Mis-sold ex rental?

MCRMisty

Probably naive on our part again, but I thought that getting an 'approved used' directly from a main dealer would have been some sort of assurance that the vehicle would not be an ex-rental....

redpete

We were sold an ex-hire car that the young salesman said was sold by the previous owner because they couldnt keep up the finance payments. I wouldn't have minded buying an ex-hire car but i don't like salesmen lieing to me.

Sales manager offered a few hundred off the price as compensation (and claimed it wss a genuine mistake!).

daveyjp

When buying anything its down to the buyer to ask the pertinent questions.

Approved used merely means MB are happy to warrant it.

There is no guarantee that a one owner/ driver car is well looked after. Some car owners have no mechanical sympathy whatsoever.

My old manager never serviced his cars. He!!!8217;d top up oil , have jobs done at MOT time, but swapped them when they broke down.

At least with a day rental you get a mix of drivers so any abuse is short lived and most drivers don!!!8217;t deliberately rent cars to abuse them.

The car has a warranty. Enjoy it.

motorguy

MCRMisty wrote: »

So was the onus on me, as the buyer to ask who the 'one owner' was rather than them to disclose it?

Given that we wouldn't have gone through with the deal had we known it was an ex hire car, I'm not entirely sure how it would be resolved now. In my opinion, again maybe naive, we've paid over the odds for it - a rental that's hired for 2/3 days at a time wouldn't have been be treated as carefully as a car that is one's own.

I'm not the type of person to jump on the compensation bandwagon, in fact I even hate the word, but I feel like we've been genuinely misled about the vehicle's history. I'm not sure many people would knowingly purchase a former Hertz/Avis/Europcar/etc vehicle.

I have. Bought a year old Passat last year that was an ex hire car, and in 2013 bought a 2012 Golf that was an ex hire car.

Both from the same main VW dealer and both under the Approved Used scheme.

facade

EssexExile wrote: »

I've also hired lots of cars & not "mercilessly thrashed" any of them.

Why not?

They aren't yours

AdrianC

MCRMisty wrote: »

Honestly, maybe we're naive, but a year old car with 10-15k miles doesn't scream ex-rental to us as that it the sort of mileage that we do.

That might be the sort of mileage you do, but do you buy brand new cars, keep them for the steepest part of the depreciation, then sell 'em? No, nor do many others... Yet forecourts are full of 1yo/10k used cars. I wonder who does have that ownership profile...?

2 + 2 = ?

neilmcl

MCRMisty wrote: »

Probably naive on our part again, but I thought that getting an 'approved used' directly from a main dealer would have been some sort of assurance that the vehicle would not be an ex-rental....

Who exactly was the previous keeper? The car could quite simply been on a long-term contract hire basis in which case it may have only had a single driver.

Having said that you might want to check out the following - http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/car-news/102191/buyers-sold-ex-rental-or-company-cars-without-warning-to-get-compensation

Mercdriver

When I was looking to hire a car for more than 30 days through Avis, I was referred to their long term rental scheme where they hire from a month to a year long rental. It may be that that was what it was on before.

I don't think hire cars are necessarily thrashed as much as people say they are. Jeremy Clarkson's 'truism' isn't necessarily true.

vikingaero

Always ask to see the logbook with any car you are purchasing. If the Salesperson says no, fudges or says it's at Swansea then walk and buy another car.

You have to walk into a car deal with the mindset that everything the salesperson says is a lie. Main dealer in glass palaces and tiled floors, secondhand dealer in a portacabin - all liars until you check. If the salesperson says: "Lovely day out there." Go outside and f**king check!

I think here the OP may have paid full retail for a car that with its history as an ex-hire is worth a £x less.

Crabman

facade wrote: »

I agree you wouldn't want an ex Avis type hire car, but I doubt if an approved used Mercedes would be one anyway.

All dealers buy cars from hire companies. Some are upfront about the history, others are not.

There is a very simple way traders can protect themselves from mis-selling - they can abide by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations and disclose material facts to prospective customers.