service history missing

[merc estate]

We are in a world now of people want to sit on there ars* and do everything on a phone. Would you buy your house from a picture and someone you don't know telling you it looks good. I hope the answer to that is NO. So why would you do it with your second biggest purchase a car? I looked at 2 MB approved used and they were nowhere near as good as the one i bought from another garage. Go and look if its what you want and travel to it, worse way you have lost a day but at least you wont end up with trouble and arguments as they say you scratched it or the delivery company's fault. Then you can be happy with your purchase, good luck with it BUT GO AND LOOK

 

[markjay]

Why does that vehicle come up on DVLC Vehicle Check as :-

Vehicle details could not be found​

You searched for

KF17UZE

If you are sure that you entered the correct registration number and you need to make further enquiries please contact DVLA.

??

Most likely because the previous owner has just removed his private plate from the car before returning it to the lease company (or Px-ing it at the dealer). It can take a while for all of the databases to get updated.

 

[vaibhavk]

We are in a world now of people want to sit on there ars* and do everything on a phone. Would you buy your house from a picture and someone you don't know telling you it looks good. I hope the answer to that is NO. So why would you do it with your second biggest purchase a car? I looked at 2 MB approved used and they were nowhere near as good as the one i bought from another garage. Go and look if its what you want and travel to it, worse way you have lost a day but at least you wont end up with trouble and arguments as they say you scratched it or the delivery company's fault. Then you can be happy with your purchase, good luck with it BUT GO AND LOOK

Ummm well, I did go and look at all the 3 cars I have seen so far. Drove them around, inspected the papers, asked questions here. And time is money as well. Horses for courses I guess. But I do get your point and hence I'm willing to spend extra to get the car inspected prior to purchase.

I was under the impression that MB Approved Used would save you all the hassle. Scratches and cosmetic issues (unless resulting from an accident) don't matter to me but there shouldn't be any major structural, mechanical or electronics issue which I hoped would be a given for an MB Approved Used. From what I have read here, it saves you some hassle but not all.

 

[raspy]

Ummm well, I did go and look at all the 3 cars I have seen so far. Drove them around, inspected the papers, asked questions here. And time is money as well. Horses for courses I guess. But I do get your point and hence I'm willing to spend extra to get the car inspected prior to purchase.

I was under the impression that MB Approved Used would save you all the hassle. Scratches and cosmetic issues (unless resulting from an accident) don't matter to me but there shouldn't be any major structural or electronics issue which I hoped would be a given for an MB Approved Used. From what I have read here, it saves you some hassle but not all.

@vaibhavk Not everyone has a crap experience with MB Approved Used. I bought my used C class from a MB dealer and not only did they treat me like I was buying a brand new car, but they went out of their way to get the car in immaculate condition before I picked it up. Forum posts (of any brand) can often give a false perception, as people often post when they have issues, not when they have trouble free purchases.

 

[vaibhavk]

@vaibhavk Not everyone has a crap experience with MB Approved Used. I bought my used C class from a MB dealer and not only did they treat me like I was buying a brand new car, but they went out of their way to get the car in immaculate condition before I picked it up. Forum posts (of any brand) can often give a false perception, as people often post when they have issues, not when they have trouble free purchases.

True. People are more likely to leave bad reviews than to take the time out for good ones.

3. The printout appreas to come from the Lease company's computer system, and Vehicle Movement is likely to be an admin note.

4. While I am happy to accept a printed service history from a reputable trade seller, I would be wary of anything that a private seller could make-up on their home PC. If buying from the garage, make sure you get a printed copy of this document with their stamp and signature on the printed paper.

I have had some luck speaking to LeasePlan this morning. They confirmed that this car was leased by them for 4.5 years from new until last month and was serviced by Prestige Fleet Servicing (on their behalf) as indicated in the work history prints. LeasePlan also kindly agreed to send me a copy of the service history after the V5 has been transferred in my name.

