Service history- v- Time spent

[e21mad]

Hey all,

You all have great cars and lots of passion for them and I will respect your honest opinion. My question is this, If you were to look at an e21 to buy, WHAT WOULD MATTER MOST?

A. a full service history
B. time spent lovingly with receipts and a good looking car in front of you

I'm asking this because I have a volvo 960 3.0 24v. It will be needing a new head gasket. Being lazy, I ask the dealer how much to do the job. They told me £1,000.00 to change the "head gasket". I asked if that would include all the gaskets to get to the head gasket and valve seals and re-seating the valves.(things I do for my customers as part of the job) They said, "NO! That is just to replace the head gasket, to do the rest costs extra! Apparently, it is an extra £800.00 to do the job right.
As a certified tech, I know what gets done in a service. Case and point, 2009 Merc 500......20,000 mile service- look at everything and say ...yeah they look good and change the oil....cost £320.00 Hmmmm...In my mind a service history isnt necessarily better than a car with no history and lots of work done to it. What do you think?

[nas80]

no - always buy on condition - id be more worried about rust then anything mechanical.

[e21mad]

agreed totaly. I have met lots who wont buy if they dont have history but I think thats foolish