myrison

Hi all -

First-time poster here after trolling these threads for awhile while shopping for my C63. I've been deal shopping for awhile and a C63 popped up in Dallas that met my conditions. These forums were invaluable while shopping and I'm looking forward to contributing myself once I join the C63 club.

In summary, the car I plan to buy is a 2009 C63 in Iridium Silver, 36k miles, with:
Multimedia Package, P2 Package, AMG Leather/Seating Package

Picture (this is a pic from the previous dealer selling it, best pic I could find)


The in-service date was 9/2009, so it has warranty for another ~15 months or 14k miles. The car is going for $41k, and that's what I plan to pay for it minus trade. I shopped around a fair amount and there was just no touching this price anywhere else, so I had a hard time negotiating in good faith with the dealer on this (and they really weren't willing to move either, so $41k it is)

I'd also been looking at this car in Austin (basically the same car with lower miles but the same amount of time on the warranty remaining, even with the extra year of CPO), but they wanted $49.9k and there didn't seem to be any way I was getting them down to $41k.

I have not yet seen the Dallas C63 in person as it's a 3-hour drive away from me and I can't get up there until Friday. Earlier this week I called and put a deposit on the car as I've been sitting on the decision and didn't want to let this one get away given it's the lowest price I've seen.

So with a small deposit down to hold the car and plans to pick it up Friday, below are my questions and thank you in advance for your help as I could definitely use the advice.

• CarFax report: Offered for CPO by Dallas Dealer in January, but they couldn't sell it, so it went to another dealer to sell. Price dropped $4k when they did this. The car failed an emissions test on the state inspection and then later passed. Red flags here?
• Any other red flags in the car history? I know I can't get an extended warranty now because it was CPO'd and then sold to another dealer, but I'm ok with that as I didn't plan on buying one anyway. (Generally prefer to take the financial risk myself and pay up if bad luck comes my way)
• I did call the Dallas dealer who CPO'd and then turned it over to another dealer to ask if anything was wrong and they told me that as far as they knew they just couldn't sell the car at the price they wanted. After 90 days, they moved it off the lot. No idea if they were telling the truth... Credible explanation?
• This is one of the larger questions for me. Given that the car has factory warranty remaining, and that it was certified for CPO sale <100 miles ago (based on the CarFax report), do I take this to a dealer for an inspection before buying? I'm not sure if there is value to doing this given the previous CPO and existing warranty should cover most problems, but "I don't know what I don't know" here, so please educate me.
• If I don't go for the MB inspection, what are the things I should look out for myself when picking it up?
• Is there something on this car I'm missing? I realize it's higher mileage than several 2009s I've seen, but the price seemed quite competitive. Opinions valued here.

Any other new-buyer advice would be highly appreciated before I head up to Dallas Friday.

Thank you!

Fung63

exciting times!

I'll let the other members chime in on the inspection stuff but I wanted to say, this looks like a pretty decent deal

Failing an emissions test once isnt a big deal but it does make me wonder about the previous owner if he kept up to date with his servicing. You might want to double check to make sure the car hasnt voided warranty.

also, the inservice date of 9/2009 is interesting, it makes it possibly the last MY2009 C63 MB made lol... it actually has a later inservice date than my MY2010 C63....

good luck!

Jons95c36amg

Great deal. You will love the car.

myrison

Thanks for the early reply guys. I will give an MB dealer a call today to check the VIN and verify warranty status.

I do see notes re: recommended maintenance at 20/35k on the carfax, so a little behind, but it's had more than zero maintenance.

I'd still appreciate opinions on the other questions from anyone else w/ advice re: the pre-purchase checks and/or self-inspection I should do before signing on the dotted line.

Thanks!

BK63amg

I'd have all of your gaskets checked (head gaskets) as well as your harness and belt tensioner. I've had major issues caused by the belt tensioner failing so definitely have a dealer take a good look-see and handle all warranty work before you take delivery.

