Mercedes used approved.

[vtaylor78]

I know all the mechanical checks that are done when you buy a “Used Approved” from a main MB dealer.
But what about bodywork ? Should the car be completely free from dings / creases and scratches on the bodywork?
Or is fair wear allowed depending on cars age.

 

[V6Matty]

It would be fair wear and tear unless otherwise stated and then reflected in the price

 

[mioba]

One needs a sense of sense here, you cannot expect a used car to be like it rolled off the production line.
Its wear and tear and use it as a bargaining chip

 

[vtaylor78]

I agree to a certain extent, but when you return a vehicle, say after a PCP or lease deal of 3 years , they crawl all over it , with a tick sheet to hand and you are charged accordingly.

 

[AMGeed]

I agree to a certain extent, but when you return a vehicle, say after a PCP or lease deal of 3 years , they crawl all over it , with a tick sheet to hand and you are charged accordingly.

That is why its important to inspect the car at handover, and take photos if necessary when collecting the car on a lease or PCP deal. Quite often a new car will have minor scratches etc from storage and delivery to the dealers.

Approved used is just that. A used car that will have certain defects that should be allowed for in the price or used to bargain a better price.
Again, inspection at handover is paramount and faults noticed and pointed out. Drive it away and the fault could have been after the sale as far as the dealer is concerned if not pointed out beforehand.

 

[Wighty]

If you see unwanted scratches on the car or wheels you have the option of saying I really like the car but I’m not happy with those marks (and then go silent ) .
They will cost me a lot to get rectified

 

[davemercedes]

It's interesting to wonder how many cars that have been picked up with costly "damage" are ever repaired. I hired a car from one of the big chains that we had an account with when I was working on a project abroad... and when returning to it in a car park I found it had been scraped - it looked like it had had an argument with a shopping trolley. I normally used to just leave hired cars in their "returns" space but due to the inter-company relationship I told them it had been damaged. One form and €30 later I was on my way.

But here's the joke: I arranged a 3-day hire a few weeks later and got a lift to the hire shop. Waiting for me was the same car - still damaged of course. A couple of times over the next few months colleagues had the same car allocated to them on short term hire - still damaged.

The paperwork/receipt didn't say I paid the cost of repair - it said something like "accident surcharge" and I wasn't unduly bothered because I didn't have to pay for it personally. But presumably the same thing happens a lot and the "surcharges" paid just get dumped into a general fund?

 

[Jasandjules]

The dealers I spoke to would go over the car and check for dents/dings/scratches and fix them. And the car we picked up was pretty clean and tidy all around, no dents or dings or scratches.

 

[Monday]

It's interesting to wonder how many cars that have been picked up with costly "damage" are ever repaired. I hired a car from one of the big chains that we had an account with when I was working on a project abroad... and when returning to it in a car park I found it had been scraped - it looked like it had had an argument with a shopping trolley. I normally used to just leave hired cars in their "returns" space but due to the inter-company relationship I told them it had been damaged. One form and €30 later I was on my way.

But here's the joke: I arranged a 3-day hire a few weeks later and got a lift to the hire shop. Waiting for me was the same car - still damaged of course. A couple of times over the next few months colleagues had the same car allocated to them on short term hire - still damaged.

The paperwork/receipt didn't say I paid the cost of repair - it said something like "accident surcharge" and I wasn't unduly bothered because I didn't have to pay for it personally. But presumably the same thing happens a lot and the "surcharges" paid just get dumped into a general fund?

For an MB PCP, there is a comprehensive list of return standards that the car has to meet. Inspection is usually by BCA who used to list every tiny deviation, even to minor respray work which was, in their opinion, not 100%. You could usually argue it down with MB Finance. [More recently, they have got less pernickety, led as I understand it that by a perception that it was putting buyers off the whole PCP process, or at least the MB PCP process.]
But the curly bit is in the small print of the agreement, in that MB reserve the right not to undertake repairs but to sell the car on 'as is' and presumably, take a reduced auction price. Hire companies presumably do the same.