Warranty on Second Hand SLK

[dagd]

Hello all,

I have been a company car user for the last 18 years and have decided to opt out of the scheme and take the cash to purchase a car that I want for a change. Now that both my kids have finished uni, I have decided to purchase a roadster (had four in my youth) and have purchased a four year old SLK230 from a dealer which I’m picking up this week. The car looks very clean, is an auto with leather and aircon, wood dash (old man thing I know) has a low mileage (27K) and drives very well. I currently have a C180k SE Sport and so the controls are much the same (made sure all were functioning).

The questions I have are concerning the 30 day return option and the 12 month warranty offered by the dealer. What has been your experiences on these and are they worth the paper that they are written on? I've seen some of your comments read some of the horror stories regarding service charges for unnecessary parts and dealer woes etc and am beginng to winder if I've done the right thing!

My experience with my local dealer has been good, but then again, the car has been very reliable and apart from the A & B service has not needed any work. My dealer also offers a 20% discount off labour and 10% off parts, on cars greater than four years old. I assume I should stay with them while the car is in warranty, or can this be transferred to another MB dealer?

Also, when does the warranty start? I paid for the car almost three weeks ago, but because I still have the company car and I didn’t want to tax and insure the SLK and leave this in my driveway, I deferred delivery, and picking up the SLK at the beginning of March, does the warranty start then or when I paid the balance?

Thanks for your help.

 

[jberks]

Hi,
Assuming its a signature warranty, its backed by MB so you can use any dealer, just as with the manufacturer's warranty. There are horror storeis which I don't really understand. Clearly they aren't going to cover wear and tear items but I've had all sorts of work done over the years and never had a problem.
Yes dealers are a bit crap in places but persistence usually pays off. Just make sure you are being reasonable and insist on what you want.

The warranty will kick off on the invoice date. I suspect they got you to pay early and invoiced then to hit their targets, so yes, I imagine your warranty is already running. Worryingly so will your 30 day return option. I would have paid the deposit 3 weeks ago, but you shouldn't have settled the invoice until delivery. I would speak to the salesman.

 

[dagd]

Thanks for that Jberks, good to hear it's not all bad, as I said my experience so far has been good, my local dealer (Tony Purslow) reminded me twice that my current C180K was nearing three years old and offered me a free warrenty check before this expired (normally £250). They also like to make sure that customers fill in their satisfaction forms and chased this by post, e-mail and phone! I'm not buying the SLK from them, but will be taking to them for servicing as they give a discount on cars over 4 years old. I'll report my experiences good or bad.

Regards

dagd

 

[toxic dave]

Hi,

I bought a secondhand slk from a MB dealer and had problems with the cooling fan control unit some 6 months after purchase. The Signature warranty was perfect, control unit replaced without question or problem and not by the dealer i bought the car from. Go ahead with confidence. Great car and real fun.

 

[dagd]

The car is an Approved Used, is this just a new term for Signature?

 

[dagd]

Looks like Approved Used, is the just a new term for Signature, checked yesterday, said I could take it to other MB dealers, they also offered the same service and parts (stock) discounts on cars over three years old plus a free MOT if this is done at the same time as the service.