zorrothecat

Hello,

I am a completely inexperienced car buyer who is looking to purchase a 2006 E350. The particular car that I really want is being offered by a Toyota dealership about 50 miles away from me. It's a 2006 E350 - 30k miles, silver on black, no navigation, and no xenon. The asking price is $23,000. I think that if I can negotiate the price down to $21,500 or so, I'll pull the trigger. How do you guys feel about the price? The low mileage is very attractive and offsets the fact that it has no navigation and no xenon lights.

I believe it is still under the factory warranty? Because of my lack of any automotive/mechanical skills (I don't even know how to change oil), I thought it would be a great idea to purchase the MB ELW from this "Lisa" person. I believe the factory warranty will be running out any day now, so then I'd have to buy the car pretty soon. Any opinions?

I hope I won't get bashed for this but I still have not checked out the car in person! I was hoping to go there in the next couple of days, with my check book in hand. I don't have the luxury of making multiples trips because the dealership is about 80 miles away from my home. So to try to get everything done in one trip, what do I need? Please be elementary because I literally don't know anything. I know that I should scrutinize the Carfax report, take the car to an independent shop to be inspected, and anything else?

Any other tips/advice pertaining to buying a used Mercedes would be appreciated!

Thank you guys so much in advance.

Vik888

I'm not 100% on this, but I think you can take the VIN of the car and have a MB dealer check in the computer to see the service history .. I think, not 100% sure.

I'm sure others have some tips for you.

i_am_amused

the dealer should be willing to check the vehicle's service record. Also, ask them to check whether it was ever CPO'd. Once it's CPO, it's always CPO. I am the third owner of the S55 I bought. When the first owner sold/traded it, it got CPO'd. After I bought it from a BMW dealer (who got it form the second owner), and took it in for service the MB service advisor said "that CPO is cool", and I said "WHAT??". Turns out no one new my vehicle had been CPO'd so long ago that it was before MB cheaped-out and changed the length of the CPO warranty from 2 years to 1.

konigstiger

Check out the marketing brochure here http://www.ragtop.org/mbbrochures. If you have the VIN, private mail it together with your email address and I will forward a MB datacard listing initial delivery date to dealer, factory equipment installed, etc. and a copy of the operating manual. You can have a local MB dealer service department check the service/maintenance history by pulling up a VMI (vehicle master inquiry); request a printout mention you intend to service the vehicle through them. Initial factory warranty runs 48 months / 50000 miles (whichever comes first) from delivery date to owner. Note the vehicle is equipped with SBC braking MB covers the hydraulic unit for 10 years/unlimited mileage nevertheless, I would suggest obtaining an extended warranty.

chairman

All of the advice is sound, but I'd like to offer my 2 cents. I have an 07 E350 the car has a 4 year 50k warranty. If you buy an extended warranty do not buy from Toyota, buy from MB if possible.

As far as price is concerned, look around and see if the price makes sense (look at the MBUSA preowned site for example). If there are other E350's around for 28 to 32k there is something not quite right about the car you are considering.

These are wonderful cars, but they can and do get pricey to service. I would find a good local MB independent shop or a good local dealer for your service requirements. What ever you do never take the car to PEP Boys or Jiffy Lube.

Good luck on your search.

vettdvr

Correct. If it is under factory warranty and you can get an extended warranty from MB GET IT!

Correct ! don't go to the boys place or fast lube places for service. With the best of intentions they can void your warranty in a blink of an eye and not even know how or when they are doing it.

zorrothecat

I had been duped!

The car is actually a lemon law car with a rebranded title. The jerkoff of a salesman didn't mention this fact so I had no idea. The car seemed very clean and it drove wonderfully. I got to see the lemon law and manufacture's buyback and according to the salesman, the owner of the car made frivolous complaints to the dealer and it ended up being applicable for the lemon law. There were 15 or so complaints recorded - about five of them were stupid things like the button on the dash coming loose or the center speaker being staticy. The other 5 were complaints like the car lacks power or the tranny jerks, which were all replied with "complaint was tested checked out and it meets the manufacture's requirement" The last five were more concrete complaints that were fixed by the dealer.

