kajtek1

Guess again. When I wasn't paying for inspection, I had my high-mileage Mercedes at dealer for other job, when they did "Courtesy safety inspection".
They gladly presented me with over $3000 estimate for "necessary jobs"
I routinely declined and did my own inspection, when I discovered that belly pans were never disturbed (judging from the dirt on screws) but from 2 flex disks behind them, who were judged for immediate replacement, 1 was actually new, when other still in good shape.
I concluded that such inspections are performed "From comfort of office chair"

badbenz94

While I’m sure that happens from time to time, many dealers are now utilizing video to show the inspection. And many places will allow you to look at some problem areas in a safe environment.

When I bought my 01 Jag XJR back in 2006 off of EBay , I had it inspected by two different places, one a dealer and one a third party(car was in Texas, I was in Illinois). Both took pics and explained what they saw. Both had the same basic report and it paid off in spades.

Chris

Budhah

https://epicvin.com/check-vin-number...=5c9368c094455

Actual ad for my car last May, 2021. Love it, Paid $20k cash out the door. It's got a few extras on it, but not too sure about the 18" AMG wheels. had to be after market buy. It's been sold a few times. I've put a limited number of miles, as I've been sick, and unable to drive much. 4k miles since purchase.

labguy

No. We took my wife’s car.

pierrejoliat

you have 772 and 794 on your build sheet, which is AMG wheels and AMG sport appearance package.

Left Coast Geek

here's the data card, most definitely a US "Sport" model, with the avant garde interior and 677 suspension as well as the aforementioned AGM trim,

badbenz94

@labguy Any luck on a new ride?

Chris

labguy

So, I ended up not accepting that car. They attempted another delivery of the same car after they assured me that it was not throwing any codes, but the Parking Brake was broken so he could not load the car safely. So, I came down to the lot in Savannah to look at it. It was throwing codes and not running smooth, so I declined it. I have another car scheduled for delivery Thursday, 5 May. Hopefully this one will be in better shape.

Left Coast Geek

Carvana has a lot of horror stories. Cars not as advertised, great difficulty in getting refunded after a misadvertised car is delivered. losing track of the title paperwork and not filing it with your states DMV in a timely fashion.

After considering a number of Caravana cars, we ended up getting a CPO car from an out of state Mercedes dealer, and the car was *perfect* like new on delivery.

labguy

certified preowned would have been my preference. However, the budget did not allow for that.

Left Coast Geek

yeah, anyways, I just realized, the window for W212 CPO cars has probably lapsed, AFAIK, they won't CPO a car over 5 years old, we got our 2016 in 2020

cetialpha5

Must be more than 5, there are still some CPO 2016 E-350's on sale on MB's CPO website. But 2016 appears to be the oldest.

LILBENZ230

So @labguy did you ever get a car?

I wanted to chime in as someone who has purchased 7-8 (lost count) cars from Carvana, and I have referred (and been paid) 10 family/friends who have also purchased from Carvana. Our experiences trend positive, but they are not perfect. Our last completed Carvana purchase was 2019 and as I understand it, Carvana has not aged well. Our first was 2015 and back then they would bend over backwards to make you happy. By 2019, they had developed a much more "it is what it is" attitude. The last car we were going to purchase from Carvana was a 2020 Toyota Prius Prime. It arrived with them having crushed the roof with the tow truck somehow. I was told I could keep it and they'd pay to get it fixed. I declined.

We purchased 2 Benz cars from Carvana. A 2014 C350 in 2016 for $29,000 that had lots of options and low miles. It was in great shape and we loved it. I ordered a 2016 E350 from them in late 2019, but the car arrived in poor shape. Mismatched tires, undisclosed damage.. I rejected it.

In general, I'd stick to lower mileage and newer non-German cars from Carvana.

labguy

I took delivery of a car yesterday, Saturday. So far so good.

Neptune36

I had a good experience with the Carvana process and people, not so with the car they dropped off, so I ended up calling them to return it. Which they did with no questions asked except what was wrong with it. AC worked intermittently, upon inspection in the 7 day period the scan showed lot of low voltage faults indicating electrical issue (battery?) and upon close interior inspection the wood trim was falling off or cracking. Those flaws were not indicated in the listing. SO back it went, got my $ back in the bank in 3 days so the process was very friendly. My mechanic told me his customers have Carvana drop off the car at his shop. There is 60 minutes to accept to go on to the the 7 day period or immediately return. He said one customer had three off the truck and back on due to issues, so I suggest an inspection at a quality Euro car shop. Another buyer had issues with the car after the 7 day period. The mechanic called the warranty number and got the repair $ with few questions. The mechanic said Carvana is easy to work with, but certainly you don't want to find that out on your first extended trip.

KEY08

Carvana just had its license pulled here in Illinois. Seems they are not delivering titles to purchasers.

ml3504matic____

Photos of the new car?

labguy

CaliBenzDriver

it looks like a good car
👏

Left Coast Geek

huh. not the stock front plate holder. but nice to see a Luxury, 95% of the facelift cars are the 'sport' version.

labguy

Carvana repaired an additional $1600 worth of undisclosed cosmetic issues through the warranty company.

ml3504matic____

let alone missing the plate holder.

ml3504matic____

Happy you’re happy with the car, personally I would’ve gone with a car with ILS and Distronic. But happy that you’re happy with the purchase.

Just watch out for timing covers leaking. and rattle on start up.

Seems to be a pretty clean example.

Left Coast Geek

sadly, mounting the plate holder requires drilling the bumper cover. I've got the MBZ plate holder for mine, in the trunk, never used.

RWagz

I have a question about OP's declined first Carvana car. A brief internet search didn't turn up an answer.

Used car sales have always been caveat emptor. What happens when Carvana buys a car with undisclosed issues?

OP was told that everything was okay until the parking brake failure inspired an in-person inspection.

Carvana has not aged well as they have efficiently scaled. They're reselling whatever they get and the buyer must be extremely vigilant. The quality of their inspection can only suffer as the company struggles.

Layoffs three months ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/se...&restrict_sr=1