lae350

Hi, I recently purchased a 2006 CPO'd E350 from a major Mercedes dealer. To my surprise, I found out headlight attachment arms were broken when I brought it home. I had completely trusted the vehicle condition since I was told it was a CPO'd vehicle.

The head lights attachment arms are broken (see pictures) and hood is misaligned. After disputing with the dealer, they initially agreed to refund but now claims they will fix it instead. I argued I was deceived into buying a CPO car (I had received MB CPO certificate from them when I purchase the vehicle) that probably wasn't CPO'd however it's not getting anywhere.

Can someone examine these pictures and comment on what could have caused it? I along with a local body shop have our theory but I wanted everyone's opinion. At this point, I'm considering fighting the dealer all the way to courts if I have to do resolve this issue. Also, how would the dealer fix this damage?

Thanks.

Barry45RPM

Does CPO'd mean that the car has NEVER been damaged at all, or that if it has been damaged its only to to a certain limit which is specified by MBUSA AND it has been repaired to MBUSA standards so that it qualifies to be CPO'd?

Probably ONLY a brand new car can be expected to be pristine, and absolutely 100% true and straight... and even then, once you leave the store, anything can happen to it which would make it necessary for a dealer to possibly make good will adjustments & bill MBUSA.

Your dealership is offering to make repairs & adjustments just as would be done to your brand new car if you brought it back a week later. Also did you run a Carfax? (Which is NOT always up to the second in correctnes and completeness.)

If they fix it basically you will be OK. Unless upon closer examination you feel the car was put back together after a serious wreck. Most peoples cars see a body shop once or twice for minor stuff over their lifetimes.

lae350

Car fax was clean, also i returned to the dealer 1 day after taking delivery. The Reconditioning manager admitted they had known about problem during CPO... but sold it anyways since they consider it a minor damage! Essentially, I was duped since I was promised CPO'd car which is not supposed to have any structural damage.

Barry45RPM

Not to nit-pick but that isn't Sturctural Damage you have there. They probably consider it to be like a ding or 2 on the body panels. They must have plenty of other cars on the lot. See if you can get them to swap the lights with another car they've got.

A lawyer's gonna cost you, unless you've got one in the family. Damage like that can come from many types of incidents, not necessarily big ones. I can sympathize with your dissapointment, though.

3on8

If you are concerned about structural integrity, find an independent, and pay them to do an inspection before you decide what to do.

konigstiger

Check your PM.

Barry45RPM

A PM from him is like hearing the voice of God here. I'm sure you'll be OK.

ss3964spd

Was thinking the same thing Barry.

I would like to ask that if the info is valuable to everyone please share it here too.

Dan

usc96

That's interesting. It's appears to be on both sides. I wouldn't be happy.

K-A

Where do you live and where'd you buy the Car from?

MercFiveHundred

If you still have the car, i would check for any damage. Does the car drive straight or is out of control at high speeds? You should make sure that if there is more damage that they fix more than just the headlights. Look for scrapes or bends underneath the car and make sure you examine everything under the hood. The only thing i can guess what happened, is there may have been a front end collision and when they installed new lights, the body shop may have noticed that it may be missaligned and pushed the headlight and put the screw in to hold it. After to much pressure from trying to hold it, the plastic brace may have just busted. So even if the dealer puts a new headlight in it, it may just break agian after a couple of months. Be careful! I'd try to get a refund or swap for a different car.

Clinton Horn

If there was no difference in perception and value, there would be no such thing as diminished value claims. I challenge anyone to deny that they would place a front end collision car with a brand new clip and paint against a pristine car and declare them equal. When I purchased a 2003, there were at least 4 to choose from with similar condition and mileage, One was about $5K less. I studied that front end for about 30minutes. It was a good job but plainly had suffered one fender, bumper and hood. Although the alignment was good, it was not up to the other cars. At least the dealer (non CPO) was honest enough to aknowledge the difference, even though it was not obvious. There has to be a market for rebuilt sheetmetal. It is just not the premium market. My 1997 mini van with burgundy paint and purple hood= no big deal. A W211 commanding 30-40K requires a little more scrutiny. I would not pay an extra $5.00 for a CPO car unless there was an extended warranty.

sosh

It appears to me that there is no sign of any major or structural damage. No over spray, no sign of any brand new parts or brackets. Hood alignment and the broken brackets are quite minor items to properly correct. The only thing that puzzles me is that on the right headlight bracket bolt there is a red production mark on the bolt head and no such mark on the left. I do not believe that Starmark calls for no accident damage but most likely would call for no structural or major damage and any minor damage to be correctly repaired to MB standards. Try one of those paint thickness measuring devices and see if there is too much paint in any of the areas near the front of the vehicle. As so far as Carfax is concerned I personally think its worthless except if it shows a major accident or flood damage or such. If you like the car have them correct the problem areas and keep it. A lawyer will cost a good percentage of what you paid for the car. Remember certified or not its a used car.

starbrite

Another possibility is that there was, in fact, no damge to the car at all and that both those lights were swapped from another car that had a potential buyer who caught the damge and insisted on replacements.

