Honge1222

Hello,

I recently purchased an used 2013GL 450 but was blown away by how poor the interior condition was. This Mercedes certified vehicle had broken air vents, defective windshield, torn head rests, missing floor mats, dirty interior, and dings/scratches on the exterior . It was part my fault for not fully inspecting the vehicle. I might have given too much credit to Mercedes certification program.

I was able to speak to the general manager there and he had told me that the car was at the dealer prior to him coming to this dealership. He thinks the prior manager and the technician did a poor job of preparing this vehicle for sale. I had doubts about whether this car indeed went through the certification progress. How could they miss the obvious? Could there have been a false advertisement? Later, however, I was able to confirm that this vehicle was indeed properly certified.

Anyways I immediately started to question their work on how they could possibly advertise this vehicle as a CPO. This is no where near the high standard Mercedes places on their vehicle. The general manager finally agreed to repair all of the issues and have the car presentable to me. However, I'm seriously having doubts about whether the mechanical and electrical portion of the certification have properly been checked. Should I ask the manager to perform CPO certification once more with a different technician? Obviously, if that technician missed out on items that are right in front of his face what could he have missed that can't be easily seen? Good news is the manager seems willing to help me and make things right.

What do you think? What should I ask for to ensure that this vehicle is up to Mercedes standards.

Thanks for reading!

cyclrder

the CPO is process will vary greatly between dealers....but in the end you probably should have done a better job of pre-checking the car before you left the dealer parking lot.

Honge1222

i agree with you 100%. I'm just glad the manager is genuinely sorry about the situation and willing to fix the problems.

dieseldoc

I would ask the dealer to check the entire car thoroughly and make sure the car is up to tip top standards. Unfortunately a used car is a used car. There is always a chance of a hidden surprise.

sg021

Sorry to hear about your experience, it is very different from what CPO should be held to and what I experienced. I test drove before it had been cleaned up (overnighted from another dealer), so it had a front plate holder I didn't want, some dings/scratches on the exterior, scuffs on the wheels, and some dirty spots on the interior.
After they were done fixing it up I couldn't have discerned it from brand new, aside from a small mark that is probably never coming off one of the rear seats and the previous owner's address still being in the nav (oops). Based on my experience your car sounds like mine before anything was actually done to it.

Count Laszlo

This is a double-edged sword. I don't believe CPO means fix every scratch, tear, hidden surprises a previous owner inflicted, but it is important that all mechanical areas of the car are repaired/inspected, etc., to quality it for CPO. It is a used car after all and in all honesty, I wouldn't have expected to have scratches and that sort of thing repaired prior to resale. Now, as for the vent being broken, yes, that should be fixed for sure and was probably just missed. It's always super important when buying a used car to look at it not once, but twice, and maybe three times before pulling the trigger. As human beings (guys) we get really excited and unfortunately miss some of the flaws that we would normally be caught if our attention was more focused.

Honge1222

Thank you all for sharing your opinions and experiences. The technician who processed the CPO inspection for my vehicle is no longer at that dealership. At this point, I just want the dealer to fix the obvious as well as inspect mechanical and electrical components once more with another technician. I want a full CPO inspection and certification report once they are finished.

Oh and I also found out the car was in a body shop few months ago for front bumper repair but I didn't know about it because it was not on the carfax report. Another Mercedes dealership I dealt with in the past ran the vin and found out for me. I hope it was very minor as it didn't show up on carfax. I'll call the body shop tomorrow to find out what they had to repair.

It's been 3 weeks since the purchase and the car has been at the dealer for almost 2 weeks. Car drives beautifully and my wife can't wait to have it back!

Sorry for boring you guys to death

Count Laszlo

Don't be sorry and not boring at all. The front bumper might have been a simple respray - bumpers get bruised (time-to-time) and not uncommon to have them resprayed, dealer included. But, if the vehicle was in an accident and the previous owner opted to have it repaired/paid out of pocket, then it won't show up on Carfax. And even minor dents/etc., even when claimed through insurance, won't show up on Carfax. It's the more significant repairs/claims that do.

sg021

I don't disagree to some extent. If a manufacturer wants their CPO to stand for inspected + additional warranty time that's fair. From a brand image standpoint it sends a much better message to say you won't let something off the lot that isn't to the nines, especially when your slogan is "the best or nothing". From a practical standpoint a luxury buyer is more likely to pay a slight premium for a completely fixed up car anyway, even if they are trying to save money by avoiding new. That was the case for me at least.

