How Keeping Service Records Increases Your Vehicle's Value

When it comes to maximizing the resale value of your car, there are lots of different steps you can take. Looking after the interior and exterior, minimizing the mileage, and storing the car carefully can all help, but it's also very important to ensure that you keep service records. Learn more about how keeping service records increases your vehicle's value.

On the second-hand car market, buyers are looking for evidence that you've been a responsible car owner and driver. They don't want to think that you've driven madly all the time, or that you've made no effort to look after the car. Good, complete service records clearly indicate that you're a diligent owner, which may well lead the buyer to believe that you're a diligent driver too. It isn't always possible to be sure that the 'one careful driver' label is entirely true, but service records will certainly help prove this.

It's very important that service intervals are maintained according to your car owner's manual. These will normally depend on either total mileage (for example, every 10,000 miles) or time (every two years). Service records will demonstrate that you've maintained the servicing on your car according to these instructions. Booking your car in for a service every five years simply isn't good enough, and without proper records, you can't demonstrate that you've maintained the service history appropriately.

As part of your car's servicing history, it's likely that certain parts will have been repaired or replaced. Good service records will allow a buyer to see the parts that are being replaced. If these parts seem to indicate general wear and tear, then your buyer will not be alarmed. For all that he or she knows, however, you could be constantly going through brake pads and tires, which would indicate that you're driving the car very heavily. Detailed service records will help you demonstrate this is not the case.

Good service records also help you show that you have used a reputable mechanic and/or Hall Acura Virginia Beach's service department. This will give your buyer confidence that the work has been carried out to a high standard. It may also be the case that some of the parts or work remain under warranty, which will allow a new buyer to take the car back to Hall Acura Virginia Beach or mechanic in the event that there are any subsequent problems. Without detailed records, your buyer would not be able to do this.

Service records show the car's owner and the mileage of your vehicle at each interval. This will help you demonstrate that the car is genuine, that you really are the owner, and that the mileage is absolutely accurate. These are all data that you want to be able to provide to a would-be buyer.