Darknight

The wife has been waffling between an S and a GL CPO. We've come across what seems to be a good deal on a GL but I'm concerned about the mileage - 64k. The salesman insist with some truth that the mileage doesn't matter since the CPO warranty is unlimited, it still gives me pause as the more it gets the more annoyances we'll have.

Any thoughts from the experts out there?

2014 GL550
64,xxx Miles
Date of Service 9/30/2013
Black Exterior
Black Designo Interior
Wood/leather wheel
Panorama Sunroof
Trailer Hitch
Anthracite Poplar trim
Power "EASY-ENTRY"
Rear Seat Entertainment
Heated Rear Seats
Driver Assistance Package (Distronic Plus etc)
21" AMG twin-spoke wheels
Originally a $100,500 truck.
Asking $53,000

2 year extended CPO $3,495 through 9/30/2020 - though I've read I can get it cheaper elsewhere. Do I need to get the extended CPO from the same dealer I purchase the truck? If not, is there a recognized best place for getting one without a hassle at a good price?

Near perfect condition other than one of the wheels has a bit of rash and there are a couple flaws in the paint. The salesman says they can 'buff those out'.

So, good deal or no deal?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Dreamszalone

Honestly thats a lot of miles 21K each year wow....And no doubt I will take a pause too when I hear 64K....IMHO I would always look for less than 45K Miles...And I am not a MB Associate but I still vouch for the CPO extended warranty from MB only not the Dealer extended warranty or xyz internet warranty...If you ever plan to go with that GL please go with CPO only, you will be much safer and happier.

And 64 K Miles looks like the guy drove this GL even for Bathroom.


Thanks

pjw1967

Pricewise it seems good. Thanks to MB resurrecting the nationwide CPO search engine, I found this one which is very similar to what you are considering (while watching the incredibly exiting Texans vs Jaguars).
http://www.mercedesofjackson.com/inv...df7de0ea296245
Our last 3 cars have been "used", with 4k, 27k, and 30k on the clock. We went with 30k as it was a '14 ML350 CPO. I think you answered your own question about the high mileage since you were concerned enough to poll the forum members. If it will make you uneasy every time you get in the car, don't do it.

Darknight

Thanks,

Here's a link to the listing and the Carfax if anyone's interested:
http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...ngId=443552608

https://www.carfax.com/VehicleHistor...%7C102%7C49%7C

The salesman made a big deal out of how this was a car bought new and serviced at their dealership. Meh.

Point well taken, pjw, I'm definitely on the fence due to the mileage. Since I'll have the unlimited mile CPO, maybe it doesn't matter?

pjw1967

It's so much fun spending someone else's money. Spend more, get fewer miles to start. I happened to like the (meh ) idea of the car being serviced at the selling dealer. Ours was. If you look at the Carfax info on many of the CPO's, they were leases in some other parts of the country, sold at auction, and picked up by a dealer for stock. The fact it's a one owner would lessen my concern about the miles. BTW I went to the MB St Louis site and if I am looking at the right car, it is not listed as a CPO.
http://www.mbstl.com/used/Mercedes-B...913833c93e.htm

Darknight

Hmm, yeah, that's the one. Odd it's not listed as a CPO on their site. The sales guy said it was, and even quoted a price for the 1 year and 2 year extended CPO.

pjw1967

Won't be the first time a car saleperson said oops, and then tries to sell you an aftermarket limited warranty for somewhat less then the extended CPO cost. By then, if you're like me, you've bonded with the car and you'll agree to anything. I had company cars up to 1983. After that, my wife went with me on all car buys. The sales person would concentrate on me up to the exquisite moment that firm negotiations began. I would get up and leave, and HRR (Her Royal Rudeness) would finish the deal. We walked away from a few deals that way. Good luck and check on the CPO. Ask to see the CPO inspection report and the internal invoice for the CPO work. Our salesman gave both to us before we bought the car. The CPO prep cost was $1,883.00.

fabbrisd1

With 64K miles - if it was me - I would have a very pointed question to your salesman - and expect a very clear and documented answer - "is the AirMatic Suspension - including AirMatic struts - covered under CPO warranty?"

With the original gen GL - it was not uncommon to develop Airmatic strut issues around 75K miles - and with the new gen GL/GLS we have not yet seen enough new gen up at that mileage plateau to know if the 1st gen issues have been solved or not.

Ypu need to know the clear answer from that dealer for you to make a informed decision about your investment in the future.

On price - check and use a reliable 3rd party value guide such as edmunds.com

pvrick

I think it depends on how many miles you plan to.put on the car. I bought a 2014 S 550 18 months ago that had 46000 miles on it in one year. Original owner was a c e o of an oil company and his driver drove him all over Texas for business. Bought extra c p o warranty so it is covered til 2021. I only drive 5-6,000miles a year, so not as big a deal for me. So far only issue has been to replace the lousy run flats.

Darknight

Good point. Unfortunately, we also plan to commute 15-20k per year in the car. So when the warranty expires in September 2020 it's going to have ~150,000 miles on it.

pjw1967

Ironically, that's a selling point for the CPO if it is one. The mileage is unlimited. So if you don't live too far from the dealer and don't mind a loaner, the warranty will carry you to that point. If you got one with 44,000 miles, at the end of the same period it would have 130,000 miles. I doubt the residual value between 130k and 150k will be more than the price diff now between one with 44k and 64k. So save the money now to put towards the cost of the 2 addl years of CPO.