Any marks on the bolt heads that indicate they were loosened and retightened?

K-A

Damn, this has me kinda worried. I trusted the CPO so much I didn't even bother (aka forgot) to run a Carfax when I bought mine.

lae350

Hello folks - some update:

After heated exchange with the dealer management, they have finally agreed to allow me to swap with a different car - so an exchange. This puts huge leverage on the dealer as they can say "no" to any offer I make below sticker price... However, I think it's still much better than keeping current car which has so many mystery issues: 2 broken headlights (no sign of bolt strip or movement anywhere), misaligned hood on passenger side (or it could be bumper that's misaligned to the hood), and paint over spray on both rear door panels. As for which Mercedes dealership, I'd like to keep it confidential for now.

Finally, I really don't blame the sales guy... he has been an excellent ambassador through this ordeal; it's the reconditioning department that skimped during the CPO inspection process. As for their management - they're just watching out for their bottom dollar which I can also kind of understand although it would have been awesome if they had taken care of my issues with more empathy from the very beginning. Oh well - lesson learned for everyone.

I'll be heading back to the dealer tomorrow so wish me luck. Thanks again for everyone's input and feedback.

starbrite

Look like it's going to work out for you. Good luck and let us know about the exchange.

Barry45RPM

They're doing the right thing by you. Keep the dealership name and other info confidential. Remember, your goal is to come out of this satisfied. Avoid the temptation to be vindictive. Great to hear they're basically a good store.

EclassFetish

and where are those information labels on top of the radiator support? shouldn't there be some information labels on top ?

anyhow these things u are describing kinda point to a front end collision, could be minor or major dunno. Just because it's not on carfax doesn't mean it hasn't been in accident.

but beside, it really doesn't matter. Accident or not, your still going to have problems, it's a mercedes. so even with a previous accident history, it still doesn't make the car more reliable than it is.

christiaan

so what are you changing it for?

lae350

I found a 2006 E350 (will be inspecting VERY thoroughly) flint gray fully loaded with nav, xenon, appearance package with less than 20,000 miles. I really liked my first car if it wasn't damaged - it was 2006 E350 black with AMG. I'll post once I take delivery.

Thanks for everyone's feedback and support.

patrick_y

I've seen an E55 car that was going to be CPO certified that was repossessed and was 5000 miles late on an oil change (probably because the person didn't want to bring it into the dealership since he wasn't paying for the car anymore).

I've seen an E350 CPO car that still had cookie crumbs from the previous owner.

I test drove these cars because I was considering the new version and I wanted to see pre-owned ones and see if they rattled excessively.

Those dealers will CPO anything. Your best bet, buy new, keep it until things start to fail; that's how the old money does it. Don't buy pre-owned unless you're relatively certain the car was from a good household.

K-A

I gotta say man, on the contrary tip, buying a new Benz, maybe unless Leasing it, is risky unless you like losing at least half the Cars value in just a couple or so years, just IMO.

I have to note though. I happened to take out the cupholders from my console last night, never even knew they opened up....I found a GIANT STASH of JUNK FOOD, I'm talking things I haven't seen since Junior High, Airheads, Skittles, anything unhealthy and sweetening to the Max, Gummie Bears, Sugar-Sucker thingies....Unless this guy/gal had a kid with a helluva sweet tooth, someone was definitely getting a high enough sugar buzz to provoke driving fast enough to enjoy those Dynamic Seats.

Gotta love how the Dealer didn't check under there ay? What if it had been a stash of Cocaine, and I got pulled over....Wonder how that would end up? Actually interesting that with my S500 I got pulled over (for being on the Phone) and the Cop THOROUGHLY searched it....What if it had been this Car?

....Pisses me off.

jallison12

I'm going out to my car now to look...if I don't post for a few days, I got lucky!!

KYBENZ

No car should ever be considered for CPO if there is visible misalignment on the body panels. That is a big NO NO as far as MB is concerned.