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I'm looking at this 2011 E350. Would you buy it given the below information?
The car is not local to me so I got a inspection service to check it out. The inspector said the car drove fine in the test drive. There were signs of repairs as paint thickness is not consistent but the inspector said structurally it is not problem.
Car history report is attached. Here's the link to online condition report.
Below is the summary of the service history.
I don't know what type of driving happened in the past (e.g. long trip, short trip etc...)
In short, the inspector said he would give a thumb up for the purchase.
Asking price is $30,000 AUD.
It's rare to see this model with less 60,000 KM on the market. The options come with the car are good (AMG styling package, AMG wheels, all the necessary amenities).
My concerns are the car not getting driven much & services are behind the recommended time by a lot.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
My only concern is that the reports do not show a transmission service. You do have "reduced friction" code (A89) for the tranny, so you have not reached the mileage threshold, but you are beyond the 5 years for the transmission service interval. It would also be nice to know when oil changes were done. Forget the stupid long change intervals and begin changing every 5000 miles (8000 km).
Thanks for the link to the VIN page and pointing out the A89 code. I checked out the VIN specs before but didn’t notice it. I’m newbie to the MB world 😆.
I added the pics of service book in my original post. Looks like the oil was changed at servicing with 229.5 oil.
Nice report... very detailed to be honest. Generally the car looks good. There is no record on the pictures you posted of the gearbox oil ever being changed. The standard 229.5 is related to the engine oil and is the correct one for the engine. As mentioned, the transmission oil should be replaced every 125.000km or every 5 years (whatever happens first). It might be worthy negotiating to include the transmission service on the sale. At 58.000 km is unlikely the transmission is damaged but its behavior may change once it receives new oil.
I don't like the fact that the engine oil interval was so irregular, but to be honest, since this is a NA engine you should be fine.
There are a bunch of stored failure codes but the vast majority are related to low voltage. So I guess the car had its battery used until it died and no one cleared the faults after it was replaced.
Last edited by Andre Cateb; Yesterday at 10:48 AM.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
It's good to have the Service Booklet, as well. The car looks to have been properly maintained, except for the time limit on the transmission. Honestly, I don't know what is behind time limits on the tranny fluid. Motor oil is different -- it does have a shelf life. I did not realize that my 2015 SL400 needed a tranny service because it never reached the mileage threshold until I saw there was a time interval, as well. The dealership I take it to when I need something done that I can't do never said anything about the car needing a tranny service. That's surprising since it's a missed opportunity for them to sell me something. They are a good and trustworthy dealership so I can only conclude that the time limit is not as critical as the mileage. My car was eight years old with 43,000 miles when it had its first transmission service.
2015 SL400 (M276 Turbo), 2014 C350 Sport (M276 NA), 2004 SL500 (M113), 2004 Audi TT225 (BEA)
Originally Posted by enso_u
Thanks for the link to the VIN page and pointing out the A89 code. I checked out the VIN specs before but didn’t notice it. I’m newbie to the MB world 😆.
I added the pics of service book in my original post. Looks like the oil was changed at servicing with 229.5 oil.
Since you are new to Mercedes, one of the most important tools you will need, whether you do your own work or not, is a proper scan tool that is Mercedes-specific. There are some inexpensive ones from Amazon that are good to keep in the car, but for serious diagnostics and troubleshooting, you will want a copy of XENTRY along with WIS and EPC. WIS is the electronic workshop manual and EPC is the electronic parts catalog.
The best place to get what you need is from @BenzNinja (www.benzninja.com). He not only has the most stable and reliable versions of the software, but he can also run diagnostics, code, configure, and update your car's software remotely. He can also provide links to reliable hardware you will need.
30,000 Australian dollars are 19,000 US? seems a bit pricey, but the mileage is low and it has lighting and winter packages, Might be part of the luxury #2 or even #3 package, if so, it might be worth it. Nice car though. Just to give you a reference, I have a 2013 with 101,000 miles, luxury #3 package so loaded including AMG package and I was just offered 5600 US on trade, so yes comparing trade in to retail but still, my car looks new in and out. Market could be way different in Australia
Last edited by pierrejoliat; Yesterday at 01:12 PM.
