I have been sold a used rental car as approved used car by Mercedes

remat77

Mercedes Benz of Slough have sold me a GLA which was 2 years old and was told that it was a single owner car. I paid a premium price for it because it was approved used. Few months later I found that the first owner was Europecar. I was not given this information before I bought the car and I found out based on a document that was inside the glove compartment. When I confronted them they declined it initially and when I sent them the document they agreed and said that it was taken from the parent company and they did not know it was rental. I did not buy that argument. 
There have been a lot of issues with the car and most of it is fixed. Few issues are intermittent and they are not able to diagnose it. I am worried that after the warranty runs out, the cost of repair will fall on me.

They are asking me to take out an extended warranty now to cover any other issues in future. 
I feel I have been betrayed because I trusted approved used will be something I can trust. But this is unfair that they charge us a premium cost on the car which would have sold at a lower price than usual if sold as an ex-rental car. 

I don’t think I can do much with my situation but I am posting this so others don’t end up in same situation trying to buy approved used without proper checks. By the response I got from them, this seems to be a common practice . 

MattMattMattUK

remat77 said:

Mercedes Benz of Slough have sold me a GLA which was 2 years old and was told that it was a single owner car. I paid a premium price for it because it was approved used. Few months later I found that the first owner was Europecar. I was not given this information before I bought the car and I found out based on a document that was inside the glove compartment. When I confronted them they declined it initially and when I sent them the document they agreed and said that it was taken from the parent company and they did not know it was rental. I did not buy that argument. 
There have been a lot of issues with the car and most of it is fixed. Few issues are intermittent and they are not able to diagnose it. I am worried that after the warranty runs out, the cost of repair will fall on me.

They are asking me to take out an extended warranty now to cover any other issues in future. 
I feel I have been betrayed because I trusted approved used will be something I can trust. But this is unfair that they charge us a premium cost on the car which would have sold at a lower price than usual if sold as an ex-rental car. 

I don’t think I can do much with my situation but I am posting this so others don’t end up in same situation trying to buy approved used without proper checks. By the response I got from them, this seems to be a common practice . 

There is no reason at that an ex-rental car could not be approved used, although guidelines for commercial sellers do say that they must disclose this kind of information. It would be very odd that they did not know as they would obviously know who they had bought the car from. 

Personally I would be looking to return the vehicle based on misrepresentation at the time of sale, but it depends how long you have had it and how many miles you have driven in it since purchase. 

Car_54

But it was indeed a single owner car. They didn't have to tell you who that owner was.

Indeed, had the owner been a private individual, they would have been prevented by law from identifying him, so they probably have a blanket policy of non-disclosure.

Anyway, most rental cars are actually leased. and the lease company is the registered keeper. If the RK is XYZ Leasing then the Merc dealer probably won't know whether it was leased to ABC Rental, a company fleet,. or a careful member of the public.

Goudy

An approved used Mercedes means it comes with a 12 month unlimited mileage warranty, 12 months road side breakdown and a few other benefits, like key cover, first MOT cover and if it needs a service within 3,000 miles, they'll cover that.

They check the history and it'll usually pass if it's been kept in the dealer network for servicing and give is a multi point check, that's about it.

You have paid a premium for those things.
You could have bought one at your local car supermarket cheaper, that could have also come from anywhere, be a one owner car but wouldn't necessarily come with the benefits listed above.
 

Your problems after the warranty runs out will be yours to pay for no matter where the car has come from. 
You might get some contribution if it's a serious fault and you have kept the car in the dealer network for servicing, but that isn't set in stone. 

In regards to their extended warranty, you'd want to read the T&C's before buying.
It might be worth considering as any parts and Mercedes dealer labour rates will be very expensive and they aren't the most reliable of makes these days.
Depending on model there could be quite a lot of Renault stickers under those three pointed star badges!

EssexExile

I've had two ex-rental vehicles, both were very good. I kept one for 17 years.

laidbackgjr

Also just because Europecar were the registered keeper doesn't mean it was a hire car, it could also have been a company car for a single employee.

sheramber

A private owner could  have had  their several children or other persons drive their car.

One owner does not mean one driver.

More imprtant would be  what the mileage was. 

Ganga

Ask the dealer to pay for the extended warranty for one year as a goodwill gesture 

EnPointe

laidbackgjr said:

Also just because Europecar where the registered keeper doesn't mean it was a hire car, it could also have been a company car for a single employee.

or a contract hire vehicle  , or a long  term rental 

daveyjp

Regardless of previous owners a German badge and high price tag does not mean perfection, quite the opposite.

They are quite good at building lemons.

ThorOdinson

What do you want? Extended warranty or return the car? A discount?