Just because it's certified doesn't mean they inspected it well.

I blame myself for not taking a more aggressive test drive on my certified E300 before I purchased it a couple months ago.
Recently, I noticed that if I brake a little harder above about 45 mph, I get significant brake shudder/vibration.

I took it to the Mercedes dealer and they told me it has rust spots on the rotors which are causing this issue. The previous owner didn't drive the car much and it sat around for long periods causing this problem.
They said they do not resurface Mercedes rotors because they are "too soft."
They also told me to contact the Mercedes dealer which sold me the certified vehicle and basically said there's nothing they can do about it. They wanted over $1,500 to fix the issue.
So I'm taking the car to an independent shop tomorrow to have them resurface the rotors and hopefully resolve the problem. [edit: I’ve been advised not to do this].

A hard lesson learned to test drive your vehicle aggressively so these kinds of symptoms show up before you purchase.

edit: After talking with Mercedes customer service, the dealership agrees to cover parts if I cover labor. Not an ideal resolution but it’s a compromise I’ll accept.

Mercedes rotors are NOT overly thick to permit resurfacing. Your Indy mechanic should already know this.

You paid a needless $5-$6K more than a used price for a CPO status. The dealer that sold you the CPO car should spend some of this profit and address this.

It's not really a good warning as there are many threads on this forum where this is true. They just slap the CPO label on the car sometimes and don't do the things they're supposed to do. The OP could also try complaining to MB-USA as to how the dealer didn't do their job.

So I talked to the manager at the dealer we purchased the vehicle from. He was understanding and said to bring the car in and they will take a look.

edit: After bringing the car in today they want me to pay out of pocket for everything.

+1. Recently bought a CPO and it was out of alignment and had a cracked rim. Unlikely the car was inspected thoroughly. FWIW the dealer has also been accommodating.

Just my $.02:

I would imagine that dealers CPO cars that have no body damage and low mileage. If there is an obvious problem they will pass. Most have been serviced by he dealer so they have records and since the car was under warranty, any problems were taken care of.

Some may even be loaners

They then detail the car, inside and out, make it look spanking brand new and sell them.

I think built into the price is that when there are problems and because of the huge mark up, they graciously fix them which makes the buyer happy!

I think that in the long run, fixing problems as they occur, is much cheaper than going over the car with a "fine tooth comb". Going over the car with a fine tooth comb may fix problems that the buyer may never realize are there.

Most CPO are still under warranty and I wonder if in the long run would it not be cheaper to buy a car still under warranty, but not CPO, and just take an extended warranty?

Those experiences are why I only buy new cars. Even so, a new car (any brand) has enough issues at delivery to drive one crazy. I've never bought a car that didn't have a long punch list of items needing attention. My W213 had about 45 items for correction.

Wow!

I had no issues at all. After six months the headlight light switch which controls the automatic high beam (I have the lighting package) went bad and it took a week for a replacement to arrive from Germany.

If I ever had even 10 issues at delivery, never mind 45, I would never buy that car again.

45 issues on a $70,000 plus car is just unacceptable.

On my Ford Edge Sport the only issue was after 3 months the heated steering wheel had to be replaced. On my prior Ford Edge Sport, no issues from day one to when I turned it at lease end 3 years later!

I depends on how picky one is. If the is a spec of dirt or a swirl in the polish, it is an issue that I make the dealer correct. I measure panel clearances and if they are not to spec, it is an issue that must be corrected before I accept delivery. FWIW Over 60 years of purchasing new cars every couple of years (many brands) , I've never found a car that didn't have at least 30 issues when off loaded from the truck. I'm referring to pre-delivery issues, not problems that crop up after delivery. For the W213 I have not had any issues after delivery.

Wow and DOUBLE WOW!

You measure panel clearances! I do not own a micrometer - neither do I know anyone when they pick up a car to bring one!

Besides dirt and ill fitting panels what were some of your other 43 defects in your Mercedes that needed correction before you accepted delivery?

As I posted, other than the defective light switch, my Mercedes has been perfect.

That's lame OP. I recently watched a very interesting vid on youtube about why CPO cars are just a way for dealers to mark up used cars, I tried to find the darn thing but couldn't.....if you're a youtube person, that's a good place to see many vids on the matter, good luck to ya!

I found the link to the YouTube video about CPO being nothing more than a used car with a extended warranty from the manufacturer. (see below)

At minute 11 the video speaks specifically to Mercedes CPO cars.

It is EYE OPENING!

Enjoy!

see:

"Passed a multipoint inspection, Heh, heh, heh...."

You aren’t kidding. The CPO I bought from Mercedes Benz of Naperville / Autonation is a joke of a process.

1) flew from Georgia to Chicago. Short test drive (assuming all is well since it’s certified ). Drove to Cleveland and the adaptive high beam wasn’t working

2) went to the dealer in Cleveland and had a puncture apparently that may have carried over from Chicago which finally broke the seal of the tire. Dealer could not diagnose with the limited time , changed tire and on my way. Note , backup sensors were not working and I backed into a fire hydrant.

