DEALERS are putting themselves at risk and undermining their long-term relations with fleet customers by being sucked into 'crazy' buy-back deals, industry experts claim.

In a bid to sell new cars, they are signing up to business terms with rental companies and contract hire firms and brokers that threaten their existence. Some companies are specifying buyback prices that are £2,000 more than the actual buy-back value.

There are fears that such a short-term approach to business will also undermine dealers' long-term relationships with end-user fleets, which may rely on their dealer network for service and spares.

Jeff Peyton-Bruhl, Camden Motors' corporate sales director, said: 'Buy-backs are akin to a ticking timebomb for many fleet buyers. We have agreed a number of buy-back deals where we have evaluated the risks and considered them acceptable.

'But in many cases we have walked away from large volume deals where the buy-back value demanded was just too high.'