When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I found Atlantis, knocked out BigFoot and stole his Unicorn
After searching for what seemed like years (it actually started June of last year) I have finally found my dream car. A 2014 Black on Black E550 with P1, 115v outlet, 3 Spoke Flat Bottom Sport Steering Wheel, Split Folding Rear Seats, Lighting Package, KEYLESS-GO Package, Panoramic Sun Roof, Active Multi Contour Driver Seat, Lane Tracking Package, Parking Assist Package. Every option I wanted except the Drivers Assistance Package. That one option seemed to be the hardest to find in my price range with low miles. Oh, wait did I say low miles? This car has 21,473 miles on it!
Bear with me here, this is a long story but will show you what I went through to find this car.
This was a long, hard search that started when my neighbor got an Audi S4. When he told me where he got it, I took a drive by the dealer’s lot and not only did he have Audi’s but several E350’s that really caught my eye. So, I went home and scoured the internet researching the E350’s. On a business trip to Boston I happened to stop into a MB dealer who had a black on black E350 with leather (not MB Text) ventilated seats, multi contour driver seat, pano, Lighting Package, Driver Assistance Package, everything but the Parking Assist Package. I wasn’t ready financially at that time as I was still trying to sell my boat to hopefully come up with a down payment for the car. So, I let that car slide. Little did I know how rare it is to find an almost fully loaded E350 in the Northeast. With the help of this forum and a few posts later, several members suggested I consider the E550’s. Let me tell you these E550’s are even rarer than a loaded E350 in this area. I have seen ONE in the past year and it was out near Boston. Back to the internet to start searching. I started looking DAILY on Cars.com, Autotrader.com, and even Mercedes own CPO Website. After a month of nothing coming up I thought why not check around the local MB dealers. So, I had 20 dealers in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, New York and New Jersey actively looking for me. Mind you, I was doing all this research and looking without ever test driving one. I found a local used car lot close to me that had a 2014 E350 that was not a CPO, high mileage (around 58,000) none of the options I wanted but I had to test drive it. Coming from a Hyundai Elantra this thing was a dream. Smooth, comfortable, roomy, and more power than my Elantra. I was hooked. I increased my search and happened to drive by another dealer who had a 2014 CLS550 in his lot and I knew that car had the same TT V8 engine that the E550 had so I jumped at the opportunity to test drive that. Boy what a difference in power! Flash forward a month or two and the boat is sold and I have a pretty good chunk of change for a down payment.
Now I get the wife involved and let her know that if one comes up, I am jumping on it on the spot. She wants to re-finance our home, but wanted to wait until after I got my car so my credit rating wouldn’t take a hit. Well this is when things started to dry up. There was nothing out there. I increased my search to include non-CPO cars and a used car dealer in the town next to me had a steel grey 2014 E550 with 85,000 miles on it. I loaded up the family and we test drove it. This thing was a beast (I don’t know how E63 guys do it with 150+ more horsepower.) Now I was really hooked, I was desperate, I had to find my baby. Since we were out, my wife suggested we take a drive to the closest MB dealer and that is where the CLS550 came back into play. She thought the E350/E550 looked like every other C Class out there. She though the CLS550 looked more like a “Real Mercedes.” (I'm sorry but I like the boxy E Class body over the sleek CLS.) So being desperate to find a car, I opened my search to a 2014 E350/550 or a 2013-2014 CLS550. I thought this would really open up the flood gates and I would have 50+ cars to choose from. Nope, nothing with the options I wanted, in my price range, that was local to me. Screw it, I opened my search to nationwide and I finally found a 2014 CPO CLS550 in Florida with every option except Driver Assistance Package with 20,000 miles on it and priced $7,500 cheaper than anything around here (and yes it was a 4matic before you ask.) So, I thought hell, spend $150 on a one-way plane ticket and drive the car back home. I posed the question about flying to another state to buy a car to people on another forum that I frequent and one specific member who works for a MB dealer tells me to be cautious with that dealer. A person that works with him now, used to work there and they tacked on all sorts of “Dealer Fees” to jack up the car price. Sure enough when I contacted the dealer in Florida, the $42,000 car I called about, became a $46,000 out the door price rather quickly. Then, the day after I get the jacked-up offer, the dealer sends me an e-mail that the car just sold the night before. Ugh now I am getting aggravated.
