Buying an A-class...

[kornoground]

I am seriously considering purchasing a Mercedes A140 Avantgarde on an 04 plate in Metallic ice blue (dont know what mercedes call it) with 20k miles covered from an independant mercedes-benz specialist for £6995. I have test driven the car and inspected it. However there are a few concerns that I have about the car. Firstly, the stereo does not work (its a mercedes benz one and not the sony one that some a-classes have but the dealer says that he'll service the car before he sells it and will fix this problem) and secondly there are no service stamps in the service book which initially got the alarm bells ringing for me. After asking about why there were no service stamps, the dealer said that the previous owner bought the vehicle in 2005 just before it needed a service and might not have had it done, however he would phone mercedes-benz and find out. Today I got a call from a lady who works at this independant specialist and she said that the car was indeed serviced by the dealership but just hadnt been stamped so she is sending the documents off to be stamped officially and will call me again once its done (she says it could take 24hrs+). Why wasn't the service book stamped when the car got serviced especially if it got serviced at the dealership? This is the first time I am purchasing a car on my own as my previous car was purchased by my father for me so I need clarification as to what is going on.

 

[jberks]

It all sounds ok to me. It may simply have been that the previous owner kept the service book at home so it wasn't there to stamp. You could ask them to get you a print out of the work done. This would be difficult to fake but easy for the dealer to do.
As for the radio - if they've guaranteed it will be fixed on delivery just check it before you hand over the cheque.
What warranty will they provide?

 

[kornoground]

The specialist says it will come with a 12 month warranty so that sounds good. And I will ask for a printout of the work done (thanks for the advice). BTW there is a small bit of paint missing at the bottom of the passenger door just below the plastic trim and you can see the white primer. The car looks sound otherwise but I am going to haggle with the specialist to try and get it for £6000

 

[hawk20]

I'm more cautious. Unless you have good reasons to buy from the independent, I would at least see what you can get from Merc dealers who will give you a full 12 month warranty. I would also expect fullMBSH on a 2004 car. There will be plenty which have that. And it offers you the benefit of a 30 year rust guarantee and also free breakdown service. (The AA charge £150 for a couple in UK and up to £100 extra for cover in Europe -useful if you like the odd trips abroad. Comes free with MobiloLife on Mercs with full MBSH).

Plenty of choice around.
The MB website has a good search engine: -
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/con...e/products/used_cars/all_used_car_search.html

This site offers links to lots of MB dealers and independents too.
http://www.used-mercedescars.co.uk

Used cars direct from Mercedes management can be got from
http://www.directmercedes.co.uk

I may be hard, but I would not be impressed by a dealer who had not checked the service record (and put it right where necessary) on a car they had bought and were selling. Nor with one who had not noticed -or did not care- that the radio was not working. To me those things would say :-look elsewhere. Lots of lovely bargains out there.

 

[kornoground]

Nice links hawk20, I'll have a look.

 

[jberks]

I'm more cautious. Unless you have good reasons to buy from the independent, I would at least see what you can get from Merc dealers who will give you a full 12 month warranty. .

I agree to a point, but it comes down to whether you feel a dealer will have better stock than an indie. Cars come from lots of sources. If it was traded in for another A class it may have ended up on the dealers forecourt. If it was traded for an Audi then it may land at the auction or be sold directly to the indie.
At the end of the day, its the same car. If you'd have found it at the auction you'd probably have paid £5550 for it, privately perhaps £5,800 on the indie's forecourt for £6500 or so or the dealer's for £7500 - still the same car.

I do assume in all this that they are cheaper than the dealer though, as the dealer warranty is about as good as it gets on a car such as this. That said, I did look at an E at the Indie. Ok, no MB warranty, but the indie gave 12 months and being an indie MB specialist, insured warranty or not, it would simply go into their workshops and they'd fix it. Hard to see how I could lose.

As far as the Mobilio is concerned, if it's been in the dealer in the last 12 months as it sounds like it may have been, the warranty stands. As far as paintwork is concerned, they're less uptight these days as the standard of paintwork has improved, they're getting less claims so are more flexible on the ones they do get. Dads 03 E220 has had some work done and it doesn't have fmbsh.

My experience is that the dealer isn't that fussy about what he stocks. My last E240 had been pranged at some point and not repaired properly but trusting the dealer I hadn't looked as closely as I might and had missed it. It came with a missing door check strap seal and door soundproofing and I always suspected the front wing wasn't authentic. But, I didn't really notice for a couple of months by which time my swap out guarantee was gone and I was basically happy with the car. They fixed the missing bits so I let it go.
When I complained about a missing trim on this car (also from the dealer) they gave me a real runaround. They also didn't spot the failed air filter mount.

My Friend's newsed E320 came from the dealer with a couple of minor faults.

We do look at dealer used cars with rose tints but aside from feeling like a king during the process and the obvious appeal of buying from showroom, the reality is that its the same car wherever it comes from. And you are paying for that shiny showroom!

 

[hawk20]

I agree, as ever, with a lot that jberks says. So long as it is the same car. And there is the rub. I have seen a lot of rubbish in 'indies' which no Merc dealer that I know would touch. If it is not good, my dealer trades it. And that ends up somewhere. I just think you are safer with a Merc dealer. And the guarantee is excellent.

One other thing. There are loads of people who skimp on servicing. If you are buying up to three years old there are loads out there with FullMBSH. Why go for anything else IMO. Older cars, different ball-game.

 

[Eric Tilley]

Quote. At the end of the day, its the same car. If you'd have found it at the auction you'd probably have paid £5550 for it, privately perhaps £5,800 on the indie's forecourt for £6500 or so or the dealer's for £7500 - still the same car. /Quote

So knowing the price mark up, go on the MB used car site and find one you like at a dealer near you and haggle with him. I know it is not the British thing to do but you can comfort yourself with the thought that not just accepting the asking price is one of the benefits of multiculturalism. You may well be surprised (although the dealer wont be). The key to success is to catch them at a vulnerable moment, like just when they have to take delivery of their next allocation of new cars and they must get some of the old stock off the forecourt.

 

[hawk20]

I agree, Eric Tilley. And usually-especially if you have no part exchange- it is easy to get at least 5% off the asking price. I think they build that in to lace the part ex price.