Also, with respect to invoicing the vehicle, I spoke to the private seller and his associated trade seller. They're happy to have the invoice in the name of the trade seller (with an added Admin fee which I don't mind). I will then have a 28-day coverage under Consumer Rights Act 2015.

This car was inspected by the AA (on behalf of the auction house) last month and has passed the test across all the points except for rear tyres which the seller has since then replaced.

I will get another inspection done by ClickMechanic for an added peace of mind.

 

[markjay]

Also, with respect to invoicing the vehicle, I spoke to the private seller and his associated trade seller. They're happy to have the invoice in the name of the trade seller (with an added Admin fee which I don't mind). I will then have a 28-day coverage under Consumer Rights Act 2015.

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, during the first 30 days of ownership you can reject the car as soon as a major fault is detected, i.e. you are not obliged to let the seller try and fix it. You get a full refund.

Between 31 days and 6 months, if a major fault is detected, you must give the seller at least one opportunity to put it right. If they can't, or if the fault reoccurs, you can reject the car. The seller will deduct from the refund an amount to reflect the decrease in the value of the car due to the time passed and mileage covered since it was sold.

After 6 months, if a major fault is detected, you will need to be able to demonstrate that the fault was present at the time of sale (i.e. it is not a new fault), which in the majority of cases will be very difficult to do, so you are in a somewhat weaker position after the first 6 months have lapsed.

So you get all of the above, for the cost of the dealer's admin fee... that's good value, in my book

(To clarify, actually rejecting a car will always be the absolutely last resort for the buyer, but the fact that the buyer has this right tends to focus the dealer's mind and get them to become proactive and diligent in fixing any faults, especially once the Consumer Rights Act and Rejection have been mentioned... )

 

[vaibhavk]

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, during the first 30 days of ownership you can reject the car as soon as a major fault is detected, i.e. you are not obliged to let the seller try and fix it. You get a full refund.

Between 31 days and 6 months, if a major fault is detected, you must give the seller at least one opportunity to put it right. If they can't, or if the fault reoccurs, you can reject the car. The seller will deduct from the refund an amount to reflect the decrease in the value of the car due to the time passed and mileage covered since it was sold.

After 6 months, if a major fault is detected, you will need to be able to demonstrate that the fault was present at the time of sale (i.e. it is not a new fault), which in the majority of cases will be very difficult to do, so you are in a somewhat weaker position after the first 6 months have lapsed.

So you get all of the above, for the cost of the dealer's admin fee... that's good value, in my book

(To clarify, actually rejecting a car will always be the absolutely last resort for the buyer, but the fact that the buyer has this right tends to focus the dealer's mind and get them to become proactive and diligent in fixing any faults, especially once the Consumer Rights Act and Rejection have been mentioned... )

Thanks @markjay. I have never been a motorhead and have learnt an incredible deal on this forum this past week or so.

The fact that I will have a ClickMechanic comprehensive pre-purchase inspection report to hand may help increase the odds of successful fault-related claims beyond 6 months. Obviously, I do not wish to find any skeletons in the closet of the car but if there's something and if it is worth the punt then at least it's documented.

Fingers crossed for the inspection tomorrow. I Will let you all know how it goes.

 

[vaibhavk]

So, I got the car inspected by a very helpful mechanic from ClickMechanic. Would highly recommend them.

Only two issues worth mentioning:
1). Slight knocking from the rear of the vehicle over potholes possibly due to wearing of struts --> per the mechanic this isn't a big deal and will cost approx. £400 to replace if and when I get the struts replaced

2). Re-spray of the right rear quarter, doors, A-pillar, bonnet, left front wing, left doors (partially) and the rear left quarter. The mechanic measured the paint microns using a paint thickness meter. The respray is not visible to the naked eye. The car might not have been in a serious accident (HPI checked) but might have had paint jobs done to cover the scuffs and dents over time. As per the mechanic, it should be the buyer's discretion and this may get picked up by a future buyer when I try selling this car. Especially as this has been resprayed at multiple places and at different stages of its life. I'm not sure how often does one check paint thickness when buying a used car.

