I noticed that other W220 S600s had a stitched leather center console, which matches the dashboard and the doors and everything else... for what ever reason my car had a regular "plastic" center console, while everything else was the way it was supposed to be in an S600.

I took apart the shift gate today and this is what I found:



The day of manufacture is 07/19/2000! This could only mean one thing... somewhere along the line someone stole my leather console and switched it out with a console from a MY2001 S430 or S500 or S55 AMG!

I spoke with the dealership where I bought the car since it was a CPO and they had no clue. They pretty much told me that I should have brought this up to them 5 months ago when I was inspecting the car. Lesson learned.

They said they would get me the correct leather console for their cost, which is $1620.00 (Dealer list is $2025.00) and eat the labor for swapping them out. The plastic console for the S430/S500/S55 is about $488.00

What can I say? Lesson learned. Next time I got to buy a CPO car, I will bring my microscope with me and go through every millimeter of the car to make sure everything is on point.

Or it could mean that whoever had the car before you switched it out with his wife's s class before he traded. That sucks.

Oxygen.

Can you be more clear? are you talking about the part where the shifter letters are?
I'm not sure what you mean by "Plastic" but I haven't seen any plastic consoles But either way.. How could you possibly know? so its not your fault.
I think if any lesson you can learn from this is that you can;t trust Dealers, and "CPO" is just three meaningless letters that serve no purpose but to milk you out of a few extra thousand dollars under false pretenses.

I'd like to see a shot of what your "actual"console looks like.. Here is a pic of mine that I took when I did my shifter. Is it similar?

plastic isn't quite the right term. The standard s430 and s500 come with a vinyl dash and center console (the tan section next to the wood). The Designo, s600 and S65 models (s55 possibly as well) come with a leather dash and leather lined center console.

That is the difference he is referring to.

HEY OXYGEN PLEASE PROVIDE ME WITH THE PART NUMBER LET ME QUOTE THIS PRICE OUT FOR YOU IF YOU DON'T MIND ?

wow maybe you should go through the car a little closer to see if anything is out of place.

holy crap!!

look at the dash on this S600 you can see fine leather stitching vs the normal dash S430 and S500s come with...

http://cgi.ebay.ca/Mercedes-Benz-S-C...3A1|240%3A1308

Well yeah, but I have the right dashboard it's just the center console that's screwed up.

Here's an S600 console:



And this is from the S430/S500/S55 AMG:

Sure thing, but I've already checked against the U.S. price list and what they told me is the correct amount...

S600/S65 AMG Center Console:

A220 680 61 50 (9C05) EXCLUSIV/CONDOR/EXCLUSIV AMG/LEATHER DESIGNO COUTURE LEATHER $2,020.00 $1,620.00 $1,620.00


And the S430/S500/S55 AMG Console:

A220 680 49 50 (9C05) HOUSING W TRAY $610.00 $488.00 $488.00

OXYGEN HOLLY CRAP !!!! THIS CONSOLE IS EXPENSIVE MAN. IT WILL RUN ME $1,590.00 LIST AT 1,995.00

I was told from MBUSA that if something that is on the CPO inspection list was not addressed by the dealer they are reasonable for the repair. I am not sure if your console issue would be part of the CPO inspection.

Yeah, it's crazy expensive. It's because of the leather though. I checked the difference and the vinyl glove box door is about $100 and the leather one is almost $500!

But like suggested I will raise hell and get it right.

just to play devils advocate, whats to stop them from saying, "you replaced it after you bought it from us"

Do you have pictures of the ad when you bought it that show the center console without the stiching?

They were supposed to send me the pictures from their original listing on searchmercedes.com... have no pictures as of right now...

That sucks.. good luck with that one..

There is nothing on a CPO inspection that guarantees model authenticity of requires the inspector to check. Only brand and only then obvious stuff like the radio, and wheels. AND even if it fails that part it only means that the car failed the CPO inspection if the problem can't be corrected, it does not mean it can't be sold.

CPO is a joke.

I would be surpised to tears if they even pay you any attention with this..

CPO on a benz is not a joke. They actually give you brand new tires, breaks, etc. versus everyone else just doing an inspection and giving you a couple years of warranty and that's it.

Hmm maybe not for you. but you are misinformed. You only get parts replaced that are worn beyond limits IF they find them during the inspection and IF the inspections weren't pencil whipped...

Do a survey on this forum and see how many folks drove off the lot with new tires and new (brakes), now that's a joke all by itself.

If you had new (brakes) and tires when you bought your CPO then you had a good day. It still doesn't justify the 3 to 5k rise over market no matter what.

Thanks for your input.

I hate to say it but I agree with you, I payed 4k to much for my car because I thought CPO was legit, but after becomming a member here and getting input from others I would not do it again.

The only way I justify it to myself is I have heard that getting a warranty on the TT V12's is not very easy except by going the CPO + extended warranty route.

I bought my car as a CPO 2k above average autotrader price. I got new tires and brakes. So far I got under warranty the following parts and labor

- both door handles on driver side (Keyles GO button w/o function)
- Suspension repair (don't know exactly from memoory, but was a connection point at the front of the car, much labor involved)
- right rear sun blind
- plastic covers on rails of passenger seat
- various attemps (finally successfull) to program cluster for key dependency
- replaced DisTronic sensor (i.e. the radar unit)

So far, I did not pay one cent. I am happy to have a CPO'ed car!!!

It may have been purchased at auction with some damage on the console, and the dealer figured they'd replace it with a standard issue console for MUCH less than the leather version. Also, have you investigated taking it to an upholstery shop? They should be able to the job reasonably. Here's what mine looks like inside. Speaking of CPO, I can't even imagine owning a w220 (especially my TT S600) without a warranty. My w210 4matic wagon is ridiculously expensive to maintain as it is, and it's not nearly complex as a w220.

Let us know what happens. I hope they make it right.

They're the "experts" when it comes to Mercedes Benz. Looks like they tried to cut corners when preparing the car for sale. If they are a reputable dealer, they will make it right.

Threaten to sue them. If you have a lawyer friend, have him call and jump up and down and scream you will sue. CPO is supposed to be "like" new. I bought my 03 and they never told me the tel. system does not work.

ha ha.. did you sue? see how far you get with that one.