Greetings!

I bought a CPO '17 E300 4Matic earlier this week with 28k miles. Finding a CPO with 4Matic, Premium III, Burmester, etc., took a while!

The photos on the dealership's website looked great. The car was a lease return that arrived at the dealership on 7/29. It was CPOed a few days later. Having owned lots of cars, I figured that the dealership would be eager to move it around the end of this month. They did, and I got a good deal. I drove 3.5 hours to get it. Upon arrival, everyone at the dealership was great -- the internet manager, general sales manager, etc. I asked the service manager to print out everything that'd been done to the car. 20k service, alignment, dent repair.

The delivery took place on the dark side of the dealership . . . .

So when I stopped for gas on the ride home I noticed a huge scratch on the driver's door. See below. I was not happy. I took photos and sent them to the internet manager (my salesperson) and the GSM. They'd been in constant contact with me throughout the process but now were silent. No response that day. I received a text the next day from the salesperson mentioning that I could take more photos to have her paint guys look at it. I told her that was ridiculous because I would not make a 7 hour round-trip drive to have them repair it. I reiterated that a CPO should not have been sold in that condition.



By comparison, when I bought my Lexus ES (the car that I traded in), the salesperson pointed out a slight dent in the metal trim piece on the driver's door. The salesperson immediately took me to service to order the trim place and schedule a service appointment and a loaner.

So I took the E300 to my local dealership yesterday. They're great. The scratch is fixed.

1. My local dealership told me that a CPO should NOT be sold with such a glaring scratch. I think that MB has standards . . . .
2. My wiper blades should have been replaced with the 20k service. They were not. So my local dealership is going to call the selling dealership to investigate. The plan is for my local dealership to replace my blades and seek reimbursement from the selling dealership.
3. The CarFax and other documents indicate that the selling dealership installed wheel locks. They were not installed.
4. One document in my paperwork has the "loaner" box checked under vehicle type. There is absolutely nothing in the other sales paperwork, Carfax, etc., that so indicates. The CarFax indicates that this was a personal lease which went to a MB auction in late July and was then CPOed. The difference in mileage between 7/29 and 8/30 is negligible. So there is no evidence that the car went into loaner service, so perhaps it's a typo. But given the dealership's other behavior, who knows.

So next week I plan to call MB customer care. I'd appreciate your thoughts on what I should say and what I should request, if anything.

On a positive note, I love the car! I'm very happy to be back in the MB family (I had a CPO '08 S550 about 6 years ago). Today I went to Discount Tire to replace the OE Michelin MXM4 runflats with Pirelli Cinturato Strada A/S tires. The now rides like a baby S-Class.

I'll give a shout out to my local servicing dealership. Aside from taking care of the scratch, they did the nav update and verified that the "phantom wipe" situation with my rain-sensing wipers is not abnormal. Also, the dealership worked me in yesterday without an appointment even though it was slammed. What excellent service.

 

On a lighter note - that looks to be a really nice car. Dakota brown is really nice - and 4Matic Luxury Series with P3 - once you have everything straightened you, you've got a great new set of wheels.

 

Thanks so much! The Dakota Brown is stunning. I've already received quite a few compliments. I usually avoid dark interiors but the Black Nappa is great and pairs nicely with the Dakota Brown.

 

Nice car! Don't let the little things (old wipers, errant note on the Carfax), or even the scratches you can hopefully get buffed out or touched up for a couple hundred dollars, ruin your enjoyment of your new car.

 

FYI: with CPO purchase you can give them back the car within 7 days I think and get all your money back if you are not happy....

I think this shouldbe 14 days but oh well better then nothing if you need it.

 

im thinking it might have been a loaner prior to it being leased to the first owner. Not in between that 1 month indicated.

 

Just my $.02:

Doubt it was a loaner. Once a car becomes a loaner it is registered and "used":

Used MB usually do lease as well as new ones. So either it was a loaner or leased car, but not both.

 

I love the car and will definitely keep it. I put four new tires on it yesterday!

Regarding the selling dealership, my problem is that I detest shadiness - especially when I'm spending money. Right is right. So earlier today I received an email from the dealership asking me to give it all "10s" in the survey from MB and to make immediate contact if I cannot. Are you kidding me?

I think the survey might impact the salesperson the most; meaning that anything short of perfection will reduce or eliminate her bonus. So I need to decide if I want to penalize her for everything that has gone down. (Interestingly, she mentioned that the dealership sends a gift to all customers who submit surveys with all 10s).

 

So... The CSI survey process is a terrible one - because providing real, honest feedback impacts the compensation of more than just the salesperson. If you truly feel like you will never need the selling dealership again, you can respond with your actual feedback... If you think there is the slightest chance that you'll need to deal with them again, grit your teeth and give them all 10's.