93VR6

About 2 months ago I bought a 2018 CPO E63s from A Mercedes dealer here in town and when I took it in for it's 40,000km service last week the dealer called me later that day and told me they were going to replace the rear diff seals under warranty and I thought nothing of it.

Today I got a call saying that my car is not having any warranty work done and my VIN is now "black listed" as they found a tune on the computer, and I have to go through a special procedure everytime I am looking to make a warranty claim. I did not put this tune on the car, nor was I told of any previous tunes on the ECU. (I really hope the ECU date stamps when these changes are made, can anyone confirm that?)

Now I am extremely frustrated that I spent ~5-10% more buying a "certified" pre owned mercedes, for the "peace of mind"... I am now basically out the premium I paid on the car (relatively speaking) and every single time I have anything that might be a warranty item will be a battle to get done. Has anyone gone through anything like this and what can I do to prove that I did not put the tune on the vehicle? I imagine this is also going to destroy the resale value down the line as well.

Thanks.

whoover

You need a lawyer.

simarddominic

This is all the responsibility of the dealer who sold you the car. It is a hidden defect. Just as if he had sold you a car that had already had a major accident without telling you. They sold you a contract guaranteed car.

Uber Wagon

If checking the ECU isn't part of the CPO checklist and process, it should be. Agree on lawyer, and checking the CPO certification process. You had a reasonable expectation that the "experts" reviewed and certified the car as being clean and without any warranty issues.

93VR6

Thank you for the input guys.

As per the Mercedes CPO booklet there are at least two mentions regarding this.

“Engine Test: From the intake to the exhaust, everything from belts and plugs to the ignition and emission systems is tested to make sure it is all up to factory standards.”
“On-Road Evaluation: An expert on-road assessment by factory-trained technicians is the final test to make sure the engine, transmission, steering, ride, handling and braking are up to factory standards. Instruments and control systems also receive the same careful scrutiny”

Then specifically on the list of items checked the ones that I believe might be related are;

"11. Perform initial short test, diagnose any current DTC's if fault code exists print ECU Log, freeze fram data and repair as SDS indicates, Attach prinout to RO"
"25. All emission control systems in place and fucntional. Read out DTC's - repair as necessary"

Long day ahead of talking to corporate and the local dealers.

E634Me

If you are in Michigan try Steve Lehto. If not, he has a link on his web site to another law firm he trusts that does work in other stations.

At the very least, see his videos. He has several on CPO.

PeterUbers

So where are all the PRO-tune guys when these threads come about ... specifically the ones that say the dealer/manufacturer can't just void a warranty if your car is tuned?

OP - I sure hope you get this resolved and they buy you a NEW ecu .. there may be a date stamp on this ecu for the tune overwrite and they'll have to send this current ecu to Germany likely to find out unless they've learned how to locally facilitate acquiring this data ... which I'm not sure why they haven't since thousands of local tuners can do it

coolcamden

Damn dude. Sorry this happened to you. Hope you’ll find a sufficient and expedient solution to your newly acquired car. That blows man. Keep up the good fight.

PeterUbers

Another thread worth reading for some:

https://mbworld.org/forums/w212-amg/...-story-mb.html

6G Schnell

Before investing money in lawyer, complain to dealership GM.
And make sure you are taking to GM and not service, or sales manager...
I got this advice while back and worked perfectly.

Good luck!

Uber Wagon

^^ good advice as well.

PeterUbers

Additionally you can contact mbusa even now and open a case

jl199986

Absurd of them. Hold them accountable for the "Certified" part of CPO. It's all on them. Go up the chain.

E634Me

CPO just means that they certify you bought a used car. Doesn't guarantee you much else. Best of luck getting it worked out.

lkfoster

My understanding of mods being used to reject warranty claims is that the part in question had to be directly affected by the mod. I fail to see how an engine tune can directly affect rear drive seals.

E634Me

Maybe rear seats, unless they could claim the extra compression of acceleration caused increased wear or something.

The driveline is directly connected to the tuned engine and therefore they could make the claim that increased output caused excessive strain, wear, etc.

BS in all likelihood, but you could understand how such a claim could be made.

