3ktt

Does anyone know what does it mean if "safe parts" sticker is present on the doors and other panels of a 2012 ml350?
We just purchased a 2012 ML350 from a very reputable dealer in California, I was told the car had no previous accidents and clean Carfax was given to us.
We bought the car site unseen, as in Chicago all similar cars were priced at 5-7000 higher. We were very confident buying this car based on the dealer's reputation and the fact the car has very low miles.
I can tell the rear bumper has been replaced as I can see the imperfections and overspray on the wheel wells. But I also see that doors and trunk door have "safe parts" stickers placed. Does that mean that they have been repaired or replaced. One door gives a different reflection under certain angle so it seems like it's repainted as well. There is also a hand written number on the drivers side door jamb just above the vehicle information sticker, looks like written with sharpie) Car has very clean interior and was detailed but smells like cigarette smoke, bad. I asked initially if it's a smokers car but was told it doesn't appear like that (obviously you can see the cigarette lighter is used quite often and ashtray has melted spots on the plastics from somebody leaving their cigarette there)
Any help is appreciated.

GregGebhardt

It is not want most would think. Google "safe parts" and you will see it is a security program of which the stickers indicate that your parts have been identified by chemical etching or other means for recovery purposes if stolen.

http://www.serviceguardsystems.com/p...t_Brochure.pdf

3ktt

Thank you for the clarification, makes me feel little better. I found out that rear bumper, right quarter panel and one door is repainted. Dealer also claimed they replace all tires if under 50%, my rear tires have probably less then 20% left with bad camber wear on one tire. Car runs great and it looks nice but it wasn't described accurately. I'm wondering if there is anything I can do about this situation, I already had the car registered, paid shipping and sales tax on it and everything.

fabbrisd1

Did you buy a Certified Pre-Owned Mercedes from a Mercedes Dealer ?

If you bought a pre-owned 2012 GLK, non-MB Certified, from a non-Mercedes dealer - then frankly you got lied to...

jchiu52

that's why i don't buy used car. if that's a dealer, you can make take it to a small claim's court.

GregGebhardt

If it was a reputable Mercedes dealer, I would go back and raise hell with them. No way they should not know about the previous body damages. If you could tell, they knew also.

If from a non Mercedes dealer, well, let the buyer beware as unless they put it in writing that the vehicle is accident free, you are out of luck.

3ktt

We bought the car from a Mercedes Benz dealership. It's not CPO with 17k miles. My biggest concern was not to buy a car that has had any kind of body work done to it and I specifically asked about this because of the previous issues we had with our old car that was involved in an accident. I was assured the car had no previous accidents and was given a clean carfax report. A member here was nice enough to send me the auto check report today as well which was also clean with no accidents reported.
Obviously that is not the case:

fabbrisd1

Let me point at something here - if you bought a 2012 GLK with 17K miles - then exactly what did the Mercedes dealer say was the reason this GLK was not Mercedes Certified ?

So you know - serious body/frame damage under CPO inspection will prevent a Mercedes within time/mileage from approval for CPO.

3ktt

I did ask that and they said the car isn't certified because of the low mileage, they pointed out that if they did certify the car, the price would have gone up approximately $4500 and with the low mileage the car has it wouldn't make sense to certify the car but to buy additional warranty for 2 more years, bumper -bumper for 2 more years at $2200, which i did.

mellow sparky

Dang ... whoever shot that did a terrible job (at least with the masking of the non-painted parts). And then to not even clean it up...


Anyway, this doesn't mean the car was in an accident. It could have been keyed, someone could have swiped it with a shopping cart ... lots of other explanations.


Carfax is not very reliable. We owned a car that was in a fairly bad accident (cops and everything) and that never showed up on Carfax.

DUTCH

Wasn't the OP talking about a 2012 ML350?!?? How did a GLK get into this discussion?

fabbrisd1

GLK was my typo....

Back to the OP... "I did ask that and they said the car isn't certified because of the low mileage, they pointed out that if they did certify the car, the price would have gone up approximately $4500 and with the low mileage the car has it wouldn't make sense to certify the car but to buy additional warranty for 2 more years, bumper -bumper for 2 more years at $2200"

FranklyCPO warranty is the most affordable and most complete warranty coverage you can get... so the dealer was blowing big white smoke on those parts of the comments... the cost of added CPO is nominal...

Were they correct that "CPO would cost you $4500 more" ... no, not honest, it seems that this ML would not quaify for CPO warranty due to prior body damage - and that is the reason it is not CPO..

I'm sorry - but the dealer was not being straight with you..

Barry45RPM

Did you not look at the car? How did you miss all that overspray?

DUTCH

It would be very interesting to know the name and location of this supposedly "very reputable dealer".

audimotion

Wow...my last 4 vehicles have been bought out of state and all have been perfect (besides some warranty issues of our latest ml350 bluetec). Your new vehicle is totally unacceptable from a benz dealer, cpo'd or not. Do you have any email or written communication as to proof of the dealer telling you the vehicle was near perfect, accident free, etc? If you do, that can get the ball rolling on a law suit or a buy back/trade back of the vehicle, as CLEARLY you were lied to! Unbelievable!! I wouldn't waste any time of this matter and get with the owner of the dealer to get it straightened out. Keep us posted.

3ktt

As I mentioned in my first post, we bought the car site unseen and had it shipped to Chicago.
I don't have anything on paper stating they said car has no previous accidents, but I discussed this with 2 different sales people and the finance manager there and all said no accidents and clean carfax.
I wanted to give the dealership couple days to see if they will come back with an answer, before I put their name out there. So far no word back.

DUTCH

With the whole way this deal was handled from the beginning, I would not hold my breath waiting.

GregGebhardt

Seeing that this dealer would do this leads me to think they are not reputable and you will not be getting any help from them!

Cyber GS

I happen to agree with you, and especially since the dealer is out of state it's not as though the OP can just show up at the dealership and raise hell,..

OP I hope it works out for you..

3ktt

It seems like they don't want to do anything about it.
The dealer is Mercedes Benz of Calabasas.

DUTCH

It might be worthwhile to see if MBUSA can be of any help to you. It certainly can't hurt to try.

GregGebhardt

Without a doubt I would at least fire off an email to MBUSA and include the pictures. They may not be able to help, but if enough people complain . . . . . .

audimotion

^I agree. Get MB USA involved. Email them pictures and ask them if that is acceptable paint work and tell them your experience with the dealer.

I'm sure someone from corporate will notify the dealer soon after and get their side of the story. Hopefully the dealer will step up to the plate and at least let you trade toward another vehicle...or take it back.

DUTCH

Here's the website for the General Manager of Calabasas Mercedes, and it gives his email.

http://www.calabasasmbz.net/dealership/staff.htm

I sent him an email advising him that their misdeeds were gaining some notoriety on the Internet.

No response, and I don't expect one; but it still might get his attention - especially if he hears from others.

The dealership is owned by the Sonic Automotive Group in Charlotte, NC. Here's their contact page if you wanted to let them know what one of their dealerships has done.

http://www.sonicautomotive.com/contact-form.htm

audimotion

They probably won't care much about the internet feedback, but surely will if MB USA gets involved.

I dealt with corporate a year ago about a sunroof that a dealer broke during routine service....and they refused to fix. After talking with managment and getting the run around, I talked with corporate and the dealer took care of the issue.

If you have not already, I'd call MB USA and stir the pot a bit...