Many 2017 Mercedes sat in a field for 12 months?!

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clk208

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Been to a couple of MB dealerships today looking for a W222 S class of around 2017 vintage for my dad.

Saw a few potential candidates that looked good. On checking when they were last taxed or MOTd it was apparent that several had sat unused since being returned from lease in March 2020. A year sat unmarketed and unused. The dealers confirmed they had been unused and it wasn’t some anomaly with private plates or such like.

Anyone heard of this happening before? Guessing they just didn’t bother to try to shift them in the pandemic.
 
The airfield at Wyton in Cambridgeshire is full of ex-lease Mercedes and other makes. Literally many thousands filling the runways and taxiways, all visible from the main road. Am sure this is a story repeated at old airfields across the country because manufacturers prefer storage of ex-lease for long periods to the price drops that would result from releasing what is after all over-production onto a slow market.
 
When large numbers of cars are stored like that, what do they do about the battery or often two batteries in the case of a Mercedes. I can't see them charging them up on a regular basis. I imagine they will get jumped when the car needs to be moved and the next owner will have a degraded battery.
 
When large numbers of cars are stored like that, what do they do about the battery or often two batteries in the case of a Mercedes. I can't see them charging them up on a regular basis. I imagine they will get jumped when the car needs to be moved and the next owner will have a degraded battery.
But, for the cost of a new battery, still a great buy for somebody.
 
Tell me more, tell me more..... Diesel, PHEV or S500 ? Low cost - or high spec?

Anything interesting?

I've had conversations with dealers who say that they can "call MB" to find a specific car, if required.

(Why is it happening? Because the EU has lent huge money to corporates at low rates. To hold stock that is dropping in value by 10% p.a. )

It's bad on the battery, the tyres, the disks, the lubricants, the bodywork, and...

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This is an interesting topic

I VT’d my F10 BMW and it hasn’t been MOT’d or had the tax renewed since it was collected.

It’s either been shipped overseas or sitting somewhere.

No reason for it not to be auctioned - one owner, lowing mileage and perfect condition
 
When large numbers of cars are stored like that, what do they do about the battery or often two batteries in the case of a Mercedes. I can't see them charging them up on a regular basis. I imagine they will get jumped when the car needs to be moved and the next owner will have a degraded battery.
My thought too, and compounded for hybrids.
 
Tell me more, tell me more..... Diesel, PHEV or S500 ? Low cost - or high spec?

Anything interesting?

I've had conversations with dealers who say that they can "call MB" to find a specific car, if required.

(Why is it happening? Because the EU has lent huge money to corporates at low rates. To hold stock that is dropping in value by 10% p.a. )

It's bad on the battery, the tyres, the disks, the lubricants, the bodywork, and...

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Criteria is a LWB 2017 or later and not black or white. Mainly been looking at the S350d L. They have an amazing amount of kit on as standard and he's not that fussed about many of the other options. Pano roof would be nice but not massively common. I'd like driving assistance plus but even rarer - a few around at the moment but mostly in black. Frustrating that Carplay wasn't standard on these until 2018, that's one option my dad would make use of.

Should be a great feel good car anyway and he's always let me borrow his cars since being 17 so expect I will get a fair amount of usage out of it also. Test driving one next week, looking forward to seeing how they ride - expect it will be exceptional from the reviews etc.

Are you in the market for a W222 currently?

Interesting about the stock holding. Seems madness the amount they will lose between years 3 and 4. Guess it's not in the interests of MB for these to be sold at a discount in year 3 and the effect on residuals etc.
 
When large numbers of cars are stored like that, what do they do about the battery or often two batteries in the case of a Mercedes. I can't see them charging them up on a regular basis. I imagine they will get jumped when the car needs to be moved and the next owner will have a degraded battery.

Our 2019 C300 was an ex-demonstrator, and the mileage hadn't changed between the first service it had in February 2020 and when we bought it in November. And yes the battery was shagged, but it was replaced under warranty so no big deal really.
 
Been to a couple of MB dealerships today looking for a W222 S class of around 2017 vintage for my dad.

Saw a few potential candidates that looked good. On checking when they were last taxed or MOTd it was apparent that several had sat unused since being returned from lease in March 2020. A year sat unmarketed and unused. The dealers confirmed they had been unused and it wasn’t some anomaly with private plates or such like.

Anyone heard of this happening before? Guessing they just didn’t bother to try to shift them in the pandemic.
Standard practice for ex-lease. Not sure where uou are in the country, but if you've ever seen or been to Bruntingthorpe airfield you'll see tens of thousands of cars all sitting on runways and aprons whilst waiting servicing, paint/wheel refurbs and then onward auction or sale. I used to do some IT work for the company that manages the site and its quite an operation.
 
