Should Ex Lease Cars Be Demonised?
Friday, 26. January 2018
I read an interesting story this week about car dealership Robins and Day who had to pay a fine of £5,000 plus £500 costs and £1,000 compensation to their customer for not declaring that the car was an ex-hire car.
Their customer bought a Peugeot from their dealership in Gateshead in January 2017 for around £10,000 marked up as ‘one previous owner’. Within a few days of purchase he noticed a smell and, having returned the car to the dealer, was told that the clutch needed replacing.
He was then told that he would have to pay the major part of the replacement cost, £650, as they suggested that it was because of his wife’s driving style. You know me, my blood started to boil when I read this. How on earth could a driving style wear out a clutch in a matter of days? Personally I would have rejected the goods.
In the meantime the customer received the V5C (log book) which showed that the previous owner was car hire company, Europcar. The customer took up the case with the local Trading Standards Office who confirmed that the car had indeed been owned by Europcar so had been driven by many drivers with varying driving styles.
Gateshead Council Trading Standards prosecuted Robins and Day under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. The company pleaded guilty and were ordered to pay as shown above.
But the interesting point here was that in amongst the report they explained that the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has ruled that dealers now have to disclose the full history of any car before selling it.
This includes whether the car was leased, hired or used for fleet purposes. In my opinion I feel it is right that you are told if a car was hired out because it would have had many drivers and, as a result of the different driving styles, cause abnormal wear and tear on certain component parts.
However, in my experience, most lease and fleet cars are only driven by one person or possibly the main driver along with another family member. They also have to be maintained to the highest standard to avoid end of lease charges as well as making sure that the car spends as little time off the road awaiting repairs as a result of driver abuse.
So in fact this could work in your favour. Judge the car by its mileage and service history. If you find an ex lease car with relatively low mileage and perfect service history you could still argue with the dealer that as the car was leased ‘and probably abused as most company cars are’, you need more off the price.
Of course the car will be perfectly fit for purpose but the ex-lease or fleet info puts you into a strong negotiating position. By Graham Hill
