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Wow, so much amazing information and resources on this forum! I have spent most of my time on Audizine and M3forum and it's awesome to see such a strong MB community.
I understand the difference between the 11 vs 12-13, reliability and common issues (thanks to this forum!). Do you feel this is a reasonable price? Plan on having PPI done at local shop prior to giving offer. Also, if you were to purchase this car what are the first few preventive maintenances you would do? My mod plan would be finding stock 19 amg wheels, cf front spoiler, springs/links, rear diffuser, modify rear tips to quad, black out all trim, tint, weathertech mats, upgrade head unit and steering wheel.
It looks like a fair price. I think a lot would depend upon the maintenance history.
I really like the looks of the E class wagon, and black is sharp.
Good luck with your search.
Seems like a fair price though it does depend on the maintenance history of the wagon. If the previous owners took care of the car, then this could last you a long time.
Very clean Kalifornia car, split seam in MBtex passenger seat can be fixed at an upholstery shop, if the maintenance records look good, I think it's a nice ride you will enjoy for years.
Last edited by pierrejoliat; Dec 27, 2020 at 09:28 PM.
Thank you for all the responses! The Car-fax shows most maintenance was done at a local dealer but the last owner (bought in 2016 and drove last 30k miles) only went to a jiffy lube for oil changes. I’m hoping the PPI would show any current concerns. Was there a thread that I missed for common issues for preventative maintenance besides serives A or B?
From your info, if I understand right, that last owner had it for 4 years and the only maintenance that shows is Jiffy Lube? It also appears that the owner has no personal log/receipts of any maintenance they've done.
If I set aside my view that I wouldn't take my lawnmower to that place I would highly recommend that you spend a few bucks and have the car checked out at a good local Indy that's familiar with these cars and their drivelines.
Don't misunderstand, I truly hope that this works out great for you, but many times beauty is only skin deep. There's a lot of folks that can afford a payment and car washes but can't seem to afford maintenance.
Having that qualified tech look the car over will either confirm that you've got a good vehicle or can give you a heads up of any current or pending troubles. Looking at pics on the internet is only a very small part of the story.
There's a lot of folks that can afford a payment and car washes but can't seem to afford maintenance.
Very good point. OP, what is the mileage of the vehicle? The dealer pics seem to indicate 105k? You may want to check the maintenance requirements for this W212 model year to see what maintenance should have been performed by the prior owner other than oil changes over the last 30K miles or are coming up so you can budget for some/all of it or accept the risk of ongoing deferred maintenance. I own a 2016 W212 and my maintenance requirements indicate that at 100k the spark plugs need replacement which is very expensive at the MB dealership, and of course less expensive at an Indy and least expensive if you can DIY.
I agree that the previous owner probably neglected all maintenance besides oil changes for the last 30,000 miles. Plugs, brake fluid changes, pads and rotors, transmission and diff services, cabin filter, etc.
Wagons are rare and command more money, but this seems still too high for a 10 year old car. Make sure your PPI is extremely thorough and check the rear air suspension components. Those often fail on the wagon.
Make sure you get two keys.
I just bought a facelift (2014) wagon with Distronic and lots of other options for $14,900, with about the same mileage. If I were you I'd keep looking.
You got a 2014 with those options for $15,000? That's pretty shocking. Wagons hold value a lot better than sedans from what I've seen.
I do a lot of road trips, so wanted a (pre-depreciated) high mileage example with Distronic Plus, which was a tall order - it took me about 6 months to find this one. I think it has every option except pano roof and active park assist, with the added option of downgraded 17's. I suspect it's a 1 of 1 in the US market, at least.
It needs brakes and I had to have the driver's seat rebuilt, but other than that it's really solid and worth the wait.
It's a 10 years old car with 100k miles... I don't think it matters that much the previous owner took it to Jiffy Lube - it's time to replace every consumable item anyway so I would budget for replacing belts and plugs, engine mount, and all the filters and fluids. Since the car is at an used car lot, there is probably no records with the sale. I would definitely have a PPI done and make sure it is mechanically sound and no signs of accident.
