Check the car, not the sales pitch.

Car Service History Check

No database holds a car's service records, so check them against one that does exist. Enter a reg for every MOT test and mileage reading, free, then follow the three steps below.

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You cannot look up a car's service history by registration the way you can its MOT history. No central database of servicing exists in the UK: the DVLA holds the vehicle and its keeper, the DVSA holds MOT tests, and service records stay with the garage that did the work or in the manufacturer's own system. No car check can show them, ours included. What you can do is check a service history properly, in three steps, and the first one is free in the search box above.

How to check a car's service history in three steps

Get the MOT history by reg (free). Enter the registration above. The free check lists every MOT test since 2005 with its date, the mileage read at the test, the failures and the advisories. That is the car's official timeline, and everything the seller shows you has to fit it.
Ask for the manufacturer's digital service record. Most makes stopped stamping a book years ago and keep services in a database. The owner can show it in the make's app or have a retailer print it. The list below says what each make calls it and how to get it.
Read the paperwork against both. Stamps, invoices and the digital record should show services at sensible gaps, with mileages that rise in step with the MOT readings. A service dated June 2024 at 41,000 miles cannot sit between MOT readings of 52,000 and 58,000.

Service history tells you how a car was looked after. It says nothing about money owed on it, an insurance write-off or a stolen marker: those are in the full car history check, which runs on the same registration.

Is there a GOV.UK or DVLA service history check?

No. Neither GOV.UK nor the DVLA records servicing, so there is no government service history check, free or paid. The official services cover other things:

MOT history (DVSA, on GOV.UK): whether the vehicle passed or failed each test, the mileage recorded, the items that failed or were advised, and when the next MOT is due. It covers tests in England, Scotland and Wales since 2005. Our free MOT history check shows the same DVSA record with the readings in date order.
Vehicle details (DVLA): make, colour, engine size, date of first registration, tax and MOT status.
Safety recalls (DVSA): whether a manufacturer's recall is outstanding. The free check above flags an outstanding recall where the DVSA record has one; the car recall check page explains what to do about it.

A site that offers a "service history check by reg" is showing MOT history, or asking you to contact a dealer yourself. The record of oil changes and cambelts is not something any database open to the public holds.

MOT history and service history: the difference

The two are often searched together, and they are different records.

	MOT history	Service history
What it is	The yearly legal test that the car is safe and within emissions limits on the day	Maintenance on the manufacturer's schedule: oil, filters, fluids, belts, brake fluid, inspections
Required by law	Yes, in Great Britain from three years old	No, but the warranty and the car's value depend on it
Who records it	The DVSA, centrally, for every test	The garage, the service book or the manufacturer's database
Can you look it up by reg?	Yes, free	No
What it proves	Dates, mileage at each test, defects found	What work was done, when, at what mileage and by whom

The MOT history still tells you a good deal about servicing. An advisory for the same worn tyre, corroded brake pipe or oil leak repeated year after year means the item was left. A string of first-time passes with few advisories goes with a car that is looked after. And the mileage readings catch a doctored history: across the 492,751 vehicles' MOT histories we analysed, 5.7% had a reading lower than an earlier one. The MOT history mileage check explains how to read the pattern.

Digital service records: how to get one for each make

A digital service record (some makes say online service history or digital service book) is the manufacturer's own log of the services its retailers, and sometimes independent garages, have recorded against the car's VIN. It replaces the stamped book on most cars built in the last decade. The owner can usually see it in the make's app or ask a retailer for a printout. As a buyer you normally cannot look it up yourself, so ask the seller to open the app in front of you or to get the printout, and check the VIN on it matches the car.