The guy that warned me about that dealer sends me a private message and asks me what I am looking for. I tell him about this Unicorn that I have searched high and low for and he tells me he has one in stock. I ask him to send me the details expecting to see a high mileage, Dolomite Brown (no offense) E350 with none of the options I wanted. As soon as I clicked the link this gorgeous Black on Black E550 is staring me in the face. When I see the mileage on it and the price, I almost spit my coffee on my laptop. Even though people say black is the hardest color to keep clean, I love it. When someone mentions Mercedes to me, I envision a black sedan screaming down the Autobahn. I immediately call the guy and we talk for a half hour or so and he agrees to sell me the car for $500 over invoice! He is about three hours from me and I ask him to hold the car for me so that I can come down there to look at it. Just so happens my wife’s birthday is this weekend and we already have plans so I am scheduled to take a family trip next weekend to go look at the car. Due to my work commitment, I won’t be able to get the car until June 1st so he pulled it out of inventory and is getting it prepped for its new home. Boy, May is going to be a long month!
A buddy of mine asked me to help him look for a good family car because he just had a baby, so he wanted a sedan and liked my E350, so he was considering an E class as well... so I agreed to help him and almost immediately found a nice, decently loaded (P2 and other goodies) E550 that was nearby and told him how much better it was than my car. He asked me to go look at it for him and see if it's legit. I now own that car.
No Pano, Lighting Package or Parking Assist Package. But low miles though. That was my exact dilemma. When I found a car like this, it was missing key options I was looking for.
lmao , that be funny if someone actually did this.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. People will post the VIN and all you have to do is search for the VIN and the dealer who has it will pop up. I'm not a fan of black though so it won't be me. Although I also love cars that have as many options as possible.
I'm surprised it doesn't happen more often. People will post the VIN and all you have to do is search for the VIN and the dealer who has it will pop up. I'm not a fan of black though so it won't be me. Although I also love cars that have as many options as possible.
This dealer marked it as "sold" pulled the paperwork and moved it out of inventory for me. I am not letting this car go. As you can see from the above, I spent far too much time and effort to find it.
No, that is the profit they are making off it. Most dealers mark up a car a $1,000 or more. This guy is cutting me a break.
So did you leave any kind of deposit on it?
When I bought my car from a dealer, he wouldn't give me any actual paperwork and didn't really want to take a deposit, just gave me a total price we had negotiated. I went and got a bank check that day and went back to the dealer and got all the paperwork. In sales, without a signed contract and some kind of deposit or payment, nothing is legally binding. Cars get sold out from under people all the time and the standard excuse is that oh, didn't know you were hold it. Sorry about that.
When I bought my car from a dealer, he wouldn't give me any actual paperwork and didn't really want to take a deposit, just gave me a total price we had negotiated. I went and got a bank check that day and went back to the dealer and got all the paperwork. In sales, without a signed contract and some kind of deposit or payment, nothing is legally binding. Cars get sold out from under people all the time and the standard excuse is that oh, didn't know you were hold it. Sorry about that.
The guy I spoke with assured me the car was "pulled" from inventory, the paperwork is locked in his desk and my name is on the dashboard with a big SOLD sign next to it. I do the paperwork next Saturday and pick it up June 3rd. Yes I understand nothing is legally binding without a contract in place.
Unless this dude is your cousin, I wouldn't trust anything. You pulled a Carfax or he shared it I assume? One has to be very careful these days. All kinds of crap happens.
Unless this dude is your cousin, I wouldn't trust anything. You pulled a Carfax or he shared it I assume? One has to be very careful these days. All kinds of crap happens.
Yes, I have the CARFAX, original build sheet, service records and even verified the VIN with my local MB dealer, but you are right, I don't know this guy from Adam, but after what I have been through I would hope there is a true pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I will know in 9 days from now.
I can see many Smiles Per Gallon coming your way soon! Congrats, and enjoy. I would also suggest a VMI, and a data card for you new ride. Again, enjoy your soon to be new ride.
04-27-2017, 11:25 AM
I found Atlantis, knocked out BigFoot and stole his Unicorn
Even though people say black is the hardest color to keep clean, I love it. When someone mentions Mercedes to me, I envision a black sedan screaming down the Autobahn. I immediately call the guy and we talk for a half hour or so and he agrees to sell me the car for $500 over invoice! He is about three hours from me and I ask him to hold the car for me so that I can come down there to look at it. Just so happens my wife’s birthday is this weekend and we already have plans so I am scheduled to take a family trip next weekend to go look at the car. Due to my work commitment, I won’t be able to get the car until June 1st so he pulled it out of inventory and is getting it prepped for its new home. Boy, May is going to be a long month!
hahaha, j/k... 
