how to find out the history of your car

[bok1]

does any body know how to find out the history of there ss.can you ring the holden dealer and they will tell you.we bought a vx ss2 woth 40k on the clock and wondering if it had any problems with and were fixed.thans for any help.

phil

[CV8-RO]

Try calling the dealer who has stamped the logbook. They should have the info.

[JT]

Try calling the dealer who has stamped the logbook. They should have the info.
Yes,they should have the info but whether they will tell you is another matter,tried to get info on a car we were looking at and the salesman wouldn't even look just said"these cars never have any problems" lol

[ACT_Cross8]

the salesman wouldn't even look just said"these cars never have any problems" lol

I'd find another dealer, that one obviously has his head in the clouds (or up his own :moon: )

[MICK_EZEKIEL]

Bok1... what state are you in?? I know here in Vic you can ring up VicRoads and get a Vehicle Information Pack and tells you some things about the car... (cut and pasted below)

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/vrne/vrne5nav.nsf/FirstChild/-4A75AFD687EFAB8ACA256FD300241BFB

Purchase a Vehicle Information Package (VIP)
If you are planning to buy a second hand vehicle, a quick and easy way to obtain important information prior to purchase is to get a Vehicle Information Package (VIP).

A VIP is a package of information issued by VicRoads that provides vehicle buyers with a detailed record (excluding private information) about any Victorian registered vehicle, giving potential buyers peace of mind and enabling them to make an informed purchase decision. A VIP provides the latest information recorded on VicRoads systems including:

Written-off vehicle damage reported for the vehicle, including the date, type and severity of damage where applicable
Whether VicRoads has been notified that the vehicle is reported as being stolen
Whether the registration is current, expired, suspended or cancelled
The Vehicle Identification Number/chassis number and engine number
The make, body type and year of manufacture
The number of times the vehicle has been transferred, and the postcodes where it has been garaged within Victoria
Whether any financial institution, enforcement agency or individual has a registered security interest over the vehicle.A VIP costs $23.10 per package.


---------------------
Or you might want to look in the owners manual and you should see the name and address of the first registered owner... even the paper on the window at the dealer has the info of the last owner... look for them in the phone book http://www.whitepages.com.au and call them and they might talk to you.... You might want to ask them things like... why did they sell it with so low km's on the clock etc...

The dealer would also have their name and address... When i brought my last car the dealer offered to call the prev owner if i wanted to ask them anything as I had a question about the car that the dealer didnt know...

[bok1]

thanks guys for the
help and mick i live in katoomba nsw

[Y2kGoofball]

you'll more then likely have problems trying to find out the "history"

as far as I am aware all service departments can do is say "yes the car was here on that date and yes it had work done" but due to privacy and other laws they cant go into detail, its just not worth it, even though you are the new owner of the car.

It happens at work all the time. Customers just brought a car, seen that its been stamped from day 1 with our stamp. All of a sudden it develops a turbo problem or a oil feed problem (thus why the original owner shifted it in the first place) and the car comes back. They ask for history seeing as we're the only place thats ever looked at it, all we can do is say that it had been here on the dates stamped in the book for regular services, and that it had been here on various other days for various other work, we cant go into specifics and say what other work ...

I found it when I brought my car too, all they could say is "according to history the car has had regular services on these dates (which matched the book) ... and it had other work done on other dates".

I dont know the work around to it though, but you'll find a service center wont just hand over specific details for that car, if they do then your very lucky that they dont mind any legal implications that may arise, its just not worth it for them.

Then again its worth comparing the stamp in the book to what the service center has on records, even if it is just a "yes its been here on that date". Our wholesale brought a 2003 BA Falcon which had 75000 K's. Had full log books with a legit genuine ford service center stamp on each service.

Problem is in the entire 75000 k's it had never acctually seen a service AT ALL! The book was stamped by someone the owner knew at Ford just before they palmed it off for value reasons because its sold "with log books", because this causes the car to lose value if it doesnt have log books.

When wholesale got the car and it wasnt running right, they rang the ford service center who had supposidly stamped it, and asked them if their records showed the car as being in service on these dates, their records showed the car had been brought through their dealership but never been into their service!

Mick thats helpful especially in determining the cars not a write off, or stolen or somethings dodgey, but that pack doesnt tell you service history of it for instance its had 3 steering racks, a fuel pump, major engine re-work, new diff :( which is the concern here.

[markone2]

And this one will tell you if that nice late model ,well presented alleged one-owner vehicle with the brand new number plates ,which now takes pride of place in your driveway is actually an ex-reps car that covered 200,000K's plus in the last 2 years.........and they are around...in spades...

http://www.checkitout.com.au/

[Desertraptor]

Transport SA have an online site you can get the info from for $22.00.
Why should we have to pay for what is technically our info after buying the vehicle.

[Peter B - CV8]

Before buying a second hand car (from a dealer) - I've always checked out the log book & written down the previous owner/s name & address.
You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to track them down & simply ask them if they had any major problems with the car.
It's a bit sneaky - but I haven't bought a dud yet & have avoided a couple that looked pretty good (but had experienced problems).

[Fezz]

I've done exactly as Peter B said, get the previous owners name and details and track them down.

Because I've bought both my cars from dealers which were both advertised as 1 owner cars, just to make sure I rang the previous owners out of the books and confirmed the salesman wasn't telling porky pies.

Works great as the old owner has sold the car so he has nothing to hide reveiling all its problems, etc.

[planetdavo]

Transport SA have an online site you can get the info from for $22.00.
Why should we have to pay for what is technically our info after buying the vehicle.
It's THEIR info until it's BOUGHT from them.
Someone has to be paid for accessing the information, and the IT guys probably charged a crapload to write the program.
Everything in life costs, unfortunately....

[YLD57L]

I've done exactly as Peter B said, get the previous owners name and details and track them down.

Because I've bought both my cars from dealers which were both advertised as 1 owner cars, just to make sure I rang the previous owners out of the books and confirmed the salesman wasn't telling porky pies.

Works great as the old owner has sold the car so he has nothing to hide reveiling all its problems, etc.

Good advice Matt. :bounce: