Should I send a buyer photos of my service history before they view the car?

Yes, to buyers who have shown real interest. It saves a wasted journey on both sides and puts your strongest selling point in front of them early. Cover your home address and any account or card details first; the garage name, date, mileage, registration and work done are what the buyer needs.

Do I have to show a buyer how much I paid for servicing?

No. What you paid is your business, and it can be used against you in negotiation. What matters to a buyer is what was done, when, at what mileage and by whom. On CarKept, prices on invoices are only ever visible to the person who uploaded them — never on a shared report.

Do I give the service book and invoices to the buyer?

Yes. The originals go with the car, alongside the V5C and any spare keys. Keep your own photos or scans if you want a record, but a buyer will reasonably expect the originals.

What does a buyer see if I share a CarKept report link?

For free, they see the car's MOT history and a timeline of its maintenance records — each record's date, mileage and verification tier, but not what the work was or who did it. They can unlock the full report for £8.99, or you can open the full report to every visitor for 60 days for £9.99. Prices are never shown in either case.

How to share your car’s service history with a buyer

“Full service history” in an advert is a claim. What turns it into a reason to buy is the buyer seeing it — ideally before they’ve driven across the county to view the car. Here are the ways to share a car’s service history, what each one proves, and what to keep to yourself.

Before you share anything: get it in order

Put every document in date order, oldest first, and check each one shows the registration or the car’s details, the date, the mileage and the garage. Gaps are easier to explain once you know where they are. If you’re missing invoices, a garage will often reissue a copy — see getting service history from a garage. If you haven’t been keeping it together, start with how to keep your service history.

What to cover up before you send it

Invoices carry more about you than about the car. Before sending photos to someone you’ve only met through a listing, cover:

your home address and phone number
any account, card or payment reference
the prices, if you’d rather not hand a buyer a figure to negotiate against

Leave the garage name, date, mileage, registration and work description readable. Those are what make an invoice evidence; covering them makes it look like you’re hiding something.

Four ways to share service history

1. Photos in the advert. A photo of the stamped service book is common in listings. It shows there is a history, but a stamp on its own is weak evidence — blank books and stamps are easy to buy. Good for catching attention, not for convincing a careful buyer.

2. Photos or PDFs by message or email. Sending the invoices to a serious buyer before a viewing is the most common approach and a good one. The drawbacks: a pile of photos is hard to read on a phone, and the buyer still has to take your word that they belong to this car.

3. The originals at the viewing. Have the book and invoices on the table, in order. A buyer can check the registration and mileage on each against the car and its MOT history on GOV.UK. This is where the originals earn their keep, and they go with the car when it sells.

4. A link to a digital record. One link in the advert that anyone can open, showing the car’s MOT history and its maintenance records in one timeline, each marked with how it’s been verified. It works before the viewing, after it, and for buyers you never speak to.

Sharing a CarKept report

Once you’ve added your invoices to your car on CarKept, its Kept Reporthas a link and a ready-written line you can paste into an AutoTrader, eBay or Facebook listing. Anyone who opens it sees, free, the MOT history and each maintenance record’s date, mileage and verification tier — garage confirmed, invoice attached or owner reported. What the work was and who did it are in the full report, which a buyer can unlock for £8.99.

If you’d rather every buyer saw everything without paying, you can open the full report to all visitors for 60 days for £9.99 — usually long enough to cover a sale. In every case, what you paid for work is never shown to anyone but you.

Records confirmed by the garage carry the most weight, because the buyer doesn’t have to trust you at all — the garage has confirmed the work directly. The guide to proving service history explains why that matters to buyers.

Sharing with the next owner, not just the buyer

Once the car is sold, hand over the book and invoices with the V5C. A CarKept record lives against the car’s registration rather than your account, so the history stays with the car and the new keeper can claim it and keep adding to it. Your invoice prices stay private to you.

Put your service history behind one link

Look up your car by registration and add your invoices. Then share the report link in your listing.

Frequently asked questions

Should I send a buyer photos of my service history before they view the car?: Yes, to buyers who have shown real interest. It saves a wasted journey on both sides and puts your strongest selling point in front of them early. Cover your home address and any account or card details first; the garage name, date, mileage, registration and work done are what the buyer needs.
Do I have to show a buyer how much I paid for servicing?: No. What you paid is your business, and it can be used against you in negotiation. What matters to a buyer is what was done, when, at what mileage and by whom. On CarKept, prices on invoices are only ever visible to the person who uploaded them — never on a shared report.
Do I give the service book and invoices to the buyer?: Yes. The originals go with the car, alongside the V5C and any spare keys. Keep your own photos or scans if you want a record, but a buyer will reasonably expect the originals.
What does a buyer see if I share a CarKept report link?: For free, they see the car's MOT history and a timeline of its maintenance records — each record's date, mileage and verification tier, but not what the work was or who did it. They can unlock the full report for £8.99, or you can open the full report to every visitor for 60 days for £9.99. Prices are never shown in either case.