ddezarn

On July 14, 2017 I purchased a 2013 MB ML63 AMG with 15,207 miles on it from BMW of Bellevue, Washington. In their advertisement they indicated that “this vehicle includes a Money-Back Guarantee and passed our precise inspection process” and went on to say that this “outstanding example of a 2013 Mercedes-Benz M-Class also had a CarFax Buyback Guarantee so you’re getting what you pay for – a well-kept ONE-OWNER Mercedes Benz etc etc.” Imagine my surprise when my “check brake pads” light came on a week ago and I took it to my local MB dealer here in Oregon only to be told that the brakes had less than 10% on them and that they and the rotors needed to be replaced – at a cost of $2,400.00.

I contacted BMW of Bellevue and was told that they were able to track down the inspection report for my car (which they scanned and emailed to me - a whopping single-page document denoting a 125 Point Inspection Check List with a simple “ok” noted on everything) and at the time of inspection the car had 8mm remaining on the front brakes and 5mm on the backs – well above their minimum passable specs of 3mm for pre-owned cars. Therefore, four months later they aren’t offering me anything towards the repair bill and the car has 20,123 miles on it. At 58 years old and just driving this car to my office and a couple of trips to our vacation home that have is it reasonable to assume that “them’s the brakes” or should I rely on a very amateur looking, one-page report that could have been filed out and dated anytime as “proof” of their “precise inspection process?”

JohnnyC

get a lawyer or do the repair yourself or go to a brake shop

pcy

Getting a lawyer now won't help. OP should've done pre-purchase inspection. Money-back guarantees are for a specific period (typically, not for months). Read the fine print.
Brakes are wear/tear item. Sorry to be blunt.

Diabolis

Let me see here... are you asking if a BMW shop performed a proper inspection on a MB vehicle, whether brakes that need to stop a 5,000+ lb, 500+ hp vehicle can go from 8 mm to 3 mm in 5K miles, or whether $2400 is a reasonable price for a brake job on a ML63? You bought a 4-year-old used ML63 that by definition has been driven hard (people that don't intend to drag race at every other traffic light don't buy the ML63), from a BMW dealer no less where it was traded in for a competitor's product as MB probably wouldn't offer nearly as much on a trade, and you expect that it won't require considerable maintenance in the foreseeable future or that said maintenance won't be expensive?

JALLEN4

Would you have felt better if the report had taken up 10 or 15 pages but the result was the same? It is simply a waste of paper to make the form longer and has nothin at all to do with the quality of the inspection. One would assume you purchased the vehicle for a substantial discount from the price of a new similar vehicle. It never ceases to amaze me how readily people want to purchase used and enjoy the savings but are suddenly shocked to find the warranty is different for new and used and that mileage does cause parts to wear out!

kptaylor

Yes, it's unfortunate to incur a large expense so close to your purchase date but as others have said, at the time of purchase the BMW dealer's inspection showed the pads were above the minimum and therefore passed the inspection. For the AMG cars (and BMW M cars) the tires and pads wear quite a bit faster due to the design of the cars. They're the hot-rod version so they get softer & stickier tires and more aggressive-bite pads. This all helps with handling and stopping but they will definitely wear out much faster. With the more aggressive pads the rotors also will wear faster as a result.

See if there are any independent MB shops in your area or see if there are other forum members in your area with recommendations on shops to help lower the costs. If you're handy with a wrench the job shouldn't be too difficult to perform and would dramatically lower the costs.

Nanook

Nanook