Mercedes Benz Financial Services - End of lease charges

Chippie

Are there any forum contributors who have returned lease cars to MBFS and feel they have had unreasonable charges imposed on them by the lease company for alleged damage in excess of Fair Wear & Tear?

I would be interested to hear from you. Thanks in anticipation.

robredz

I believe Kelvin Mackenzie formely editor of the Sun has had problems with Mercedes finance, and is watching them at present might be worth e'mailing him at the Sun, and contacting Watchdog.

monterey1

Does anyone have any tips for dealing with MB finance end of lease charges? I returned mine in immaculate condition - even the guy who collected it said so - only to be told that there has been a poor repair with paint runs on one door panel! Since I have had no accidents/repairs the only thing I can think of is that either they have assessed the wrong car or that the Mercedes dealership which sold it to us in sub-standard condition. However we went over the car with a fine toothcomb when we bought it and again before return and never spotted this. Repair charges for scuffed alloys which are pretty much wear and tear we are prepared to accept, but the panel repairs are outrageous!! I've seen references to Kelvin MacKenzie taking on MB Finance. Does anyone know where he got to with it? Thanks.

PTN_2

I run a few vito vans from MB charterway. Van early last year Re-charges £2250

In march 2010 £950. (Lombard)
Recieved new bill last week for £3500!!! (3 years old 41k)

Going through the BVRLA guide now!

Lease companies trying to offset depressed 2nd values me thinks!!!!

Not a happy man.

Nick_W858

Hi, my wife and I had our 30 month old Merc ML320CDI collected the other week following a lease we took out through Skyfleet (who incidentally were excellent). The car had only covered around 16000 miles against an allowance of 25000. The car was mint on its return, we were absolutely horrified to receive a bill some three weeks later for approx £1400 with a list of minor faults accompanied by photographs that show no detail of any use. We have had several lease cars before and we always treat our cars with respect. Between us have owned several M Benz cars but never again.

I knew of the issues with MB lease cars from the Kelvin McKenzie stories in the Sun but I was not expecting any issues and I will fight this all the way.

Feel free to send me your contact details if you want more details.

NJD001

Hi,
I have just had the same issues as a lot of others here. They again took photos that showed nothing i could see. There main issue was a 'poor repair' that had been carried out to the drivers door. Interestingly, the door had indeed been damaged and had been repaired by their Authorised repairer!!! as i called Mercedes to ask them where to take it. Clearly they are using this tactic to make money out of unwary customers. I for one will NEVER buy or lease a Mercedes again. Another customer bites the dust. I am aware that there was a report in the Sun regarding this but i have been unable to find it. If only this had been common knowledge 2 years ago i would not have leased a Mercedes in the first place.

datostar

I should think this inspection is outsourced and the checkers won't have any knowledge of where the vehicle has been repaired previously, for instance. My son worked for the RAC some years ago inspecting returned MB and Smart leased cars at a big place on the old Thurleigh Airfield near Bedford. He was issued with a digital camera (good one - Sony) and an Ipaq PDA with dedicated software for recording the checks and any damage. All the checkers were trade qualified and the inspections were extremely thorough. They certainly wouldn't have derived any personal benefit from falsifying things and he was never aware of any pressure from the company to do so.

barneygumble

To be fair I had a BMW and it went back with minor wear and tear, a couple of scuffs on the wheels and a very small scratch here and there. No extra charges were levied at all.

ilovebanksMCMLXXXI

What contributes 'fair' wear and tear has always been a grey area - and that remains the case.

If the car has had a bad repair (and it would be a VERY bad repair if it had paint runs) then that would definitely not be considered fair wear and tear and a charge would be made to rectify it.

If you are convinced the vehicle has never had a repair whilst you have had it then simply fight your corner.

Best of luck

Red_Army_1999

Hi,

I've just walked into the same problem with my MB 220 CDI Sports. The car was returned in mint condition three weeks ago but I've just received a letter demanding I pay charges of £2294.99 due to poor repair. Before I go any further with MB on these charges I was just wondering what other peoples experiences have been with them since some of your September posts on this forum.

vikingaero

There have been a few threads on MB and their infamous end of lease charges. There is the ever helpful Ling of Lings Cars who has helped a couple of people on here.