Service books
This simply means that the car has the original maintenance log book still present. However, just because it is present does not necessarily mean that full records have been kept – indeed, there may not be any records written in at all.
So, if the car at the auction in Japan has service books present, it is better than nothing, but does not guarantee that the car has been maintained faultlessly.
It is worth remembering that these are sales points which some sellers may not mention. So just because the auction inspectors’ report does not mention service books or service history does not necessarily mean that the car does not have them – you might get a pleasant surprise when they show up anyway.
Service history
“Service history” means that there are actual written records of the car’s maintenance present. You will usually see the auction inspector qualify this in the following ways:
- Some service history – This means that there are an unspecified number of service records present with the car.
- X pages of service history – This is more specific as it tells you how many pages of maintenance records are present with the car. Obviously you would expect fewer with a younger car and more in an older one.
- Some service history (year to year) – This is even more specific than the above in that it tells you for what years the service history is available. For example, you may be looking at a 2001 car and it says, “Some service history (2003 to 2005, and 2009). Clearly the more maintenance records the car has without gaps, the more reassured you can be about its quality.
Here are some examples taken from real auction inspection reports. All of these give you a higher level of confidence than an inspection report that says the car definitely does not have service books.
The one on the left would give you a little confidence, the one in the center would give you some confidence, and the one on the right would give you a high level of confidence that the car had been looked after well.
This Japanese kanji circled on this auction sheet means that this car has its service book present.
This car in the auction has 6 pages of service history by Yanase which is the major import car dealer in Japan.
Finally, this 1993 Porsche has less than 22,000km on the odometer, and this mileage is backed up by the service dates and mileages on the auction sheet.
One final thing to bear in mind is that service records are more often mentioned on the auction sheets of non-Japanese cars. However, that does not mean that the Japanese manufacturer cars you may be interested in have not been maintained well -- simply that it is harder to verify without this useful information.
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