Car's records. Important to you?

The auction houses definitely do NOT destroy paperwork connected to any car.

Paperwork only drives up the value of any given car.

Matt

 

Don't know anything about auctions but paperwork definitely adds some value when selling. Depending on the level of paperwork it may add considerable actual dollars to the price but even if there is nothing but the most current owner's service info, it will at least make the car appeal to more potential buyers than an equal car with no paperwork at all. and the more people who are interested, the better the chance for a quick, satisfactory sale.

 

I bought a 1989 Mercedes 560SL at a Bonhams auction this spring and it came with paperwork.

Matt

 

I've often heard that classic cars originating from the Japanese market usually come without paperwork & collectors there don't much care about paper history. l have often wondered whether this is true & why that is.

 

I've been told that it might also sometime be the case for the swiss Ferraris, owners giving less importance to the service history than in other countries (?)
Rgds

 

FWIW,it occurs to me that whether paperwork is important or not probably depends a lot on the car and what level of work you can/will do yourself. For example, if I was buying a US muscle car to drive - like I drive my 328 - I wouldn't care anything at all about paperwork or service records whereas I did on my 328. In my case, that's largely a matter of realizing that Ferrari parts are quite expensive but Ford/Chevy/Mopar parts are not. For example, the parts for an engine rebuild for, say, a 1969 440 Roadrunner, including new forged pistons would cost around 1000 bucks. Half that if you don't need new pistons. Throw in new valves, lifters and seals, if needed, and your still not up to 1500 bucks.

 

That is very important. Espacially when the odometer has only 5 digit !

 

My 456M came with zero paperwork. I didn't care because it was one of only a few in Rosso Corsa with shields and a tan Daytona interior. By the time I sold it, it had about $40K worth of service and restoration records. Sold for exactly what I paid for it 5.5 years earlier, $75K. The 308 is such a simple car compared to newer ones that I didn't care about spotty records. I figure I could do everything to it I did to my 456M for less than half the cost.

 

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How’s this for The Cars record?

 

I received records with both my f-cars. They are great to see what was or wasn't done. It can help the current mechanic. With the 355, I know the heads haven't yet been replaced and the piper will come to get paid. If the records did show the headers were replaced, then I could question my mechanic.

 

I document all DIY work with invoices of parts purchased showing the dates, etc. Fluid changes & repairs. It's all important to the history of the car.

 

Records certainly add value and document the car's maintenance and ownership history, all good things to know. IMHO, the vast majority of Ferrari purchases are made by people who don't keep the car very long before selling it whether to avoid major expenses, a quick flip or just plain boredom and wanting to move on to the next new toy. For those people records are very important.

For someone like me who purchases the car to drive and keep forever then keeping records isn't quite as important. I do all of my own work (I am a lifelong gearhead) so records would only be purchases of parts and maintenance items. My car will most likely go to my son when I die (or maybe before) so it may not be sold on the open market for many decades. My son keeps pressing me to keep the car in his garage so I know that he can't wait to get his hands on it.

 

Both of my Ferrari's are Swiss and have a well documented history included the list of owners from new. My 76 308 even has the service book stamped from the Ferrari dealer with all of the required service and its current!

Mine may be the exception.

 

My view is that any work done results in a paper trail of receipts, invoices and various other records and unless you are living out of a backpack there is no good reason to just toss them but at the same time there are people who get anal about it and make a bigger deal of it than necessary. For instance what value does a timing belt change invoice have if the belts have subsequently been replaced since? The bottom line is the current condition of the car and records can sometimes be of use in an attempt to determine that but overall I think they are over valued. I know after going through the records on my car and then having had my hands all over it there was definitely an element of “pencil whipping” going on. That and some of the work just wasn’t done to the standards that I hold. There are people however who are simply going to pass on a perfectly good car just because of missing maintenance history documents. That, or try to low-ball you because of it.

 

an old car friend once told me...."Collector cars are an investment, like it or not...and like an airplane, the service records are a big part of the value"

I have lived by this rule and my Ferrari has all of the records since the first owner, i even keep the DIY receipts into the files.

 

My car came with records back to 1998 or so. It is absolutely of value to me to know when the water pump was replaced, for example. I now do the same. Every R&R is documented, every receipt for parts kept in a folder... including the random fastener purchases at Home Depot.

 

I think the records are very important. They tell the story of the car and how well its been cared for. My 1985 GTB has all records, seriously. I have records back to 120 miles when original owner bought the car. I have 3 binders full of service history IE window sticker, purchase agreement, first SMOG from 1987, everything you can think of.

 

Ditto, I have everything from the original contract of sale to the last service invoice over 30 years.
More valuable to me then my Classiche folder.

 

While the information contained within the service records, especially if the service record is for 2 or 3 belt changes 20 years ago, may not be of much value. It does provide an indication of how well the car was cared for overall, that the owner(s) took the time and effort to save the receipts.

 

For older cars, service records mean just about nothing to me unless it's something like a timing belt service or cat replacement. We don't know if the shop was run by Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles and who they had working on the car, we don't know how the prior owner drove the car (more important than prior records IMO), how the prior owner warmed up the car, how they shifted/clutch, who they allowed to drive the car, I could go on. Records provide such a small and out-of-context snapshot they are almost useless in many cases. Pick a car, check over the engine with a compression check or leakdown if the compression is suspect, give everything else a good once-over, make a decision to buy or not buy. Anything on these cars can be fixed. We see it time and time again a supposedly 'nice' example of a car needs all manner of things depending on who is looking and what they want.

I don't think the vintage Ferrari racecar owners, full knowing those cars have bit the dust several times, particularly care about prior service. Same can be said for the other more valuable cars out there.

 

I have lots of service record from the PO when I bought my 308 11 years ago. Now, since I’ve own my car, not so much record because I do most of the service myself but, I keep a log book for all the work I’ve done and I’ve kept all my receipts, I think that should be good enough since I don’t plan on selling my car.

 

It almost seems that some people display big buck invoices as some sort of badge of honor when listing their car for sale but as I said earlier, take it with a grain of salt as there is no absolute correlation between the amount spent and the quality of maintenance received. There is tale after tale affirming this right here in these forums. Read thorn's current thread as he digs into a car that had $35,000 worth of prior invoices only to find that whoever worked on it previously had some sort of weird fetish for red RTV, slathering it liberally onto everything in sight.

Point is, don't take things for granted.