etenn

TBMpilot:

I think you are missing the main point here. James ordered the car from the factory...no a dealer owned inventory car. The dealer never owned this car, they were just the delivery man and had no right to use it in any manner. They were simply charged with detailing it and insuring that it was ready to deliver.
They had no right to use it as a demo, take it home for the night or to take it for a joy ride. It did not belong to the dealership.
Remember he ordered a car from the factory, put down a deposit and the dealer was just a middle man.

James has every right to be upset. As someone pointed out, who used it and how. Most of us have been very careful about the 1000 mile break in period. How was this car treated in the extra 30 miles or so. Was it driven hard? Unless he gets an answer as to where the extra miles came from, he should continue to put pressure on them. The curbed rim makes careless driving more probable in my opinion.

If there is a explanation that does not include joy riding or demo then I am sure that James will be less upset by the 48 miles.

Ed

mco

It hardly seems that 48 miles is worth all of the trouble being expressed here. I agree that if it bugs you walk away, but if this was the car I wanted and it was here with 48 miles take it. There is no false disclosure going on. I don't think the dealer owes you anything. I think this is much ado about nothing. Ask the dealer why there is 48 miles.

TBMpilot

At what point do you believe James owned this car? Are you saying that James paid for this car when he ordered it and that he owned it from that point.

The facts are that the dealer owned the car.

etenn

Of course James did not own the car. I never said he did.
The fact is that the dealer NEVER owned the car, unless you think the dealer paid MBUSA in advance for the vehicle. Mercedes owned the car. Rarely, if ever does a dealership actually "own" a car much less one special ordered by a customer.
How they treat a "consigned" car in inventory will have an impact on how much they will be able to sell it for, thus profit.

In James case, he had every right to expect that the car he ordered would not be used in any fashion except for that necessary to prepare and deliver it. The dealer was a "middle man" not the "owner"

I am surprised that you think enough of your car (rightfully so) that you would not allow food or drink in it and yet think it ok for someone to drive a new $65K to $70K car without permission or need.

It still remains to be seen what the explanation for the miles is.
However, if it was used by someone at the dealership for a demo or personal use....It is wrong!!!

Ed

awiner

Guys, keep in mind that during the PDI inspection, the vehicle may have had a problem that needed to be fixed which facilitated more miles to be put on the vehicle for testing.

All this information is easily obtained if the original poster would just contact his dealers service dept.

TBMpilot

I don't believe this is correct. I'm sure that the franchised dealer pays Mercedes-Benz for the vehicle when it is received at the dealership or possibly when it is shipped to the dealer.

benggolf

Jposhea3, I hope you have the curb rash on your rim documented when you took delivery, otherwise, it will be your word against theirs.

Also, note what was the mileage written on your sales invoice and/or delivery receipt. Hope you had all these discrepancies written down by the salesperson during delivery.

Suggest you look into the documentation first before giving them the ax, otherwise your only recourse is hang them on the survey if an amicable settlement is not reached between you and the dealership.

Hope everything will be resolved to your satisfaction.

jposhea3

well, quite the little tempest I've kicked off here :-)

the sales manager called me back, they're going to make the rim right. He advised that his cars have a wide variety of mileage, from 2 to 80 on them, and offered a look at any of the dozens (100+) that he has on hand to sample the wide variety of mileages.

He also advised that there used to be a hang tag indicating a factory test, but that's no longer the practice.

we'll see how the wheel turns out, but they're definitely interested in making it right.

apparently the person who cranks out the bills of sale just rubber stamps them at 18 miles, rather than checking the book (where vehicles are logged in from the shipper with mileage, configuration, options, etc).

TBMpilot

Good luck with the car. May it bring you many good memories...

Zandorf

Agreed, a brand new factory ordered car should not come with 48 miles unless there's a justified reason. Mine came with 14. The dealership where I bought my car keeps factory ordered cars in a separate offsite warehouse and delivers them only on the day of customer pick up so that other customers don't touch the cars, so that they're not driven, etc.

Apollo

I think the point is he bought a BRAND NEW car and paid a lot of extra money for that BRAND NEW status. Otherwise why not have a demo car much cheaper. How does he know how it was treated in those 48 miles. Walking away is not really an option particually if you have waited 4 months for it and you have become really excited about picking it up as I know I did.
I think that it would be a good idea if all new cars had a log of what all of the miles have been for before you take delivery because I would not be happy if some guy at the dealer had just fancied taking it home for the night or to see what it was capable of.

