Daimler has announced a similar diesel part-exchange programme to the one announced last week by BMW, for any customer part-exchanging an older diesel car against a selected number of Mercedes-Benz or smart models.
Until the end of 2017, any owner of a Euro 4 (or older) diesel car will be eligible for an additional £2,000 part-exchange allowance over and above their car’s value when they buy a new Mercedes-Benz diesel or plug-in hybrid model.
On new smart electric drive models, the offer is for an additional £1,000 part-exchange allowance.
Like BMW, Daimler will be hoping to boost sales of new diesel cars in the face of a significant slump in demand over the last four months. The majority of Mercedes-Benz sales have been diesel models for some years, and the company will be hoping that this offer will allow Mercedes-Benz to salvage a decent year in terms of new car sales.
Unlike the BMW offer, the Mercedes-Benz allowance does not extend to buyers of low-emissions petrol models. However, in a move that goes beyond BMW’s offer, Daimler has pledged to scrap any Euro 1 to Euro 3 diesel cars that are part-exchanged, rather than selling them on.
The allowance is in addition to any other offer available from the manufacturer, finance company or dealership, such as a deposit contribution or discount, or the government’s plug-in car grant for plug-in hybrid or fully-electric vehicles.
The Car Expert says… check the fine print!
- This offer is a part-exchange allowance, for selected used cars part-exchanged against selected new cars.
- Your current car must be a diesel, from any brand, with an engine that is built to Euro 4 emissions standard or earlier. This will definitely be cars built no later than 2010, although some cars had Euro 5 specification engines earlier than this.
- You must be the owner of the part-exchange vehicle and the buyer of the new car (same name and registered address).
- Your car must have a valid MOT certificate, so you can’t drag an old car that’s off the road down to the dealership to claim the allowance.
- You must have owned the old car for at least six months, to stop people buying an old diesel banger for £200 and then getting a £2,000 part-exchange allowance for it.
- You must order your new car before the end of the year, and must take delivery of the vehicle no later than 31 March 2018.
- This offer can be used on top of any other offers from the dealer/manufacturer/finance company, including the government plug-in car grant
- The offer is not dependent on you taking any finance package or other products.
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Keyword: Mercedes follows BMW lead with diesel scrappage offer