Darknight

Excellent point. To fabbrisd1's point in re: CPO warranty coverage of the Air Suspension components does anyone have a link to the real verbiage of the current warranty and what it does or does not cover?

I found a link to an old PDF, but it's dated 2010.

Thanks!

jlim

You would expect a typical 2014 vehicle to have around 24k miles. Most high end vehicles typically have a 10k miles / year on leases as standard. Some even as low as 8000 miles. It is good deal in the sense it is $53k. But if you take the 64k miles, you are looking at a overage of 40k miles. At a conservative $0.15/mile, that's a $6000 hit.

Given the choice of a '14 GL450 with 24k miles OR '14 GL550 with 64k miles for the same price, which would you choose? I guess it would depend on your comfort level.

Say you drove it for 3 years until 150k miles as you said. How much do you think it is worth now from your original $53k? Maybe $15k? What if you pay $59k now to get a '14 GL550 with 24k miles. Drive it until 110k miles. Can you get at least $21k or more?

Darknight

The plot thickens.

I sent a request in to MB Of Austin for a quote for a CPO 2 year warranty. They got back to me saying that the "Vehicle Master Inquiry" system said that VIN wasn't eligible for ANY Mercedes warranty of any kind but they could sell me a third party.

Looks like you were right, pjw1967 and the stealership was confused and/or trying to pull a fast one.

Pulling the ripcord on this deal.

Thanks, all!

fabbrisd1

Another dealer can ONLY quote you added CPO warranty when you own the rig...

You haven't bought it yet - and only the dealership who owns it can issue CPO warranty.

Clarify with the salesman - if he says it will be sold as CPO to you - then that's that.

You can "shop" additional CPO warranty after your purchase if you want to "cash purchase" that extended CPO warranty.

Note - 30 days after purchase the MB MSRP for the extended CPO warranty goes up 15% - and dealer cost for the extended CPO warranty goes up 5%.

If it's a good rig for you - then confirm CPO warranty (or not) - confirm CPO will cover struts (or not) - since on struts there is conflicting language - struts are covered items under clause #13 - and struts are a excluded item in #3 of that section..

Darknight

Thanks for the clarification. The salesman swears up and down it's a CPO and that it expires in 2020, but I've lost my warm fuzzy that counteracted the high mileage.

I'm not sure the salesman's word of what the warranty covers is really worth anything down the road...

fabbrisd1

When purchased CPO - it is entered into the VMI master reccord w/your ownership info as well... CPO is righteous.. sorry it is not possible to "shop" extedned CPO warranty until after your purcahse the CPO vehicle..

Darknight

Update if anyone's curious.

Confirmed CPO with two year extension until 11/2019. The Sales and Service Managers both confirmed that all components of the Airmatic suspension are covered under the CPO warranty.

May the Mercedes monkey gods have mercy on my soul - I talked them town a bit and bought the truck. I'm a GL owner!

Thanks for everyone's advice, now for some mods and accessories!

Darknight

Greetings,

Thought I'd update my thread. Going on three years of ownership, truck has been great. About a week ago the engine started making a ticking noise. Oil level was fine, no trouble codes or lights but it started to get louder so I ran it by the dealer.

Bad news, good news. Long story short, they scoped the engine and cylinder 3 has failed and the piston was slapping around inside. But CPO is covering a brand new engine & accessories from Stuttgart and they gave me a GLS loaner for what they expect to be 4-6 weeks.

For those curious, if it was not covered under the warranty I was told the engine & turbos ALONE (no labor or accessories) is $22,400! Service advisor figures all in it's going to be over $30,000 (USD). Got lucky here with our CPO expiring in a few months!

Data point: it had 129,500 miles on it when the engine was declared gone.

NaviTimer1

Thanks for posting back, I was reading your previous post and glad it worked out on the CPO, the Mercedes monkeys smiled on you. Now in a few weeks, you will have a Zero mile engine!! I'm curious if they will add some form of warranty on the new engine since your CPO warranty would be expired.

Great on the loaner, our dealer only gives me the GLC. Tell me, is there a big difference between the GLS and the GL? I know the big thing is that centered screen and the menus but, I'm not sure about the driving characteristics.

Darknight

I asked the very question about the warranty. My Service guy says he knows it's 2 years full coverage on the engine and related, but isn't sure if it's 50k miles or unlimited and is going to get back to me. I'm a bit concerned about the transmission with a new strong engine in front of it. I guess time will tell. :-)

The loaners are very hit and miss. Guess we got lucky there too, as we've gotten GLCs and even a C class once before.

The 2019 GLS450 that we are driving is a base model, so in many ways it's actually inferior to our GL550 with a bunch of options including Designo. One superior item we have noticed is the 360 camera system; not only is the "ipad stuck on the dash" screen much larger than ours, the cameras appear to be of higher quality, higher resolution, or both.

Driving-wise, it's hard to tell. Ours has far more power and handles better, but since our 550 has 21s with 295/40s and the 450 has tall mini-van tires combined with the V8 vs V6... I suspect similarly spec'd models would perform and feel very similarly, if not identical.

Body-wise, it appears pretty much identical with the exception of the 450 not having the wider fenders and the hood on the new one has two bulge / creases running front to back.

Looks like the 2020s are all new.

Cheers