A car service history check shows the servicing recorded against a car's registration: when it was done, the mileage at each visit, which garage did the work and, where the record goes that far, the individual jobs. ServiceBoss reads the record the manufacturer holds, so you can test what an advert or a seller tells you before you pay a deposit.
Enter a UK registration. Checkout confirms whether service history is available for the car before you pay.
Complete History Report £16.99 · one-off payment, no subscription. No manufacturer records found? Your payment will not be taken. See what each check includes.
A service history check is a search for the servicing recorded against one vehicle. A ServiceBoss report looks for the record held by the car's manufacturer and sets out what it finds visit by visit, so you can read the car's life in order instead of working it out from a book of stamps.
Each visit on the record can show up to four things, and each answers a different question.
A stamped book can be lost, copied or filled in after the event. A digital record is added by the garage and held away from the car and its owner, which makes it harder to fake. It is not perfect, as the next section explains, but it comes from somewhere other than the person selling you the car.
A manufacturer's record is one strong piece of evidence about a car, not the whole story. It is worth being clear about what it leaves out.
Full service history is one of the most common phrases in a used car advert, and it has no fixed meaning. One seller means every visit at a main dealer. Another means a few stamps and a folder of receipts. A third means the car has been serviced at some point in most years. All three can write the same words, and buyers pay more for them.
If you have found a car and you are days away from buying it, the useful question is what the claim is based on. A check gives you a record to set against the advert, so you can ask better questions before you travel. If the visits support the claim, you can buy with more confidence. If they do not, you have something to raise with the seller, or a reason to look elsewhere. For more on this, read what full service history really means.
It works the other way round too. If you are selling a well kept car, a record of its visits is evidence you can show a buyer to support your asking price, and it often carries more weight than saying it has always been looked after.
Most major manufacturers now keep some kind of digital service record, though they do not all call it the same thing or make it equally easy to reach. Mercedes-Benz calls its version the Digital Service Booklet, Ford and Vauxhall call theirs the Digital Service Record, Land Rover has an Online Service History, and the Volkswagen Group uses a Digital Service Schedule. In most cases the owner can see it through an app or account, or a dealer can look it up, and a buyer has no way in.
ServiceBoss offers manufacturer service history for major manufacturers, for cars from model year 2012. Each page below covers what that manufacturer's record is called, how often its cars should be serviced, and which entries a buyer should look for.
We do not currently offer the record for other makes, such as Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault and Volvo. Checkout will not offer the Complete History Report for those cars, or for cars older than model year 2012. You can still run a Vehicle Risk Check on them, and the seller may be able to show you the record through the manufacturer's own app or dealer.
A ServiceBoss report brings together information that sits in separate places. You enter one registration and we go to each source for you.
ServiceBoss is an independent service. It is not part of DVLA or DVSA, is not connected with any car manufacturer, and does not identify the registered keeper. You do not need the V5C, the service book or the seller's login to run a check, only the registration.
A report is most useful if you read it with a few questions in mind. These are the ones we would ask of any car.
A short or patchy record is not a verdict on the car. It is a prompt to ask for the paperwork. A seller who can produce invoices that match the dates and mileage is giving you real evidence, even if the car has never been near a main dealer.
No records found does not mean the car was never serviced. It may have been looked after by an independent garage that did not add to the digital record. It may also have been serviced before the manufacturer's digital records began for that model, and availability varies between manufacturers.
It also means you do not pay. No manufacturer records found? Your payment will not be taken. That applies to the Complete History Report ordered on its own. In that case, ask the seller for the service book and invoices, and ring the garages named on them if you can. On a car with no history at all, you are buying on condition and inspection alone, so price that risk into your offer. Our guide to buying privately sets out the other checks to make.
No. An MOT is a yearly roadworthiness test on a set date, and a service is maintenance. A car can pass its MOT every year and never have its oil changed, because an MOT does not look at engine oil, and it says nothing about items such as a cambelt.
MOT history is public and free to see, so start there. Our free vehicle check shows the tax and MOT record, and DVSA's MOT data explained covers what it can tell you. A free check will not show you the servicing, which is the part that this page is about.
| Check | Price | Service history | When you are charged |
|---|---|---|---|
| Complete History Report | £16.99 | Yes, from the manufacturer's record | Authorised when you order, charged only once manufacturer service records have been found. If there are none, the hold is released and you pay nothing. |
| Vehicle Risk Check | £9.99 | No | Charged when you order. These checks run against data we can always reach, so there is no no-find-no-fee condition on this one. |
Both are one-off payments for one registration, with no subscription and nothing to cancel afterwards. The Complete History Report includes everything in the Vehicle Risk Check: stolen marker, write-off category, outstanding finance, export and scrap history, recorded mileage and a valuation where available. See exactly what each check includes.
If you add V5C alerts to the Complete History Report and no service records are found, we do not release the whole payment. We keep the £9.99 risk check plus the price of your V5C alerts, and release the rest, because the risk check and the monitoring are delivered either way.
Run it once you have found a car you are serious about, and before you travel to see it or put down a deposit. All you need is the registration, which is often visible in the advert's photos, or you can ask the seller for it. If a seller will not give it to you, ask why.
Run it again only if something changes, for example if the seller says that the car has just had a service. Take the report with you to the viewing, go through the visits with the seller, and ask about anything that does not match what you were told.
These guides go further on the points above.
Not the manufacturer's record. Free checks use public DVLA and DVSA data, which show tax and MOT but not servicing. A service history check costs £16.99, and if no records are found for a report ordered on its own, you pay nothing.
Yes, for supported makes from model year 2012 where a record is held. You do not need the V5C, the service book or the seller's account. Enter the registration and we look for the record.
Sometimes. It shows what was added to the manufacturer's record, and some independent garages can add to it while others cannot. Ask the seller for invoices to cover any visits that are not listed.
It depends on when that manufacturer's dealers began recording visits digitally for that model, and we offer the check for cars from model year 2012. An older car can show a shorter record even if it was always serviced properly.
Usually yes, though the effect varies by make and age. Buyers tend to pay more for evidence they can check, so a digital record is often worth more than a stamped book.
Not automatically, but it carries more risk. You are relying on the car's condition and an inspection, and you should budget for maintenance that may have been missed. That should be reflected in the price.
Enter a UK registration. Checkout confirms whether service history is available for the car before you pay.
Complete History Report £16.99 · one-off payment, no subscription. No manufacturer records found? Your payment will not be taken. See what each check includes.