GL!

rory breaker

I would 100% get a PPI from a DIFFERENT dealer with zero history/ties to the car. Its worth the $200 to make up for any headaches down the road. Very odd that an 09 failed an emissions test, makes no sense unless it was modded and the previous owner just wanted to take a shot. You can ask the dealer who does the PPI to see if it looks like any major parts were removed/reinstalled (header bolts scuffed, intake fitment, ECU opened, etc).

myrison

What the current dealer who told me (the one who put it through the inspection) was that the car failed emissions testing due to a gas cap problem. Not sure if that sounds legit to you guys? I'm looking up places now near the dealership in DFW to do the PPI

rory breaker

Sounds totally plausible. However more than likely, if the gas cap was not sealing, you would throw a code...and who would take their car to emissions with an active code?

Enough of a gap there to make me do a PPI...

rufferto

Is the dealer you are buying it from a Mercedes dealer? If not, was it a certified pre owned by Waco mercedes? They usually like to certify their used cars so they can charge more, if they couldn't, or it was too expensive to certify it (get it back to stock specs), you might have a couple problems on your hands.
If it was not certified, maybe you could ask Waco why they couldn't certify it.
that might give you some usefull informatation as well.

good luck and as a previous '09 owner, you will love the car!

dfabricant

Hi there...car looks great. Hope you get the deal done.

Two months ago I puchased a 09 C63 (in NJ) with 31k miles and same options for $44k. So it look like you are getting a sweet deal. My thinking was that I had ample coverage on the factory warranty and most major problems would surface by then. I didn't by any extended warranty. I test drove the car (multiple times - one of which was as a loaner for a couple of days). I drove it on all modes, highway, backroads - super freeking fast. For me, everything worked well and felt fine so I didn't bother with separate checks.

I think the dealer will slap an inspection sticker on the car for a good number of years (at least that is what they did in NJ). If Texas deals do that and you are stilled worried about emissions, you could always drive the beast over to an inspection facility and get it inspected. If it fails, your warranty should cover it - i think the dealer has to deliver a car that will pass your states inspection requirements.

Anyway, my 2 cents worth - now go get her!! Good luck.

Merc63

I have never heard of a dealer moving a car off the lot in 9 weeks because it wouldn't sell???

That is a short amount of time!

I think they wanted this car off their lot for a reason and dumped it cheap somewhere else... But I could be wrong?


If it was cpo'd and now it's not because it went to a diff dealer..why??

Gas caps dont effect emissions. It would throw a code like another guy said..


Something is not right here in my mind.

There is lots of guys on here that will lease these cars, mod them right up then when the lease is up they return the car to stock and bring it in for some other guy to buy thinking it was a completely stock car.

Not saying that's wrong, but be aware of it.

atlplayax

Quite possible the car dropped 4k due to the dealer removing the CPO warranty. As long as the car is under warranty I would have it properly pre purchase inspected before buying it.

While I was searching for my car I saw quite a number of GLs with "failed emission inspection" and then a little latter "passed emission inspection" on their car fax reports. That raised a red flag for me as well but could very well be a legit explanation with the gas cap. As far as the dealer not being able to sell you extended warrantly, that would be another red flag in my opinion. Would ask for the full service records per VIN too if possible from the dealer.

All in all, go with your gut and trust your instincts. Good luck !

CoolBDPhenom03

Is the car still in Waco, TX?

deeoh

+1 on this. A carfax may help but might not fill in all the gaps, but a PPI sure will. This will def put your mind at ease...

myrison

Lots of good questions above and thanks again.

Here are a few of the answers:

No, MB of Waco transferred it to Hiley Mazda in Hurst/Fort Worth (who gets good reviews online at least). Because of the transfer, the CPO goes away, but the CarFax indicates it was CPO'd successfully and put up for sale that way. I've been able to find the page where the car was for sale on MB Waco as well using Google's history search, so it definitely made it through CPO at one point (not that long ago).

Yes, this is basically what I can see that happened. It was at $45k at MB Waco, and dropped to $41k when they pushed it to Hiley (and the CPO was no longer available due to MB's rules re: CPO from non-MB dealers).

Lastly, re: the PPI, interestingly, I've now called three dealers in Dallas and none of them will do a PPI for liability reasons! Nothing is easy... I'll search around here a bit and see if I can find an independent shop who will do the review. Recommendations recommended here if any Dallas people are reading this.

myrison

Well, after calling 3 different Dallas MB dealers and all of them saying no, I found an independent MB/BMW repair shop and set it up there.

On the off chance anyone has heard of them:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/accent-bmw-a...service-dallas

Thanks again guys!