Mercedes-Benz service history

Digital Service Report (Digital Service Booklet). How the owner gets it: in Mercedes me, or from any authorised Mercedes-Benz repairer. Mercedes-Benz keeps the data in its central database, so a lost printout can be replaced, and independent repairers can record services too. Mercedes-Benz UK

BMW service history

Service history in the car's iDrive menu. How the owner gets it: on the iDrive screen, or from a BMW retailer. Cars produced from 2009. BMW says only visits to its approved service centres are recorded. BMW UK

Ford service history

Digital Service Record. How the owner gets it: "Service History" in the Ford account or the FordPass app; a printed copy on request. Fords sold since 2022; older cars had a printed service book. Ford UK

Volkswagen service history

Digital service record. How the owner gets it: any Volkswagen retailer prints the history on request. No paper service books since May 2017. Independent garages can add their own entries. Volkswagen UK

Audi service history

Digital Service Schedule. How the owner gets it: from an Audi Centre. The history with Audi is held electronically. Audi UK

Land Rover service history

Online Service History. How the owner gets it: on Land Rover's owner site, or from a retailer. Vehicles built from 1 July 2013 and serviced at an approved centre. Land Rover UK

Jaguar service history

Online Service History. How the owner gets it: a printout or electronic copy from any Jaguar or Land Rover retailer. Only approved service centres and the owner have access. Jaguar

Toyota service history

Service history in MyToyota. How the owner gets it: the "Service History" tab in MyToyota, a Toyota dealer, or the Service and Warranty booklet. Toyota says to contact a dealer if the booklet is lost. Toyota UK

Lexus service history

Service history in My Lexus. How the owner gets it: the My Lexus portal. Lexus UK

Vauxhall service history

Digital Service Record. How the owner gets it: the MyVauxhall app. The repairer updates the record after each service. Vauxhall

Honda service history

Digital Service Record. How the owner gets it: the My Honda+ app. Connected Hondas launched since 2020. Honda UK

Peugeot service history

Digital Service Record. How the owner gets it: the MyPeugeot app, once a retailer has activated it. Holds nothing from before it was activated. Peugeot UK

Citroën service history

Digital Service Record. How the owner gets it: the MyCitroën app, once a retailer has activated it. Holds nothing from before it was activated. Citroën UK

Renault service history

Servicing history in My Renault. How the owner gets it: My Renault, for the owner named on the V5C. Shows services only from the date you took ownership, and not work done outside the network. Renault UK

Mazda service history

Digital Service Record. How the owner gets it: at any authorised Mazda service centre. Paperless since 2005; the mileage is logged at each visit. Mazda UK press office

Volvo service history

Volvo has no named service record. Volvo support or a Volvo retailer can give basic service information, such as dates, with the registration number. Volvo UK

Tesla service history

Service history in the Tesla app. How the owner gets it: the Tesla app. Tesla UK

Kia service history

Kia uses a stamped warranty and service booklet, and Kia UK says it keeps no central service record database. For a gap in the booklet, ask the dealer that did the work. Kia UK

The list is taken from each manufacturer's UK pages as they stood on 13 November 2026. What you can see depends on the model, its age and whether the car is linked to an app account, and a manufacturer's record holds only what its network (or a garage with access) entered. A car serviced at an independent garage may have a thin digital record and a full folder of invoices: both count.

What does full service history mean?

Full service history (FSH): every service the manufacturer schedules has been done, on time or on mileage, and there is a record of each one.
Full dealer service history (FDSH): the same, with every service done by a franchised dealer for the make. Also written as full main dealer history.
Partial service history (PSH): one or more services missed, or the proof missing.

An advert's "FSH" is a claim until you have read the records. Count the services against the schedule in the handbook (most cars are due every 12 months or at a set mileage, whichever comes first) and look for the expensive items that fall due by age or mileage: the cambelt, brake fluid, gearbox oil, spark plugs. A missing cambelt change is a bill of several hundred pounds waiting for the next owner, whatever the book's stamps say.

Servicing at an independent garage does not make a history worse. Under UK competition rules a manufacturer generally cannot make its warranty depend on servicing inside its own network; the Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on motor vehicle agreements (June 2023) sets this out. What matters is that the work followed the manufacturer's schedule and that there are invoices to show it.

