mrjonger

Hi all, new to the forum. My wife and I have decided to get a 2014 - 2016 E350 wagon. These aren't very common and we're probably looking to get something out of state. I prefer to test drive prior to purchasing and so I'd need to fly out to see a good car. Any tips on some of the things I should ask for before buying a plane ticket?

I generally ask for high res pictures, a picture of the underside, carfax, and any maintenance records. Are there any problems specific to the W212 wagon that I should ask about?

To be honest, kind of seems like a stupid post. I've been underwhelmed by the motivation of sellers so far - even these basic things have been hard to come by. Thanks in advance.

rey_winslow

Have you checked out the CPO listings on the MB site? There are a few out there but really depends on what you want in the car. I haven't heard of any wagon specific issues though the rear has airmatic so that could be an issue. It might take a while to find what you're looking for, they aren't that common and the don't always have the options you want. It took my about five months to find mine.

300SE1993

A good dealer service history at proper intervals is generally a good sign when it comes to cars like this. I'd go CPO or from original owner private seller that can provide complete service history. With a private seller you can talk to them to get a feel for the type of person they are.

E430_4MATIC

I have a 2015 and agree with the MBUSA CPO route.

I found ours out of state, one year old, 10K miles equipped exactly the way I wanted. I added MB's extended warranty before the new car warranty expired so I'm now warranted up to 100K miles.

I am a lifetime Mercedes-Benz driver and this has been the BEST I've owned. There are no wagon specific issues I know of. There are two versions, luxury and sport. We only considered luxury.

Do ask the dealer for the VMI (Vehicle Master Inquiry). It's MBUSA's internal history of service and maintenance work performed. It will give you a good sense of how well cared for it was.

Good luck with your search. Take your time and the right one will come along.

Keep us posted!

Longroof

Perhaps you should consider how much peace of mind you want and how much you are going to drive your wagon. The 2014s are now coming out of the 4 year/50,000 mile warranty period. If peace of mind is having a warranty on your vehicle then you may want to purchase a 2015/2016 model.

You may then want to look into how much you are going to use your vehicle. If you drive a lot then maybe a CPO vehicle with unlimited mileage in the extended warranty period works best for you. You can extend the CPO warranty to cover 7 years unlimited mileage from its original owners purchase date. If you drive less, then you can look at 2015/2016 non-CPO Mercedes and purchase an Extended Limited Warranty (ELW) from MB that can cover a maximum of 7 years/100,000 miles (or 75,000 if you choose) from the original owners purchase date. If you go with this latter option, you then open up a wider net of potential vehicles to purchase. A quick look currently shows 86 wagons for sale nationwide here: Gargurus - 2015/16 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagons

Hope this helps. Best of luck!

kajtek1

Don't buy used MB if you are not advanced DIY period.
Modern cars a no longer tanks that could drive for decades without opening the hood.
Modern technology is nice, but lot of things can go wrong. Corroded radars, failing sensors, stuck electronic seats. If you start taking stuff like that to auto shops, God forbid stealer, they will drain your house equity in no time.
Start with researching the engine you want to consider. In last years MB had too many ops in new designs and no engines are created equal.

mrjonger

Thanks everyone. I'm part of another car forum and several w212 wagon owners have chimed in to say that these have been bullet proof. The press reviews have similarly been as impressive. Just perusing the forum, I get the sense these cars are fairly stout across the board (low volume of problem threads). The car likely will see low mileage but high frequency (short mileage) use in an urban environment. It's going to be our daily driver.

I notice the CPO generally costs significantly more than it's equivalent non-CPO counterpart. I can get a car with significantly lower miles without the CPO. What's exacerbating the issue is the scarcity and demand of these cars - it's a sellers market. Whenever I call out-of-state, the sellers generally don't want to lift a finger because they know someone else will come to them and buy it. All of I've asked for is high res picks (with a shot of the underside), maintenance record, and carfax. 1 of 5 have provided anything at all and all five have been sold within days.

