Rejection Advice - Mercedes A45

[Sim75]

Hi chaps,

I'm asking for a good friend - truthfully haha.

They took delivery of a lovely Mercedes A35 last october and ever since it's been plagued with issues, some minor, some major. In December the car sufferred a catastrophic electric breakdown of all the computers, the likes of which MB UK said they'd never seen in any A class before (or so they say) - the car wouldn't turn off until it ran out of petrol. Suffice to say it went back for six weeks before being resolved, or so they thought.

This month their woes resurfaced, firstly the passenger airbag and now all the screens. Considering the dash is virtual, that's quite a shocker. They've understandly had enough and think they have a dud - they certainly don't trust it.

The car is leased, not purchased so were wondering whether they have grounds to reject it, and if so what the process is?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks all.

Edited by Sim75 on Friday 21st August 13:43

[Jamescrs]

Has your friend spoken to the lease company about the on going issues and if so what have they said about it? I would imagine they are going to be sending it back to the lease company as the owner rather than dealing with MB directly?

Edited by Jamescrs on Friday 21st August 13:16

[Sim75]

Jamescrs said:

HHas your friend spoken to the lease company about the on going issues and if so what have they said about it? I would imagine they are going to be sending it back to the lease company as the owner rather than dealing with MB directly?

Yep - I would have thought they'd be rejecting it to the Lease Company, if that option exists.

MB claim to have fixed the car, but how many things need to go wrong before you've got grounds?

[Pupbelly]

Unless it is something special I would have rejected it after the first disaster. Send it back, there's plenty to choose from!

[ESD1711]

This latest shape of A Class seems to be plagued with issues. Having read many similar tales of electrical issues and faults and whatnot - I don’t think I’d go near one

[ejenner]

failing any reasonable agreement with the leasing company they have the option of ceasing payment on it. When they stop paying the lease company will send the boys round to pick it up. They may have to pay a fee or whatever... but if it were me I would be looking at my rights in the contract. At the very least the contract will be to deliver a car and arguably, if the customer doesn't have the use of a car the rest of the contract is void and so they can't insist on fees being paid ect. There might be a bit of screeching but I think ultimately they aren't going to take it any further than that, certainly not to court.

[Sim75]

ejenner said:

failing any reasonable agreement with the leasing company they have the option of ceasing payment on it. When they stop paying the lease company will send the boys round to pick it up. They may have to pay a fee or whatever... but if it were me I would be looking at my rights in the contract. At the very least the contract will be to deliver a car and arguably, if the customer doesn't have the use of a car the rest of the contract is void and so they can't insist on fees being paid ect. There might be a bit of screeching but I think ultimately they aren't going to take it any further than that, certainly not to court.

thanks mate - very helpful

[legless]

ESD1711 said:

This latest shape of A Class seems to be plagued with issues. Having read many similar tales of electrical issues and faults and whatnot - I don’t think I’d go near one

Are they buying in the Laguna II electrical parts from Renault in addition to the small diesel engines then?

[mitch_]

ejenner said:

failing any reasonable agreement with the leasing company they have the option of ceasing payment on it. When they stop paying the lease company will send the boys round to pick it up. They may have to pay a fee or whatever... but if it were me I would be looking at my rights in the contract. At the very least the contract will be to deliver a car and arguably, if the customer doesn't have the use of a car the rest of the contract is void and so they can't insist on fees being paid ect. There might be a bit of screeching but I think ultimately they aren't going to take it any further than that, certainly not to court.

I think this is some of the worst advice I have ever seen on Pistonheads. As soon as you stop paying, you are in breach of contract, not to mention you will be destroying your credit history in the process.

There is only one way to deal with this: keep paying, contact the leasing company and inform them of the problems and request the car be replaced. Put this in writing also. If no satisfaction contact a solicitor.

But you should NEVER just stop paying a lease or finance contract because you think it will miraculously fix something. Lunacy.

[Pupbelly]

mitch_ said:

ejenner said:

failing any reasonable agreement with the leasing company they have the option of ceasing payment on it. When they stop paying the lease company will send the boys round to pick it up. They may have to pay a fee or whatever... but if it were me I would be looking at my rights in the contract. At the very least the contract will be to deliver a car and arguably, if the customer doesn't have the use of a car the rest of the contract is void and so they can't insist on fees being paid ect. There might be a bit of screeching but I think ultimately they aren't going to take it any further than that, certainly not to court.

I think this is some of the worst advice I have ever seen on Pistonheads. As soon as you stop paying, you are in breach of contract, not to mention you will be destroying your credit history in the process.

There is only one way to deal with this: keep paying, contact the leasing company and inform them of the problems and request the car be replaced. Put this in writing also. If no satisfaction contact a solicitor.

But you should NEVER just stop paying a lease or finance contract because you think it will miraculously fix something. Lunacy.

TBH I did think the same. There is a contract in place which requires payments to be made. A dispute should be raised with the lease company who you are responsible to, they should act in their best interests to ensure the goods supplied are fit for purpose - in this case they are not. Raise the issue with the lease company saying you no longer have confidence in the car and you want to reject it and have a replacement vehicle. I would hope a decent lease company will assist, failing that there is the legal angle but that could be costly and messy.

