown owner told me the same then yes, i would be put off.

Musicman, what sort of milage is on it? i'd be put off spending 3k unless the milage was very low.

 

Service history can go against the owner though.. i'd rather a charger in need of a service then one just done by Jabba!

[Musicman 0]

bristolbaron: a nudge under 95,000 (94,750-ish)

[chrishill 0]

chrishill, If i was in the market for a VR6, i wouldn't discard yours because of lack of history. i'd guess thats probably true for many of here, because we know the car. If the car was on autotrader and an unknown owner told me the same then yes, i would be put off.

 

yeah thats kind of what I was expecting, most people on here know the car and know chrisVR6nos and his considerable skills (and often outspoken nature!) and could easily go back over my posts to check out the cars history to help reassure them its all tickity boo. Fingers crossed when I do come to sell it a forum members in the market for one.

[dinkus 10]

Face it Chris, it's a worthless heap.

 

But as I'm a nice guy, I'll take it off your hands in exhange for a non-working Mk3 GTI 8v.

 

Heck, I'll even throw in a new non-leaky budget tyre from ATS.

 

Deal? :lol:

[bcstudent 0]

No service history wouldn't put me off any car. I don't trust garages and don't expect others to either :)

 

I will say this though, I only buy cars advertised as a private sale. If the owner seems clueless I walk. There are plenty of enthusiast-owned examples of any car and those are the ones to go for...like yours Chris.

[GIXXERUK 0]

with VR's going for 16v type money , i think this should answer your question concerning the value of fvwsh

 

http://the-corrado.net/.archive/forum/viewtopic. ... 698#347698

 

:-(

[chrishill 0]

hmm, without pictures its hard to tell what condition its in, but i see your point, FSH doesn't mean theres nothing wrong with it!