Mercedes Benz Financial Services - End of lease charges

design

Having been meticulous with the condition of the car bodywork and interior, buying 2 new tyres because of kerb rubbing, and having every bodywork mark, ding chip done I now have an invoice for nearly £2000. This figure seems familiar to other contributors? The car left me 16 May and the invoice is 7 July, where has it been all this time - certainly not being looked after as I did. The photos show nothing that I can make out but a scratch is certainly new. Sound familiar? These guys know how to screw every penny from a deal. Has anybody had any success fighting them?

RensterUK

Fight them all the way (see my thread here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/3230998

Summary:
I challenged original bill - a few items removed (including a charge for a repair I hadnt had done)
I repeatedly asked them to prove remaining items werent there when I took the delivery, they refused / failed to do so (so far just dealing with defleet services)
I asked for formal dispute procedure, which they supplied. Wrote to different address. Got response from same guy I'd been dealing with all along, still no better.
Escalated things to BVRLA. Mercedes FINALLY acknowledge what I've been saying all along, and the bill is now just the items I accept.

DON'T GIVE IN!

RensterUK

BTW interesting to see Designs post re: scratches - my remaining bill is 2 scratches, which I am sure weren't there when the car was returned (they had it a month between collection / report) - but on the basis I had the paint protection added when I took delivery, I struggled to argue here.

Perhaps we all need to get together, write to watchdog or something? Clearly this practice needs to be stopped.

danlovedough

£3723.75 is the ridiculous invoice i just received from Mercedes.
As far as i'm concerned the car was returned in perfect condition inside and out, bar a few slight scratches and a small crack to one of the wing mirrors.

All service history was complete, both keys and all documentation were returned with the car and the interior was immaculate.

The mileage was over 1000 miles below the agreed 30k limit.

The expectations of Mercedes appear to be for you to have a car for 3 years and not actually remove it from your garage or let anyone look at it, let alone actually drive it or live with it.

One example of their ridiculous charges includes £657.60 for a rear bumper to be replaced and painted due to a tiny dent that cannot be seen by the human eye.

I am absolutely disgusted with the letter i've received, and the probelms I have had from day one with Mercedes Finance in terms of mis-selling the lease when i took it out, and their early termination clause which makes it impossible to get out of a lease early unless you die.

Any advice on how to defend such a ridiculous invoice in court?

danlovedough

RensterUK wrote: »

BTW interesting to see Designs post re: scratches - my remaining bill is 2 scratches, which I am sure weren't there when the car was returned (they had it a month between collection / report) - but on the basis I had the paint protection added when I took delivery, I struggled to argue here.

Perhaps we all need to get together, write to watchdog or something? Clearly this practice needs to be stopped.

Seriously i would love to go to watchdog regarding this.
Please mesage me and I would be happy to take the issue further and work on getting a group togethor to do so.

The way this whole package has been sold and dealt with is outrageous and i'm sure they must be breaking some laws and moral codes in ripping off their customers.

eooapptj

I have just had the same issues as a lot of others here.

LEASE_BROKER

I am a Leasing Broker and in my opinion Mercedes Benz Finance are charging customers unreasonably at the end of Leasing Contracts. We have had dozens of complaints relating to this . If you want to minimise end of conract charges the best thing to do is return your car to JET Logistics in Stratford upon Avon and be present when the final inspection takes place . This will avoid being charged for eggs on inside of tyres , poor paint repair charges (they have a machine which measures paint thickness so they can tell if a car has had any paintwork) This usually results in a recharge for a poor repair. I could quote many examples. How this situation has not ended up on watchdog is a mystery.

xycom1

I agree with Lease Broker's advice. I returned my car to Jet in person a couple of weeks ago, and was given a receipt for it 'no damage - no charges'. I did however go over it and clean it thoroughly and it has been well looked after for 3 years.

The man there told me that things were changing; from November IIRC, self delivery will no longer be an option - they will send a vehicle assessor to collect the car and the full appraisal will be carried out 'on location ' so you will be able to see it carried out on the spot, discuss any issues and receive the final receipt - you will no longer be at the mercy of what happens to the car between it leaving you and being assessed at their HQ.

Natalie_30

Hello, I am interested in seeing what you guys think of my situation with car charges. Jeep was collected from my home address. The usual form filled out saying small chip on windscreen and a couple of scuffs on alloy. Mileage was just under 33,000 ( only 30,000 allowance). Got a letter 2 wks later stating we owed excess mileage as mileage is 33,479? That is a about 500 over what it was. They have also sent a picture wanting £119 for a new tyre as they say it's damaged. In the pictures the tyre looks as if it's been slashed. All tyres had 4 mm of tread on them and the collection man never noted anything wrong with them. I'm really angry that this has happened as I spent just under £600 the week before it went back fixing a dent and scratches that had happened so it would go back under there vehicle standards. If the tyres needed replacing, I would have replaced them but this looks to me as a complete fraudulent tactic to get more money from me. Any advice appreciated. I know I owe them excess mileage but not as much as they claim, so it proves my car has been driven a good 500 miles since it was collected!

Thank you

vikingaero

Natalie_30 wrote: »

Hello, I am interested in seeing what you guys think of my situation with car charges. Jeep was collected from my home address. The usual form filled out saying small chip on windscreen and a couple of scuffs on alloy. Mileage was just under 33,000 ( only 30,000 allowance). Got a letter 2 wks later stating we owed excess mileage as mileage is 33,479? That is a about 500 over what it was. They have also sent a picture wanting £119 for a new tyre as they say it's damaged. In the pictures the tyre looks as if it's been slashed. All tyres had 4 mm of tread on them and the collection man never noted anything wrong with them. I'm really angry that this has happened as I spent just under £600 the week before it went back fixing a dent and scratches that had happened so it would go back under there vehicle standards. If the tyres needed replacing, I would have replaced them but this looks to me as a complete fraudulent tactic to get more money from me. Any advice appreciated. I know I owe them excess mileage but not as much as they claim, so it proves my car has been driven a good 500 miles since it was collected!

Thank you

Simple.

Ask for proof - crystal clear hard copies or jpegs of any damage. Insist that the damage tyre be kept for inspection. Query the mileage.

Until they provide proof then refuse to pay and cancel any direct debits to make sure they cannot take funds.