Service history - issues obtaining

[PeeDeeBee]

Placed a holding deposit on a MG ZS from Marshall Ford in Cambridge. Car looked OK but I wanted to have a test drive before committing more funds to the purchase, which I'm planning to do tomorrow.

I had been keen to understand the service history of the car, as apparently it was ex-motability and then owned privately after.

I had reached out to MG customer service earlier in the week, and after 4 business days I've received the rather unhelpful reply only the registered keeper, or a dealer can confirm it. Has anyone else had any success with this?
Given part of the perceived value of a vehicle is its full service history, I'm not sure where this leaves things.

"Thank you for contacting MG customer service.

The only way to confirm the full applicable warranty on an MG vehicle would be by investigating the services completed on the vehicle.

If a vehicle has a full-service history, we class that as having full warranty coverage meaning that anything that would have been covered will still be in accordance with MG’s terms and conditions.

If a vehicle has missed a service or been service late, we class that vehicle as having a case-by-case warranty.

This means the vehicles warranty claims would be judged on a case-by-case basis and would be determined after the diagnosis of the fault.

Due to new policy, only the registered keeper of the vehicle can request a service history check.

For me to be able to complete this, the dealership will need to request the service history on your behalf and provide the V5C document for proof of ownership.

I would advise you to request the above from the dealers.

I hope this has answered your query, should you have any other queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

[maskull]

I feel your pain . When I bought my used 5 the seller couldn't provide any service info other than their word . They did provide a service sheet which was no more than a pre delivery check as far as I could see.
I also tried MG customer Service and they were very tight lipped .
Anyway the car was just under a year old so I took a chance ,bought it and immediately booked it in for it's first year service .
So I'm with you all the way there

 

[PeeDeeBee]

Just seems a bit crap, that the selling dealer doesn't have all this to hand. Equally if they don't, don't make out it's got a FSH.
I know realistically it's probably going to mean nothing, especially on a 4 year old car where nothing really apart from the battery is covered, but I don't want to drop 11k on a car that's not quite right.

 

[PeeDeeBee]

All the dealer can dig up at the moment is this. Hopefully I'm worrying over nothing. Just for some reason I'm not 100% about this whole purchase, but it's probably just a result over over analysing everything and the baby due in a few weeks!

 

[5teep]

Not sure, but if the service history contains any details about the current owner it might be a GDPR thing.

 

[pmknowles]

In October last year, hit a piece of metal in the road which slashed both offside tyres. I rang the support number and they said that I no longer had support as I hadn't had it serviced in the last year by an MG garage. I said that I had it serviced by Drive MG Darlington in the previous December. They accepted that and the AA came out.
Last December Drive MG Darlington serviced it again. I asked them to email the service history. Nothing happened.
I sold the car last week but, beforehand I rang Drive MG Darlington 3 times asking them for the service history. I was promised 3 times that I would be sent it and nothing happened.
I then contacted MG UK. After sending them a copy of the V5C they told me that Drive MG Darlington had not entered any of the services into the official MG online system. They were contacting them to get the data.
As there is no Service Book to be stamped it's important that the MG system is used.
I've said this to them.
1 The data is MINE not THEIRS as I paid for the service
2 The service history MUST be available in iSmart so that we can see the data.
3 They have a responsibility to monitor their dealers to ensure that they are using the systems correctly. I can't believe that I am the only customer that Drive MG Darlington has not entered the data for.

