Mercedes Direct - Used Car Scheme

[darrenf]

I am looking at purchasing about a 98/99 C-Class Elegance from www.directmercedes.co.uk I was just wondering what people thought of them?
Are the prices good value?
What is the service like e.g. if you get any problems
Thanks

Darren

P.S. is a c-class 180 automatic very under powered?

 

[sym]

I bought my car from Mercedes Direct. I was happy with the service received. There was no pressure to buy, and I looked at a variety of models.

Prices are not much lower, if at all, than Mercedes Dealerships though.

There were a few minor issues with the car, but these were swiftly resolved, and overall I was left with a good impression.

S.

 

[phil barker]

I also purchased my C220 cdi from Mercedes Direct, Manchester branch.
Same prices as dealerships but cheaper hourly rate serviceing costs.
There was some pressure to purchase Star Shield at £299 and some invoicing difficulties. But the car is Great!

Philb

 

[mjtray]

Hi,

I bought my E220 CDI through Mercedes Direct when they first opened and was very pleased with the service and the car they found for me. At the time the price was significantly better than main dealer prices. Mine was an ex Daimler Chrysler management car that had been very well looked after.

Since then we have replaced my wifes A Class with another and surprisingly Mercedes Direct were unable to compete with the deal we were offered by Tony Purslow's (Merc main dealer) in Basingstoke.

As I understand it, most of the Mercedes Direct cars are ex Daimler Chrysler UK staff cars or short term rental cars.

I would happily deal with them again if the deal was competitive.

Cheers

 

[janaka]

steer Clear of Mercedes Benz Direct

I now have an Nreg Merc C180 I bought privately but not before an unfortunate run in with Merecedes Direct.

Since I want a certain amount of reassurance, I had been visiting Mercedes ' UK site's used car section which usually links directly to the dealer.

However, occasionally, you get linked to Mercedes Benz Direct which is some kind of subsidiary of Mercedes UK. If you want to know the price, you need to register and give your phone number.

One Friday, they rang me twice and went on about the 100s of cars that have just come on the market@ their Hemel Hemstead branch and could I get there that day?

On the second occasion, since I didn?t want to waste my time,I gave them my budget and exact details of the car I wanted ie Elegance/auto and Cruise with a max budget of 8K and mileage under 80K. They said that they had 2 P reg cars that fitted that description and of others too many to mention.

Since I was going to Leeds that evening on the M1, I thought I'd drop in. When I got there, they had never heard about either of these cars and couldn't really offer me any alternatives within my budget either! They didn?t even try to say 'Oh they have just gone Sir!

When I complained, they directed me to their Kingston branch and the fool that I am, agreed to see a P reg car they had offered for 7 grand .

When I got to see the car, there was condensation between the windscreen beading,cigarette marks on the interior and one of the small indicator lights on the side panels was actually loose!-This is a car that was supposed to have some kind of multi point check by Merc. Also, the boot was covered in bird droppings (not fresh either).

When I tried to tell the salesman why I was not interested, his attitude was 'well what can you expect from an older car?" and "Great, we have another buyer waiting anyway"!

May be I have been unlucky but
moral of the story: going from my experience with them, keep well clear of Mercedes Direct. They are nothing more than glorified Arthur Daileys. They probably deal with the dogs that main dealers can't sell and as for their checks, I think they probably don't do all of them and deal with any probs as and when they arise.

If you want a Merc, my advice is go to a main dealer (which means only newer expensive cars- and no guarantee of good service given my experience with their affiliate) or buy privately with a thorough check.

There is absolutely no advantage in putting up with the surly staff or relying on the so-called peace of mind you could possibly get from Mercedes Benz Direct.

By the way, I am still waiting for a response to my original woes about Mercedes Benz Direct Hemel Hempsted which I sent to DaimlerChyrsler UK 10
weeks ago so that should give you an indication on their thoughts on customer Service!

 

[mjtray]

Blimey, sounds like things have gone way down hill since I last dealt with them.

Just hope that somebody from Mercedes Direct picks up on this discussion and takes note........theres nothing worse than bad customer service, although saying that I have also experienced some pretty dire service from my local Merc dealers, with the exception of Tony Purslow's in Basingstoke who were and are first rate.

Hope you're pleased with the new purchase

Cheers