TheVazha

Gents,

A colleague of mine has a 07 ML63 that he is willing to straight up trade for my CLS. This would be an even swap, my 06 with 58K miles, flawless and tastefully modded for his 07 ML63 with 65K miles.

My only concern is that the ML shows "Damage reported after an accident or other incident" on the carfax. The owner insists that it was not an accident.

1. The reported damage happened 4 years ago with 2nd owner, current owner has been in possession about two months. How would he know (being the fourth owner) that it was not a legit accident?

2. Is this something that would decrease value of the vehicle, having this blemish on title?

I would imagine that one would not report to insurance any damage that cost their deductible +- a couple grand. In other words, why would you report to your insurance a scratch on your bumper, or even a paint correction fender bender? Maybe not at fault accident?

Does anyone know how to get further information on the damage that occurred several years ago?

What the hell should I do???

G_Money

4 owners in just 65k miles? He's trying to get rid of it after 2 months?

Just those factors would probably have me shying away from the deal tbh.

dchl21

do you need a bigger car? if not then the cls is much much much nicer. plus that accident report is annoying.

RAWE55

No WAY, those 6.3 engines had major problems up to 2011. Keep the cls!

TheTherapist

Gotta agree with G_Money why is he selling after only 2 months? No way I'd be going there especially considering you have a CLS you'll regret it big time.

novae500

red flag selling after 2 months ownership. Maybe get a PPI if you really want the SUV.

kompressede

Something must come up after a few months of driving the ml that people decide to sell it? I like the ml 63's but I think your better off just staying with your car. You obviously know your car.

berti_00

Why would you trade your beautiful car for that... Those MLs are not that great anyways specially since its not the bi-turbo

55fanatic

If you want to do it, I would def have a PPI done, and bring it to a body shop that you trust, and ask them what was done to it. A good body shop knows what has, and has not had paint work

I love the ML63, but think I would keep a well sorted CLS over an unknown, multiple owner car thats been in an accident

Yacht Master

No deal

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

The accident on the history decreases the value if you think it does. If the repairs are done right and you can't tell , who cares IMO. Carfax is another way for insurance companies to scare people into not reporting claims and paying out of pocket, which MANY do now. So what's the point?

The only thing that would have my attention is him wanting out of it in 2 months. How well you know the guy? There's a ton of legitimate reasons he could not like the vehicle, and if you work with him every day he's probably not going to want to pass off a turd to you.

Accident aside, I wouldn't trade for that particular vehicle. Its slow and is going to cost a fortune to fix if it breaks.

mightar

^this.

FWIW, I'm very happy with the 6.2 NA engine.

HeissRod

I have to say, I'd be interested in what Vazha would do with the ML63.

FASN8N

With a mark like that on the carfax, someone is taking a hit on the price, either you or him. I don't care how well it was repaired or how small the damage was.
As suggested before, have a trusted shop do a PPI if you really want it.
I would keep your CLS

60nomad

^^^THIS! ...and the bad carfax hurts badly! On AMG's...like 20%.

211.070

What is the mindset in going to an ML? Have the head bolts been replaced recently? Have the cam advancers been replaced, fuel injectors.... Too many problems with the 6.2L that cost quite a bit to fix.

Jaki

I would not rely on carfax too much. I look at carfax reports on a daily basis, and only use them as a tool. There's a ton of cars that I look at, and I can clearly tell that some body work has been done, yet the carfax is clean. There's also some cars that I look at that stated that the car had "an accident or other incident where damage occurred," and there was no paint work done.

In some cases people report a very minor accident (scratches that can be buffed out) to their insurance, because it wasn't their fault. This often times ends up being on the carfax, because the insurance fixed it and blew up the price in order to collect from the at fault insurance.

With that being said, when you do see something on a carfax, do take a much closer look, because something obviously happened at some point. Even though it could've been very minor as mentioned.

Regarding the "blemish on the title" comment... Based on what you said, it sounds to me like the ML still has a clean title and there's no blemish on the title itself. A carfax report does not affect the branding on the title. They're not related. If the title was branded in some way, it would say so on the carfax. Easiest way to confirm is ask to look at the title itself. If its blank under "primary brand" and "secondary brand," then its a clean title.


How much will this blemish on the carfax report damage the value of the vehicle? It really depends on the person that's buying it. Somebody might not care at all, because the car looks perfect and better than any other car they looked at, while someone else will not want a car that had any prior damage, no matter how small.


Lastly the mark on the carfax does say "damage reported after accident or other incident." That really doesn't mean that the vehicle was involved in an accident. That's just one of the standard phrases that carfax uses. That's less than if it actually said "vehicle was involved in an accident."



I'd be more concerned with the car having had 4 different owners, and if each owner took proper care of the car, rather than the comment on the carfax report.

TheVazha

All very valid points guys, thanks for your input. I should have been more clear, the current owner is s dealer and he bought the car at auction about two months ago.

You've eased my mind about the carfax. I too have seen cars that have had paint correction done and clean carfax. Although, there is something to be said about the reported accident/damage and the way it affects value of the car.

What about the deal itself? I recently saw a CLS55 Renntech stage 5 (or so they say) sell on eBay. The asking price was $38.5K and it sold with "Best Offer Accepted". That car had 81,000 miles and no warranty. Does anyone know that car?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Benz-CLS-Class-CLS55-2006-mercedes-benz-cls-55-amg-renntech-stage-5-/231359602222?forcerrptr=true&hash=item35de1b5e2e&item=231359602222&pt=US_Cars_Trucks
I have 58K miles, and a warranty, and my ride is literally flawless. Kleemann K3 with some good looking equally flawless HRE's. Where would you put the value of my car?

The ML in question is an 07. Do you guys think I can get $30+ for my car? If that's the case, it would put me in 08 ML range and even 09 with a couple G's on top. The reason I'm looking for SUV is wife and I are working overtime for kids. Also, I'm absolutely sick and tired of having to dodge potholes here in LA. Our roads are garbage, it's extremely frustrating. Every time I hit a pothole I stress for about 30 minutes if I bent a wheel, popped a tire, damaged my airmatic, etc.. I don't need that stress in my life. I've been taking the beast out late at night now that it's cold again and it's nice to be reminded of what an absolute monster these cars are. With that said, I'm considering taking a plunge today, while I still have under 60K miles and may be able to get top $ for the ride..

novae500

I'd rather have the wifey sell her ride and get an SUV. You can keep your car???

2000UZJ

Run Autocheck on it. That will pull up the police report of the incident. It's worth the couple bucks to see what happened and what was replaced. Also, I would find out who did the repair and see if the shop can forward you some pictures of the damage.

CharlyE500

Your car worth at least $30K+ and the ML63 is very unreliable car.
Try to sell your car first or get a carmax quote then make decision. Don't rush and trade for the ML63. Too many problems you will have to deal later.

TheTherapist

If a dealer is offering a straight swap you can rest assured he thinks your car is worth a lot more than the ML...

baldmike73

if you need more space - sell your cls and get a wagon - best of both worlds - and go with 19's vs 20's - and the value will hold better as the demand is always there -

TheTherapist

^^ That right there is some good advice. ^^

2000UZJ