Xk42

Test drove the car today. The last time I drove a Mercedes was probably over 15 years ago E240. It was slow, clunky, terrible at shifting. Been driving Lexus and other Japanese cars since then. I was really surprised when the car started going, it was just enjoyable. Feedback from steering wheel and gas pedal was just fantastic. If the seller wasn't in the car with me, I would've floored it and have fun. He even told me to do it but I just wanted to make sure it shift correctly.

Unfortunately I live in SoCal and the used market is still absurd. I negotiated with the seller to 9k and he's done a bunch of services since he got it. Best of all, it seems to be garaged so the exterior is in really good condition. Interior is okay and I'm not too bothered as my kids would eventually destroy it.

Here's the list.
- rear two tiers are replaced
- all spark plugs are replaced
- serpentine belt replacement
- transmission fluid with filter replaced
- break fluid replaced
- radiator replaced
- all coolant replaced when new radiator installed
- mini battery under dashboard was replaced
- AC serviced
- new oil, oil filter and engine filter and cabin filter 2 month old

However when I told him to turn on the AC while I was driving. He pressed the max cool button and cold air was blowing out the driver side and heat was coming out the passenger side. He said the AC was just serviced two months ago so there can't be an issue. But of course there seem to be an issue. He got out the car and open up the hood. While I was in the car, I turn off the max cool button and just set both zone to low and fan speed to low. Both sides started blowing cold air again. Then I press the max cool button again and it reverted to cold on driver and hot on passenger. What could be the cause of this? Flap stuck or something?

Really I need someone to talk me out of it. Seller is fine with me taking it to any garage for prepurchase inspection. I mean 9k seems just like a good deal since if I don't like it, carvana would take it for 7.5k. If I spend 9k on a Lexus, I would be getting a 2009 Lexus es350 or a RX350 which would be closer to 160k miles etc. There isn't much option for me at that price range. I believe if wiki is correct, this is the early M276 engine and it isn't the best but still pretty reliable.

Initially I'm buying this car for my wife so I wasn't even going to test drive it. I really regret getting into it because I really want it. I guess you could call it mid life crisis. I used to drive sporty stick and for the past 10 years or so I've became the boring/safe dad with a huge van.

chassis

Seems fairly well maintained. Main battery should be replaced.

AC could be low on refrigerant. Search this site, the split warm/cold issue has come up before. If it needs a recharge it’s no big deal. Ask the seller to have it recharged and try it again.

juanmor40

Did you get the VIN number for the vehicle?

The AC at MAXCool should not do that, but I doubt it is a major repair. You said it is cooling well when in ZONE/AUTO mode, correct? If so, the refrigerant charge should be fine. Perhaps time for AC reinitialization, which actuates ALL the flaps, and likely one is stuck

Did you look around the engine? Oil stains around timing covers? Did you look at the undercarriage? in particular, the rear sub-frame must be looked at it carefully.

From your description, the car seems SOUND. In fact, there are 2008 E350 for sale @$8K with 120K+ miles in some states. So, this one sound very good.

Fliplegend

+ 1 on inspecting timing covers and the harnesses around them for oil as well as the rear subframe for rust and corrosion. Only other thing I didn't see are the 3 mounts (engine & trans) which at that age and mileage may be due.

Xk42

Vin is WDDHF5KB3DA719407.

He opened up the hood and showed me. I've never seen a car that clean inside the hood. The most recent work that was done was the coolant, he said he saw a little bit leaking and replaced it immediately. He said he doesn't do any of the repair himself. I could not see anything wrong with it. Even the serpentine belt looked brand new. I looked around the wheel, the caliper was good, no rust on the rotors. Everything was sparkly clean. My car which is newer, recently replaced rotors and pad isn't even as clean as this. I didn't see rust and corrosion anywhere but I'm unable to look undercarriage. Hence why I asked for PPI so they can lift the car up. He showed the odb scanner and there was no codes.

The only see things I saw bad was around the driver seat controls which was bubbly around the black plastic or paint.

I've attached some photos of the car. I questioned about the 4matic because based on the vin, it is not a 4matic. He said the previous owner put it on. It wasn't him.

Service history looks good. It's California car and serviced regularly at the dealer. But in the last few years or so, it looks like just private garage. He only bought the car a year ago at 12k and selling it because he is relocating

Xk42

Main battery? Just the 12V one right that I usually buy from costco? He said it was the original oem one and hasn't been replaced. He said the Mercedes battery usually cost a lot more. I always have one of those jump start power bank in my car. Saved some stragglers a few times.

