New user, buying advice wanted

[davyhoogy]

Good evening everyone, new user here looking at potentially purchasing an E-class estate. Hopefully I'm in the right place.
I'm not too fussy on the car spec, they have some decent kit as standard, but memory pack is quite important for me with under 50k miles.

I'm after a bit of advice regarding a Cat N car on ebay, and whether I should steer clear or if its worth going for.

With our budget we were probably looking at a basic car for around 17k, but this car is fully spec'd up and being advertised for 16k (discount on that already agreed).
So getting alot more car for a few grand less than basic spec.

History of the 'incident' is apparently minor damage, front bumper, drivers light and drivers airbag replaced.

Any advice/warnings/tips fully appreciated.

TIA guys

Dave (from Sunderland, UK)

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome

Any “Cat” car will always be worth less. So it should be significantly less to be worthwhile.

What exactly was wrong with it to get the “Cat” rating?

 

[Wighty]

I suppose also it’s down to the quality of repair and who did it . AA/RAC inspection might help alleviate some worries ?

 

[davyhoogy]

It needed a new front bumper grille, 1 headlight and the driver airbag. I've asked for it to be mot'd as its due, which is getting done, then I was going to pay for a full AA check on it to give me some peace if mind.

At 15k It is significantly less than the equivalent spec car which Mercedes-Benz sunderland want about 23k for. But i can get an SE with premium pack which is enough tech for me, for about 18k. So id be saving about 3k on the car I could afford.
I've bought CAT cars before and never had an issue, but not for this price, hence my apprehension.

Thanks guys

 

[A.J.]

Hi Davy, welcome to the forum

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Welcome!

Difficult to give advice on this purchase only you can decide what level of risk to take. All I can say is that the S213 is a great buy especially with the OM654 engine but do bear in mind MB franchises have the best examples with a rock solid 12 months warranty which is extendable.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Welcome

 

[davyhoogy]

Welcome!

Difficult to give advice on this purchase only you can decide what level of risk to take. All I can say is that the S213 is a great buy especially with the OM654 engine but do bear in mind MB franchises have the best examples with a rock solid 12 months warranty which is extendable.

Thanks malcolm. I'm a sucker for a bargain its too tempting for me to not pay it some attention. But it does make me very nervous the thought of something going wrong or a dishonest seller.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

I’ve seen the advert on EBay I see the seller has a feedback of 5 and has just joined

 

[davyhoogy]

I’ve seen the advert on EBay I see the seller has a feedback of 5 and has just joined

Yeah. No feedback as a seller. Not to say he hasn't just joined to sell the car though.
Ill get the pics from the damage

 

[davyhoogy]

I’ve seen the advert on EBay I see the seller has a feedback of 5 and has just joined

Well turns out he was a chancer.
I kept insisting on a new mot, booking a full AA car check, and him supplying pictures and receipts of the work carried out since he was first owner after work. If that was supplied and ok i would buy the car..

Guess what, no reply. Shock horror.

So we have largely increased our budget to get a better spec from a garage, a e350 estate SE with 1 owner, 2017 with premium plus, driver assist pack and the full digital dash
Pick it up next weekend

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Good move the E350 is a very nice car!

As regards the EBay advert just goes to show that due diligence is the only way.

Look forward to seeing the pics the premium plus is the one to go for so good choice

 

[peterws1957]

Well turns out he was a chancer.
I kept insisting on a new mot, booking a full AA car check, and him supplying pictures and receipts of the work carried out since he was first owner after work. If that was supplied and ok i would buy the car..

Guess what, no reply. Shock horror.

So we have largely increased our budget to get a better spec from a garage, a e350 estate SE with 1 owner, 2017 with premium plus, driver assist pack and the full digital dash
Pick it up next weekend

A wise move I think. If there was only minor damage to the bumper and headlight on the ebay car it's perhaps surprising that the air bag went off.

 

[bembo449]

he has lied about what CAT the car was too imo , as peter said above , its had more damage than a CAT N car would normally have , once an airbag is deployed the repair costs shoot up significantly so id say its more likely a CAT S car

 

[davyhoogy]

he has lied about what CAT the car was too imo , as peter said above , its had more damage than a CAT N car would normally have , once an airbag is deployed the repair costs shoot up significantly so id say its more likely a CAT S car

I did carry out a check on the car and it did show as cat N registered so I dont have a doubt about that, plus I had a friend hit his driveway post at home and set his driver airbag off which was hilarious but also shows its possible they an go off at lower speeds at the right angle.
But either way he's obviously hiding something. Probably a very cheap repair and alot more damage than stated.

I'm driving from Sunderland to Belfast as it takes 2 weeks to ship a car over and I get a good long test drive home to get used to everything! Road trip!
One thing I want doing straight away is full rear windows tinted

 

[davyhoogy]

Sorry for the haziness, they dulled out the pictures since I ordered it.

 

[A.J.]

Sorry for the haziness, they dulled out the pictures since I ordered it.
View attachment 62436 View attachment 62437 View attachment 62438

Very nice Dave, great spec

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

You’ll enjoy the drive ‘road trip’ home the W/S213 chassis is the best MB have produced in 25 years

 

[sonic]

Welcome looks like you did the right checks on the first car, & made a good move to the one you bought. The 350 is a lovely engine, had mine for almost 9 years.

 

[davyhoogy]

Thanks fellas. I'll have a browse around the forum when I'm on the ferry at 4am next weekend haha.

Yeah it does feel alot more comforting knowing we have a years warranty with the car and that its been well looked after. There is some wear to the drivers seat bolster which looks to be a bit worse than it should for the age, but ive reconditioned leather seats in my 23year old bmw z3 so I should be able to sort it if it is bad.