I've just bought a Mercedes-Benz B-Class 180CDi SE, with 18,000 miles and 15 months old. The purchase was from a main Mercedes-Benz dealer and it is in superb condition. During the negotiations, I asked to see the V5 to verify who the one previous owner was and was told the document was at their head office and they did not have a copy to hand. I was led to believe that the car was probably bought in from Mercedes-Benz Head Office on their closed auction system.

The V5 arrived today and it showed Europcar as the first owner! It was never mentioned that the car was ex-rental. The question is whether this will devalue the car when I do come to sell it? I do have the Mercedes 30 day exchange system on my side but am now uncertain as what to do.