robbrown99

Found a really nice 2016 E350 wagon with just 42K on the clock for $32k US. I have the carfax, and autocheck report. Neither has any record of any service being done. Just inspections and that is it. Not even the free first oil change shows up.

Either they were mechanically minded and did it themselves (fair enough as I do that!) or they never had an oil change. I would have thought at least one oil change to be picked up since new (I believe the first one is free?). Or are people that stupid to not get oil changed?

There's also an accident that comes up on the Autocheck report, but doesn't on the Carfax. I guess autocheck looks up police logs. I will be taking a careful look at it.

I put a refundable deposit down as these things go fast. Taking a look at it tomorrow morning

chassis

Clean title other than an accident?

Seems red flag-ish to me.

robbrown99

Yes, title is clean

chassis

W212s are getting long in the tooth at this point. If you are skilled at DIY or have a good Indy this far might be OK. If not I would pass.

robbrown99

Yep, I'm a DIY-er.

Just got rid of a Jeep that was constantly needing attention, so hoping this will be a little better.

This one is a 2016, so not too old. I figured the less miles is good, but then realized the maintenance history is lacking. Good news is that the lemon law in MA is pretty good.

It is either this one or there's:
- a 2016 with 76k miles for $25k (good maintenance history, and LOADED with all the features inc distronic)
- a 2015 with 64k miles for $25k (good maintenance history, but has more limited features)

DFWdude

I use MY CARFAX on my phone to track service details. Haven't found any way to download the history, so I assume I can't prove my work to anyone. I could show it to anyone, though.

chassis

Well-optioned with good maintenance history sounds good.

kajtek1

Acident lowers the price quite a bit, no matter how small.
$32k for 7 yo car is lot of money in my book.
Personally, being DIYer, I don't care much about paper records. I just inspect the car.
Is oil showing decent color?
What Assist say about oil change? Car ECU will hold the mileage when service was reset, so easy to check.
0 to 60 is my main car check.

cetialpha5

Accidents don't really mean much especially at that age and when you drive in the city. I would go with the 2016, you can enable Apple Carplay/Android auto with a firmware update if it hasn't already been done. Much more work on a 2015 or earlier. You can also check the VMI at an MB dealer, need to be the owner in order to get it though. MB never had a free oil change or service, you had to buy those or maybe it was a perk from an individual dealer. Service was probably done, it was probably just done at a dealer that doesn't report to those services, there are a few out there.

kajtek1

Dealers have obligations to report the service.
Heck even Walmart service will show on Carfax

cetialpha5

Well it doesn't always work the way you think it does. Found lots of stuff in the VMI that was never reported. Which is why it's nice to get the VMI.

diesel_dan

I went by my local MB dealer and asked them to print out the MBUSA records - all were there (regular MB maintenance) and none showed up anywhere else, go figure... I like a known history on a used car as well - good luck to you!