Dealer service records from Toyota, Honda, Mercedes Benz - don't exist?

Question

I'm shopping for used cars at the moment, and have been considering some models from Toyota and Honda, as well as an older Mercedes Benz. Many of the cars I've seen so far have been at dealers, i.e. trade-ins. None of them have any service records with the cars. The Honda and Toyota dealers all said that unless the work was done at their dealership, they couldn't help. The Mercedes dealer said they could only help if the work was done at their dealership AND in the last two years, after which it's "archived" (I guess that's the MB way of saying "thrown out" as the woman told me there's no way to retrieve archived records).

My last two vehicles were Fords, both relatively new. I know Ford doesn't make it overly public, but the OASIS computer system (Ford's warranty service network) can pull up warranty service records for any Ford vehicle serviced at any Ford dealer in the country, and usually contains every time a mechanic or technician touched the vehicle. When I bought my two used Fords, I just asked my service guy, and he gave me a printout of every dealer service and oil change for the life of the vehicle.

Is Ford really so much more organized (at a national level) than the other brands, or do they all have something like OASIS but they just won't tell me about it?

Answer 1

I'm an ex Ford IT guy. Ford as well as all US auto makers are required to keep track of warranty related services and/or things that may effect warranty claims and the safety of people in the vehicle.

In the US, it's a federal law called the TREAD ACT. The TREAD ACT is the US government's oversight on safety related claims made by consumers against auto makers. A claim being the simple act of bringing your vehicle in for a repair or recall work.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_Recall_Enhancement,_Accountability_and_Documentation_Act

It is basically this. You have a problem with your vehicle. You report the problem to the automaker by taking it to a service shop affiliated with the auto maker; all dealers with service shops are affiliated but maybe private garages are not. If what you need repaired is related to safety (seat belt broken) or is a warranty claim, it gets tracked in a database. Not all warranty claims are safety issues but it would be difficult to keep the data separate which Ford does not.

OASIS is just the name of the client portion. You have to understand that companies as large as Ford don't just have one or two databases with this information in it. There are several systems that are queried and the results pulled together to get a final picture of your vehicle. Some of these systems, for example, are called end of line data, as-built data.... There are different databases that collect various bits of information about a vehicle. At least with Ford, they know every part number in a vechile as well as software running in the vehicle (part & software lineage). Sales (who purchased a vehicle) is a separate database. This is how they know who to mail recall notices too (which they outsource by the way).

Answer 2

I will tell you with 100% certainty that Toyota can and will, typically happily! pull any and all service records of any work performed on your used vehicle that was performed at a Toyota dealership. If you are asking the potential seller(dealership) to give you the service records then you have received the standard sales answer for every dealership in America (including Toyota). Take the VIN of the vehicle to another service dept of the same make and they will look up the info for you. They will do so in hopes of first: selling you a car on their lot and second: at least earning your business as a service customer can they not switch you to one of their rides. These dealers can and will look up repairs made at their dealerships in the states, particularly warrant claims and recalls. If they find outstanding warranty claims or recalls they will ask for your business and it costs you nothing. They in turn hopefully gain a customer. I have done this with multiple used purchases and multiple manufacturers. It is a smart thing to do regardless where you purchase as you can often find safety issues that need attention. Best of luck. Retired Sales Manager/now part time wrench turner~T

Answer 3

They all have their own computer system that keep track of the maintenance made at the dealer. I have a Toyota and with my VIN number they are able to track down any events (repair, recall, etc...) that happened at a Toyota Dealer. Obviously they cannot tell anything outside their dealers network.

Maybe the Ford's OASIS system is shared with any authorized mechanics outside the Ford dealership network and that why you get event that info. But I'm pretty sure that any car maker keep track of the work done at their dealership, at least for the warranties/legal side of it.