Next time you are in your garage ask to see the service history. If they demur then threaten them with a Data Subject Access Request.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

I feel your frustration , all I got after the first service was a very basic bill containing no information apart from 1st service, date, cost.
When I asked to see the dealers computer to see what they had informed MG of, they said that ,that was their information and I was not privy to it.
I rang the breakdown number and an extra year had been registered in my name so I have to assume??? its on MGs system, but with no actual knowledge of such.
Contacting MG Europe they said: see your dealer

 

[pmknowles]

I feel your frustration , all I got after the first service was a very basic bill containing no information apart from 1st service, date, cost.
When I asked to see the dealers computer to see what they had informed MG of, they said that ,that was their information and I was not privy to it.
I rang the breakdown number and an extra year had been registered in my name so I have to assume??? its on MGs system, but with no actual knowledge of such.
Contacting MG Europe they said: see your dealer

They are wrong. You are the Registered Keeper so the data is yours not theirs - just like it would be in a Service Book. If you didn't pay for the service there could be an argument but, as it is a condition of maintaining the breakdown service then you have a right to the data. A Data Subject Access Request will put them into so much pain that they should give up.

 

[OriginalBigAl]

They are wrong. You are the Registered Keeper so the data is yours not theirs - just like it would be in a Service Book. If you didn't pay for the service there could be an argument but, as it is a condition of maintaining the breakdown service then you have a right to the data. A Data Subject Access Request will put them into so much pain that they should give up.

Absolutely agree with you, but I had the MG dealer, Workshop manager, Franchise manager all blocking access. The only one on my side was an apprentice mechanic who had just started the week before and thought it was crazy , bet he has changed his mind when (if) I go back to that dealership. Still fuming!

 

[pmknowles]

Absolutely agree with you, but I had the MG dealer, Workshop manager, Franchise manager all blocking access. The only one on my side was an apprentice mechanic who had just started the week before and thought it was crazy , bet he has changed his mind when (if) I go back to that dealership. Still fuming!

This is what MG said to me - so they think the Registered Keeper is entitled to the data.
From: Customer Service <[email protected]>
Sent: 25 April 2025 10:29
Cc: Customer Service <[email protected]>
Subject: Online Query

Good morning,
Thank you for contacting MG customer care.
If you could provide a copy of your V5C showing you as the registered keeper we can send a copy of the service history that we hold for your vehicle.
Kind regards,

Stewart

MG Customer Service UK

Aftersales

E-Mail: [email protected]

Contact us: 01216 550365

This is what MG say about DSRs
All new MG vehicles need to be serviced at regular intervals. Each service should occur every 15,000 miles (or 10,000 miles for 16MY MG3 with Stop/Start) or every year - whichever comes first.

Every MG dealer is authorised to carry out service and maintenance work in conjunction with the terms of your vehicle's warranty. Your MG Dealer now also registers your car on the Digital Service Record platform, meaning that should you need to, you will be able to access the service history of your vehicle through a national database of MG dealers

 

[emmrecs]

@OriginalBigAl

What a stupid situation!

Is it of any relevance that you are in France?

Presumably the EU GDPR regulations might apply in your circumstances, that you have the right to see any and all digital data held about you (and, by extension, your car)?

 

[OriginalBigAl]

@OriginalBigAl

What a stupid situation!

Is it of any relevance that you are in France?

Presumably the EU GDPR regulations might apply in your circumstances, that you have the right to see any and all digital data held about you (and, by extension, your car)?

I would hope so, but you always come across the perennial language/translation problem of mis-understanding , and using that as an excuse to get your own way. Which I admit can be used both ways! when it suits. A fault does lie with me for not being able to speak fluent French with all its nuances and localised vocabulary. Google translate does help but its hard to argue with 40 second gaps between every sentence. Next time I'll go in with a pre-prepared written text?

 

[pmknowles]

@OriginalBigAl

What a stupid situation!

Is it of any relevance that you are in France?

Presumably the EU GDPR regulations might apply in your circumstances, that you have the right to see any and all digital data held about you (and, by extension, your car)?

The Data Protection Act 2018 is the UK implementation of GDPR (the whole point was to have a common, EU-wide dataprotection system). The UK government call DPA 2018 UK-GDPR and. currently, it is the same as EU GDPR. MG UK (and, presumably, MG France) clearly state that you are entitled to see the data.

 

[okohll]

Useful thread - I'm definitely going to keep a printout of each service in the glovebox (particularly as the last one was non-MG)