{"id":6913,"date":"2014-12-11T14:28:34","date_gmt":"2014-12-11T14:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/?p=6913"},"modified":"2014-12-11T14:28:34","modified_gmt":"2014-12-11T14:28:34","slug":"mercedes-benz-magic-helps-leekes-stay-in-the-black","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/6913","title":{"rendered":"Mercedes-Benz magic helps Leekes stay in the black"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-6914\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/leekes-sprinters-sm.jpg\" alt=\"Leekes Mercedes-Benz Sprinters\" width=\"350\" height=\"234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/leekes-sprinters-sm.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/leekes-sprinters-sm-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/leekes-sprinters-sm-50x33.jpg 50w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/>Yet <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/6706\">another<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/archives\/6384\">tale<\/a> of Mercedes-Benz loyalty that runs even deeper than the undeniable quality and performance of their vans.<\/p>\n<p>Independent retailer Leekes has put 26 new Mercedes Sprinters into operations at its department stores and building centres in South Wales and the West Midlands.<\/p>\n<p>The firm has a long history of running Mercedes vans and trucks, but some of the new Sprinters replace vans of another brand, which failed to hold their value as well, according to company director Stuart Leeke, who said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Our experience of disposing of these vehicles confirmed that the Sprinter continues to command high residual values compared to other types of van.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The new vans are liveried in black and are all Sprinter 313 CDI models\u00a0in BlueEFFICIENCY specification, which includes the ECO-Start start-stop system, as well as other fuel saving measures such as\u00a0<span lang=\"EN\">low rolling resistance tyres and efficiency improvements to items like the power steering system, fuel pump and battery management.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>A variety of body types are used by Leekes, including long-bodied panel vans\u00a0fitted with frails for use by the firm&#8217;s double-glazing fitters, along with dropsides for\u00a0conservatory teams and an extra-long wheelbase van used to deliver furniture. The additions take Leekes&#8217; fleet to 70 vans, most of them Sprinters, and the firm also uses Merc&#8217;s Atego light truck for most of its haulage requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Leekes&#8217; relationship with Mercedes\u00a0is now\u00a016 years old, and unsurprisingly,\u00a0Mr Leeke\u00a0remains a fan of both the\u00a0technical and reputational benefits\u00a0that\u00a0come with operating Sprinters:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cMercedes-Benz is a premium brand with an image of quality that can only enhance our own reputation,\u201d said Director and Company Secretary Stuart Leeke. \u201cWe bought our first Sprinters in 1998, since when they have always proved outstandingly reliable, cost-effective to operate and popular with our drivers. Safety is of paramount importance to our company, so the fact that Mercedes-Benz leads the field in this respect is also key to its appeal.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>It&#8217;s not a new story, but how many other marques have this effect on their customers?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Family firm Leekes have just added 26 new Mercedes-Benz Sprinters to their 70-strong fleet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[1738,157],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6915,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6913\/revisions\/6915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vanrental.co.uk\/vanblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}