Wow! What a great find! Thanks to everyone for the feedback. I have a PPI set up at my local dealer for this weekend but the used lot won't budge from 16k otd 14.2k plus fees. Would much rather spend a few thousand more and get into a newer body. Will expand my search.
Originally Posted by XJLFTW
I do a lot of road trips, so wanted a (pre-depreciated) high mileage example with Distronic Plus, which was a tall order - it took me about 6 months to find this one. I think it has every option except pano roof and active park assist, with the added option of downgraded 17's. I suspect it's a 1 of 1 in the US market, at least.
It needs brakes and I had to have the driver's seat rebuilt, but other than that it's really solid and worth the wait.
I understand the difference between the 11 vs 12-13, reliability and common issues (thanks to this forum!). Do you feel this is a reasonable price? Plan on having PPI done at local shop prior to giving offer. Also, if you were to purchase this car what are the first few preventive maintenances you would do? My mod plan would be finding stock 19 amg wheels, cf front spoiler, springs/links, rear diffuser, modify rear tips to quad, black out all trim, tint, weathertech mats, upgrade head unit and steering wheel.
Yeah, I wouldn't go too crazy on the car. You have the M272 engine with the airmatic in the rear on the station wagon. Budget money for the airmatic, that's the mileage it would go at if they're original but they could last 20-40k or more before going, just one of those random things. Wouldn't really do any of those mods although you could update the front springs/struts. Change the fluids. Engine wise, there's the pulleys/tensioner/belt, thermostat, check the oil cooler gaskets which are also right there near the thermostat. There's also the air breather replacement kit you can get on FCPeuro, the oil separator and breather cover tend to go bad and can cause oil to get into the intake manifold. The intake manifold also goes, around $650 for the Pierburg OEM replacement part plus labor, did mine recently and a tad over $800 overall to replace it. The PPI should include scanning for MB specific codes. Mine wasn't throwing a CEL yet, but it had the code for the intake manifold runners not really working. The levers/rods weren't broken, but were very stiff, could barely move it by hand afterwards and it didn't spring back after moving it. New one was very smooth. Other than that, the usual stuff to watch out for is the faded wood and ripped seat.
As for your list, I'd skip the 19 inch wheels, on my W211 got a few cracked rims on the 18 inch rims in addition to a few bent rims and flat tires. On the 17 inch rims on my W212, only had a couple bent rims and a flat tire. I can only image with 19 will do unless you have super smooth roads in your area. There's some thread on here about updating NTG to a newer unit that will do Android Auto/Apple carplay. I do ok with mine, use a dash mount to hold my phone to use as a GPS so aside from that, don't really miss not having Android Auto/Apple Carplay although it'd be nice.
I do a lot of road trips, so wanted a (pre-depreciated) high mileage example with Distronic Plus, which was a tall order - it took me about 6 months to find this one. I think it has every option except pano roof and active park assist, with the added option of downgraded 17's. I suspect it's a 1 of 1 in the US market, at least.
It needs brakes and I had to have the driver's seat rebuilt, but other than that it's really solid and worth the wait.
These are solid cars, for sure. I would have guessed with the bumper sensors that it had active park assist, I thought that would come with the surround view cameras and parktronic on this year... odd.
These are solid cars, for sure. I would have guessed with the bumper sensors that it had active park assist, I thought that would come with the surround view cameras and parktronic on this year... odd.
It has the 360 cameras. My understanding was that "active park" meant it'd parallel park automatically, but I may be mistaken. I've yet to parallel park it, though!
It has the 360 cameras. My understanding was that "active park" meant it'd parallel park automatically, but I may be mistaken. I've yet to parallel park it, though!
When you drive through a parking lot slowly do you have a blue and white "P" show up on the dash with little white arrows? if you have park assist, it will find spots on the right, if you put on your left turn signal, it will find spots on the left. As the new model years came out the capability of the park assist changed from passive to active.
I do. Thanks for explaining it! I should really read my owner's manual sometime.
Just run your VIN and look at your datacard to see what the option list consists of. If you have active park assist it will say so. 235-ACTIVE PARK ASSIST.
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