I’ve been asked to hand over my “log book” when I trade The Mighty Vectra in.

Is this the V5C or do I need to bring something else as well?

its just your V5 – why people refer to it as a logbook is mystery. Its not a book and theres not really anything logged in it

I think it was called the log book back in the 30s or something. Maybe it logged the keepers of the car?

Isn’t the logbook different to the V5? The er… book that you um… log the services in?

No V5 is the logbook

Isn’t the logbook different to the V5? The er… book that you um… log the services in?

No but thats why people get confused – the service history – which actually is a book with information logged in it – isn’t the ‘Logbook’.

The ‘Logbook’ has never been book and it doesn’t have anything logged on it anymore. It used to be that the same Registration Certificate was used for the lifetime of the car, with any change of keeper or change of address the new information was written onto the certificate rather than it being sent away to the DVLA and a new one issued. I think it maybe got stamped when the car was taxed as well. So in that sense it had aspects of the car’s history logged on it.

Neither of those things have been done within most people’s car-owning memory though.