Now is this something I should forget about or something worth pursuing if the price is right?

220S

Zorro, there are LOTS of E350s out there. Be patient and take your time. The right one will come along. And prices will get lower, not higher.

If you are looking to buy from resellers, try MB dealers as your first choice. They'll have CPO'd cars to choose from for peace of mind.

+1 on what Konigstiger says. And ALWAYS get a ppi. There's no reason in the world not to.

zorrothecat

I was thinking of buying an 06 E350 that is still under factory warranty so that I can buy the Mercedes ELW from this "Lisa" I understand that the COP Mercedes come with an extra 1 year 100K warranty, but they seemed to be at least $5,000 or so more than non CPO equivalents? Wouldn't it be a smarter choice buy a non-CPO car that i still under the factory warranty and buy the ELW from "Lisa" for $3,500 (7 year 75K) or so?

Can anyone point me in the right direction for getting a PPI? Would the best way to get a PPI be just taking it to a Mercedes dealership? What is the cost?

I wish there was a kind mbworld.org member who is selling his babied 06 E350 and make my life a whole a lot easier

How do you guys feel about buying a car on eBay? I've noticed the "Order an Independent Inspection" option for $99 - would this qualify as a PPI?

zorrothecat

I purchased an unlimited Carfax account so I ran a few VIN numbers of the E350s I've been interested. Some of them have very detailed maintenance records and some of them don't have ANY maintenance records. What's up with that? Would the Mercedes dealership have extra maintenance records that wasn't shown on Carfax?

Also, if anyone would like a free Carfax report, feel free to PM me

i_am_amused

The branded title's major effects are on the 1) resale value, 2) the ability to sell it, and 3) the ability to finance it.

1. resale value will be hurt badly
2. it will be harder to sell it
3. My credit union will only finance 50% of bluebook for branded titles, your sources will also probably have similar restrictions

I looked into crazy-cheap Maserati I found that was 900 miles away, and the first thing the salesman told me after "hello" was that it was a branded buy-back title. He was up-front about it, investigated it for me (they had just received the car), and told me how to confirm with Maserati the reason for the buy-back. If I had found out about the branded title *after* that call I would not buy the car, because I would not believe a word the salesman said nor would I have any faith or trust in the dealer. Never did buy the car, because selling it would be a hassle, as well as a potential financial loss I was not willing to take just to drive a Maserati.

zorrothecat

I'll definitely be staying away from lemon cars.

I missed out on this great deal (I think?) that was a CPO car when I ran the Carfax. But, how does a car being once upon a time having been a CPO help the value of the car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...6%3A2%7C39%3A1

220S

CarFax is just a guide, not the whole truth. e.g., the car could have been in an accident but never reported. It won't show in CarFax. (btw, I've found Experian to have better info than CarFax.)

As Konigstiger already said, you can run the VIN at your dealer. If you are nice to them they will print the details of any MB service.

You need to do the ppi yourself (not thru any eBay service) at either a good dealer or a good indie. If the car is far away, you'll have to arrange to get it done (on the Porsche forums, people offer to help long distance, maybe somebody here will do the same.) A ppi can run $250-350.

A CPO would reduce the need for a ppi, although I personally would still get one done.

There is some sort of restriction on getting an ELW when you are not the first owner. I think(?) But you better check on this first and be sure.

p.s., I wouldn't offer to run VINs on a public forum (read the CarFax user agreement)

Barry45RPM

Some of those "frivolous" complaints have been discussed here for several years. They are not frivolous, and cars that have those problems have tortured their owners. Believe me I know. There are plenty of good E's ouit there. The really good ones the Dealer keeps when he gets them off lease. At any rate, you have a better chance of a great ownership esperience of a great vehicle, buying a CPO'd one at an MB Dealer. It'll cost a few bucks more up front, but your life will be more tranquil down the road. These cars are expensive to repair and much more complicated and overengineered than meets the eye initially. You will see this as you learn to use all of the many features and methods of operation that are hidden in the car.