How we compared
We took the price each provider shows on its own website for one service history check on one vehicle, bought by registration number. We included only checks that return the manufacturer's digital service records online, and left out record-recovery services that contact garages over several days, because they are a different product.
A provider whose price we could not see on its own site that day is left out rather than taken from a third-party site. The table is re-checked monthly and the date at the top changes when it is.
What a £4.99 DealerPricing service history check returns
The check reads the manufacturer's digital service record for 20 makes: Audi, BMW, Cupra, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz, MG, MINI, Nissan, Porsche, Renault, Rolls-Royce, SEAT, Skoda, Smart, Toyota and Volkswagen. The make is confirmed from the registration before you pay, so you never pay for a make we do not cover.
- Each recorded service with its date and mileage
- The dealer or workshop that did the work, where the record holds it
- Most results arrive within 10 minutes; some manufacturers take up to 48 hours
- The report is emailed to you as a PDF and can be opened again for 6 months
- No account or subscription needed
What a service history check cannot show
Every check in the table reads the manufacturer's digital record, which is mainly filled in by franchised dealers. Work done by an independent garage usually appears only if that garage wrote it to the manufacturer's system, and older cars serviced before the brand went digital may have little or nothing online. Best results are on cars from about 2012 onwards serviced at a main dealer.
An empty result is therefore not proof that a car was never serviced. Ask the seller for the paper service book and invoices, and compare the mileages with the MOT history.
Free ways to check first
Before paying anyone, three free steps narrow it down:
- The free MOT history shows the mileage at every MOT, so a gap or a fall in mileage stands out
- Ask the seller for the service book, invoices and the manufacturer's app or owner website if they use one
- Phone the garage named in the service book: it can confirm the visits on its own system. Franchised dealers usually print the manufacturer's record only for the registered keeper
If no records come back
Rules differ, so read the last column before you buy. DealerPricing charges £4.99 whether or not records are found, because the full search is made either way, and says so before you pay. If the manufacturer has not replied within 48 hours, the £4.99 is refunded to your card automatically. Some providers refund or do not charge when nothing is found; others do not refund.