thenewbie

Hi everybody!! I know i allways post about problems i have, and you guys have allways helped! And i appericate that! anyway i have another question. When i bought my car last year, i bought it cpo'd with 10'000 miles. Being 17 and exited as hell i did not check the carfax on the car. With that being said, a couple of days ago i went in for my tranny flush, and i noticed my rear bumper side panel kinda flared out on both sides, so i asked my adviser why is it like that, and he told me that kind of thing only happens if it was hit in the back. So naturally it caught my interest on why it was like that, so i car faxed it, and low and behold my car was involved in an accident. At this point im freaking out. So i called my adviser this morning and set up a reservation and showed him the flared rear bumper panels and he told me that its been almost a year since i bought the car and that why i did not bring this up before, and that since i did not bring it up before he assumes that i somehow damaged my bumper and am looking for a free repair, but i know that when i bought the car it was like that, i did not take it as a big deal, plus i havent got into an accident period. Basically what he is saying is that the car left perfect off of the lot and i did the damage, and that he might not do anything about it. So is there anyway i can prove that i did not do it myself, other then the car fax, which i already sent the adviser. So thanks guys!

newyorktoLA

Flared rear bumpers are VERY common on the W212...If the bumper protrudes, it may fall under a service bulletin (Check the sticky thread at the top of the W212 forum)
UPDATE: Here is the link for the bulletin. Mention it to your dealer if your car falls within the build dates mentioned by the bulletin...The dealer will then have to fix it
https://mbworld.org/forums/4998679-post49.html
*Thank you Konigstiger!*

My car has bumper flares, but I wouldn't dare bring up the bulletin...The dealer will scratch the hell out of my black paint taking it on and off

thenewbie

Holy crap! Thats exactly where they flare out!! Thank you soo much! But i shouldent report this to them to fix it?

newyorktoLA

Well you should report this bulletin to the dealer if you want them to fix it for free!

Personally, I don't want to report the bulletin b/c every time I go to the dealer, they treat my car like a piece of crap and will probably scuff the paintwork or something when removing/installing the bumper. I don't want to go through the hassle of taking it to the dealer since it's such a common issue and I've gotten over it.

WEBSRFR

Does Mercedes not send you surveys when you have service visits? Every time I go to my dealer, I get an e-mail survey, and usually also a phone call survey to make sure I was happy with everything. It must mean something because my service adviser begs me to give a good survey...

Sometimes I forget to fll out the survey and then I get calls asking if everything is okay... It's like they don't leave me alone until I say okay yes I am happy leave me alone...

brauhaus313

Isn't this a significant issue? Aside from whether the car has any visible damage or not, aren't CPO cars guaranteed to never have been in any accidents?

El Cid

As best I can remember, I have never been surveyed by MBUSA or the dealer re: my service visits.

xpdchief

No.

El Cid

Can't speak for MB, but I looked at a CPO Lexus LS and dealer showed me the Carfax. It had been involved in an accident in New York and apparently rear bumper cover had been replaced. Easy to tell because it was only part of car without stone pits and scratches.

mnje350

Every visit to my dealer generates a customer satisfaction survey.

mnje350

No, my wife's CPO CLK 350 had been involved in a minor accident by the previous owner. It was in the car fax provided by the dealer.