3) drove back to Georgia and dropped off at local dealer. Also had rattles to get addressed. They fixed the adaptive high beam as the camera appeared installed incorrectly from the factory. They replaced the dash speaker cover as a source of rattles and also reinstalled the driver seat back. They couldn’t do anything about the bumper as they said the sensors worked , even though functionally they were not which I demonstrated to the service manager. It was intermittent.

4) picked car up from dealer to take to body shop. Noticed large scratches on the door from the dealer. They asked for the body shop quote who was doing the bumper replacement but said it was too high and to bring the car to them to have their guy take care of it after I get the bumper done. They said I needed to go to their certified shop , which wasn’t actually a certified shop. I ended up getting some money from them but still $300 out of pocket to have it fixed and painted the same time as the bumper.

5) rattles still present. Took car to a different dealer and told them the rear view mirror and a piece of trim were rattling. They replaced the same dash pad again. I showed them a video and demonstrated the mirror issue at drop off , so when I went to pick it up today they ordered a mirror and I have to take it back.

6) the dealer I bought the car from let the temp reg lapse. They gave me a 30 day tag and spent 3 weeks before starting reg paperwork. I had to pester them repeatedly.

MBUSA gave me a $500 goodwill credit for parts and service after numerous follow ups , and my backup sensors work great after the body shop did all the repairs. Bought the car in November and it’s been in and out of 3 dealers and a body shop

Crikey!! That's the one!

the brake issue is apparent for a lot of us, whether cpo or not. check out the other posts.

CPO is really just an extended warranty on the car which is a pretty nice one.
Some dealers check them out for obvious stuff and a mechanic probably gets 1/2 hour time to fil out the 30000 point inspection form or whatever # of points.
So they look at obvious, leaks, tires, pads, idiot lights, how it drives etc.

But unlimited mileage and added year is pretty nice - now is it worth it...

Well that depends on the price of the car you are looking at... sometimes you can get lucky and find great deals.

But as always with any used car (And New) check it over...

not like peeps go to store and grab any gallon of Milk everyone looks for the one with the furthest away experation date.

I looked at the service report for mine from the dealer who I bought it from.. replaced 1 tire, did the 30k mile service, detailed, and replaced a wheel center cap. I saw another report from the same dealer where they replaced a bumper cover and splash shield on a CPO with 5k miles. Some other dealers do a full brake job/new tires/etc.. some do the bare minimum.

The dealer isn’t budging. They say they won’t cover anything and I have to pay out of pocket.

The best or nothing, guys!

Just my $.02/suggestion:

As we have all learned the CPO process is at best a joke or at worst a fraud.

Having said that, it would seem that the extended warranty, which is what you get when you pay extra for a CPO vehicle, is from Mercedes Benz USA and not the dealer.

So your recourse is with Mercedes Benz USA.

I would be on the phone with them (Mercedes Benz USA) to get them involved. Clearly the brakes, part of the CPO process were not checked - if they were the problem would have been noticed and corrected.

If that fails Newspapers are a very effective tool to motivate Mercedes Benz!

Thanks for the suggestion. I don’t have the time and energy to argue with these guys.

I’ll update the thread when I get my car fixed.

You can buy a full OEM brake kit off ebay for around $700 w/ sport brakes. Includes front and rear rotors, pads, sensors all OEM. Have your mechanic install them.. should save you some money.

will they fit the 18” luxury model?

here’s the link to the one without sport brakes

https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?m...2F152672222467

you can also get the lifetime warranty ones from Fcpeuro

I priced out the rotors on fcp + akebono front pads and oem rear pads plus bowa sensors (oem supplier ) and it comes to $680 and you get a lifetime warranty from fcpeuro

Certified Pre-Pwned

List of stuff not working correctly on our CPO W212 AMG at time of purchase with 27k miles on it in November 2018 from the AutoNation benz dealer in Chicagoland:
- E-brake pedal would not release
- Weeping coolant reservoir
- Glued-on fuel door
- Rear tires cupped and causing a hum/vibration
- AC didn't work

Most of that was all fixed under warranty by my home dealer, but jesus. Except the tires, which they claimed were ok because the tread depth measured good. YEah ok but what about the inner two tread ribs that are gatorbacked and down to 1-3/32"? Oh that's normal. OK Guys, see you never again. The pads were also very thin at all four corners (but still lasted us 12k more miles, so I'm not complaining too much). I'm told this is very common for MB, the CPO process is a cash cow for high-volume dealers and they do the bare minimum to check the boxes.

The good news for me, at least, is my home dealer's service department is top notch, and I have an OEM-backed warranty, on a very costly car to fix, until 2023. In the pre-purchase regard BMW does a better job, I have yet to personally see a CPO BMW for sale that didn't have brand new tires and brakes on it, for instance, though that could just be good dealers in my area. And BMW doesn't offer any unlimited mileage anything, and there is a deductible. All of these programs have warts and gotchas to look out for, but for how Benz sells the program, they certainly aren't doing as good a job as those techs in the ads....