Secure your service history

• Electronic records impossible to forge
• Paperless system to be extended across the range
• Microchipped smart cards will hold records in the future

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Mazda will launch its first electronic service records later this year – protecting each car’s maintenance history from fraud and loss.

The paperless records will be introduced on the new 5 compact MPV on September 28, What Car? has learned. If the scheme proves a success, it could be extended to every model in the manufacturer’s range.

Every time a car is serviced, the details will be logged on a secure website, which can be checked at any time by any dealer or authorised owner. Mazda plans to introduce smart cards, incorporating microchips like the latest credit cards, which will carry data confirming all routine servicing.

‘The idea is to stamp out fraud and make service records more reliable,’ said Rob Lindley, Mazda’s UK sales boss who takes over as managing director on August 1.

Blank service histories and bogus stamps can be bought via online auction websites, Lindley claimed, and the new centrally held service record would eradicate such forgery.

‘Our new scheme will be useful for dealers and owners alike,’ he said. ‘And when a car is sold second-hand, the trader and buyer will know what they are dealing with.’

Customers can request a traditional printed service history in addition to the new e-document, the company said.