I bought a Bobcat 334 a month ago. Guy I bought it from was local and he had some work done on the machine at local Bobcat dealer. I went to the dealer to buy fluid/filters and such. While there the mentioned the former owner had the machine there in the past. I asked what had been done to it. He checked computer and said he had no history because the store had a new store owner. Long story short does bobcat not keep history on machines like a cars history is available?
Shorter version, Do heavy equipment brands keep a service history by serial #?
They probably didn't want to scare you.
If a franchised dealer worked on a machine, there is at the very least an invoice history. If oil samples were ever done, there is a history of the results. The dealers are under no obligation to share and most just say they don't have anything or don't respond at all.
only for official work like warranty and good luck getting them to turn loose of it. They don’t care what we do to it outside of warranty work. The one thing I can access is filed requests for manufacturer level tech support…kind of like Identifix but clumsy. I as a serviceman can access any work orders on a machine at the dealer I work at if we have serviced for the past 20ish years. Most machines I work on we will have records all the way back to the first work order opened for PDI. If it was serviced at another dealer I cannot access their system to pull records. The main reason I have any interest in accessing past service records is they are useful for troubleshooting ongoing issues provided previous techs filled out worthwhile notes.
It's what we would call a total dumpster fire. It is also totally possible too the new ownership changed software and fucked everything up too as an extra cause that's totally a dealer thing lol.
My guess would be lazy/incompetent person who simply didn't want to, or didn't know how to look it up. It is incredibly rare to find a knowledgeable person at the dealer, even less so if the information you're seeking won't be giving them any money.