Got Car From Interstate, Love The Car But The Owners Manual/service Bo

[bluesmuso]

damm that's cheap as, were did you find it? so far ive been only looking on carsales, yea sa is alot more expensive I think it coz theres never as many forsale as other states hence not as much competition

I got it off carsales.com.au, it has pretty rough bumpers (tings and scrapes on front and rear and one hole in the middle from trailer damage) which put others off which worked in my favour.

It was a country car so it has lots of stone chips on front and sidesbut still looks OK unless up close but I'd still have to throw a bit of money at it.

Yeah SA = less people less cars available (Seller's market) it is the same in WA.

But in VIC, NSW and QLD itis generally a buyer's market.

SA also = one way southern expressway, South eastern freeway upgrade and tunnel 30 years overdue, State bank collapse causing one generation (30 years) of damage to the state's economy, traffic light every 100 metres most with cameras.

But Good beaches especially down South and takes a maximium of 1 hour to get anywhere by car even in peak traffic.....still is a great place to live.

Edited 15/02/09 02:21 AM by bluesmuso

[Panda Eyes]

same here, after looking around I decided to fly to vic and get one.

[Panda Eyes]

dude was that you that came to my place today when I was out?

[bluesmuso]

Yeah that was me (we are no.21) I've got the blueprint XR6T and the TJ Magna wagon with 18" rims (which are going to end up on the Ford)

Without the owner's manual I didn't know where the fuses for the horn were because the fuse lid inside the car next to the steering wheel don't have a map on the back of the lid but the relay box under the bonnet does.

I tested the horn direct from a car battery and it's had it, makes no sound. I also don't know where the stock twin horns (which I've bought) are supposed to be mounted.

Yours is the silver one with the 20" rims right? Sounds wicked, auto or manual (sounds like an auto like mine)

I had mine fixed (see other thread) and filled it with 98 ron premium fuel, boy does it go, that midrange torque would shame most V8's.

Mine's a bit rough with stone chips and bumper bar damage and scrapes but I got it for 13K with premium sound so I'm happy, they would have to be the best looking car ever made in Australia, but I'm biased, I call her "The Geelong Gem" cheers Martin

Edited 17/02/09 11:16 AM by bluesmuso

[bluesmuso]

Well no luck, it's all been lip service, the books have not arrived, I even posted a prepaid package satchel (registered post) so all she'd have to do is put the books in it and put it in a post box, but no luck it has not been posted and not likely to be, she has even had her phone disconnected and never answers her mobile or text messages. So I am going to chase her legally for vehicle depreciation due to lack of books, anyone have an idea of how much less a vehicle is worth without books? My guess is about $1000.

A solicitor advised that a letter of demand and then an ordinary summons should be enough to encourage her to post the books and if not I could pursue her for damages (the amount to be determined later).

I looked on the red book site but could not find anything regarding lower vehicle value in the absence of the books. I really need to know how much less on average a car is worth without the books.

I phoned Ford Aust and they told me they don't keep a database on cars once out of warranty and cannot help me, the guy I spoke to was not at all helpful. When I owned a crappy old 99 VT wagon in 2006 I was able to ring Holden, supply the rego and vin and they told me the car's history from brand new including every service and noted a late 70,000km service which was done at 76,000km's. The VT had done over 200,000km's when I got it

and it had the books and everything but even without books it's service history was on holden's database.

Edited 04/03/09 07:41 AM by bluesmuso

[CarCycle]

A car is worth no less without books... it just puts some people off buying them... 50% of people dont care if it has books or not and the other 50% do... yes its nice to have them if you plan on keeping the car, but its not the end of the world not having them.

Well that's what my car yard experience tells me. Personally, I wouldnt care less if it had them or not, service history means nothing when the car is a few years old, as long as its all in order, its all in order! Anyone can make up whats written in the back of the book, especially if its had more than one owner. This is just my opinion, so please, dont take any offense or the like to what im saying, everyone can have their own opinion.

In saying that, mine has all the books and service history... but I guess what im trying to get at is that it would not be worth the time COST and effort trying to chase someone on the other side of the country over books.

Sorry, I hope I dont anger too many people!?

Edited 04/03/09 10:58 AM by CarCycle

[bluesmuso]

Thanks for your reply carcycle, all input is appreciated, and no offence taken.

When I bought the car I also bought the books of which particulars were noted when my interstate mechanical inspection was carried out, if my mechanical inspection had noted 'NO BOOKS' I certainly would have offered less.

I think that a car is always worth more with books than without in that a prospective buyer (if you can get someone to come and look at it without the books) will use it as leverage to push the price down (to me it's kind of like a vital part of the car is missing but unlike other parts it is not easily replaceable), obviously with an older car (10 years+) it is less important but it still is important though, and my car is not that old.

The jack, spare and second set of keys and fob were also missing but the books and owner's manual was the final straw. The seller is only 700km's away (not the other side of the country) and it's because of the distance involved and that I wasn't there to check that people like this think they can get away with keeping items which are no longer theirs, not necessarily so! It's the assumption that people won't do anything about it that encourages people like this everywhere to stuff people around by not responding to phone calls or letters and just hoping you'll go away.

I am a landlord and one tenant took most of the light bulbs the day he moved out (just because I was not there at the last minute to make sure he didn't) Some people think it's ok to do the wrong thing just because nobody is watching. Well I now have a better tenant and a much better property manager...but this was just an example.

It is a fact that from experience people will only try something dodgey if they think that they can get away with it.

If I let it go I am sending a loud and clear message to this person and others like them that it's ok to rip people off. I don't intend on spending a fortune pursuing this (a form 1A and an ordinary summons does not cost much) but this to me is not about money, it's more about principle and it's my books that I'm after rather than money.

And before anyone says "serves you right for buying a car interstate" I am very happy with the car and got it for a lot less that what I could have found here in SA, I just want the books that were also purchased with it.

I hope nobody is offended by my long winded response, cheers and happy safe motoring everyone

Bluesmuso

Edited 05/03/09 09:26 AM by bluesmuso

[denebarry]

Well said!!

[our06t]

to me the books mean nothing , I have done most service work to my car since it was 2 an a bit years old , but I know a few dodgey mech who would quite easily fill out my log book for me if I wanted it all stamped so I could sell it

they are not a legal doc as such and really are open to a lot of dodgey business

[bluesmuso]

Good point, they can be simply filled out by anyone, it is when it comes time to sell or trade up that the absence of books bother me, but it is very annoying when they are listed as present in the mechanical report but are absent upon delivery. I can remember when I had a pretty newish VX Late model camira and it was a pain having to pay out all the service costs to keep the books clean, but when I sold it, it paid off (the other car he was looking at had missed 2 services so he bought mine)

The main problem is when there are no books some buyers will freak out and think it has done 350,000km's instead of the 165,000km's on the cluster because there are no records. I personally go by how the car feels to drive, you can usually feel if a car has not been looked after by the 'seat of the pants' but a lot of people judge the car by the service books and probably don't know much about cars so that's all they have to go by, and with so many cars on the market at one time ones with missing books will be struck off the list first.