wrysys

Local carmax shows 2012 e350 bluetech P1 pkg with 18K miles sells for 36K, 18K miles. Looks like a lease turn in, one owner. MB CPO for same is 38K with 38K miles. Overall research on mbworld shows decent feedback on Carmax. Questions I have for the forum:

1) Better to get carmax with maxcare warranty? Is this an easy choice or are there pitfalls I'm overlooking?

2) If I try to do my own adblue refill/replacement, does this void the maxcare or mb warranty?

Thanks. my dad used to own a 300sd which lasted a long time but I remembe the clackity clack and smell. guess those days are over and I'm looking to replace a worn out honda hybrid civic. Surprised to see such a big sedan has similar mileage. Thanks all

thefisch

I had a good experience with carmax. 5 day return policy is perfect time to get it checked by mechanic, drive it around, etc. Maxcare was a good deal for me - just as good as other 3rd party warranties but cheaper. Your car will still be eligible for the MB ELW which you can only buy before B2B expires. That is a better warranty, but not as long (Maxcare up to 6 years). You can return maxcare at no cost within 60 days after purchase I think. I would buy it and then shop around/compare it to other warranties. If you decide on MB ELW or another offering, then you can return it.

Doing your own maintenance will not void warranty. Just be sure to keep receipts, etc. so that you have proof of what you did.

thefisch

I should add that my car was already out of the B2B so I wanted to get an ELW. Your car is still has 2y/32k miles left on B2B. Depending on how long you plan to keep, you may not benefit from an ELW. You can always buy the MB ELW in 1-2 years before B2B expires and that can cover you for another 3 years or so.

wrysys

thanks for the advice! just walked into carmax for the first time and so far they seem straightforward, offered 3K on my honda hybrid with >150K, which i considered generous. Did you get a bluetech also? it's a potential neg for me -- another thing to worry about and maintain. But I'd rather not get less mileage despite wanting a larger car for my growing family. Also if I plan to keep the car for as long as possible, like 10 yrs, i wonder if this will become more of a problem. what if the Adblue gets phased out? Thoughts?

kash2014

ELW prices will go up next month according to another poster.

ELW warranty can be refunded for any portion you don't use if the car is sold etc etc, so if you are debating a carmax vs mercedes ELW (and your car is eligible for an ELW) I would consider it before prices go up.

Good luck in your search

PeterUbers

Have always heard good things about carmax, they vet their cars more than any old used car non dealership lot... My friend has a 2008 e350 with a carmax warranty and had some warranty calls on the carmax warranty and they honored it no problem

thefisch

A service advisor at my local MB actually recommended maxcare up there with fidelity and others they sell themselves. He said they were always good to deal with. Kash is right about the ELW though. With the price going up and that fact you can return it before the b2b expires, I would certainly consider it. Heck if you are pressed to make a decision, you could buy both maxcare and mb elw and then take you time to decide since both are refundable.

Glad you are happy with the price they gave you on your current car. The good thing is you can sell it to them even if you buy the car somewhere else. I did not get a diesel so I can't comment on that. If you are not interested in that, then you should keep looking. Carmax has a great internet search tool and will transport other cars in their inventory to your location, sometimes with no cost to you. In my case, they brought my car from another carmax 80 miles away for free, no obligation. It was reserved for me to look at before anyone else. If it had been farther away (i.e. more than 250 miles) there would have been a small transport charge.

CEB

AdBlue, or the direct equivalents thereof will not get phased out in the next 20 or so years. Most new diesels in the US (and in other parts of the world that use diesel particulate filters) use it.

CARMAX pricing is generally a bit more expensive than others and their trade in pricing has recently been far lower than dealerships (last year they offered me $17k for my car, the dealer offered $22.5k the following day) and don't forget that you can haggle at a dealership - using CARMAX as a comp if you want.

I believe that a CPO from a reputable dealer is more valuable than a CARMAX vehicle with an aftermarket warranty. The dealer may also offer more on your trade.

thefisch

Carmax pricing seems to be all over the place. They put more of a premium on low miles than they do on options. Most of their cars are overpriced, but a few are lower than you'd expect. Like anything else it pays to shop around. I jumped on mine since it seemed to be a rare deal from them. Even with the added cost of a ELW, I still saved thousands over what my local dealer was willing to do on the E550 CPO they had. But that is not always the case.

CEB

Right. They don't do well with anything unusual. I've seen 550's valued at where 350's should be and vice versa.

I sold them Lexus RX about 10 years ago because they offered several thousand more than the dealer. My mom replaced that with a new RX and when she wanted to trade that about 5 years ago they offered her $4k less than the dealer - go figure. Maybe they were valuing the old RX. Since then they've been very low on every car I've taken to them. In one case, my wife had a 2 year old Civic that we wanted to sell before she deployed for a year. They offered $6k less than an 3 year old Civic they were selling on the lot that had fewer options (EX, while ours was a EX-L with nav) and more miles. We kept it and traded it when she came back. The trade price was significantly more that the CARMAX offer a year earlier.

You may still get lucky with CARMAX but I think that all the good deals are long gone.

thefisch

Actually I have never sold a car to them. Always had better luck selling privately. Carmax offers were never better than any dealer. But their offers are good to have as leverage when negotiating a trade if you go that route.