The airfield at Wyton in Cambridgeshire is full of ex-lease Mercedes and other makes. Literally many thousands filling the runways and taxiways, all visible from the main road. Am sure this is a story repeated at old airfields across the country because manufacturers prefer storage of ex-lease for long periods to the price drops that would result from releasing what is after all over-production onto a slow market.
Google Maps view of Bruntingthorpe


At what point, or time of year are these cars released? Spring, Summer?
 
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Not unusual, especially during the last 2 months. Main battery most likely disconnected when parked and reconnected when it needs moving. All the associated fault codes will be cleared. One year isn't that bad. I'd check the condition of tyres ad as long as it's fully serviced it should be fine.

About 12 years ago we bought a band new Peugeot 306 with zero miles that was sat in a field and 'lost' for years (it was a 1998 production car). It was inspected and all perishable rubbers changed along with fluids. Anything else that looked suspect was done and it was bought for about 2.5k, still with the seat plastics on.
 
i am looking for a 2016/17 sclass and i go to the gov.uk website to "check if the vehicleis taxed and has an mot" - it will tell you if the tax due date and mot expiry date - it is amazing the number of vehicles that haven't been taxed for years - to me it means the majority have been stood in a field for years - the tyres and batteries are shot as a minimum along with pitted discs together with all kinds of other problems associated with being unattended in the open - my highly skilled mechanic says steer well clear of them.
 
That really depends on whether the cars are being stored by professionals or by cowboys. Companies I have worked for had guidelines for cars in compounds which included moving the cars regularly so that the cars were started up, the tyres did not develop flat spots, and the sun did not always shine on them at the same angle every day. Longer term also included workshop checks.
 
That really depends on whether the cars are being stored by professionals or by cowboys. Companies I have worked for had guidelines for cars in compounds which included moving the cars regularly so that the cars were started up, the tyres did not develop flat spots, and the sun did not always shine on them at the same angle every day. Longer term also included workshop checks.
Do quality modern low profile radials get flat spots ? Or is that a throwback to the old crossply's.
 
Criteria is a LWB 2017 or later and not black or white. Mainly been looking at the S350d L. They have an amazing amount of kit on as standard and he's not that fussed about many of the other options. Pano roof would be nice but not massively common. I'd like driving assistance plus but even rarer - a few around at the moment but mostly in black. Frustrating that Carplay wasn't standard on these until 2018, that's one option my dad would make use of.

Should be a great feel good car anyway and he's always let me borrow his cars since being 17 so expect I will get a fair amount of usage out of it also. Test driving one next week, looking forward to seeing how they ride - expect it will be exceptional from the reviews etc.

Are you in the market for a W222 currently?

Interesting about the stock holding. Seems madness the amount they will lose between years 3 and 4. Guess it's not in the interests of MB for these to be sold at a discount in year 3 and the effect on residuals etc.
On the CarPlay think you can get an aftermarket retrofit job on the W222 and get it to play nicely with the MB controls.
 
i am looking for a 2016/17 sclass and i go to the gov.uk website to "check if the vehicleis taxed and has an mot" - it will tell you if the tax due date and mot expiry date - it is amazing the number of vehicles that haven't been taxed for years - to me it means the majority have been stood in a field for years - the tyres and batteries are shot as a minimum along with pitted discs together with all kinds of other problems associated with being unattended in the open - my highly skilled mechanic says steer well clear of them.
If what your mechanic says is true, then there's tens of millions of pounds worth of stock all over the place, that the leasing/finance companies are just happy to leave to rot and writing off the value - which is a ridiculous notion. Particularly given the fact your average firm wants to make as much money as possible on a repeat basis for the same car over 5 years. To say they have 'stood in a field for years' is also stretching the truth, if they are a professional outfit (as others have said) then the cars will be stored on hard standing, moved and otherwise maintained during that time, certainly prior to leaving the storage.

Besides, the company at Bruntingthorpe I mentioned above operate quick enough that the majority of their stock never sits for more than a couple of months before it's out of the gate and replaced by something else, otherwise they make no money on it.
 
The airfield at Wyton in Cambridgeshire is full of ex-lease Mercedes and other makes. Literally many thousands filling the runways and taxiways, all visible from the main road. Am sure this is a story repeated at old airfields across the country because manufacturers prefer storage of ex-lease for long periods to the price drops that would result from releasing what is after all over-production onto a slow market.
Not sure that the market is slow currently.
 
f what your mechanic says is true, then there's tens of millions of pounds worth of stock all over the place, that the leasing/finance companies are just happy to leave to rot and writing off the value - which is a ridiculous notion. Particularly given the fact your average firm wants to make as much money as possible on a repeat basis for the same car over 5 years

On the face of it I'd agree and I wouldn't want to buy one of those cars but restricting supply by storing large numbers of ex lease cars in a field is not a ridiculous notion if it forces up the price of used cars - which it most certainly has. And it's not just in the UK. US used car car prices are high too, presumably for the same reason.

Didn't I read recently that someone spent several £ millions buying more land for the express purpose of storing cars. There has to be a return on such a large investment which they get by regulating used car supply.
 

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