I'm gutted as I was hoping there wouldn't be any major issue with the car. I had invested a lot of time/effort in service history check by calling all the past dealers/garages/LeasePlan, etc. This after wasted effort with two other cars in the past few weeks.

I know no one can make a decision for me here, but wouldn't you expect a 4+ year old, 60k miles car to get scuffs and dents over time? And if it has been repainted at several places (but as said before, it looks impeccable to the naked eye), does it devalue the car significantly say >£1,000 over a similar car?

As this car was leased throughout, I suspect the lessee had it touched up to keep up with the lease terms before returning it to LeasePlan last month.

 

[Spider10]

I would except front bumper,bonnet due to stone chips etc but i can't see any sence in having both quarters and doors done only thing that springs to mind is that it may have been keyed buy some jealous git what colour is it ? some colours are very hard to match .
It could be coincidence but both rear quarters and the knocking from the rear

 

[markjay]

A professionally-done respray isn't an issue as such. And the likelihood of the paint thickness being checked by a future buyer isn't very high either.

I would have two concerns, though:

a. If the respray covered areas keys, or 'supermarket dents', then fine. But if it coveres an extensive panel repair - beating or replacing - that's a different issue. Check all the shut lines and panel gaps, are they 100% true, and identical on both sides? Do all doors close at first attempt, and fit flush? Etc.

b. Unless you have a receipt to show that the respray was done at an authurosided MB body shop, chances are you won't be able to claim on the new paint warranty or on the anti-perforation warranty, though this isn't a major issue as long as you know what to expect.

As for being gutted.... don't be. After all, this is exactly why you carried-out the pre-sale inspection, because you wanted to know all these things before buying the car.

 

[A.J.]

I would except front bumper,bonnet due to stone chips etc but i can't see any sence in having both quarters and doors done only thing that springs to mind is that it may have been keyed buy some jealous git what colour is it ? some colours are very hard to match .
It could be coincidence but both rear quarters and the knocking from the rear

May have needed to go back that far to blend in the colour, used to have to in the past

 

[Spider10]

May have needed to go back that far to blend in the colour, used to have to in the past

All the way back including rear quarters to blend in. I've never heard that in my life,plus the OP has said in different stages of the cars life? A paint thickness guage wouldn't tell him that i do agree with the above that's what pre inspection is for spending x amount on that is better than x amount for the car

 

[Cmonyoureds]

So, I got the car inspected by a very helpful mechanic from ClickMechanic. Would highly recommend them.

Only two issues worth mentioning:
1). Slight knocking from the rear of the vehicle over potholes possibly due to wearing of struts --> per the mechanic this isn't a big deal and will cost approx. £400 to replace if and when I get the struts replaced

2). Re-spray of the right rear quarter, doors, A-pillar, bonnet, left front wing, left doors (partially) and the rear left quarter. The mechanic measured the paint microns using a paint thickness meter. The respray is not visible to the naked eye. The car might not have been in a serious accident (HPI checked) but might have had paint jobs done to cover the scuffs and dents over time. As per the mechanic, it should be the buyer's discretion and this may get picked up by a future buyer when I try selling this car. Especially as this has been resprayed at multiple places and at different stages of its life. I'm not sure how often does one check paint thickness when buying a used car.

I'm gutted as I was hoping there wouldn't be any major issue with the car. I had invested a lot of time/effort in service history check by calling all the past dealers/garages/LeasePlan, etc. This after wasted effort with two other cars in the past few weeks.

I know no one can make a decision for me here, but wouldn't you expect a 4+ year old, 60k miles car to get scuffs and dents over time? And if it has been repainted at several places (but as said before, it looks impeccable to the naked eye), does it devalue the car significantly say >£1,000 over a similar car?

As this car was leased throughout, I suspect the lessee had it touched up to keep up with the lease terms before returning it to LeasePlan last month.

