Thảo luận Can a car really have a full service history but still be a disaster?

[keira_lancaster]

I'm looking at a 2017 BMW X3 that looks beautiful and the seller has a folder full of service invoices from a well known garage in Dubai, all stamped and dated and looking very official. The car drives well, the interior is clean, and the price is reasonable for what it is. My only hesitation is that when I asked about the previous owner, the seller got a bit vague and said it was a friend of a friend who moved back to Europe, so he didn't know much about how the car was actually driven or if there were any issues that weren't documented. I know service history is important but I've also read stories on here about cars that had perfect paperwork but still had major underlying problems because the owner neglected things that aren't part of routine servicing, like transmission fluid changes or suspension wear. I'm not a mechanic so I can't tell just by looking at the invoices whether the car was actually maintained well or just had the bare minimum done to keep the stamps coming. I'm thinking I need to get someone who knows what they're doing to actually look at the mechanical condition and not just rely on the paperwork. I found a service called https://prepurchasecarinspection.ae/ that does a comprehensive mechanical check and I'm thinking that's the only way I'll feel confident about this car. Has anyone here bought a car with full service history that still ended up having major problems? How common is it for paperwork to look good but the car to be a mess underneath?