Question about 7G Tronic plus gearbox

[Jameskippy]

Hello,

I am considering buying a E class 220. I am just concerned that the car has 59k on the clock and the gearbox has never been serviced. Should I stay away from it?

Thanks,

james

 

[Gazwould]

Depends on how old the E class is as ATF interval is 5 years or 77,500 miles .

 

[DSK]

The 7g is a robust unit and I doubt the majority with genuine lower miles such as circa 50k would be serviced.

I would take the car for a good long drive, so long as works as expected and the car is good, I’d buy, if it’s what you want and get the box serviced by a recommend MB specialist post purchase. You could also use the lack of the box not being serviced as a genuine bargaining point.


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[Gazwould]

I'd avoid it personally , around 4 years over due an ATF change .

 

[Jameskippy]

Thank you all. The seller has said they will service the gearbox as part of the sale but i'm thinking as Gazwould said ie may be too late. They are giving a 6 month warranty. The E class is 2013 - sorry to omit that. It also has full service history but it seems the gearbox has been missed. Its really nice apart from that £12,000.

Thanks

James

 

[LostKiwi]

Whilst not ideal I'd drive it and if all drives well get it anyway and get the oil and filter changed asap. I'd not let the dealer do it either -:you want to be sure it's been done and done properly.

Gearboxes can take far more abuse than people give them credit.

 

[Tony Dyson]

Thank you all. The seller has said they will service the gearbox as part of the sale but i'm thinking as Gazwould said ie may be too late. They are giving a 6 month warranty. The E class is 2013 - sorry to omit that. It also has full service history but it seems the gearbox has been missed. Its really nice apart from that £12,000.

Thanks

James

+1 as above, don't let a car dealer service this gearbox, a 7G+ box has features to assist the Start/Stop function and uses a very thin specific trans fluid, the procedure is complicated and involves draining the main box and torque converter separately then flushing the heat exchanger, the filling and commissioning is just as complicated.
If it has a 'Full Service History' this should be on he MB Service Database and I find it difficult to understand how either a dealership or an approved indy with access to the database wouldn't also change the ATF at the correct time? Have you seen a copy of the FSH or is this just a Sales claim? The current seller can approach MB and request a copy of the service history, I would want to see this MB document before parting with any cash!

 

[Mr Greedy]

Thank you all. The seller has said they will service the gearbox as part of the sale but i'm thinking as Gazwould said ie may be too late. They are giving a 6 month warranty. The E class is 2013 - sorry to omit that. It also has full service history but it seems the gearbox has been missed. Its really nice apart from that £12,000.

Thanks

James

"it's got a full service history".....

(except for the bit you've noticed that hasn't been done, and I'm not going to volunteer any other bits that might be missing and I hope you don't notice)

Seeing as it doesn't have full service history, it makes me wonder what else is missing?
I'd like to see evidence of the brake fluid being changed within the past 2 years (either an invoice, or print out from Merc if it's on the Digital Service Book - DSB).
I'd like to see evidence on the engine air filters and cabin pollen filter being changed on time (again, invoice or Merc DSB).
If it has a sunroof, is there evidence of this being serviced?
All of the things I've mentioned here (and the ATF fluid) are additional items not included as standard on an A or B service I believe. So unless you have evidence of those being completed, they are missing as well from the "full service history" and can only assume to not be completed.


However, I have to temper this with the fact this is a 2nd hand car sale, and a lot of traders (including dealerships, and I'm sure not limited to Merc) are full of blaggers trying to get away with as much as possible in the hope the customer won't notice. And there are plenty of posts on here where people are buying nearly new Mercs from Merc, and identified issues "that will be sorted before sale", only for them to go and pick the car up, they haven't been sorted, and then led on a merry dance of broken promises about getting it fixed.

Also consider if you go to a lot of traders and start talking all this awkward stuff about, you know, the lies about it not actually having full service history and it impacting the potential reliability of the car, a lot of traders will want shot of you and they will prefer to sell to one of the next 9 out of 10 mugs that walk through the door totally clueless. So by dragging this sort of thing up with the trader can mean they are put off you and basically tell you to sling your hook.

A lot of these things are 'relatively' inexpensive to fix.
If it's the colour and spec and seems in very good condition and being sold by a trader with e.g. many positive Google or Autotrader reviews, I would recommend considering buying, then taking straight away to an independent specialist for a thorough inspection and an MOT (by their favoured MOT station) and ask them to look for faults. Faced with the list of what needs doing (if anything), you can either do them yourself, approach the selling trader with the list of required work and ask them to stump up for it (give them the opportunity to fix it), or reject the car within the first 30 days (which should be under law just a right to change your mind, and they might try and charge you a handling fee, at which point I would wheel out the list and use that as leverage to return if for no charge).

Obviously, check as much visual stuff as you can yourself. Does the windscreen have the MB logo or a signature etched into it (non-Merc screens can be problematic)? Are all the panel gaps straight? Can you see or feel any overspray or paint masking lines around any of the edges of the panels? Does it have 4 decent matching tyres with good tread, or 4 different sidewall-damaged ditch finders on each corner?

Good luck

 

[Jameskippy]

Thank you so much for the info. The car in question is from Mercland Nuneaton convertible 59k miles. I’ve never owned a Mercedes but they are undoubtedly the best looking cars. I actually haven’t driven any vehicle for 10 years due to working abroad - haven’t needed a car. I’ve been looking for a Mercedes since November but haven’t seen a good one. I don’t know if the E Class convertible is a bit too big but it looks fun.