Whilst the paintwork repairs may not be visible to you you can bet your bottom dollar that they will be to any future buyers when you decide to sell it, there are usually tell tell signs of repair jobs even when they are done to a very good standard, so it could be a hard sell when you try to sell it. If you took it to webuyanycar for example the value would be absolutely hammered down with the different paint thickness.
The fact that the repairs have been carried out at different times doesn’t point to the car being keyed.
Unless you can negotiate a big discount, I would be inclined to walk away.

 

[A.J.]

All the way back including rear quarters to blend in. I've never heard that in my life,plus the OP has said in different stages of the cars life? A paint thickness guage wouldn't tell him that i do agree with the above that's what pre inspection is for spending x amount on that is better than x amount for the car

I can assure you they did years back !

 

[Spider10]

I agree the keyed point was before i noticed at different stages of its life

 

[Spider10]

I can assure you they did years back !

Its a 4 year old car

 

[A.J.]

Its a 4 year old car

It would be dependent on the skill of the painter wouldn't it

 

[markjay]

It may sound odd, but personally I would always prefer to buy a car with paint damage - or even dents - over buying a car that had a full or partial respray.

If you buy a car still with its original paintwork, you know what the car looks like before any remedial work is done. With a resprayed car, it is impossible to assess the scale of the original damage, the scale of the repair, or the quality of the work. And you won't have a warranty for the repair, either.

 

[raspy]

So, I got the car inspected by a very helpful mechanic from ClickMechanic. Would highly recommend them.

Only two issues worth mentioning:
1). Slight knocking from the rear of the vehicle over potholes possibly due to wearing of struts --> per the mechanic this isn't a big deal and will cost approx. £400 to replace if and when I get the struts replaced

2). Re-spray of the right rear quarter, doors, A-pillar, bonnet, left front wing, left doors (partially) and the rear left quarter. The mechanic measured the paint microns using a paint thickness meter. The respray is not visible to the naked eye. The car might not have been in a serious accident (HPI checked) but might have had paint jobs done to cover the scuffs and dents over time. As per the mechanic, it should be the buyer's discretion and this may get picked up by a future buyer when I try selling this car. Especially as this has been resprayed at multiple places and at different stages of its life. I'm not sure how often does one check paint thickness when buying a used car.

I'm gutted as I was hoping there wouldn't be any major issue with the car. I had invested a lot of time/effort in service history check by calling all the past dealers/garages/LeasePlan, etc. This after wasted effort with two other cars in the past few weeks.

I know no one can make a decision for me here, but wouldn't you expect a 4+ year old, 60k miles car to get scuffs and dents over time? And if it has been repainted at several places (but as said before, it looks impeccable to the naked eye), does it devalue the car significantly say >£1,000 over a similar car?

As this car was leased throughout, I suspect the lessee had it touched up to keep up with the lease terms before returning it to LeasePlan last month.

@vaibhavk I would suggest walking away from this car. The more you tell me about this car, the more dodgy it appears, in terms of not being a mint, honest, straight up car. If you're spending your hard earned cash, why not go for a car that is in excellent condition and has no red flags history wise and will not have issues that could cause you hassle should you need to sell it on? Aren't there plenty of used E220d cars for sale? Surely some of them must be free of issues?

All those panels resprayed to keep up with lease terms? Hmm, did the owner drive the car as a dodgem car and bash every panel to pieces? Or have accidents that weren't recorded? Lease cars have guidelines for wear and tear, it doesn't have to be factory fresh when you return it, but even if you have dents/scratches/kerbed wheels etc, there are guidelines on how much they charge you for any damage above normal wear and tear and a lot of companies just pay the charges rather than run around garages trying to fix a dent here or there.

Ex-lease cars are a world to their own. Some of them are maintained wonderfully, in brilliant condition and have just spent time cruising on motorways, and others have had a hard life abused by a driver who knew that it's not their pride and joy and is going back after x years.

I test drove 2 ex-lease C classes at MB dealerships, and they both had issues in condition and how they drove. I luckily found a car that had been owned privately (and had a clean MB history with no red flags), and that's the one I went for.

 

[Spider10]

It would be dependent on the skill of the painter wouldn't it

I don't know if (a painter) said that to me i would run in the other direction