Hello everybody.

I am new to the forum so I will take a little time to introduce my self. My name is Saif and I live in Canada. I have always been biased towards MB and have loved em ever since I was a kid. My family has owned several MB's back in the day and the list included mostly 1990's S class. We had those cars new at the time and I remember when my family drove em they were looked at as royalty as MB has a certain prestige that I am sure you all know. Currently I have an acura RSX. I have owned it for the past 5 years and it is my first ever car( I do drive my family cars from time to time but the RSX is the main ride lol).
Anyways I have a few questions for all of you great MB owners out there. I am in the process of buying a 2012 CLS 550 4 matic. The car has 100k kms (60k miles) on the clock. It was leased and then sold by MB to a used dealer lot after it was returned. The dealer gave me what I consider a good price on the vehicle ($46.5k Canadian). The vehicle is in Ontario and I live in Calgary (3k km travel distance) so I will have to get it shipped. The car has the amg package and every option checked. It looks like it is in great condition from the photos and the dealer provides all the service records, car proof, and a 180 point inspection preformed by their facility.
My questions are:
1) what do you all think? Is it a good deal?
2) are their any known problems with this model once it reaches such milage?
3) is there anything you would advice me or would like to share with me?

I have saved my money for a while now and don't want it to go down the drain. Your help is greatly appreciated.
If this deal goes through then I can't wait to be part of this community and connect with you guys everyday.
Thanks to everyone in advance

 

Swayze,
the CLS is a relatively reliable vehicle, but when things break it can be quite expensive. I believe that the new car warranty expires at 50k miles.

Right now you have a 5 year old RSX that will not depreciate much. You can figure that the CLS will depreciate $3k-$5k per year. Insurance will also be higher. You will probably have to replace the tires a bit more often and they cost more. Services will cost more as well. Like I said, if anything breaks, it will be very expensive.

I bought my CLS last week with 22k miles loaded with every option, RWD, for $56,500 including 2 year extended warranty and it is CPO. It was a very good price. Like your car it also looks brand new. Mercedes will not extend the warranty once it has expired. I am warrantied until 2019.

I would not want to own this car without a warranty. I had a C class and at 50k miles it needed new engine mounts, the transmission was leaking, and the engine was leaking. Luckily MB covered half of it even though it was not under warranty. It still cost me $2k. This is from a reputable dealer I trust so I know these repairs were not made up just to rip me off. This is for a basic C class. The CLS has an air suspension and a lot more tech and things that can break. Right now my CLS is having the seat side bolster fixed and it isn't costing me anything because it is still under the new car warranty.

I would highly recommend that you have the vehicle inspected by a Mercedes Dealer. I highly recommend that you check the functionality of the entire vehicle. Do the air bladders inflate? Do all controls work? Does the backup camera work? Does it shake at all at highway speeds? Just a few things to give examples. The car has tons of options and features. Make sure they all work. The merc dealer can check for leaks and other issues and let you know the brake life remaining.

Also keep in mind that at 40k miles the transmission fluid needed to be changed. It is extremely important that this is done. If not, you can have transmission failures.

At 60k miles you are also going to need new spark plugs. Were those done already? If not, it is expensive.

Find a Mercedes dealer who can inspect the vehicle, and ask them what maintenance items it may need or which maintenance things may be coming up soon. Make sure you have $5k or so in funds to spend in case a major repair is needed.

Never trust the place that is selling you the car to tell you what issues it may have. They cover things up and will hope you don't notice.

I've bought two CPO mercs and both had issues that needed fixed despite the rigorous CPO inspection. Luckily I was under CPO so it cost me nothing. I didn't even know the air bladder in my seat wasn't working until I drove the car for a few days. This is from a dealer who has no reason not to find and fix things that are wrong with the car since it is under warranty and they still missed stuff.

I will try to equate your car to what I paid for mine. At around $42k U.S., that is about $14k less than I paid with 40k more miles and no warranty, while my warranty is for 5 years. If you figure the warranty is worth $1500 a year, then $1500*5=$7500 USD. Then factor in the mileage. 4 matic cost a bit more. My car has every possible option. AMG wheels, night vision, driver assistance, etc. You said yours has every option too. So maybe add $1k for 4matic. Not including the miles, 56.5k-7.5k+1k=$50k. So basically those 40k miles are giving you an $8k discount. That seems fair. Personally, if I had the money, I would rather get the car with the warranty and less miles. I would see if you can get them to lower the price a bit. Tell them it has high miles and no warranty and you don't want to pay more than.... throw out a number. I would offer $43,000 Canadian. I bet you can get them to lower the price a bit maybe to $44k.

I plan on keeping my CLS until the warranty runs out. If I don't have many issues I will keep it longer. The most economical way to own a benz in my opinion is to buy a CPO about 2 years old and get the extended warranty.

 

Thank you for your detailed and informative reply, Igreatly appreciate it.

You are right about depreciation, I amaware that it is high but I am not that concerned about this aspect. As for theinsurance, I called and got a quote, it is not as high as I had expected andcertainly affordable. I have looked into buying a CPO however there are notthat many CLS’s here in Canada as there is in the US and the CPO ones that arelisted are way out of my budget, they are selling in the $65k Canadian and up.I understand that a lot can go wrong with this type of vehicle; I willdefiantly save some money on the side in case something does go wrong. Thedealer agreed to take the vehicle for an inspection by a Mercedes dealer whichis good. As for the price, I forgot to mention that this price includes the 13%tax that is charged in Ontario, but since I live in Calgary I will be onlypaying 5% tax so the total price will be around $42.700 Canadian. I understandthat the KMS/ miles are a bit high, but it falls under my budget and the nextavailable CLS that is being sold in Canada is one which has 70k KMS and it isgoing for $55k. So as you can see there are not as many of these cars beingsold here in Canada as there is in the US, and cars are much more expensivehere than they are in the US as well. Overall I will defiantly get the carinspected at a Mercedes dealer because as you said you never know what the carhas been through unless you get it checked out by certified dealer. Thank youfor your advice as it has helped me greatly. I hope that this vehicle does notgive me grief if this deal goes through.

 

Did you get the car?

 

No it didn't end up happening. I asked them to take it to a Mercedes dealer to for an inspection that I would pay for but they refused. They said that they don't have the man power and that I am getting the car at a good price so I don't need an inspection. It seemed as if they were scared to take it to an inspection because something is wrong with the car so I just backed out of the deal. I will probably save a little more this year and take on your advice of getting a CPO, seems like it is the most logical choice.