I saw a Sept 2010 used approved Mercedes E-Class 350 CDI estate, 11,000 miles with panoramic roof and many extras for sale for £34,900 on the web.

I phoned the dealer and put £1,000 deposit down over the phone. I was subsequently assured the car was immaculate but on inspection found the underside on the front skirt was very scraped and there were one or two minor chips on the front paintwork and grille.

The dealer has said these will be sorted out. I was keen to check the past fuel consumption (I understand there have been injector problems with the Bluetec engine) but the past record has been wiped.

I was told this probably happened in the workshop but subsequently it transpired that it has yet to go to the workshop. The service record was not available for inspection because apparently Mercedes does not use paper records anymore and being sunday the workshop was closed so the electronic record could not be accessed. It will be emailed tomorrow. The car has already had two owners.

Please could you tell me if I should be concerned that the past MPG record has been wiped (it was only managing 25mpg on the 7 mile test drive) and am I being misled about the service record?