At the end of the day you don't own the car, you are paying to drive it and the owner (lease company) should ensure it is suitable for its purpose.

[CS Garth]

Pupbelly said:

At the end of the day you don't own the car, you are paying to drive it and the owner (lease company) should ensure it is suitable for its purpose.

And the lease company currently know nothing of the matter. Making them aware of the issue allows them to take steps to address it.

[R2x]

Sim75 said:

Hi chaps,

I'm asking for a good friend - truthfully haha.

They took delivery of a lovely Mercedes A35 last october and ever since it's been plagued with issues, some minor, some major. In December the car sufferred a catastrophic electric breakdown of all the computers, the likes of which MB UK said they'd never seen in any A class before (or so they say) - the car wouldn't turn off until it ran out of petrol. Suffice to say it went back for six weeks before being resolved, or so they thought.

This month their woes resurfaced, firstly the passenger airbag and now all the screens. Considering the dash is virtual, that's quite a shocker. They've understandly had enough and think they have a dud - they certainly don't trust it.

The car is leased, not purchased so were wondering whether they have grounds to reject it, and if so what the process is?

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks all.

The most important part of what has been said here is do not stop paying until a cancellation or otherwise is agreed with the finance company!

A few years ago, a relative of mine had a consistent set of serious issues with his new X5. After a lot of complaining -including threats of legal action under the sale of goods act - to the finance company, the dealer who supplied the X5 gave him a ‘new’ car (6 months old, similar mileage and spec).

I’m not sure how common a swap out is as this is the only time I’ve ever heard of it, but the replacement of a seriously problematic car is possible (or else possibly termination of your lease) if you really complain.

[leef44]

R2x said:

The most important part of what has been said here is do not stop paying until a cancellation or otherwise is agreed with the finance company!

A few years ago, a relative of mine had a consistent set of serious issues with his new X5. After a lot of complaining -including threats of legal action under the sale of goods act - to the finance company, the dealer who supplied the X5 gave him a ‘new’ car (6 months old, similar mileage and spec).

I’m not sure how common a swap out is as this is the only time I’ve ever heard of it, but the replacement of a seriously problematic car is possible (or else possibly termination of your lease) if you really complain.

I would have thought this would be the normal practice for a leasing company.

To the user, it is your pride and joy.

To the leasing company, it's just another product off their shelf and they sell hundreds or thousands of them. So they just get another off the shelf.

[Sheepshanks]

ejenner said:

......
At the very least the contract will be to deliver a car and arguably, if the customer doesn't have the use of a car the rest of the contract is void and so they can't insist on fees being paid ect.
....

If the OP's friend uses MB Assistance when the car fails then he should get a decent loan car - so he won't be without a vehicle.

[Sim75]

Sheepshanks said:

If the OP's friend uses MB Assistance when the car fails then he should get a decent loan car - so he won't be without a vehicle.

For sure. E Class Cabriolet last time. But it's not the car you're supposed to be leasing is it...

[R2x]

Sheepshanks said:

ejenner said:

......
At the very least the contract will be to deliver a car and arguably, if the customer doesn't have the use of a car the rest of the contract is void and so they can't insist on fees being paid ect.
....

If the OP's friend uses MB Assistance when the car fails then he should get a decent loan car - so he won't be without a vehicle.

I’ve had different experiences in regards to the assistance programmes..

With BMW assist, through enterprise hire I’ve had a 3 series saloon, 3 series touring and a 4 series gran coupe, all pretty new with good spec.

With Audi assist, it was a nightmare each time my previous S3 or recent A5 went in. Once, it took 2 days to get a courtesy car agreed which turned out to be a Q2 sport. Not an acceptable S3 replacement for 3 weeks use. Another time, they sent my partner by taxi to the local airport Europcar and all they’d give her was an Astra or similar as “Audi do not allow like for like on the courtesy car agreement”.

I’d hope MB would be more aligned to the BMW courtesy car approach.

[MR94]

R2x said:

I’ve had different experiences in regards to the assistance programmes..

With BMW assist, through enterprise hire I’ve had a 3 series saloon, 3 series touring and a 4 series gran coupe, all pretty new with good spec.

With Audi assist, it was a nightmare each time my previous S3 or recent A5 went in. Once, it took 2 days to get a courtesy car agreed which turned out to be a Q2 sport. Not an acceptable S3 replacement for 3 weeks use. Another time, they sent my partner by taxi to the local airport Europcar and all they’d give her was an Astra or similar as “Audi do not allow like for like on the courtesy car agreement”.

I’d hope MB would be more aligned to the BMW courtesy car approach.

From my experience it’s luck of the draw unfortunately, almost all manufacturers will have a contract in place that means rental companies should provide a reasonable “like for like” of the same brand. But it comes down to how much notice they get, breakdown/assistance type courtesy vehicles are usually required ASAP so that’s when astras etc are used to fill the gap.

[Nickp82]

Do NOT advise them to stop making the payments, that is up there with the worst things they could do.