CynCarvin32

I agree that a lemon car can be a deal. I see stacks of cars get bought back by people intentionally trying to get the check engine light to come on or people frying esp sensors in an effort to get a car bought back.

In LA a specific group of people always buy a car thats very expensive and get MB to buy it back when they want something new and cant afford to take the hit on the trade in. I have seen people take cars and attach a battery to the ignition system to fry all the control modules in the CAN data bus system. I have seen all 4 wheel speed sensors blow out due to voltage over load and I have seen people just pulling wires of the motor to make it log codes.

Half the time these cars are 100% fine or only suffering from minor issues. MB customers sometimes are a royal pain and they demand a new car for a minor issue. These cars are great cars and if you can save 30-50k and drive it for 5 years you get a great deal. These cars with minor issues dont include the cars being intentionally destroyed by owners.

When people realize they are upside down in a lease or that their friend got a better deal on the car than they did they will go to no end to try and get it bought back. Southern California is full of some really classy people.

Crooks cost MB a lot of money but they are starting to crack down.

sprins

@CynCarvin32

Wow. Money won't buy class. The way you put it writes poser with a capital P all over those kind of people.

NOTA4RE

You are exactly right 100%.

trumpet1

Mercedes has no control over that. This problem is caused by greedy dealers. They are the ones ripping people off on trade ins. They insult everyone with low ball trade in values. The reason I know this is because that same used S65 they give you only $98000 for is put right back on the lot for $135K. It's completely the dealerships fault and they are in a roundabout way hurting themselves. They could get far more turnaround sales if they wouldn't stab the customers in the back on trade ins.

I appreciate the fact that they have to make a living and that selling cars is a tough job. They have to pay insurance on the cars sitting on their lots, they have a lot of grounds upkeep, they have to recondition the car to certify its dependability , etc.
But give me a break, it shouldn't cost the price of a brand new Acura RL to do that!!!!

trumpet1

Fantastic post!

michal12

Wow, incredible..
How is the lemon law constructed? Can a customer demand a buyback when the car flashed a few warning lights?
And regarding the battery thing - isnt the dealer able to tell the battery has been disingaged or excess voltage put into data wires hece the car was damaged intentionally?

NOTA4RE

I was just at a Mercedes dealer last week looking at a S550, incredible car BTW. The salesman is telling me he doesn't make a lot of money on the cars he sells. Later in the meeting he tells me his house is up for sale. He hands me a flyer for his house....$1,499,000.

trumpet1

I'll give him $750,000 for his house

NOTA4RE

Sounds like you buy things the way I do. The seller always want to debate what something is worth with me too. I always say, I am not going to debate whats it is worth I will only debate what I am willing to pay, and that will be less than it is worth.

CynCarvin32

In the case of one car the tech knew exactly what happened but legally you cant walk into court and try to sue a person without complete factual proof.

The car in that specific case had the cap around the ignition wiring behind the dash pried off and you could see where the high voltage charge was applied. That car had 13 fried control units if I recall correctly. Everything from the ME (motor control unit) to the interior seat computers were cooked like your thanksgiving turkey. When the DAS system was plugged in it read no functioning systems at all. nearly 20k in parts and labor later the customer got the car back and he now has a note in his file saying all future claims must be approved by the factory. MBNA had lawyers look at the car and the situation and they decided it was just cheaper to let the guy try to get it bought back rather than fight him in court.

In another case I have seen cars come in for fried out ESP wheel speed sensors. Not one, not two but all 4 sensors. The sensor can be cooked very easily and this customer did it 3 times in a row and then asked for a new car. The factory was again trying to figure out what to do with that car and the owner.

The legal system puts the benefit of any doubt in the customers hands so MB most of the time just takes the cars back and figures they can recover enough of the cost by auctioning the car off.

These stories are horribly annoying but so are the ones where people start screaming over a terribly small issue and have a S65 bought back due to on check engine light. Squeaky wheels get the grease right? Heck go talk to a service writer in Los Angeles at any big shop and he can tell you how many cars in there that day are in the process of a customer trying to get it bought back with totally fake claims of failing items. Oddly these things cant ever be duplicated but ALWAYS involved the drivers safety and that puts MB in the legal hot seat!

CynCarvin32

I am keeping it rated G here but yes Poser with a very capital P.

It ends up making life worse for all the normal customers because our warranty claims get scrutinized 10x more just to try and maintain some semblance of order in the warranty office.

I have a neighbor who has had 3 cars bought back by mb. Thats a 75% buy back rating in the last 7 years for him. Makes me sick but he keeps getting away with it because he knows how the system works.

He also has a car being bought back right now by a competitor to MB.