I just had a PPI performed on a 2017 with 80,000 mi. It is fully up-to-date with all its routine service. It had the 60K transmission service done and the owner says he just had the b service performed. I saw the maintenance records for everything except the b service. He says he does have it though. He also just put two new front tires on.

It's pretty loaded. It has the premium three package, AMG 20-in rims, panoramic roof, ventilated front seats, and heated rear seats. The owner wants $27, 900.

I just had a PPI performed and they found the brakes are in need of replacing, front and rear. Maybe 10 to 15% pad life. The rotors need replacing as well. The driver side door check is making a popping sound. There is also slight cracking starting on the flex coupler for the drive shaft. Otherwise, the car is very clean.

​​​What are your thoughts on this? Where should I go from here? Is it a fair price even with these issues or should I be asking for considerable reduction in price?

I just called the dealer. They aren't sure if that coupler can be replaced on its own or the whole drive shaft has to be replaced. The transferred me to the parts department as they should be able to tell but the lines are busy so I just left a message.

EDIT: Dealer says the couple is replaceable if it is what they think I'm talking about. $246 for the part. I've included a picture in the spoiler tag. Sorry I had to screenshot the photo, for some dumb reason I can't save it to my phone.

The brake pads and rotors are $1,577 from the dealer. I'm not sure how much I can talk the guy down. I'm sure he isn't going to come down the full price to do all the repairs at the dealer but maybe I can get him down $2,000 to $3,000.

The dealer also told me the door catch issue could be as simple as a nut being loose or they could need to pull the whole door, replace the catch, and send it to the body shop so it could be as high as $2,000

 

I would work up a detailed list of what needs to be done (including labor costs) and then sit down with the seller and work out a compromise. If they have a lot of interest or the price is already low they may not be open to negotiation and it is a pay or go away situation.

 

Disconnect emotionally from the car, and like @TugboatBill said, and prepare to walk away and keep looking if they don't negotiate and you're not satisfied with the cost.

 

I was only able to get them down $500. To be honest, given the extensive and on time service, condition, and feature set, I think $27,400 is a pretty fair price even needing brakes. The coupler isn't a big deal. I'll probably have a shop do that because I don't have a hoist but I can do the brakes myself. As for the catch, I'm not too worried about it.

And wow. I just reread my post and I sure seemed scatterbrained. My thoughts were all over the place haha.

As long as the deal doesn't fall through, I'll be picking it up on Friday.

 

What's wrong with the door / was it in an accident and they had to re hang the door? Now it pops?

 

Sounds like he low-balled you on the negotiation. Tell him you'd like $1k off because you'd have to put $2000 into it just to make sure it runs safely so basically you're splitting the difference. And tell him to call you if he's ready to meet you at least to there and then walk away.

 

No. I guess it's just making like click or pop noise. I looked this up and found videos of other Mercedes models with the same issue. Looks like the bolts tend to loosen up sometimes. I'm hoping that's all this is. Even the Mercedes dealer told me that might be all it is.

I agree, he did lowball when it came to coming down in price but he says he already accounted for the fact it needs brakes.

The thing is, I still went for it because I figured even after having to spend $1,823 on parts, I'm in $29,223. That seems like a very fair price for a fully sorted E43 with these miles and this nearly impeccable service history. I mean yeah, It needs brakes so I guess it hasn't been perfectly maintained but I'm guessing he was going to sell it and didn't feel like putting brakes on before doing that. He just had two new Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires put on the front less than 1,000 ago at over $450 a piece and had the B service performed. So it's not like it was being neglected. Plus, like I said, all its other services are up to date and were performed on time including the 60K service.

When you consider all the options this thing has, I still feel like the price is fair, even if he didn't really come down much.

​​​​Btw, here is the sticker with the options.


I'll make a full post along with pictures of the car once I pick it up Friday.

 

Guess what? It turns out the door stop pop was just the 7 mm bolt. I went and put a socket on it and sure enough, it was loose. I tightened it up and now the door is nice and quiet. You think the Mercedes dealer could have just checked that for the guy when they noticed it...

Anyway, it was the bolt you see in the picture. I'm too lazy to highlight it.

​​​​​As for the brakes, I can clearly see that the front rotors are warping. The pads are fairly worn but I think there is way more than 10% left unlike what the shop said. The rear rotors look and feel fine to me. There is a good amount of pad left.

I already bought a full set of Power Stop Z23 Evolution rotors and pads. I'm just going to have all the brakes done on Friday anyway.

Once the old pads and rotors are off the car, I'll take some pictures.

I'm really not confident in PPI I had done anymore. That shop really failed to give me the full picture and they are definitely wrong about the rear needing to be replaced. Oh well, like I said, I'm just going to do them all anyway. I don't want to mix and match.

 

It's a great car - enjoy in good health