He told me to make sure I change out the trans fluid at 150k-160k. I asked about the timing chain, he said this is inside the engine and it would last the lifetime of the car.

As for the AC, he said it was serviced two months ago. But it's been cold the last few months so we didn't really need the AC. It's possibly a flap stuck when on high fan. Since it looks like max cool would trigger the passenger side to turn to hot. If I turn down the fan, the AC returns to normal. I was more worried about the switch or some electronics that is broken. I also caught on the AC thing quick so I could haggle the price even more. He originally wanted close to 11k for it. I'm also a little surprised that he said he only got dealers trying to flip the car. Offering 6-8k for it. I put the vin into carvana and it has good sell value.

chassis

Yes the 12V battery. Replace it now. 10 years is far beyond the useful life of a battery. Buy from the dealer, battery prices are not too different between dealer and retail parts store.

Yes replace trans oil now.

AC was serviced therefore it is likely leaking. Check the hoses at the compressor for signs of weeping oil at the metal hose crimp.

juanmor40

From the VIN



Regarding oil transmission, service using the extremely interval is @70K miles, and though I did mine then, I would shorten it to @50K miles, or less for the next one. The savings on the service @$600 do not match the cost of repair of the transmission, @$5K+ (and likely used one) --> as recommended by @chassis , do it once you get the car, and would likely throw in (check most recent one): brake fluid flush and rear differential as well.

On the mounts, they seem to be a wear item @60K miles, so yours should be close for another set. Of course, a PPI will help make that decision a lot easier.

cetialpha5

The oem battery could be fine. I have the OEM Varta battery in my 2011 and it's still good with over 140k on it. You should get it load tested at any auto parts store for free before replacing it, it might still be good. You should get a scanner that can do MB specific codes. In addition to the other possibilities mentioned, it could also be one of the temperature sensors. What's common is the passenger side temperature sensor, if that's bad, could be throwing off the A/C. A scanner should pick that up. Easy for it to be damaged because the cabin air filter is under there along with the temperature sensor and it seems like the sensor is easily damaged when replacing the cabin filter.

Yeah, the timing chain should last the life of the engine, it's usually not an issue with most cars.

Xk42

I believe he said the trans fluid been changed. But I'll have to double check with him on the service record. On my other car, the trans fluid is apparently lifetime as specified in the manual. Car started acting up, I went on forums and got it flushed for $200. Saved me a ton of headache. Now I'm making sure trans fluid are change at set interval even if the manufacture says it would last a lifetime.

As for the mounts. Is this something simple that I can just buy from Mercedes website and replace it myself? I don't have a lift but I do have a family mechanic (kinda like stepdad) that keeps telling me to bring my car to him so he can work on it rather than paying dealer price.

In addition, if I do buy my first Mercedes. Do I really need to go to a specialized Mercedes garage? I'm assuming most things like oil changes, tire changes can be done with any yelp garage that is rated highly? There is a few German / benz garage near me in San Diego.

On the photo you attached. It says to install chain tensioners and check valves. I'm unclear what I need to do? Just make sure the mechanic check that chain tensioners and valve is good?

Xk42

I checked carfax record, the current owner is wrong. Battery was replaced in 04/2021, and he bought the car on 06/2022. I would be very surprised that a car from 2013 battery still works. Mine was from 2016 and it only lasted 5-6 years. I do however have a dashcam so it does very small power draw even when the car is off.
Thanks for the tip on MB specific code. I'll definitely do some research and buy one.

cetialpha5

There's two batteries, so it could still be the OEM one. The aux battery goes before the main one. If it's a Varta battery the production date is stamped on the post. You can get an Autel AP200 for $50 from Amazon and have it in 2 days.

Xk42

Actually found another clean looking one but higher mileage near me on autotrader. But I prefer grey over silver.
2012 E350

juanmor40

Here is my translator: "lifetime", noun, for car manufacturers: the duration they feel responsible for, i.e. lease agreement or offered warranty period. After that, it is not their problem.

I have done some kind of mechanics/wrenching since I was 16, supervised a city bus refurbishing operation in my mid-20s, mechanical engineer by profession, still enjoy working on cars (mine and everyone else's), and I still think knowing a good independent specialized in MB vehicles is a MUST. I would not let someone not frequently working on MB touch any of the 4 vehicles I care for. There is always a subtlety with an O-ring, torque specs, when to torque or not to torque, etc. You do not want to be on the wrong side of "most cars are like this, and this one (MB) caught me"

