vaishalp

I currently drive a 2000 Mitsubishi Galant (my first car and 15-year owner) and it's about to die any day now. I have been putting off buying a new car. Buts its time now. I'm in the market for a new car and I always wanted an E class. I fell in love with the early W210 and, of course, other later models. looking at used 2014-2016 E350s. After test driving the car at the dealer and I feel the sport one is the best option for me. My question was I see no exterior/interior difference , 2014-2016 models. So I think 2014 is the best option with purchasing an additional warranty?

I visited private 3 New Jersey dealers who stock 2014 E350 under 30K with 25K miles or even less. Carfax checks out with no accidents. Why is price so low compared to let's say Benz dealers? Should I avoid buying a Mercedes from those local dealers and go with the Benz dealer? What kind of things I should bring when talking to a dealer?

I have been researching and reading forums. Please let me know, any tips or advice is welcome!

Thanks

thenew3

Buying from a MB dealer you'll likely get one that is certified which means it comes with an extra year (and unlimited miles) warranty. You also have the option to get 2 more years of warranty making it a total of 7 years from first in service date. (unlimited miles).
Also since it's been through the CPO process, it likely has all maintenance brought up to date, and tires/brakes etc replaced if they were below a certain threshold.

Buying from a private party, or non MB dealer, It would not be a MB CPO and thus no extra warranty, and I don't think MB would let you buy an extended warranty from them either.

So if you are looking to buy an extended warranty from MB, you're best bet is to go to a MB dealer and buy a CPO.

kash2014

OP, the price is lower due to several reasons 1) these private dealers have less overhead 2) these private dealers probably don't recondition the vehicles as much, the CPO Process costs money 3) the price is lower, because the cheapest ones are usually the below average off lease vehicles that require body work, tires, not as "clean"

there are different tiers to auction off lease vehicles based on mileage and condition


as long as the vehicle was not CPO'd before, ie private dealer bought it directly from MB financial services auction and not a local dealer and the vehicle is still under the original factory warranty it should be eligible for a MB BENZ ELW which is superior to the CPO unlimited mileage warranty

thenew3

According to MBUSA they only sell the MB ELW to the original owner of the vehicle if the vehicle was not CPO. So if it's a private sale or sold by a non MB dealer, the vehicle no longer qualifies for MB ELW.

Source : Several MBUSA reps, and MB dealers when I tried to purchase MB ELW after my parents gave me their car. Vehicle was less than 2 years old, still under original MB warranty. Had my parents bought the ELW before they transferred the title to me, the warranty would've transferred with it. But since I contacted MB to buy the ELW after the title was transferred they could not sell me the warranty.

Salacak

Wow i didn't know that, i thought warranty 4 years 50K miles exist doesn't matter where you bought the car from.
That is insane if you bought it from your father and it wasn't CPO warranty doesn't exist anymore.
How are they getaway with this?

thenew3

You misunderstand. If you bought the car used from a non-MB dealer, you get the remainder of the original 4 year 50k mile warranty, but you can't get the additional Extended warranty that goes to 7 years.

MB only sells the extended warranty to the original owner of the vehicle, or in case it is a CPO they will sell up to a 2 year extension to the CPO purchaser.

Salacak

okay, thanks.

thefisch

There were folks who said this too back when I got my car from a third party dealer, but my local MB dealer still offered me the MB ELW. Many others have reported being able to buy this as a second owner. You just have to find a dealer willing to do it. I would bet that most of the dealer finance reps listed in the various threads on extended warranties would be game so long as car is still under factory and has not previously been CPO'ed.

kash2014

Myself, and countless others have bought ELW as second owners.

There is no documentation that says this from MB USA, there are certain situations that preclude an under warranty MB from not being qualified for an ELW, but being second owner is not one of them, and the only way to find out is for the finance person to put in the VIN, if it wasn't CPO'd before etc then it qualifies

Your MBUSA reps and MB Dealers are misinformed unless the rules have changed recently

cetialpha5

There's a couple of threads that cover this. I think if an MB dealer told you that you couldn't buy it, maybe they wanted to sell you their 3rd party warranty which probably had a higher profit margin. There's several threads that cover this and people have been buying warranties even though they're the 2nd owner. There is an extended warranty sub forum and more is covered over there.

But here are a couple of threads to look into:

https://mbworld.org/forums/extended-...rranty-10.html

https://mbworld.org/forums/extended-...cs-thread.html

kash2014

having worked at car dealerships in my previous life, you're spot on, unfortunately many will "stretch the truth" in order to make the sale that benefits them

kash2014

Mercedes Benz Financial Services relies on this network of used car dealerships to buy the hundreds of off lease vehicles every week.

MB dealerships and Non MB dealerships Bid on these same cars at MB Financial Services Auctions, and the ones that MB dealerships buy, most of the time go through the CPO process, that same car on any given day could of went to a private dealership, MB Dealers do not have exclusive rights to these cars ONCE they hit the MB financial services auctions.

As a second owner was able to purchase ELW, and Pre paid Maintenance. It wouldn't make business sense for MB Corporate to deny me a warranty etc on a qualified car, as they obviously want their cars to be serviced and taken care of by Authorized Service MB Dealer Service Centers.

Warranties make money for MB, it is not a customer service they are providing, they aren't doing me a favor, and there is not a business/logical reason for them to turn away my business, hence why I and countless of others of informed owners have benefited from the piece of mind of a MB warranty as second owners.

so to the OP, look at both types of cars, obviously look a lot harder at the lower priced under warranty cars at Private Dealers, some usually have worse condition reports and have had major reconditioning ie respray, things most MB Dealerships would not want to deal with when they buy an off lease they want to make a CPO.

Just be careful that the car was not bought from the local MB Dealership they'll let them go to the local guys in town if the car has been sitting for many months, as it would of probably been CPO'd it wouldn't qualify for an ELW (this happened to a user on the forum a few months back), usually you can catch this on the carfax report

good luck!

El Cid

The only good answer on ELW is to contact MBUSA and ask them since it is their warranty. Assuming you want an MB warranty and not a third party. I would only get one from MBUSA.
As for original indy vs. MB dealer pricing, lots of factors. The dealer is sort of a representative of MBUSA and therefore is evaluated by them. Indys are not. Many dealers keep only the best trade-ins and wholesale the others out.
Of course, an MB dealer is more likely to provide after-market service at low or no cost even if not under warranty compared to an indy. The indy also does not have the facilties and technicians that an MB dealer has.
Of course the dealership also has more expenses in personnel, facilities, stock, etc.

lay3r3

There are visual difference between sport and non-sport.
Sport:
1. You don't get the traditional Tri Star hood ornament.
2. You should get AMG 18" wheels.
3. I think the rear diffuser for the exhaust may be different? (no chrome?)
4. what else guys?

There is one part I can't confirm - some say Sport and Non Sport have the same suspension and ride the same?!?

jonUF02

OMG... blah blah Warranty, blah. Can we call this discussion a dead horse yet? Why not look at the 2000 other threads bickering about their warranties? Somebody shoot me.

El Cid

Stand to be corrected, but previously the Luxury version had 17" wheels and comfort suspension. The Sport version had 18" wheels and sport suspension.
Smaller wheels will ride better because the tires have larger sidewalls. The comfort suspenstion will ride better.
The grilles on Sport and Luxury are different.