Munich77

I am guessing the op is in Canada. Talk to the dealership where you bought it for sure.

whoover

It's the dealership that sold it to him that had it flagged! They are clearly not going to admit anything. That's why I suggest legal action. The only acceptable outcome is to have the dealership buy the car back. MB corporate will not unflag the car. It's out of the dealer's hands. MB doesn't care who modded it or when; the car was modded so it's flagged. Warranty service will always be a pain. That can't be rescinded. Resale value is affected. That can't be changed. The dealer needs to be forced to buy the car back now.

93VR6

Agreed, but I also found out that the brake work they initially said would be covered will also not be covered under warranty, (couldn't be less related) this is from a different dealership not the one I purchased it from so that is sort of... understandable.

I belive that the dealer I purchased it from should be covering any and all of my legitimate warranty claims.
I also know that this will severly impact the resale value of the vehicle, so that will be another longer term discussion I need to have with them.

Correct, I spoke with the dealer I purchased it from today, and they are sympathetic and understand how and why I am upset, no solution was offered yet as the service manager, that "certified" the car is gone until after christmas. The first thing the sales guy said after I told him was "Oh so that's the service departments fault" which is a solution for him, not me. More conversatoins to come.

That's actually not true, the dealer I bought it from had a 6 day wait for service so I went to another location to have it done faster.
​​​​​​​

93VR6

That's actually not true, the dealer I bought it from had a 6 day wait for service so I went to another location to have it done faster. I do agree with the final sentiment though.

100% could see that arguement hold up. My counter is that they sold me a car I specifically bought for the extended warranty and now it's possible I have almost none.

Yes, that's usually how it goes, but this was at the dealer I did not purchase the car from so at this point I didn't want two dealers coming at me.

Correct, I spoke with the dealer I purchased it from today, and they are sympathetic and understand how and why I am upset, no solution was offered yet as the service manager, that "certified" the car is gone until after christmas. The first thing the sales guy said after I told him was "Oh so that's the service departments fault" which is a solution for him, not me.

I belive that the dealer I purchased it from should be covering any and all of my legitimate warranty claims.
I also know that this will severly impact the resale value of the vehicle, so that will be another longer term discussion I need to have with them.
More conversatoins to come.

thanks everyone for the advice

S63AMG888

iTrader: (3)

Once the vehicle is flagged, MBusa puts a status 8 on the car. Ask your dealer provide you with your VMI ( keep that VMI for your record ) that will show the history of the said vehicle.

From the VMI, it will show when the status 8 was placed, from there, you can meet with the GM of the dealer you purchased it from which will show that you purchased the vehicle “ after “ the status 8 was placed on your CPO E63.

No lawyer is needed. Point this out to the dealer and they can either ask MBusa remove the status 8 or contact MBusa directly and provide proof for the above and they can do it directly.

The dealer will need to flash the ECU to factory specs., before the status 8 can be removed.

Good luck and don’t worry about it. Enjoy the time you have it with the tune.

6G Schnell

Exactly, thanks for the detailed description!

whoover

It sounds like the status 8 was just put on the car because the mod was first spotted during the recent service. That's the whole problem. Status 8 during the new owner's time even thought the mod was prior to the resale. I don't think MB would have reason to remove it either. As far as they're concerned, the warranty conditions were violated.

S63AMG888

iTrader: (3)

If the status 8 was only registered during OP’s most recent service “after” the CPO was purchased ( OP, please confirm if your recent service was done at the same purchasing dealer? ) then it will be harder to fight.

Again OP should get the VMI to see when the status 8 was registered and if it’s before the CPO purchased, then dealer/MBusa will rectify it.

If the status 8 was registered after CPO purchased and OP is sure it was not tuned during his 2-3 months ownership, contact MBusa and explain the situation, dealer can do a scan to see when the first boost, HP and TQ was increased outside of the factory specs. and work with the dealer and MBusa to fight this.

Good luck.

PeterUbers

The ecu needs to be read to see when it was overwritten.

this is of course in the scenario where the OP doesn't get anywhere with the original dealership.

This very well may require a lawyer