Thanks again.

 

[Mr Greedy]

Thank you so much for the info. The car in question is from Mercland Nuneaton convertible 59k miles. I’ve never owned a Mercedes but they are undoubtedly the best looking cars. I actually haven’t driven any vehicle for 10 years due to working abroad - haven’t needed a car. I’ve been looking for a Mercedes since November but haven’t seen a good one. I don’t know if the E Class convertible is a bit too big but it looks fun.

Thanks again.

Ha ha, now you say Mercland, you can rest a bit easier than 'any old trader' being a 'blagger' as I previously mentioned.
Mercland are one of the more highly recommended specialists, and they do a good inspection. I believe you can pay £500 to increase the (RAC) warranty to 2 years, which has got to be worth it.

I'm glad they're doing the ATF, because my best mate bought a car there on my recommendation last year I think, 8 years old 78k miles E class 7G+, and they tried to blag him that it was optional and didn't need to be done for the 'service history' to be up-to-date and all present and correct, but that if he could just book it in as soon as he bought it and pay £300 for the ATF change. I told him to point out it's 5 years or 72k, and both were passed, so they should either do it or he should not buy it. It was done in the end for free before sale and their approach worried me. I'm glad they have the right approach in this case.

When I was looking to buy, I was working in Nuneaton and visited Mercland a few times. The right car in the right condition didn't come up, but I certainly don't rate them in the 'absolutely cannot be trusted' category, unlike some other car traders I've used with hindsight.
I would say if you find anything you asked to be corrected before sale and they agree, make a note of it and when you pick the car up, check your list. If any bits haven't been done, don't take the car. This applies at any trader and dealer in my view. See my earlier post about even Merc main dealers leading customers on a merry dance of broken promises once you've driven the car off the premises for the first time. You're cleanest, strongest position is to get the car correct BEFORE you pick it up.

 

[Tony Dyson]

As above, confidence levels are up and Mercland would be able to access the MB Service Database directly for a full printout of the Service History.
There is currently an ongoing recall programme for diesel engined vehicles of this age (Assuming yours is a diesel?) and a lot of contention regarding negative effects of the "Emissions Software Update" and in particular, requiring the NOX sensors replacing to the latest version to work with the SEU, you should enquire whether the SEU has been applied to the car and whether the NOX sensors have been replaced accordingly, there have been many examples of owners driving away from an ESU with NOX sensor fault codes being thrown up before they've even left the premises.
Any recall updates, including the Damage History will appear on a "Vehicle Information (Damage History)" Printout, again Mercland will have access to this document for your records.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

My two penneth:

1- The car missed its second service so went 22k miles from 1st to ‘3rd’ service - all credit to Mercland posting this info on their website though
2 - The car spent most of its life in the London area
3 - The Nox emissions update may throw up sensor problems, if this is done under warranty no problem
4 - The car is nearly 10 years old so the transmission service should have been done at 5 years - Mercland recommended my 7+g box fluid was changed @ 60k miles (4 years old) - but then I was paying
5 - The car is EU5 so one of the last produced so not ULEZ compliant if that is an issue

Other than that the car looks a nice clean example they do prepare their cars well and THEIR OWN warranty is worth having not sure about the extended RAC third party warranty

 

[mioba]

Personally, I dont see the issue, drive it and if its all fine then go for it, Mercland in Nuneaton are pretty good by all accounts.

 

[Gazwould]

Each to their own , I walked away from a S204 that had ATF changed @ 6 years and not the correct 5 years .

 

[Mr Greedy]

Other than that the car looks a nice clean example they do prepare their cars well and THEIR OWN warranty is worth having not sure about the extended RAC third party warranty

One of the reasons I recommended to my mate was Mercland's 2 year 'own warranty', which turned out to be a 2 year RAC warranty.

Maybe his was an isolated case.

 

[Jameskippy]

Oh dear it was sold before I could buy it! Back to the drawing board. Any tips on where to search or shall I stick to Autotrader and Ebay?

Thanks.

 

[DSK]

I just use autotrader, eBay and Facebook, it’s uncommon to see the same vehicle advertised with 3 different prices.


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[Mr Greedy]

Oh dear it was sold before I could buy it! Back to the drawing board. Any tips on where to search or shall I stick to Autotrader and Ebay?

Thanks.

I believe Mercland will try to source something specific if you are after it. Give them a call if you haven't already and ask about this.

 

[Hankiss]

Oh dear it was sold before I could buy it! Back to the drawing board. Any tips on where to search or shall I stick to Autotrader and Ebay?

Thanks.

This happens when you people are too fussy .... when buying 10 years old car. Next time, drive it , have it scanned by Star Diagnosis ... and when all good just buy it. Then do all services yourself ( I mean by trusty garage).

 

[Exp21]

Hi, I would not have bought the car. I think there's a safety zone for exceeding the schedule of oil replacement, but 3-4 years seems too much. Also because even if it was low mileage, probably it was city driven so hundreds of cold starts for oil. I had an example of this when on one of my cars the dealer "forgot" to replace the manual gearbox oil, and 1.5 years later gearbox was bad with gears grinding etc. Good luck