30,000 Australian dollars are 19,000 US? seems a bit pricey, but the mileage is low and it has lighting and winter packages, Might be part of the luxury #2 or even #3 package, if so, it might be worth it. Nice car though. Just to give you a reference, I have a 2013 with 101,000 miles, luxury #3 package so loaded including AMG package and I was just offered 5600 US on trade, so yes comparing trade in to retail but still, my car looks new in and out. Market could be way different in Australia
Prices of cars in the US always amaze me! A car like yours in Brazil probably sell for about USD 20000. Last year I paid about USD 32000 for my 2015 E400 with 41000 km on it.
Prices of cars in the US always amaze me! A car like yours in Brazil probably sell for about USD 20000. Last year I paid about USD 32000 for my 2015 E400 with 41000 km on it.
Yes, they're selling here for around 9-13,000 here, so that was a low offer, even the book value on trade is 7900-9800 USD, plus I'm sure they're not taking into account all the options, It may mean they don't want it.
Last edited by pierrejoliat; Yesterday at 08:06 PM.
Nice report... very detailed to be honest. Generally the car looks good. There is no record on the pictures you posted of the gearbox oil ever being changed. The standard 229.5 is related to the engine oil and is the correct one for the engine. As mentioned, the transmission oil should be replaced every 125.000km or every 5 years (whatever happens first). It might be worthy negotiating to include the transmission service on the sale. At 58.000 km is unlikely the transmission is damaged but its behavior may change once it receives new oil.
I don't like the fact that the engine oil interval was so irregular, but to be honest, since this is a NA engine you should be fine.
There are a bunch of stored failure codes but the vast majority are related to low voltage. So I guess the car had its battery used until it died and no one cleared the faults after it was replaced.
Thanks for your feedback. It's a good & fair point to negotiate a transmission service included as part of the sale. Not sure how much it will be for a MB, online search says it's around $300 - $500 in general locally.
When you say transmission service, it means a full flush & fluid change, right?
Originally Posted by JettaRed
It's good to have the Service Booklet, as well. The car looks to have been properly maintained, except for the time limit on the transmission. Honestly, I don't know what is behind time limits on the tranny fluid. Motor oil is different -- it does have a shelf life. I did not realize that my 2015 SL400 needed a tranny service because it never reached the mileage threshold until I saw there was a time interval, as well. The dealership I take it to when I need something done that I can't do never said anything about the car needing a tranny service. That's surprising since it's a missed opportunity for them to sell me something. They are a good and trustworthy dealership so I can only conclude that the time limit is not as critical as the mileage. My car was eight years old with 43,000 miles when it had its first transmission service.
Yes, definitely will ask for the Service Booklet. They said now all the service records are all online. Good thing to know that time-based service is not as critical as the mileage-based service.
Thanks for your tips on the Xentry, WIS & EPC, I will look for ones if going ahead with this purchase.
Originally Posted by pierrejoliat
30,000 Australian dollars are 19,000 US? seems a bit pricey, but the mileage is low and it has lighting and winter packages, Might be part of the luxury #2 or even #3 package, if so, it might be worth it. Nice car though. Just to give you a reference, I have a 2013 with 101,000 miles, luxury #3 package so loaded including AMG package and I was just offered 5600 US on trade, so yes comparing trade in to retail but still, my car looks new in and out. Market could be way different in Australia
Ideally I would love a 2012 pre-facelift with the M276 instead of M272 for more juice. I'm coming from 2013 Mazda 6 with 138KW/185hp (98kw/tons) to M272 200kw/286hp (120kw/tons) so it's still an improvement.
From the VIN spec sheet, it has all the things I know that I need. MultiContour & heated & cooled seats would be nice too but I can live without them.
I've been looking for one online semi-regularly (once a week) since start of the year. Pre-facelift one with low mileage, has the right color, AMG styling package... is actually pretty rare. All pre-facelift is most likely well above 100K kms. I know mileage may not be that big of a deal if it's a well-maintained but I'm a newbie so it's just safer to look for a low km ones.
Do you guys have any concerns of plastic parts degrading & cracking when buying an old car? If it's an inevitable, how much should I set aside roughly for those?
Also I read somewhere along my forum scouring that the USB port is not powerful enough to charge phone. Can anyone advise on this?
Yesterday, 03:35 AM
