Service history, is the record of a vehicles maintenance. Service history is very important, not only for the health of the car, also the value of the car. Using a certified dealer could be more expensive, but it’ll provide more reassurance that your vehicle is working as expected. How do I keep an FSH? You should always be given an itemised invoice whenever your car is serviced, which lists exactly what work has been done and how much each job cost. Make sure you keep this information somewhere safe so you can refer to it again later if needed and so that it’s there when you want to sell the car. Service book – this is a book that goes with the vehicle and every time it has a service, it has a stamp, from the garage that carried the service out. If a dealer cannot produce a car’s full service history on the spot, assume it doesn’t have one. Excuses like: “We’re getting the service centre to send us the details”, or: “You should be able to get that from the main dealer” are not acceptable and are almost certainly lies. What does FMSH mean? Or FPSH, or FASH, etc?

DIY is better than stamps imo. As long as they keep the receipts for any parts though. Promising they did that cam belt change 5k ago means nothing without a receipt for the belt kit. DIY receipts, to me, also shows that they have looked after the car, especially when you find receipts for expensive oil every 6-10k and receipts for random bits and bobs sorted as and when rather than once a year when its probably completely worn out etc. It’s similarly common for servicing at main dealers to stop as a car gets older and is worth less, with those running older cars often saving money by taking them to an independent garage. We have more than 250 service centres across the UK providing auto services for both cars and vans to keep you and your vehicles safe on the road. How Do I Book My Car Service? If you go to a non-approved dealer but keep the vehicle serviced correctly according to the manufacturer’s guidelines, the vehicle will have a full service history.

If your vehicle requires more than 10 litres of oil, an additional charge will be made per additional litre required.

Having an FSH means that a car has been maintained consistently to the standards outlined by the manufacturer when it rolled off the production line, with all of the required service tasks undertaken and all of the correct procedures followed. However, if the car has been fully maintained by an official dealership, it’s a sign that the car is more likely to be mechanically sound. It’s certainly not a guarantee, but it’s a good start.

Where can I find a full car service near me? 

Find out more about the different types of vehicle servicing options, including what is a car service. What does a full car service include? Fairly simply, a car with an FSH is one that has been maintained at every required interval since it was built, with work carried out either by a manufacturer directly or by an approved service centre. Owners of new or nearly new cars tend to return to their main dealer when their vehicle is due a service. It's a sensible approach because you can be sure it'll be serviced correctly, receive the latest software updates or minor recall rectification work and - as a result - will gain that all-important main dealer service stamp in the service book. The service history should include any invoices and paperwork from the repair centre as well as the service book, which must be stamped by the technician after every service. If the vehicle missed one service, was taken to a non-approved service centre or is missing a stamp, then it would have a partial service history.

To keep your warranty valid, you’ll also need to ensure approved parts are used and the correct jobs are undertaken. While you can get your car serviced anywhere, going to a main dealer will ensure this is the case. If a car has not been serviced on time, every time, or has been taken to a non-approved garage for a service, then it would be considered to have a partial service history. The amount of time a service will take depends on the type of service your car is booked in for. Usually, as highlighted above, a car will have three levels of routine service, often referred to as minor (or interim) service, full service and major service. Because a minor service involves the least work, you can often book a time slot and simply get the car serviced while you do some shopping or read a magazine. The total length of a car service will vary depending on which service is required for your vehicle. These times can also vary depending on what's found during the inspection. Read our blog on how long a car service takes here for a full breakdown. Car service history is still something that’s recorded almost exclusively on paper, at least in ways that the car owner can access that is, so if you lose your book, you lose the service logs with it. It’s not the end of the world, though. If you’ve had your car serviced at the same garage year in, year out, they should have a record of the car’s history that can be transferred into the new book, as long as you can prove that you’re the rightful owner of the vehicle.

How Often Should You Service Your Car? 

Find your nearest car service centre with ATS Euromaster and select your car service from the dropdown menu. Once you've found the closest centre, book an appointment at a time that suits you and take your car in for an Interim, Full or Major service. Manufacturers invest millions (or even billions) of pounds developing a new model with the best possible durability and reliability, but a single poor experience can make you want to swap brands. For this reason, carmakers invest heavily in their dealerships, with comprehensive staff training and the latest equipment. No matter what shape and size, or how cheap or expensive the brand, every car needs to be maintained according to a service schedule that is set out by the vehicle manufacturer. Prices vary according to service option selected, engine cc of vehicle, oil and quantity of oil used. Dates, this is the one where fakers trip up. When fakers, fake history, quite often they don’t due to maths involved for it to pass as legit.

Think of car serving like brushing your teeth, the more you brush, the less likely you are to get tooth decay, the less you brush vice versa. While it’s important to note that EU laws mean you can’t be forced to use a main dealership for servicing, doing so ensures official parts are used and the recommended servicing regime is followed at the right times. Often, main dealer technicians are also trained by the manufacturer and are experts in servicing and repairing your car specifically. What does a car service include? But as a service advisor I have been asked to stamp the service books on the cars having these services as I would with a maufacturer's service, I am not comfortable with this so have been stamping them but hand writing that it is only and oil and filter service to which my boss has taken it that I am being "awkward" and told me "I am of no use to him as a service advisor if I am not willing to follow his command". With new cars becoming more complicated to maintain, it’s even more important to have the right people looking at your vehicle. They’ll have the correct resources, so all work should be performed to the letter of the manufacturer’s guidelines.Variable servicing depends on sensors fitted around the car and its on-board computer telling you when it needs attention via the dashboard. Typically, this approach can allow more miles between services, especially if you often sit on the motorway, placing less stress on components. Drive with more frequent bursts of acceleration and braking and the service will arrive sooner. As a result, this type of servicing can suit drivers with high annual mileages of 12,000 miles or more, who often undertake longer trips. Make sure your garage resets the service interval warning, otherwise it’ll ping up when a service isn’t necessary. Car servicing under warranty ATS Euromaster has over 250 centres* across the UK and offers a friendly and professional service. Book an appointment at your local ATS Euromaster service centre and get a comprehensive car service to reduce the chance of a breakdown. Only you know just how safe your position is and whether you could obtain another similar job should things turn sour. In this guide, we cover the importance of a car’s service history when buying or selling a used car, and how you can obtain missing service history records for a car. Why is car service history important? If a car has a different garage stamping the book each time, or the services have not been done on time and every time, it’s a sign that the previous owner hasn’t shown too much care and probably doesn’t look after the car in other ways. How can I maintain a full service history?