Planning to buy a CPO W212 later this year and want an RWD Luxury model. This is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. Any advice on ways to make the search easier? Should I contact dealers in advance to request that I be kept in the loop about any lease returns, or does that ruin my bargaining position later? Anyone have any experience buying and shipping from far out of state?

 

If you go to http://autotrader.com, you can set up a pretty effective search for this kind of thing. Select the left-most menu selection 'Cars for sale' and it will bring up a detailed search page in which you can specify the make, model, and trim level for cars. Also a lot of other options to narrow your search. The trim level for E Class includes sport or luxury. There are probably other online car search sites, but Auto Trader is what I use.

 

Depends where you are. If you're in the northeast US, a RWD E350 is going to be pretty rare. But in Florida? Dime a dozen.

 

I've found that the luxury and sport trims are not accurate in search results. I've seen sport models listed as luxury trim and vice versa. Luxury trim is pretty rare (I would guess less than 10% but it's just a guess from my own searching) so you are limiting yourself if you want to drive a bargain or looking for certain colors/options.

Just curious, what features/styling are leading to the luxury over sport?

 

I used autotrader.com (use their search filter to automatically search and send you links each day for cars that fit your criteria). 2nd website to use is www.mypreownedmercedes.com. It's does not have as many search features but if you take the time, you can see what all MB dealerships have in stock.

 

I guess I got lucky- when I got my CPO E350, I considered 3 cars. I said no to the sport because of color. The e350 I bought and the other I considered are both lux models

 

Use caruguru.com

 

Thanks. I just don't care for the look of the star grille (or 18 inch wheels) on the current body--the angular, W124-ish body needs the upright star to my eyes. Also, I'm in the DC area where roads can be pretty bad, so I would prefer the luxury suspension.

As to RWD, the number of days when there is (1) snow on the ground and (2) I can't work from home isn't high enough in DC to justify the trade off in fuel economy, handling, and feel for me.

 

But probably not the Luxury E350.
Your idea of contacting dealerships may be the best bet. Let the sales manager know you will only consider a Luxury version. When I was looking at pre-owned, a couple of the dealerships did find ones for me to consider, but ended up getting a W212.
If traditional MB luxury sedan styling inside and out and comfortable ride are important, the Luxury version is the one to get.

 

Thanks. It looks like there are at least a couple in Florida and the southeast. I'm not quite ready to buy but it will probably be a waiting game.

Has anyone bought out of state? How possible is it to negotiate over the Internet or phone relative to being in the sales office and able to walk out/wait them out?

 

I live in L A and bought my s class in Houston. Got everything negotiated beforehand. Get all.the details on the car ahead of time including original build sheet, carfax and service records. No issues as long as you are working with a good dealer. Don't expect to.do.any on the ground negotiation. Also look.for a late build date to maximize warranty. Also get best price on extended warranty and service from dealers listed on this site and use those to negotiate with finance department. If they are not competitive on warranty, buy the warranty from.another dealer.

 

This is really helpful, thank you! Where do you find the original build sheet and service records? Is there a site where I can enter the VIN to retrieve those?

Also, did you drive your car back or ship it?

 

[QUOTE=mcbc220;6823176]This is really helpful, thank you! Where do you find the original build sheet and service records? Is there a site where I can enter the VIN to retrieve those?

Also, did you drive your car back or ship it?[/QUOTE
Get the original build sheet from www.vindecoderz.com
Enter vin and you get the factory build info. Have to.ask the dealer for service records.

I drove mine back 1400 miles but driving the s class is such a pleasure.

 

If you are looking for CPO, go to mbusa.com and click on their CPO link to search through the inventory. They have pictures so you can see which is Lux vs Sport (different front end).

 

Is there a difference in steering feel between the luxury and sport models? I've heard that--surprisingly--the lux may be a little heavier feeling?

 

w212 in the sport flavor until the LCI 2014 is pretty darn harsh and bone jarring. And if you end up with a bluetec which came with run flats then prepare to feel like you are sitting in a flinstone era car with stone wheels and no suspension.

For w212 2014 sport package they refined the suspension alot and finally got it to what it should have been from the get go. I talk with experience after having both 2012 w212 and 2014 w212.

Luxury version pre LCI was 10x better compared to sport but to me luxury version just looked to bland.

Good Luck.

 

I always like the hood star on the luxury model, it took me a while to get use to the grill star. The ride on the 2014 sport feel like any of my previous MB. Larger wheel did not feel hard on the road. The 2014 is the best value, as 2017 will be out soon. A low mileage CPO is about 50% Off new car price. If you find a late model build, you may get as much as 18 month free warranty. Also, get a pre approval from your bank, they loan money out as low as 2.5% on full price + tax.