Does approved used car mean a requirement is FSH and it is in line with manufacturer service schedule?

[markjay]

Google it.....loads of BMWs are sold as BMW Approved Used without FSH and lots of discussions like this thread on BWM forums..........they might say otherwise but they don't stick to it. So not really any difference to Mercedes on that front.

It seems that the difference is that BMW say that their approved used cars will all have FSH, even if BMW dealers don't actually adhere to this, while MB do not commit to their approved used cars having FSH, which means that MB dealers are doing nothing wrong by selling cars without FSH as approved used (as long as they don't misdescribe them, obviously).

 

[ALFAitalia]

I think that if Merc (or BMW) actually stuck to their Approved Used car "rules" the pool of cars that actually had a full service history with all the extras completed (like brake fluid, lubing Pan roofs etc) would be so tiny that the Approved Used scheme would not be viable!!!!

 

[markjay]

I think that if Merc (or BMW) actually stuck to their Approved Used car "rules" the pool of cars that actually had a full service history with all the extras completed (like brake fluid, lubing Pan roofs etc) would be so tiny that the Approved Used scheme would not be viable!!!!

Not for older cars, no. And I suspect that the recent shortage (and price increases) of second hand cars meant that older cars entered the AU scheme.

But for the signifact sector of two to four years old cars that just "came off the lease", you'd expect them all to have exemplary service history with all additional items included.

 

[ALFAitalia]

....and have been thrashed within an inch of its life for two or three years knowing it was never going to be theirs and was going back.....its that a good thing and better than having missed a service in the hands of a private owner???!.....worst still if it was an ex company car....I know how I treated mine!!

 

[Fastcar155]

Unfortunately dealing with major multi national Main Dealers in the motor trade I feel is a total lottery with the service received. I believe that if you purchase I car with a full manufacturer service history it should be that , a full service history. If you purchase a Mercedes car from a Mercedes dealer two types of service history are available , a Mercedes service plan that should ensure that the car has been service to Mercedes requirements or a menu driven service that the customer can pick or decline work.To me a car dealer has to earn that trust.

 

[ALFAitalia]

But even that has precious little effect on the condition of the car when on the forecourt....which is far more important to me. Too much emphasis is put on a FSH to me.......a non FSH car could have been pampered its whole life, warming up properly neve thrashed etc, cleaned at polished at every weekend but perhaps serviced every other years because of its its very low annual miles....which is fine as far as I'm concerned.......on the other hand a FSH car could have been caned from cold....only cleaned at trade in time (or not even then looking at the state of some of the cars we took in!!).....but its got a full factory SH....so that's OK then. Putting any weight on a good MOT history is even more worthless....( how often do you see ads that say "passed every year...no advises")....that does not tell you that they spent a grand plus on the service they had right before the MOT to replace all the bits that would have failed on. They could have just put it through the test and then replaced bits that it failed on...you would have exactly the same car.....just with a poor MOT history. No one is really stupid enough to believe at car can pass for more than a few years without needing some sort of work done before or after the test even if its just brakes, tyres and suspension bushes. Its all a bit silly really.

 

[Fastcar155]

Well put regarding representative cars.

 

[23 Romeo Tango]

How recent is it?

It was passed on to me from a private seller who got it from his dealership last December (2023).

 

[Darrell]

True.....but in the real world a car with "one or two missed services" will not sell for any less than one with them all....especially if they are just missed on time rather than mileage. And of course we are talking used cars here so as no two are exactly the same condition or desirability wise (colour combos, extras etc) the one with a missing service could EASILY sell for as much as the MBFSH one if its a better and more desirable spec. Also, in my experience, it wont affect your PX price when you come to sell it either.

I got a new 54 plate Transit back in the day and we part exchanged our R plate model.

Our trade-in had a full Ford service history which is something the sales guy found highly amusing and told us that it was a complete waste of money.

 

[markjay]

....and have been thrashed within an inch of its life for two or three years knowing it was never going to be theirs and was going back.....its that a good thing and better than having missed a service in the hands of a private owner???!.....worst still if it was an ex company car....I know how I treated mine!!

Again, I wasn't referring to the mechanical aspects of servicing (or lack of), just to the commercial aspect, and as I said, I would personally only buy a car 'on condition' anyway, my point was that most cars aged between 2 to 4 years will have an exemplary service history, and therefore a car at this age with a missing service (ot two) will likely take a hit on value.

 

[markjay]

But even that has precious little effect on the condition of the car when on the forecourt....which is far more important to me. Too much emphasis is put on a FSH to me.......a non FSH car could have been pampered its whole life, warming up properly neve thrashed etc, cleaned at polished at every weekend but perhaps serviced every other years because of its its very low annual miles....which is fine as far as I'm concerned.......on the other hand a FSH car could have been caned from cold....only cleaned at trade in time (or not even then looking at the state of some of the cars we took in!!).....but its got a full factory SH....so that's OK then. Putting any weight on a good MOT history is even more worthless....( how often do you see ads that say "passed every year...no advises")....that does not tell you that they spent a grand plus on the service they had right before the MOT to replace all the bits that would have failed on. They could have just put it through the test and then replaced bits that it failed on...you would have exactly the same car.....just with a poor MOT history. No one is really stupid enough to believe at car can pass for more than a few years without needing some sort of work done before or after the test even if its just brakes, tyres and suspension bushes. Its all a bit silly really.

If the dealer had a car loaded with options that you don't care about (and in fact, want to avoid due to potentially costly repair bills), and a basic car with no options (which is what you wanted because there's less to go wrong), but the asking price for the basic cars was the same as the loaded one, wouldn't you think that it's wrong? You'd want the basic car but you'll likely refuse to pay for it the same asking price as the loaded car.

 

[Darrell]

....and have been thrashed within an inch of its life for two or three years knowing it was never going to be theirs and was going back.....its that a good thing and better than having missed a service in the hands of a private owner???!.....worst still if it was an ex company car....I know how I treated mine!!

Do people really actually thrash their cars these days??

I know a fair few people with leased cars and vans who just drive them normally. They’re all worried about damage to the vehicles and getting fines and points on their licences.

 

[geoffus]

The chap just down the road from us used to always drive a company car, every morning he would thrash past our house with a cold diesel engine at max revs and zero mechanical sympathy, orrible arrogant bloke he was, I pity the owner of one of his ex fully serviced one owner motors.
The last one was a pretty red jag XE with the popular 2.0 Ingenium engine, should fetch a good price on the forecourt.

 

[AS162]

Update: after a lot of back and forth (along with being ignored so many times ha) I managed to get my deposit back! Greatly appreciate everyone’s input.

Lesson learnt. Even though it was a horrible experience but I have learnt quite a bit through this, so in a way I am grateful for this horrible experience. Also with “Approved Used” I’ll be looking at it in a less skewed way.