Buying secondhand car with no service history, no v5 form and one key? Dodgy?

[Jeany1967]

Hi all,

I'm needing to buy a car soon as I'm currently without one. I'm looking at a 6/7 seater and thought I'd found the perfect one for us. It's over £9k so not cheap, 16 plate with just over 70k miles on the clock. It's a Citroen grand picasso (which I've read from another thread that have very mixed reviews on reliability). It's with a dealer who have excellent reviews and thrive on their great reviews so I really don't know what to think. They've said that it has one key but they also didn't receive any service history or v5 form with it. They've said that they will do a full service before it leaves them and the MOT is valid for another year. They also said I can apply for a replacement v5 form at the post office which costs £20 and they'll take off the cost of the car.

Should alarm bells be ringing here? I know some cars don't have full service history because the owner might not have been able to afford to get them done regularly but to have none at all seems strange?

Should I be avoiding this because of the key and lack of service history and v5 form?

Many thanks

Some years ago now, but I bought a car from auction. 3 years old, no service history, 1 key and no logbook. The car was a finance repossession - strangely, people aren't necessarily forthcoming with the paperwork and other bits to bailiffs. This was the same sort of auction the dealers by their cars from. I got the logbook by sending off a form to the DVLA, didn't bother about the second key and contacted the dealership. Got a replacement service book and a print out of the history they had on file for a few quid.
Doesn't mean this would be the same, but just to suggest it's not always a bad thing and it doesn't mean the dealer is automatically 'dodgy'.
That said, I wouldn't buy any Citroën myself, but that's another story!

Don't buy a Citroen. You can get a much better car for that kind of money.

If it was a cheaper car, it might be worth the gamble. I wouldn't be spending that amount to not even get a V5 out of it though.

I agree. They're just not reliable enough.

I'd look at something else Toyota, Kia, Hyundai, all have good reputations on reliability
eg this has FSH and is much newer low tax and is ULEZ compliant which I think will become more relevant in other cities too.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410165261596
or this, has full dealer service history recent service and 3 months warranty, slightly higher milage but has loads of extras, again Euro6 https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410265636117
This one slightly newer again FSH
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410135150740
If you really want a Citroen, there are plenty newer and lower miles - this one comes with 2 keys and FSH
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202410084952974
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406140748300 - doesn't mention number of keys, but one owner

Lack of a 2nd key and service history wouldn't bother me if the car was cheap enough, but no way am I buying a car with no V5.

Plus, why hasn't the dealer got a replacement V5 and a new key made?

Dodgy as fuck, IMO.

I agree. French cars are all fairly doubtful mechanically in my view but Citroens are bottom of the heap.

This

Yes, I would never buy French. I bought my old Japanese car for practically nothing, with two keys and all docs, and it runs like a dream.

Thank you to everyone for their advice. I've definitely decided to avoid this particular car and am seriously reconsidering the Citroen Grand Picasso in general now based on the responses.

I'm looking for an automatic as well and will have a look at others available. I'm based far east and the fact I'm looking for 7 seaters is limiting my options. 7 seater automatics, 16 plate onwards, with around 70k miles for under £10k are few and far between!

Peugeots any better? I'm looking at the 5008 now...

Peugeot and Citroen are the same company. Some 5008s made in China, but you are unlikely to find one of them here in the UK, as I believe they are made for the Chinese Market.

I had a Citroen Xsara. Loved it but wrote it off. Bought a C4 to replace it. Nasty hateful thing. No telling what you are going to get.

Recently, Whar Car published a reliability table. Citroen came 7th. BMW 8th. Not what you would expect from posts here.

www.whatcar.com/news/reliability-survey-most-reliable-cars-brands/n26159

When I sold my old car to a garage I couldn't find my V5, they applied for one and got it pretty quickly to sell the car on.
I don't understand why this dealer hasn't done the same

Oh. And please don't buy a 70k mile car with no service history. Has it been serviced? When was the last oil change? Timing belt done? A service now, might well be 50,000 miles too late.

Agree!

The lack of v5 is worrying.

One key isn't really a problem as keys often get lost during ownership. Lack of service history has an explanation, either the paperwork is lost , an non - approved garage has done the service. The recent services are more important than the ones a long time ago .

But non-dealership garages don't always fill in the service booklet, my car was serviced fairly recently but there's nothing on paper about that.

They will stamp it if you ask them to. And receipts (assuming that you pay them).