I'm going to look at 2016 local to me, but it's CPO and $20K more than what I wanted to spend. I'm reconsidering my stance on the 328xi wagon at this point.

cetialpha5

Sorry, but you're just being high maintenance. You can get a carfax on eBay for around $5 and a combo carfax and autocheck is $8. I'm not surprised 4 out of 5 won't do it for you. The sellers just want to sell it, all you can really do is call them up, get the vin to run through a vin checker like:

https://www.datamb.com/

That tells you the options the car has. Then you just ask what was done. There's not really much to be done on the car when it has under 50k, I don't think transmission fluid is until 70k and spark plugs are 60k. You could ask about the brakes and that's about it. Service at the dealer is basically an oil change every 10k and brake flush every 20k.

When I'm looking, I like to keep it within 500 miles, but I only ended up going about 200 miles and I was just able to drive there and back in one day. Ended up buying the car so only did it once. I'm not sure I'd fly out to see a car, it's possible it could already be sold by the time you get there.

mrjonger

Thanks for the site, that's really helpful. I wasn't trying to be lazy, I thought it was common practice for the seller to run a carfax and provide to interested parties. I think didn't pictures were such a stretch either. But it's not the first time I've been called high maintenance and it won't be the last.

Ok, I currently have two serious contenders: One in my backyard for with 18K miles (sport pack) VS one half way across the country for with 29K miles for $5K less (elegance pack). I figure it's a 3 day trip back with $1K in travel. Both are 2015 CPO.

The cheaper one comes with real leather. Other than that the more expensive one has the following additional items:

• Active park assist / parking pack
• 360 camera
• AMG styling package + 18" AMG wheels

What do you guys think?

The dealer farther away sent me some cell phone pics, and there's a few blemishes but nothing is a deal breaker. I look at the more expensive closer one tonight. I can put a non-refundable $1K deposit to hold the cheaper one.

C280 Sport

They not too common but they are out there. If you are willing to travel and far you can find one with super low miles. Go outside your comfort zone

mrjonger

Thanks for the insight! Did you drive both? I thought the sport was plenty luxurious enough, I wouldn't want the suspension any softer than what it was in the sport.

E430_4MATIC

Yes and both are "luxurious". The sport comes with low-profile wheels which I am not a fan of. I suppose it's personal preference.

DubVBenz

I've noticed the wagons are holding their value better than the E350 sedans and appear to be priced closer to the E400s. I guess they're in high demand right now considering there are so few options for decent sized wagons these days that aren't name Subaru.

mrjonger

I also prefer the smaller wheels for this car. But coming from an older 911 - this wagon feels like it riding on clouds even with the low profile AMG wheels.

The overall build volume is also very low for the States. The used market may be larger than the new market because the lower price point makes it more accessible. At $70K, I couldn't afford a new wagon.

Aktash

when i went to look at my wagon I bought a bus ticket instead of plane, its much cheaper thru companies like panda bus.
and if it doesnt work out you can just walk away and get on the next bus home. Yes spending a whole night on the bus is not ideal but hey I slept for the most of it, and there are no security so can actually bring a small set of tools for the road back.

mrjonger

They have overnight buses with sleeper compartments that go from LA to San Francisco and vice versa at the fraction of the cost of airline ticket. They leave late evening and arrive in the morning. But I picked up something local last night...

mrjonger

Just FYI, if anyone is looking for a deal. MB Beaumont (1.5 hrs from Houston) has a CPO 2015 E350 Wagon with 29K miles for $37K. They are willing to hold the wagon for a $1K non-refundable deposit.

E430_4MATIC

Congratulations! Nicely equipped like mine which is also palladium silver.

cetialpha5

Yeah, that looks nice. Parktronic, lighting package, looks like a pano roof, and maybe driver's assistance package with the AMG wheels. What other goodies did you get? That's pretty nicely loaded, very hard to find.

DubVBenz

Looks like distronic. Thing is a unicorn.

KEY08

Gasmiser2000

Congratulations!

raja777m

Looks like 360 degree camera also

Congratulations on the new find. Awesome looking car, any factory warranty left on it?

C280 Sport

Beautiful!