Mercedes B Class - Europcar ex hire cars

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Mon 16 Aug 2010 23:15
Mercedes B Class - Europcar ex hire cars - b2tuscan

I have just bought a Mercedes B Class 180CDi SE, 18K miles and 15 months old. The purchase was from a main Mercedes dealer and it is in superb condition.

During the negotiations, I asked to see the V5 to verify who the one previous owner was and was told the document was at their head office and they did not have a copy to hand. I was lead to believe that the car was probably bought in from Mercedes Head Office on their closed auction system.

The V5 arrived today and it showed Europcar as the first owner!! It was never mentioned that the car was ex rental. The question is whether this will down value the car when I do come to sell it? I do have the Mercedes 30 day exchange system on my side but am now uncertain as what to do.

Any dealers out there could advise any problems with the V5 showing as the first owner?

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Tue 17 Aug 2010 22:33
Mercedes B Class - Europcar ex hire cars - TedCrilly

Why do people always assume ex- rental/lease cars have all been thrashed to within an inch of their lives? The fact is when you buy a used car, any used car! you have no idea whatsoever of how its been treated in the past regardless of who the original owner was........be it a Europcar customer or Mr A N Other of Acacia Avenue Anytown. Not everyone who finds themselves behind the wheel of such a car suddenly adopts a "Mad Max" type persona and chooses to drive accordingly.

I could tell you a story about a neighbour of mine and his 8 year old 90k Rover 25. A few months ago the clutch went, so what you may ask? Howabout him blaming the demise of the clutch on the fact that for the first 12 months of its life it was a hire car.

Oh how we laughed.

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Wed 18 Aug 2010 06:20
Mercedes B Class - Europcar ex hire cars - the_bandit

Perhaps the assumption that ex-rental/lease cars have all been thrashed to within an inch of their lives is true is because it probably has!!

At least buying a car from MR A N Other as the owner and likely main driver would be more likely to have an interest in the vehicle. He would be used to the way it drives and one would expect to have an interest in looking after it.

Mr Europcar on the other hand who's probably not driven that car before would be rough on the clutch, heavy on the brakes and racing to their next appointment. Oh yeah not to mention that Mr Europcar is each time the vehicle is loaned out plus the guy back at the depot whizzing round giving it a clean up with an industrial grade traffic film remover!

Next you'll be telling me buying an ex-driving school car is okay too !!!

To the OP, if you have been lead to believe this vehicle was owned by MB previously and can prove this then I would be back at the dealership asking some serious questions as to why you have this car. 18,000miles in 15months for a small car like a B-Class is serious mileage and this car has seen some action in its short life so far given that equates to an annual average of 14,440miles.

Edited by the_bandit on 18/08/2010 at 06:22

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Wed 18 Aug 2010 09:46
Mercedes B Class - Europcar ex hire cars - WellKnownSid

I've had an ex-rental before and it was fine - but it was a Ford through the Ford Direct programme (at the time, a better warranty than new).

I wouldn't want to pay MB dealer prices and be driving around in an ex-rental. You may as well have gone to a car supermarket and bought the same car for much less.

Why not go back and haggle for an extension on the warranty to put your mind at rest and justify the main dealer price?

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