This was my first time buying from them and that experience was very straightforward and transparent. No pressure what so ever. All cars are open to browse. Of course most of the sales folks are no help other than getting you the keys to test drive. Again you can use their pricing as leverage to get a better deal from a dealer.

CEB

Right. The buying (and selling) experience is pretty painless but you pay for that.

justaguy

So I'm in the market for the same car with 4-matic ( I have to have keyless go and heated seats). If a 2012 E350 is at the dealer with a warranty for $36-38K .... How much did they pay the owner of that car when he traded it in .... I assume the dealers paid about $30K or less to resell it for a profit ...
I will wait unti Jan or Feb if I have to.

kash2014

Dealers will offer you wholesale prices... sometimes less sometimes more, depending on the car, mileage, condition, whether you are buying a car from them, financing from them etc etc

kash2014

I would say a majority of these 2 - 3 year old mercs are not traded in, rather they are lease cars and bought at MB auctions by MB dealerships, and INDY dealerships throughout the country

But your assumption is correct, the OPs initial car is around 30 - 32 wholesale depending on condition, options etc etc

wrysys

above are good points, but literally the carmax and mb dealer are a few blocks away, and it appears for roughly the same model, year and half the miles, the carmax is much cheaper. and their warranty is much better than the dealer also. Does the dealer offer better warranties? it seems the cpo has the one year unlimited miles warranty, but since it's only one year it seems misleading. how much is the 2 yr extension and how much are the elw's?

wrysys

also i forgot to ask if there is a major service at around the 20, 30 or 40k mile mark? I found several e350 bluetecs hovering in that range and would like to possibly consider one that already had it done

kash2014

There is a major service at 40k miles or 4 years whatever comes first, sometimes not all the services appear on carfax and you would have to find a friendly SA to let you know what was and was not done. Generally though if the carfax says it was a lease vehicle owners are obliged per contract to do required services.

kash2014

Extended warranty prices are variable depending on the dealership, but if you are looking for an ELW the best prices are found at 2 dealerships that everyone has had luck with on this forum.

I chose the ELW vs Fidelity because it was a personal preference, it was for less years than Fidelity but I got a great deal deal from MB Austin.

I believe if the car is a CPO it is not eligible for a ELW but I could be wrong, if you use the search function I think a few posters have posted the cost of their CPO extended warranties, your best bet is to PM DrSAAB, he drives a lot of miles and CPO was worth it for him, and I think he also has a bluetech if I'm not mistaken, there is an old thread about extended warranties if you dig it up that may have the cost / pros cons

ELW is exclusionary, and compared to the CPO covers a few more things

In the car business, not everything makes sense, there are a lot of customers who will pay the extra money for a CPO car believing they are getting a better quality car, or will feel more comfortable buying from a Mercedes Benz Dealership.

At the end of the day a lot of consumers aren't so educated, and the cost comes down to a monthly payment, falling for the 4 square game at dealerships.

CEB

As a general rule, dealers will offer wholesale pricing on trade in - but - that number can be hard to find for the average consumer. As a guesstimate, you can use Edmunds or KBBs "trade in" value with "fair" condition.

I know that most enthusiast cars are in better than "fair" condition but the reality is that this is what the dealer will offer. After refurb costs, the dealer will want to make about $2k above and beyond the CPO cost (about $1000-$1500 - the actual cost is a mystery), so figure the delta between what the dealer paid for the car and what they are willing to take for a CPO to be about $4k. They'll undoubtedly ask for more in order to ultimately get to that $4k.

When I last traded a car (Acura wagon) it had just come from the bodyshop from being rear-ended. The dealership knew the full history and saw the car before the accident, immediately after the accident and when the bodyshop got done with it. I was willing to take a hit on trade-in because I was getting diminished value from the other insurance company. Edmunds fair was $23k. The dealership offered $21.5k and ultimately gave me $22.5k. The car needed no reconditioning and it was on the dealer's website two days later at $28k. The independent appraiser valued the car pre-accident at $27.3k and post accident at $22.5k so the diminished value was $4800

drsaab

Carmax has a Very strict standard on accidents and recon. It is a safe buy but they are relatively expensive, probably do have some deals since they have so much inventory.

CPO is even more strict in which they have to bring maintenance up and also get the tires to MB standard. Those are expensive items.

A car will need fair bit of recon from what you see at the auction.
Auction fee is $500+ on a 35k car, then transport (100-500) then pdr (200) then detail (150), usually bumper respray/ scratch removal (250) and then add tires and such (1000 for mb approved brands)

Then add the CPO cost dealer has to pay mbusa. (prob 1000-1500)

Even color makes a price diff on a luxury car. light blue is 1500 less than black for example.

so a CPO is probably about avg 2500 over cost of the auction car. then dealer profit of 1500-2500. SO 4k over auction is a decent deal on cpo.

If they get it cheaper on trade or etc then you can also save on the retail side.

visual_image

I bought a CPO 2012 E350 Bluetec with P2 back in May. It had 14.5K miles for $40K. They warranty the engine and transmission for 7 yrs with unlimited miles. They offered extended B2B warranty, but we did not take it. Also, they had low financing rates at the time.

CEB

Who is "they"?

visual_image

"they" is the dealer, sorry.

CEB

Got it. Thanks for the clarification as that didn't sound like CARMAX.