Mercedes S-Class bought back by approved dealer in London - UK with compensation

Crabman

I like Mercedes/Daimler's final response to you - very reassuring and shows that if you escalate the issue far enough you may come across someone who actually has their head screwed on properly.

Thanks for posting the full transcript too. Some may find it a long read but it does help others to know that persistence does pay off.

Sadly there are car manufacturers out there where you would be ignored with the full endorsement of the management team. It's reassuring to see Mercedes recognises failures in its processes and is acting to refine these - this is very rare in this era of short-term target-driven CEOs.

PCMcGarry

Crabman wrote: »

I like Mercedes/Daimler's final response to you - very reassuring and shows that if you escalate the issue far enough you may come across someone who actually has their head screwed on properly.

Thanks for posting the full transcript too. Some may find it a long read but it does help others to know that persistence does pay off.

Sadly there are car manufacturers out there where you would be ignored with the full endorsement of the management team. It's reassuring to see Mercedes recognises failures in its processes and is acting to refine these - this is very rare in this era of short-term target-driven CEOs.

They've managed to sell it again.

Crabman

PCMcGarry wrote: »

They've managed to sell it again.

Who has managed to sell what again?

bowlhead99

Crabman wrote: »

PCMcGarry wrote: »

They've managed to sell it again.

Who has managed to sell what again?

Mercedes have managed to sell the car again, maybe even for a higher price, and are glad to be able to appear to offer you a goodwill gesture towards your tax which will hopefully help convince you to stop you hassling them and reduce your desire to badmouth them to others.

bigjl

PCMcGarry wrote: »

Would a six monthly mot show up on the mot database?

There's no legal requirement for one, if it's been used for private hire it will have been done at a taxi office and these are held locally and not put on to a database.

Taxis older than three years old show up as no mot on the police national computer.

Somewhere along its history that car has been without an mot for a period of time.

You have no idea how the Private Hire system works in London do you?

The Inspections are a formality in London and done once a year.

Taxis and PH now have an almost identical annual inspection done by the the same people at the same testing centres.

Even though Taxis still display the same plate on the bootlid that they have always done the actual official inspection is limited in what is checked, seat belts, bodywork etc, there is no longer a brake check for example, TFL aligned the way Taxis are inspected inline with PH maybe 2 yrs ago (can't remember exactly)

They also have 15 yr age limits for Taxis and 10yrs for Private Hire. To be honest I think standards are not as good.

Taxis also need to have a six monthly MOT after they turn 12months old.

These are facts not opinion.

The only reliable way to figure out if a car has been used for Private Hire work in London is by checking the MOT database.

Though there are ways round it, if you get your car inspected before it is 12 months old for example you don't need and MOT for another year so you can hide cars usage for 2years if you time things correctly.

PCMcGarry

bigjl wrote: »

You have no idea how the Private Hire system works in London do you?

The Inspections are a formality in London and done once a year.

Taxis and PH now have an almost identical annual inspection done by the the same people at the same testing centres.

Even though Taxis still display the same plate on the bootlid that they have always done the actual official inspection is limited in what is checked, seat belts, bodywork etc, there is no longer a brake check for example, TFL aligned the way Taxis are inspected inline with PH maybe 2 yrs ago (can't remember exactly)

They also have 15 yr age limits for Taxis and 10yrs for Private Hire. To be honest I think standards are not as good.

Taxis also need to have a six monthly MOT after they turn 12months old.

These are facts not opinion.

The only reliable way to figure out if a car has been used for Private Hire work in London is by checking the MOT database.

Though there are ways round it, if you get your car inspected before it is 12 months old for example you don't need and MOT for another year so you can hide cars usage for 2years if you time things correctly.

Not in London no. But in the rest of the country they need a test at 12 months old. This exempts them from an mot at three years and nothing is recorded on the mot database. You can buy a 10 year old ex private hire for private use and and when you obtain the mot it will be its first test.

I was unaware that London taxi inspectors use the mot data base.

bigjl

PCMcGarry wrote: »

Not in London no. But in the rest of the country they need a test at 12 months old. This exempts them from an mot at three years and nothing is recorded on the mot database. You can buy a 10 year old ex private hire for private use and and when you obtain the mot it will be its first test.

I was unaware that London taxi inspectors use the mot data base.

The S Class in question was registered new in London (LA), ended up in Birmingham which is common for London based chauffeur vehicles (owner drivers)

So any discussion about what happens outside London is irrelevant.

PCMcGarry

bigjl wrote: »

The S Class in question was registered new in London (LA), ended up in Birmingham which is common for London based chauffeur vehicles (owner drivers)

So any discussion about what happens outside London is irrelevant.

What does were its registered prove?

Until you can show it was a private hire licenced vehicle you're just speculating.

bigjl

Just did a quick check in the MOT database

Was MOted in August 2014, with an advisory for rear pads (49k miles) it was then MOTed in February 2015 with an advisory for an illuminated MIL but with only 52k!!

That is six months apart, so in my opinion it is an ex Chauffeur car that has been clocked and poorly maintained.

You can't check the PH History of a car if the current inspection has expired.

The reason people trade the cars in away from London is because garages outside London don't know they need to check for 6monthly MOTs

The OP has had a closer escape than they could ever know.

bigjl

PCMcGarry wrote: »

What does were its registered prove?

Until you can show it was a private hire licenced vehicle you're just speculating.

As you can see from the post I made whilst you posted

I have shown it has been given six monthly MOTs and has likely been clocked.

I would not be surprised if it was bought at CarGiant at 2 1/2 or 3 yrs old then hammered for 18months with minimal maintenance then outed when the MIL came on as there could have been an expensive problem looming.