Pickles

G'Day from Aus.....Can you not procure the name of the original owner, & speak to him about the car?
Cheers, Pickles.

myrison

Would love to. Not sure how though. Is that info easily available somehow?

63'd

I find it strange they got rid of the car after 90 days. I recently purchased a car very similar to yours and mine was on the lot over 60 days. If I were you, I would find a CPO from a dealer and go that route.

CZ55

• CarFax report: Offered for CPO by Dallas Dealer in January, but they couldn't sell it, so it went to another dealer to sell. Price dropped $4k when they did this. The car failed an emissions test on the state inspection and then later passed. Red flags here?
  
  Car probably had exhaust and headers modifications, failed the emission. Then the owner put the stock exhaust back and passed the emissions.
  
• Any other red flags in the car history? I know I can't get an extended warranty now because it was CPO'd and then sold to another dealer, but I'm ok with that as I didn't plan on buying one anyway. (Generally prefer to take the financial risk myself and pay up if bad luck comes my way)
  
  If you say you are willing to take the risk there is no other reg flag here.
  
• I did call the Dallas dealer who CPO'd and then turned it over to another dealer to ask if anything was wrong and they told me that as far as they knew they just couldn't sell the car at the price they wanted. After 90 days, they moved it off the lot. No idea if they were telling the truth... Credible explanation?
  
  It's normal for a dealer to sell the car if they had it for more than 90 days. They must have wholesaled the car to the other dealer now. MB dealers sell cars to the independent dealers it's normal.
  
• This is one of the larger questions for me. Given that the car has factory warranty remaining, and that it was certified for CPO sale <100 miles ago (based on the CarFax report), do I take this to a dealer for an inspection before buying? I'm not sure if there is value to doing this given the previous CPO and existing warranty should cover most problems, but "I don't know what I don't know" here, so please educate me.
  
  Do an inspection for sure. Never trust any car dealer. Also ask for the autocheck report. Some accidents don't show in the carfax and they do on autocheck and vice versa
  
• If I don't go for the MB inspection, what are the things I should look out for myself when picking it up?
• Is there something on this car I'm missing? I realize it's higher mileage than several 2009s I've seen, but the price seemed quite competitive. Opinions valued here.

Any other new-buyer advice would be highly appreciated before I head up to Dallas Friday.

Thank you!

rory breaker

Just to reiterate, I would ask the shop doing the PPI specifically to look for traces of former mods (ecu opened, header bolts, etc). They often take pictures too and give you a nice printout.

I've been burnt before, it's a bummer, can't be too careful trust me.

CoolBDPhenom03

Excellent idea.

I know it's too far for the OP, but for future reference, Schumacher MB in Phoenix does PPIs for FREE even if you're not buying from them.

myrison

Thanks for the advice to everyone. Re: the question above, to Rory or anyone else who knows... let's say they do find traces of former mods, etc. what does that mean to me and what should my reaction be with the dealer selling it be? Is it worth $x,000 because it's been modded, etc. or is it just something to be aware of?

Re: the caution above that the emissions test failed due to a previous mod, keep in mind that according to the Carfax, the emissions test was failed AFTER Mercedes offered it as a CPO (since CPO no other individual has owned it, just the wholesale transfer), so I think my risk is smaller there, but I'm definitely going to have them take a look during the PPI following the advice above.

Again - thanks to everyone. Pretty remarkable response to my first post. You guys are making me feel a lot better about the purchase and knowing what to look out for.

rory breaker

Me personally? I would not own a C63 out of warranty. Much less one that has been modded. So if the PPI comes back and they say, hey the ECU has been opened and modified, the header bolts clearly have been retorqued, exhaust looks to have marks from removal/replacement, suspension bolts are not factory...whatever else....I would walk, personally.

Now the alternate thought is...you've got 15 months left. If something truly is wrong or not to your liking, you can get it fixed under warranty, and trade the car in later down the line before the warranty expires and never face this problem. However, also begs the question, will the dealer point to the fact the car has been modded as the source of the issue?

Its just a lot of risk and potential headache, when buying a car like this should be worry free. Thats worth the premium. Is just not worth it to save a few grand up front when just one little problem can cost you twice that down the road. These cars aren't rare enough to chance it.

Fung63

+1 imo the worst thing about buying a used car is its questionable history. If the PPI comes back with red flags, this car is just not meant for you.