How to spot a fake or incomplete service history

Compare every date and mileage with the MOT readings. The free check above lists them in date order. A service mileage higher than the next MOT reading is a fault in the story.
Prefer invoices to stamps. An invoice names the registration, lists the parts and labour and carries the garage's address and VAT number. A stamp is easy to buy or copy.
Ring a garage named in the book. Ask whether they serviced that registration on that date. Garages will confirm a visit to a caller far more readily than they will hand over a customer's records.
Look at the book itself. Every stamp in the same pen and handwriting, stamps from a garage that cannot be traced, or a book that looks newer than the car all deserve a question.
Check the digital printout. It should carry the car's VIN, which you can match to the car and the V5C. Our guide shows where to find the VIN on a car.
Look for the gap. Two or three years with no service often sits where the car changed hands or stood unused. The full report gives the number of keepers and the date of the last change, so you can see whether a gap lines up with a sale.

If a mileage has gone backwards anywhere, read how to check a car's mileage before you go further.

Lost service book or no service history: what to do

If it is your own car, the history can usually be rebuilt:

Ask a retailer for the make to print the digital service record (see the list above).
Ask each garage that worked on the car for copies of its invoices. They will want proof you own it, such as the V5C.
Use the MOT history to find the dates, and GOV.UK's MOT history service to see where each test was done (it asks for the 11-digit reference number on the V5C): the garage that did the MOT often did the service.
Keep every invoice from now on, in a folder with the V5C. A buyer will pay more readily for a car with its paperwork.

If you are buying a car with no history, treat it as unserviced and price it that way: budget for a full service and for any item that is due by age, and lean harder on what can be checked. The MOT history shows how it has been kept, an inspection shows its condition now, and the used car check page lists what to go through before you pay.

Service history check: the free check and the full report

Free check	Full report
Every MOT test since 2005: date, result, mileage, failures and advisories	Mileage anomaly check across the readings on record
Outstanding safety recall, where the DVSA record shows one	Number of previous keepers and the date of the last change
MOT and tax status with their due dates	Insurance write-off record: category, date and cause
Make, model, colour, engine size and date of first registration	Outstanding finance, police stolen marker, plate and colour changes, scrapped marker
Service records: in neither. They come from the manufacturer's record and the seller's paperwork.

See both laid out in the sample car history report.

Service history check FAQs

Can I check a car's service history for free?

You can check the MOT history free by registration, which gives the dates and mileages to test the service records against. The service records themselves cost nothing to see either, but they come from the seller: the service book, the invoices, or the digital service record in the manufacturer's app.

Can I check a car's service history online?

Only the owner can, for makes with a digital service record, through the manufacturer's app or website. There is no public website where anyone can enter a registration and see a car's services.

Does the DVLA hold service history?

No. The DVLA records the vehicle and its registered keeper. Servicing is not reported to the DVLA or to any other government body.

Does the MOT history show services?

No. It shows MOT tests: the result, the mileage and the defects found. It is still the best cross-check, because the dates and mileages in a genuine service history fit between the MOT readings.

How do I check a Mercedes or BMW service history?

For a Mercedes-Benz, the owner can view the Digital Service Report in Mercedes me, and an authorised repairer can provide the service data. For a BMW produced from 2009, the service history is shown in the car's iDrive menu, and a BMW retailer can look it up. Both hold what the approved network recorded.

Can a garage give me the service history of a car I want to buy?

Usually not in full: garages and retailers want proof of ownership before they release records. Ask the seller to request the printout, or ring the garage to confirm a single visit on a given date.

Is a digital service record as good as a stamped book?

It is harder to forge, because the entries sit in the manufacturer's system, not on paper. It can still be incomplete: work done outside the network may not be on it, so ask for invoices as well.

Does a missing service history matter?

It matters most on a newer car, where the warranty and the resale value rest on it, and on any car with a costly item due, such as a cambelt. On an older, cheaper car a partial history is common and should show in the price.

Sources: GOV.UK, Check the MOT history of a vehicle and Check if a vehicle has been recalled; CMA, Guidance on motor vehicle agreements; the manufacturers' pages linked above. Mileage figure: MOT histories of 492,751 vehicles checked on CarCheckUp, as analysed on 2 October 2026.