CTScot

I has a similar experience on a 2013 GL450. The CPO inspection and cleanliness of the car when it was ready to be driven off the lot was way less than desired. Ive had a Nav firmware/software upgrade to fix a fault, M-Brace reload, new rear seat cushion and a new shark fin antenna fitted twice since purchase a month ago. The dealer detailed the car twice (which broke the antenna in the 1st place), but they only really did the outside. Their interior detail and attention to detail has been very poor. Anyhow, after much toing and froing they fixed everything at no charge (don't mention the inconvenience). The dealer actually had my new CPO more days in the month of February than I did (albeit they gave me a 2016 E400 to play in). I spoke to MB head office which finally made the dealer wake up and I'm negotiating compensation with them - they want to give me next 2 services for free, I want the 2 year extended guarantee as I want them to stand behind their product. I'm meeting the head of the dealership this coming weekend 3/19 to hopefully put this behind me.

Honge1222

Sounds a lot like mine. Please keep us updated. If you get your compensation then good for you my friend! I feel like I don't have to make any report to MBUSA at this time. I want to give them a chance to make the necessary repairs.

maneesh

just wanted to share my experience with a 2013 GL450 CPO. I too took CPO for granted. The interior of my 2002 ML320 with 120k miles was in much better shape than the 2013 GL450 CPO I purchased. it had broken trim pieces, missing piece and other stains on carpet, not to mention a broken plastic piece in the 2nd row. I got false promises from the salesperson, i should've just gone to the general manager. They replaced most of it, but not the 2nd row plastic piece. I'm emailing the general manager. Also one of the air intakes to the engine was ripped - they ordered the part and it has taken more than two weeks and it is not here yet.

It was my bad for putting too much trust in the CPO. I had to practically beg for the CPO certificate because i was having doubts. However, there is a CPO sticker on the B pillar.

I think the sales guy i got was a jerk and buyers should inspect the vehicle completely even when it is a CPO. And if they said they are going to fix something, buy it after they fix it.

Honge1222

I'm sorry to hear about your vehicle. I would call your GM and get him involved. My request for some of the repairs were denied by someone in the service department. As soon as I spoke to my GM, he was sorry about how they presented the car to me. I'm getting everything replaced even the panoramic sunroof shade because they couldn't get the stain out. Good luck!

Mike450

The term "CPO" took on a whole new meaning for me after I turned in a BMW to one of the largest and "respected" suburban Philadelphia dealers a few years back.

Car needed tires, full brake job and at a minimum, a full interior detail.
Found it out front with a biright yellow CPO sticker on windshield the following morning, as-is, with my sweatshirt still on back seat.

islandbeef

@Honge1222:
Scary. Your description of the 2013 GL was almost identical to the ones we saw at Hertz Car Sales. It seems that Hertz carries many GL's for their luxury rental fleet and these SUV's are sent through the ringer (abused) before they're sold off. Apparently, they don't repair the damage caused by the customers and try to sell them off as is. I can speculate that Hertz probably sent some of their fleet vehicles back to the MB dealerships, then they have the CPO label stuck on to dupe an unsuspecting buyer.

Honge1222

According to carfax, this vehicle was registered as a personal lease vehicle. I have extended warranty that extends to 11/2019. I'm sure that will protect me somewhat until I trade it in once warranty is about to expire.

luv2sleep

I've seen this happen several times. Truly sad. CPO is a joke, IMO.
Reminds me of a time FJ tried to sell me a CPO '14 GL450. The sales guy tells me that ALL CPOs get new brakes, tires, and other "new" parts. Now I'm no genius but I'm a son of a mechanic and I worked for my old man all of my youth (and all though college) as a grease monkey and I know a thing or two about cars. I can tell you that this so called CPO did not have new tires and brakes just by looking at them. Infact, the tires were half worn and the brakes were on its last miles. The car also had several scratches and door dings. This clown sales guy started arguing with me saying that I was wrong and that I didn't know what I was talking about. Seriously?!?! Needless to say, I just walked out on this a$$ clown and never returned to FJ Mercedes. I've met some real stupid people in my life but this guy topped them all.

4everalone

I have seen CPOs mean different things to different dealerships.

1) A scrupulous dealer will actually take the time to go over the vehicle with a fine comb and ensure its worth the brand and CPO title. They end up with a happy customer who will return or at-least consider the dealership again for future purchases.

2) An unscrupulous dealership that will just label the car CPO and keep the turnaround time low to ensure stock is in constant motion through their lot.....knowing fully that the CPO will cover their incompetence/lack of commitment. The customer in this case ends up having a jaded opinion of buying a CPO again, or even the brand itself in a worst case scenario.

I recently test drove a certified 2014 GL450 in which the driver A/C was not working but all other vents seemed to be blowing cool air. I am not sure how a Tech can miss that. Overall, like another member stated, treat it like a used car purchase. Check everything twice and make sure all flaws are fixed before signing the paperwork. Sometimes its the only way to get things done correctly for everyone's sake. An extended test drive to test all features is a must!