Thank you for your reply Since the dealer was unwilling/able to loan me a vehicle, I got a hire car that was the cheapest i could get (~£10 /day), meaning I had the indignity of driving around in a corsa... (no offence to those driving a corsa) Just to clarify the car was a manufacturer vehicle, which was then sold to me by a MB dealer as a 'used approved'- two different entities. Yes the car was a fair bit considering it's age. The first time I had it when the fault in question became apparent was eight months after I bought the vehicle. The second time was 29 months after I bought it. However there were 6 occaisions that I had to return the vehicle over this period for 11 warranty 'fixes', 5 of these related to leaks (excluding the current episode).

Prolix Thank you for the feedback. With regards to your point about it being second hand, the car was 1 year old, own by mercedes with ~6500 on the clock. I would expect that mayor design faults with the vehicle, i.e. present when I bought the vehicle, would indicate that the vehicle was not fit for purpose. In this case cabable of keeping electrics, important to the vehicle's safe operation, dry. Point taken about it is what the court thinks not me... I have discovered that there was a Manufacture approved rectification program (though not a 'recall') at the time I bought the vehicle. The lengthly remedial training guides (created & recommend by MB) clearly identifies the faults and remedial action to be carried out. These were not carried out on my vehicle. As to whether this would demonstrate that it did not conform to contract I do not yet know. With regards to the independant survey, I have found people willing to do the survey who are familiar with the faults & remedial actions required. Unfortunately they are the gararges that specialise in theses repairs. I have struggled to find someone who is (a) knowledgable about the problems & (b) willing to undertake a survey. I had not thought of the AA. Again, not wanting to jumping the gun, Expenses wise, i've attempted to keep the expenses to a minimum, however could you elaborate on the 'mitigated your losses' bit. i.e what may be or may not be acceptable? thanks again

Hello all I bought a 'used approved vehicle' in May 2006 from a mercedes-benz dealership. Whilst under warranty the vehicle suffered water ingress into the main fuseboard - localised repair to small area under done under warranty. Just after the warranty ended the same thing happened, albeit through a different hole. Apart from a very long list of electrical problems, the odimeter jumped from ~37K to ~54K. The cause of this is that the vehicle was not sealed properly when built. Despite numerous RECOMMENDED repair guides, dating before my vehicle was built, MB have still not recalled the vehicle type - not sure why... I have found out it is quite common for these vehicles to leak like sieves, and i am pretty sure i can demonstrate that the fault existed when i bought the vehicle. (NB it probably is not a faulty repair, just not wide ranging enough of a repair as recommended by MB) The dealer is refusing to remedy the vehicle, but is willing to fix it for ~1K, however this wouldn't resolve the milelage issue. To date, my hire car costs are about ~2K, loss of earnings ~1k, and would like to claim for compensation for the loss in value for the mileage problem. Having exhausted their warranty/goodwill schemes i am at the stage of issuing legal proceedings. My questions are:- I need to retrieve the vehicle & take to another garage to survey & repair. (I need the car back and working instead of a hire car). Is this sufficient to be classed as an independant expert survey? Will the garage be allowed as an expert witness, dispite me instructing them before the court has ordered me to instruct them? Would they have to attend court, or would a written statement be admissable? I understand that it common practice to offer the dealer an opportunity to survey the vehicle. If the garage carries out the repairs after surveying the vehicle, and the dealer doesn't have the vehicle inspected at the same time, how would the judge instruct an expert witness? / if at all? Can I claim for my hire car, loss of earnings & compensation for mileage issue? Any suggestions for how to calculate the compensation for the mileage issue? (I was going to use market value of vehicle minus 1% for each 1K of extra miles = 1.4k This is taken from MB 'buy back' policy for vehicles) IF i went down SCC route, obviously I would have to reduce this to 1K, so to limit the total to 5K Would the repair fall under the surply of goods act , dispite being carried out under warranty? Thats all for the moment Thank you in advance