Lost the service book? Recover the digital record

A blank replacement book can be bought, but a blank book proves nothing and stamping it retrospectively is fraud. What has actual value to a buyer is the manufacturer's own record, which is what we retrieve.

It varies by manufacturer. Most major brands are reliable from about 2012, several from the mid-2000s, and a few premium brands earlier still. Older cars are more likely to return partial records or nothing at all — in which case you are not charged.

A missing history does, yes — buyers discount what they cannot verify. Producing the manufacturer's own digital record removes the doubt, which is usually worth many times the cost of the check.

No. We return official manufacturer and main-dealer service records — the maintenance history. The NCT is a separate roadworthiness test held by the RSA and is not part of the report. Anyone offering you an Irish service history that is really just test history is selling you something different.

It helps. Manufacturer service records are stored against the VIN, not the number plate, so a car built and serviced in the UK keeps its dealer history after it is imported, VRT is paid and it goes onto Irish plates. That history is often the fullest record on the car.

Often, if it is a European make. A Volkswagen, Audi, BMW or Porsche sold new in Japan has a normal 17-character VIN, and Japanese main dealers log its services in the same manufacturer system we search, so its Japanese visits can come back with the date, the odometer reading in km and the work done. Toyota, Honda, Nissan and other Japanese-brand cars built for Japan carry a short Japanese chassis number instead of a VIN, and we can't check them.

€12.99. Your card is authorised at checkout but only charged if we actually find service records for the vehicle. If nothing is on file, the authorisation is released and you pay nothing.

The VIN is a 17-character code. It is printed in field E of the Vehicle Registration Certificate (the Irish logbook), stamped at the base of the windscreen on the driver's side, and shown on a plate inside the driver's door frame. On a UK import it will also be on the V5C the seller may still hold. A Japanese-brand car built for Japan has a shorter Japanese chassis number instead, such as ZVW30-1234567.

Cars serviced at franchised main dealers, where the visit was logged into the manufacturer's central system. Work done at an independent garage is not in the manufacturer's system and will not appear. Digital coverage is strong from roughly 2012 onwards and thins out on older cars.