Hello, my 3 month old Mercedes CLS got hit by another driver and I'm trying to sort out some valuation issues with the other insurance company. I am trying to locate a copy of the mechanical checklist that a service department uses for determining whether a vehicle can be Mercedes certified.

I am not looking for the version that one could find on the Mercedes website, rather I need the more specific detailed version that the mechanic would use.

If you have it and could either post it as an attachment or fax it, that would be great. thanks for any help.

 

Sorry to read about your accident. If you need hard facts regarding diminished value, here’s one; The VMI.

I’ve specifically asked a salesperson at a Mercedes dealer if a particular certified car had ever been in an accident. I was told “no”. At that point I asked, “is that no, not to your knowledge, or no, it has never been in an accident”. The salesperson’s response was “Mercedes Benz will not certify a car that has been in an accident.”

How does Mercedes “know” if a car has been in an accident? If your car is repaired by a Mercedes dealer, the repairs will be logged in the VMI (vehicle master inquiry). If the vehicle is referred to an authorized Mercedes Benz repair facility for accident repairs, the VMI will note that as well. The VMI is a list of all the work Mercedes has ever done to a vehicle. The record will include dates, mileage, and all service, warranty, and repair work. The VMI is presented by the dealer to a person interested in purchasing a certified car, and it is included in the docs that come with the car. If the car is repaired by a good independent repair facility, then Mercedes may never know.

Even if your car were sold by private party (yourself), a prospective buyer may ask you for a copy of the VMI. If the prospective buyer requests a VMI, there is no reason for seller to refuse. The VMI can be acquired for free (the service writer at a dealership can print one). If a seller were to refuse to get me a copy of the VMI, I would guess that seller had something to hide. Based on this, cars that have been in accidents, and been properly repaired by a Mercedes Benz dealer, have been significantly diminished in value.

The argument for using an authorized Mercedes Benz repair facility is they are the best qualified for the task. The argument for using something other than an authorized Mercedes Benz repair facility is usually because the job can be done cheaper some place else. A three week old car should be repaired to "like new" status at a minimum.

 

This can't be true. Accident damage can range from a scratch on up. gmbz99..what a bummer...I'm assuming you will have the repair done at the dealer. Ask them if they would certify the car when repairs are completed. Don't settle until you find out! Good Luck.

 

Thanks for the detailed reply. My car was repaired at an authorized MB facility so it will be in the vehicle history. Your experience is consistent with what I've been told, but I am still in need of a Mercedes document that confirms this practice.

I believe that the authorized facility which did my repair believes that the car could be sold as certified because they are an authorized repair facility, but I do not believe that is the actual practice.

Thanks again and I would still appreciate any further support for this issue around resale.

 

I'll also add for those who are just curious, the damage was more than a "scratch". It required a new hood, bumper, headlight, radiator, and a variety of related internal parts. An SUV backed into my car while parked.

 

If the car isn't certifiable after that kind/severity of an accident I would be surprised....unless the person was going exceptionaly fast in reverse.

 

I had a BMW with a very small amount of repaired engine damage a few years ago and the dealer wouldn't certify it even though it was all worked on at a BMW authorized facility. There seems to be a pretty high bar with the dealers.

 

From the standpoint of Mercedes Benz, they have to protect their image. Along with every other car manufacturer (except the Italians, anyone purchasing a used Ferrari is supposed to expect to be flat bedded from time to time), almost all the independent used car lots in southern California also say they have some sort of certification process. For a Mercedes Benz certified car to actually be worth more than a regular used car, Mercedes is faced with the task of making the public think the certified MB is worth more than a private party ad. When one certifies something, they are guaranteeing the quality or worth of that something. In this case, Mercedes Benz is saying, they know the car is used, but they, as a company, will vouch that the car was properly maintained, in excellent running condition, and one of the finest examples of that vehicle available. To show their faith in the vehicle, Mercedes Benz warranties their certified cars for 100,000 total odometer miles. If the car has major parts (body panels, radiator, AC condenser, brakes, etc.) that are non-OEM, Mercedes won’t warranty it. That’s one reason why an owner should demand that a body shop only use Mercedes parts.

On the other side of that coin, when a customer buys a certified Mercedes, they’re expecting something very close to new. That’s why they pay the premium the dealer charges. Six months after purchasing a certified Mercedes, if the new owner figures out his/her “certified” car has been in a wreck, they're going to be a bit perturbed. This is regardless of the quality of the parts used. The new owner has a right to expect that their certified car hasn’t been in an accident (using the State of California’s definition of an accident). I agree with this train of thought, as enough good cars are turned in where Mercedes doesn’t have to recycle cars that have been brutalized. That’s why GMBZ99 appears to have a valid diminished value claim. Even with his car repaired to the highest standard available, to some, his car is worth less than if it had never been hit. Here’s why - in a few years Mercedes takes GMBZ99’s car in on trade. The dealer can’t get full value when they sell it (non-certified), so they give GMBZ99 a lower trade in credit. If GMBZ99 gets less for his trade in because of the accident, and the accident wasn’t his fault, to make GMBZ99 “whole” again, he should be compensated for his loss.