Author: Simon Pavey

The service history of your vehicle is one of the most important documents that you need to keep up to date. It provides an accurate record of the type of repairs needed on your car and when this work was carried out.

Ensuring you have a full service record is therefore paramount if you want peace of mind that your car is in the best condition possible. It is also a crucial check to undertake when buying a used car.

On that basis, there are a few key areas to get right within service history, including:

• What to record and how
• How to find a car’s service history
• What to do if service history records are incomplete

What is a car service history?

A car’s service history is quite simply a record of its maintenance and repair work over time. When you buy a new car, it should come with a service book that clearly marks out the date upon which its first service was conducted and the mileage of the car at the time.

This service book is typically preserved throughout a car’s lifespan and passed from owner to owner upon resale. Consequently, there should be a consistent record of a car’s maintenance history available to all car owners that can be used to gauge its general condition.

That said, there are sometimes gaps in service history that could cause issues for car owners, but let’s first look at how to find a car’s service history before exploring ways to fill these gaps.

Easy steps to find your service history

The first step to uncover any missing service history and to help fill in gaps is to contact the vehicle’s manufacturer and ask them to tell you anything they know about its history via its unique VIN number. This can be found inside the bodywork of your vehicle, usually the door bay and engine compartment.

The manufacturer should then be able to tell you the dealership from which the vehicle was originally purchased and you can then contact them directly. In many cases, dealerships will either maintain the full records themselves or be able to put you in touch with the garage where the vehicle was regularly serviced.

Checking MOT service history

You can also find out the full MOT history of a vehicle by visiting the official website of the DVLA and inputting the car’s registration number. This also allows you to see any gaps in the history of the car, or if it was ever reported damaged or stolen.

A full service history is absolutely essential

If you ever come to sell your car, a full service history is essential in order to instil confidence among buyers. At the same time, a full history highlights the fact that all necessary repairs have been carried out on the vehicle to ensure it remains roadworthy and fit for use.

What we mean by ‘full service history’, is a clear record of invoices, receipts, dates and exact descriptions of the work carried out. It simply isn’t good enough to stamp a service book without including other essential information, and could be a huge red flag to buyers when you’re looking to sell a car second-hand.

Keeping your car fully serviced will also help to reduce the likelihood of being involved in a breakdown, so to have the documents that show you’ve been a vigilant owner will help to give much greater peace of mind to anyone interested in making a purchase.

How can Fuel Card services help?

Our MyService.Expert service can give operators and drivers within a commercial fleet access to a nationwide network of garages where professional mechanics are always on hand to assess the state of your vehicle and to carry out any repairs that are required.

What’s more, using the service grants you access to pre-negotiated maintenance rates, meaning you could get a great discount on the labour. To elaborate on just how great these discounts can be, we offer up to 25 per cent off all parts and labour, meaning you can make substantial savings when signing up with us.

Winter is coming to an end and that means warmer days and lighter evenings. Spring has sprung and it’s a fantastic time to make the most of your car.

That said, the beauty of spring brings with it some considerable dangers for those who fail to keep their vehicle in top condition. From glare in the evenings to wear and tear from the colder, icy months just gone, there’s plenty of reasons you need to stay on top of your vehicle’s maintenance.

Avoiding glare as the days get lighter

As the evenings become lighter, the sun begins to set during what for many people is the daily commute home from work. As such, it lies low in the sky just as millions of people are taking to the roads during rush hour.

When the sun hangs low like this, it can significantly increase the chances of drivers suffering from glare. This can cause drivers to be temporarily dazzled and unable to see clearly – itself a considerable danger.

Ensuring that windows are kept clean and free from debris will help to reduce glare, while drivers themselves can lower their risk of being dazzled by wearing polarised sunglasses when behind the wheel.

Keep your car clean

The rigours of winter may be coming to an end, but months of freezing temperatures, rain, sleet and salt on the roads can take its toll on the bodywork of your vehicle. As a result, it’s important to ensure you are regularly washing your car and frequently checking all areas for signs of corrosion.

Bodywork around wheel arches, the boot and doors can be particularly susceptible to corrosion from salt damage. As a result, pay particular attention to keeping these areas clean and free from dirt/debris in order to maximise their longevity.

A regular wash also ensures that any dings, scratches to the paintwork or other minor damage can be picked up more quickly, again ensuring the elements do not have a chance to cause lasting damage to your vehicle that can be costly to repair.

Plan a service

Finally, it’s important to always ensure your vehicle is in the best possible condition to reduce the likelihood of suffering a breakdown. As such, spring can be the perfect time of year to get your vehicle serviced in preparation for the warmer, sunnier months to come.

It provides the opportunity to have a professional examine all aspects of your vehicle and identify any components that may be in need of attention following the harsh winter months.

MyService.Expert offers access to a nationwide network of garages where professional mechanics can help you to keep on top of your vehicle’s maintenance.

What’s more, when you sign up to our service, we guarantee great savings by offering discounts of up to 25 per cent on all parts and labour.

Can you trust your drivers to report minor damage to the company vehicles? English law states that regular inspection of commercial vehicles must be daily and consistent to ensure they are safe to drive.

MyDriveSafe.Expert makes it easy to do this, all from your Apple or Android smartphone. No more paperwork, no more guesswork, because it all runs on this free to download App.

Select your vehicle from the database by typing in the registration, choose from one of the industry-standard checklist templates for the type of vehicle or create your own, and go. You can then add photos and notes to any item. Once complete, checklist data is uploaded to the Cloud as soon as it detects an internet connection for you or your manager to review via an online portal.

Tom Cosway, Head of Commercial Business at Fuel Card Services, says, “It is worrying to see the high proportion of company car drivers who do not think car maintenance is their responsibility. Not only is this putting them at risk of the car breaking down, or causing a serious incident, it also creates potentially high repair costs for their employer.”

The MyDriveSafe.Expert web portal makes it easy to review any number of vehicle checks, so you can resolve issues before they become a problem. Each vehicle check is uploaded automatically to the Cloud so you can view them all in one clear and user-friendly dashboard. You can link multiple drivers to one vehicle, or one driver to numerous vehicles. The portal shows all the data you might need, from the length of time taken to complete the checklist to the vehicle’s precise location.

This simple innovation allows you to carry out an arduous – but essential – chore in a tenth of the time it would typically take. Plus, support for various motoring organisations is built-in MyDriveSafe.Expert’s templates, so it’s even straightforward for your fleet to comply.

Our dedicated team will help you to discover the advantages available with MyDriveSafe.Expert, ensuring seamless integration with your business.