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[mr singh]

this is going to sound VERY strange coming from me as i live in leeds, but are there any smart independent garages around the brentford area? more so, smart indis that were around back in 2008-2010 time.

the reason i ask, iv owned my forfour for coming up to 3 years in june and iv just got round to phoning smart of brentford asking about my smart's service history and they still have records of it on there system dating from 2006-2008 which sounds promising, the only thing is they wont give me its history in writing for data protection and have suggested that i buy a service book and sent it to them to stamp up, which i need to go pay for and pick up from smart of leeds.

and another question about mercedes finance. on my log book it says that the previous owner was mercedes finance, do you think it could have been a company car for an employee at mercedes finance? and if so then they would have to take it to smart/mercedes for servicing?!

[basilbrush]

It could have been on one of those finance deals where you have the car for three years. Then at the end of the term you have a choice of buying another one, paying a lump sum to "own" the car or refinancing to pay the balance. That may be the reason for Mercedes Finance down as being the registered owner.
I can understand you wanting a stamped service book and a history, but it's not really worth anything unless backed by service receipts.

[funkydoodycool]

S2 Smarts springs to mind (as usual) as it's only a couple of junctions clockwise on the M25 from brentford.  You never know.

The only car finance we've had is the current Audi A1, and it is stipulated that we must adhere to the service intervals.  The fact that it has a variable service interval, that currently expires after we're due to hand the car back, helps us

I would agree with Mr Brush that it's more likely the car was original purchased on finance from the dealer, and then given back to them and sold.... to you!  It should say one previous owner I believe - as the dealer or their finance house won't count.

[CrazyG]

I have to correct you there funky re S2smarts....
That name/company is only 2.5yrs old....
Rob (the owner) has had a Smart and worked on Smarts since 1998, and prior to launching
S2smarts he worked for many years (on his own) in a branch of a Smart independant that
was based in Watford.....Smarta*s Design....though that company has changed it's
name many times and has since closed it's sub branch in Watford. (I wonder why.... )

[mr singh]

ok i understand what you mean with the finance deal... but i bought it when it was 5 years old in 2010 so it must have been service in the 2 years after it was possibly handed back, but by who? it must have been a smart indi or a smart dealer as the oil filter i removed was a genuine smart one.

it had smart of Milton Keynes plates, it was PDI'd by them and a bit of paintwork was sorted out by them. it does say 1 previous owner and where it says the previous owner its says MB financial services

[basilbrush]

Mercedes head office is in Milton Keynes and they have a big Mercedes garage with a Smart dealership attached. I used it once to have rear shock absorbers fitted before the warranty ran out. They gave me a 1.5 Forfour as a courtesy car for the day so maybe it was used by the company for that period. If you look at this pdf file on the finance you'll see the conditions for returning the car are quite stringent. When you return the car you send the logbook back with it marked up as going to "mercedes finance".
There's a statement in there that British Car Auctions are Mercedes inspection and collection partner who may have been responsible for disposing of the car for them.
http://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/current/passenger-cars/pdfs/finance-insurance/maturity-brochure-a-ol-ch.pdf
Could try phoning merc mk there's an interesting bit about the existence of a "digital service book" they might have.