On the chain tensioners and check valve issue, the early production (300k+ of them) had some rattle at start-up when cold that was traced back to the lack of a check valve. Once the rattle starts, the damage has been done (shortening their lifespan) within the camshaft adjusters. To me (very personal opinion), the fix is to prevent further accelerated wear of the adjusters. Sister's W166 is an early production, it has not been "fixed" and it has no rattles; however, she does not drive the car hard, and a steady diet of ON-TIME oil changes which has been shortened to 5K miles instead of 10k (thanks to our friend and MB independent mechanic recommendation). What to do? MB independent to check, and shorten your oil changes to 5K miles instead, and (personal view again) raise your oil specs from 0W-40 to at least 5W-40 using an approved brand readily available.

cetialpha5

That 2012 at least has the pano roof but no other goodies like keyless go or folding rear seats. But it's also a Pzev which would be good, but as it's over 150k, the 15/150k warranty would be expired anyway and they do weird things that regular cars don't have like the fuel tank.

As for the battery, MB typically uses a hefty battery, it's an AGM H6. My 2008 still has the original H8 battery but I think after this summer, it'd be time for a new one. You normally just get them load tested to find out if they're good or not, not just replacing them based on time. But if you're in a hot state, they don't last as long.

As for the transmission fluid, Mercedes did the same thing with the W211, said it was lifetime then changed their mind and said it was 39k.

Xk42

Hmm pano roof sounds really nice. I think my family would like it. The good thing about the 2012 is that it is 1 owner and service records shows it is always serviced at the dealer. Whereas the 2013, I would be the 4th owner and in the last few years it was not serviced at the MB dealer. In terms of resell value, the 2013 is at 7.5k on carvana and the 2012 is at 3.5k. I think I would go for the newer one with less mileage and at least I know a lot of parts have been replaced.

BenzV12

Nice looking car , I prefer grey over silver as well but that's a little detail .
BTW, why not look for P2 package cars ? I mean those come with the keyless go , power trunk lid generally more equipped cars
As for the timing chain that's a relief posted by cetialpha5 but I have heard that those should be replaced every 150K miles .
Last but not least , nice to see you are impressed with the W212 a totally different approach from the car you had driven before

cetialpha5

I'm not sure where you heard that the timing chain should be replaced every 150k, pretty much the whole point of a timing chain vs a belt is that the timing chain lasts for the life of the engine, there are probably those out there with 200-300k that still have the original timing chain, it's not considered a wear item and doesn't need to be replaced if it doesn't stretch/break.

But yeah, P2 cars are nicer and they're easy to spot because you will have the cutouts in the bumper for the headlamp washers, the regular P1 cars wouldn't have that as you can see in the pictures posted previously. The real fun is trying to find one that's "full loaded", no real such thing as there's too many options and many of them are rare like the driver assistance package, designo packages, rear entertainment package, night view assist and Bang & Olufsen sound system, never seen a car that had more than two of those let alone 3+.

Should also use the standard resources out there, use a vin decoder to tell what the options are, never trust the dealer, read the brochures and see what the options were and the prices for a particular year. You can also find cheap carfaxes out there for $4 or less if you do a good search.

https://www.lastvin.com/

https://www.auto-brochures.com/mercedes-benz.html

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/merc...z/e-class/2013

Xk42

How would I know which have P2 in the vin decoder? Would it just come up as premium 2 package? As a person who doesn't know much about Mercedes, I didn't know 2013 could have that many features. As for the keyless go thing, it looks like you can just get the aftermarket stuff on amazon for $10.

Honestly with the current used market. I'm just trying to find something that isn't salvaged, 200k miles and beaten to death. There isn't much choice out where I live. I'm trying to predict what the market is going to be like and I don't like what I'm seeing and hearing. Interest rates are high, more people are having 1k auto loans and default is on the rise. My guess is that new cars are going to be too expensive and buyers are going to used car so it's going to continue to rise. Summer is around the corner and it's going to get expensive again. However it's also a time to find used car because people are selling their car and buying new ones.

cetialpha5

You can just tell from the options. P2 would be the bixenons, keyless go and the power trunk closer. So you would just see if it has those options then you know that you have P2.

As for keyless go, there is no aftermarket stuff. It's door handles, antennas and other electronic bits. The $10 stuff you see is just the button if it's missing from the car. If you don't have the option, it won't work. Only works if you have the option and you're missing the button. All Mercedes parts are so expensive that it's not worth trying to retrofit most options. Like the headlamps are over $1k new each for the bixenons but you can find them a little cheaper in the aftermarket or used. The failure rate isn't that high though so it's just one of those things you risk. I have bixenons on both my 2008 and 2011 and they're both still fine although one of the common failures with them is the ballast or motors. Like the only thing you can reasonable retrofit is probably the comfort box in the trunk.