Gethen

Good point. Did you verify the dealer's statement about cars having wide variety of mileage numbers? I can hardly imagine a dealer who lets people test drive random cars (my test drive included revving the engine into red, kick down, manual shifts - all things you shouldn't be doing before 1000 miles)

Dema

Even having 1 mile doesn't guarantee that nobody tried to push your engine in red zone. Most of automakers produce break in period free cars and MB should do that also to keep customers happy.

nelsonr

2 miles, and in my state as long as the car has not been titled, it is new. I would not have expected many more miles on a car that I ordered.

MB-JIM

I picked up an E Class at the factory that had 76 miles on the odometer. When questioning about it I was told that my car had most likely been one that they had run additional testing which is done on a certain number of cars for qauality control. Alll I can say is that it was the only car that I have ever had that had absolutely no problems that needed correction during the first service.

jposhea3

let's hope that's true for me too! :-)

irvinelaw

My E500 had 77 miles on it with no explanation. It still had plastic wrapping on the hood, fenders, roof, and trunk from shipping when I bought it, so I'm fairly sure it wasn't driven on the streets locally for that distance.

The car was equipped as I wanted it, so I chose to ignore the miles.

briar

Give it up and move on!
There is more to life, and I expect enjoying a new E-class is one of those things to enjoy.

Dema

Did you pick up '03 E class? Have the car been delivered to your doors here? Is it more expensive than buy from a dealer considering expenses to a trip to Europe?

MB-JIM

The car I referred to was my 95 E Class Station Wagon. It was delivered to my dealer after I turned it in to Harms, the firm that handles shippments from various drop off points in Europe. There were some savings at that time but the progam isn't as good now. There are still the savings from two free hotel nights in luxury hotels especially if you pick the Interalpen in Austria. By the way, it is my understanding that when the factory takes out a car for special testing it will be driven up to maximum speed which apparently isn't anything to be concerned about. Every little detail of the car is carefully checked and anything that is not to specifications is corrected. That is probably why my car had no problems.

MBDriver

If I bought my car new and it had 48 miles on it, the dealer better be stackin up the extras (or takin a grip off the price) or Ima walk away to the next dealership. I would rather wait and everything be perfect (the way I want it to be) than take it and feel cheated everytime I drive it. I got a used car and searched EVERY E 320 there inside out (I mean every inch of paint, under the car, inside trunk, every inch of the leather and wood, tires, underside, engine bay, seatbelts, doors, windows, sunroof, headrests, radio, glove box, lights, spare tire, tools, tested the key...). The salesman got so tired of following me around from car to car that he gave me the sheet with the description of the cars and his key that opens the little box with the key to the car on the window and said "Tell me when you finally find one". I was there for a good 2 1/2 hrs inspecting the E 320s (about 25+). But point of this story, I am happy with my choice and have no regrets about it. Got the extra 100k mile warranty and am totally satisfied with my purchase. And you can bet that I will return to that dealership for my next MB.

Incendiary

Resurrecting this old thread...

New 05 E320 picked up on Saturday. Had something like 76 miles on the odo, even though we were told it'd be trucked from a different dealer. Turns out, saleswoman says, they drove it instead. I'm a little baffled because she says they drove it from PA, but the service manual is stamped Wilmington, DE, and the cars are brought into port in Baltimore. 76 miles would be too little to drive from PA or DE down to VA... Anyone have any idea what happened?

Barry45RPM

Don't forget the milage put on in Germany.

aries palmiotto

According to my selling dealer:

Cars off the truck/transport carrier @dealership: ~2-3 miles from QC in Germany to staging and loading/unloading to/from sea carrier to VPC

PDI: 9~10 miles from road test and final inspection.

Average mileage when car is released to the sales floor: 12 ~ 15 miles

glojo

Does anyone seriously believe that any dealer will turn round and say, "Oh by the way, a cleaner took your new car out for a quick spin" No, you will hear a bland statement that will hopefully put your mind at rest.

Refusing to take delivery of a car that you might have waited 6 months for is a big decision.

To some 48 miles is the end of the world. To others it is 'delivery mileage'

At our local dealer new cars have a paper seal across the doors that prevent anyone from looking into, or sitting in the vehicle. (obviously this does not apply to dealer purchased vehicles).

Am I correct in thinking that in the US, vehicles undergo some sort of PDI at the Port of entry? Here this is done at the dealership, and once that is carried out it is valetted and either delivered or collected by the owner. (usually straight after the valetting)

Good luck with your complaint?

John
Sunny but cool morning in Torquay