Not upheld: quality of goods supplied / satisfactory quality complaint against Mercedes-Benz Financial Services UK Limited trading as Mercedes-Benz Finance

Decision detail

Summary

Mr T purchased a new Mercedes-Benz car on hire purchase in June 2024 for approximately £70,735. From September 2024, he experienced repeated dashboard oil warning lights requiring manual oil top-ups, despite multiple dealer inspections finding no fault and oil levels within specification. Mr T requested rejection of the car in June 2025, but MBF offered £400 compensation, arguing insufficient evidence of a fault. The ombudsman upheld MBF's position, finding that without independent mechanical evidence confirming an inherent defect, and given the issue appeared to resolve after servicing, MBF's handling was reasonable and its £400 offer was fair.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

The ombudsman found that while Mr T experienced oil warning lights, this was not necessarily indicative of a fault. No independent mechanical evidence confirmed an inherent defect, and the selling dealer's qualified mechanics found no oil leak or fault on diagnostic testing. The oil consumption was found to be within the manufacturer's specified range. The ombudsman noted that the issue appeared to resolve itself following routine servicing, with no further problems reported despite the car reaching 12,700 miles. Without sufficient evidence of a fault that rendered the car of unsatisfactory quality, and given that the onus was on Mr T to provide such evidence after six months had elapsed, MBF's handling of the complaint was reasonable. Even if a fault had been confirmed, the first remedy would have been repair, not rejection, and there was no evidence that repairs had failed.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website