OldTiredSailor

We purchased a 2014 C-350 Coupe, with 20,000 miles on it, May 4, 2018 from the Mercedes dealer which leased it to the first, and ONLY, prior owner.

CarFax and Florida DMV show the car was originally sold on December 10, 2014. My understanding is the Factory Warranty will therefore run thru December 9, 2018.

We took the car to the MB dealer for a warranty issue. No dispute, they will cover the Fire Opal red repaint. PERFECT!

But... the service manager says our warranty expires July 24, 2018 because that is when the car was "first put into service." He cannot explain what that means or why his computer generated paperwork differs from the CarFax report given to me by the Mercedes salesman. Nor can he explain why the Mercedes financial guy told us we had to purchase an extended warranty by December 9, 2018 when the 4-year factory warranty expires. The service manager had no data or information to support the July 24, 2014 "warranty begin" date but said that is the one they and MBNA will use.

Additionally, I talked to the Used Car Sales Manager yesterday afternoon about the warranty. That person used the VIN to confirm to me that the warranty expires 12 AM December 10, 2018.

The Limited Warranty book, which came with the car says:

DEFECTS: Mercedes Benz USA warrants to the original and subsequent owner of a new Mercedes Benz vehicle ... will make any repairs or replacements necessary to correct defects in material or workmanship arising during the warranty period.

WARRANTY PERIOD: This warranty is for 48-months or 50,000 miles, whichever occurs first.

WARRANTY STARTS: The warranty period starts on the date the vehicle is delivered to the first retail purchaser or put in service as an authorized Mercedes Benz demonstrator... or ... company vehicle.

CarFax, VIN Decoder, Florida DMV info:

Delivery date to Mercedes Benz of XXXX November 1, 2013
Offered for sale by Mercedes Benz of XXXXX January, 10, 2014
Sold December 10, 2014 by Mercedes Benz of XXXX
Title issued December 18, 2014, First owner reported Titled or registered as personal lease vehicle

Registration issued or renewed March 3, 2015 as personal lease vehicle
Registration issued or renewed March 3, 2017 as personal lease vehicle
Lease vehicle returned to dealer December 1, 2017

We purchased the car May 4, 2018.

Is it possible the warranty does expire on July 24, 2018?
IF SO - Why?

How would Mercedes document that the car was used as a demonstrator or company vehicle?

If the date is established by the beginning of MB demonstrator or company vehicle usage - what is the point of CarFax for title information?

Mr. Toad

The warranty period begins on the original "in-service" date, which is the date on which the original owner purchased the vehicle. I don't believe MB will defer to CarFax as the source of this information; the "official" date for your car will be attached to the VIN in the MB master computer system (which is accessible by all authorized MB dealers). Try calling the service department at a different dealership and ask them to tell you the original in-service date for your VIN.

OldTiredSailor

Thanks for the information about "in-service date", which confused me even further. Can you comment on the following?

April 6, 2018 the car was advertised as a CPO vehicle with "less than 20,000 miles." I talked to an MB sales person who clearly told me the car was CPO and the factory warranty would be thru December 9, 2018 and the CPO would extend that thru December 9, 2019. We discussed CPO warranty at some length.

April 28 we visited the dealer and test drove the car. At that time we were told the car was not a CPO vehicle but were given a CarFax report showing the first owner purchased the car on December 10, 2014 and were told the factory warranty would extend thru December 9, 2018. We dealt with a different salesperson than we had talked to on April 6.

May 4 we took delivery of the car and the MB finance person tried to sell us an extended warranty to begin on December 10, 2018 when the factory warranty ended.

CarFax shows the car had 119 miles on the odometer December 10, 2014 when it sold to the first retail owner.

The car was first delivered to the local MB dealer in early November 2013 and was not sold to a retail customer until 13-months later. Are you telling me that MB can pick any date during that 13-months to start the 48-month warranty period and not disclose that information at the time of selling the car? If that is true, the 48-month warranty could be 25% gone at the time the car was first titled. Does that make sense?

At the time of purchase we signed a document titled "Disclosure of Prior Use Demonstrator / Service Loaner / Prior Rental", which states "I acknowledge that the vehicle I am purchasing/leasing has been previously used a a Demonstrator, Service Loaner, and /or Prior Rental vehicle." Nothing in the document states that the Factory Warranty Period began with that use. In fact, the salesman emphasized that the low mileage due to a lease return enhanced the car's value. The MB finance guy told us we were acknowledging the prior lease history of the car and referenced the CarFax report showing the first title date of December 10, 2014.

How would a first time Mercedes owner know that the much discussed 48-month factory warranty period actually began five-months prior to the first owner taking delivery of the car?

Am I just that naive?

pjw1967

Try entering the car VIN on Mercedes Me. https://www.mbusa.com/mercedesme/index It should give you what MB itself shows for the warranty period. My GL was a CPO so it gets 5 years total from the in service date. MB shows May 12, 2019 as the expiration date. Carfax shows May 12, 2014 as the Vehicle Offered for Sale date.

OldTiredSailor

MB website shows the in service date to be July 31, 2014.
CarFax shows the FIRST owner took delivery December 10, 2014 at which time the vehicle had 119 miles on it
Florida DMV shows the FIRST title/registration was issued December 18, 2018
I talked to the "Director of Customer Service" at the dealership. He reviewed the CarFax report given me by the MB salesman and his internal MB data. He said he could not explain why the "in-service date" was 4.5 months prior to the car being sold to the first owner. He found no records indicating the car had been used as a demo or loaner car but did stress the July 31, 2014 date was the beginning of the 48-month warranty period.

SO, from my perspective - the Mercedes dealer sold me a used car, which they repeatedly told me was a "one owner car leased from us" which was first registered December 18, 2014. That is the information I was given, in writing, prior to purchasing the car. They stressed the prior history of the car and their total involvement with all prior aspects of the car. My wife and I had at least three conversations with the MB salesman about the remaining duration of the factory warranty.

BUT - when I tried to use the remaining 48-month warranty I was told it began FIVE MONTHS prior to the December 10, 2014 date when the car was first used.

There was NO POSSIBLE way for me to determine, prior to purchasing the car, that the 48-month warranty, of which I was told I would have 7-months and 5-days, would actually be only 2-months and 27-days. I now note the"fine print" at the bottom of the CarFAX report given us by the Mercedes dealer the caution: "we have not verified the information contained in this CarFax report." But, they sure used it as a major selling point to assuage our concerns about buying a 4-year old car!

Is that the way a large Mercedes dealer normally does business? I am a 40+ year Porsche and SAAB owner and have purchased many lightly used and new cars from two different Porsche dealerships, and three different SAAB dealerships. I have not experienced such fine print deception at those dealerships.

We still love the car and are very happy we purchased it - but we are very disappointed that Mercedes-Benz is acting like a small used car dealer trying to get over on a naive customer. We trusted them when they gave us the warranty information and now feel that we were victims of deceptive sales techniques.

Mr. Toad

When you say that you were given the information "in writing", are you referring only to the CarFax report, or do you have a document that was issued by the dealer which indicates the December date?

OldTiredSailor

"do you have a document that was issued by the dealer which indicates the December date?"

While sitting at the MB salesman's desk, my wife and I repeatedly asked about the remaining duration of the factory warranty. Eventually, the salesman handed us the CarFax report and put a check mark next to the December 10, 2014 "first owner title issued" date and said "that is when the warranty period started so it will end on December 9, 2018."

We had no reason to doubt the salesman.

It is probably no big deal but seems a bit tacky to me to tell us the warranty begins when the car is first sold but neglects to mention "first sold to the dealership" is what he really means.