Would you buy a Mrec from Car Giant etc?

[KentishMan]

Just wondering what you guys think about buying from one of the big car super mkts?
Looking for 270cdi est to replace my 98' 160K 250td est sport going well & no problems at present but feel I would like a 03/04 model. Price?
Thanks
James

 

[hawk20]

Are you thinking E or C class. Three years old never very far away from half the new price. I would much rather buy from a Merc dealer and would always want Full MBSH to ensure 30 year rust guarantee and the free breakdown service.
You'll get a good idea of prices and what's around from these two sites: -
http://www.used-mercedescars.co.uk

http://www.directmercedes.co.uk

And an excellent guide to what yours is worth from
http://www.glass.co.uk

Last time I looked, you can do a basic check with Glass's for free via Vauxhall's website http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vx/finance/valueyourcar.do
Clarkson's Sunday Times review of the E320cdi Estate is well worth a read.
Good luck.

 

[jon_harley]

I gather car supermarkets tend to offer very low trade-in prices. Going armed with the range from Glass's couldn't hurt.

 

[hawk20]

I gather car supermarkets tend to offer very low trade-in prices. Going armed with the range from Glass's couldn't hurt.

Yes, absolutely. So sometimes you find you get a better deal from a Merc dealer. The better part ex covers the higher price for the one you are buying. Swings and roundabouts.

 

[conington]

Car Giant

Just purchased my 2002 S500 from Cargiant (this past Saturday)......

They certainly had a great selection, you need to know exactly what you are looking for. At the end of the day you need to ensure that you are happy with the condition of the vehicle and that all service hostory is in place, the salesmen are helpful but they know very little about the cars (I am still discovering things that I did not know were on the car). I would allow for an additional £400+ to purchase a warranty (there is absolutely no warranty with the cars purchased but you can purchase an "after market" one). DO NOT TRADE IN YOUR OLD CAR - I MADE THIS MISTAKE, although considering how much cheaper the new car was to anywhere else I would say that I still got a better deal when netting all the costs (including taking the car to an MB dealer and getting the service early just to ensure all is on order).

One final point - They will allow you to drive the vehicle away on the same day (2 hours after I saw the car in my case!), this is great at the time but I have since found out that I could have been fined due to the lack of tax on the car (despite being able to prove I had just purchased it and was waiting for my Insurance Cert' before I could tax it), I spoke to the DVLA and the police and both said that the only time you may dirive without tax is on the way to getting tax, car's now on the diveway awaiting an insurance certificate for taxing

CarGinat is what it says, a "supermarket" - know what you want, know what you want to pay, check the service history is in place, thouroughly check the car is in order - No frills shopping with potential bargains to be had. Never Trade in your old vehicle - you will not get a good price.

Overall a reasonable experience, the savings are good but there are no frills to the service and no haggling on prices.

Hope the above assists, more than happy if you have further questions on my experience.

 

[television]

Interesting that your findings are the same as mine, even some MB dealears do not know the level of options, yet alone the outsiders, As someone else on the forum said, if the car advertised is a long way from home,and you are not sure if the car has that option, ask them to take a photo of that part of the car, and yes, it is a jungle out there. The photo's sometimes help in the adds where you can see if it has parktronic and though harder to see distronic. A photo inside shows the blank keys where the option is not there.



Having just sold my SL on Ebay I am now on average £5-7k better off, this works in more ways than one, as I am now free to buy the car of my choice, from the source of my choice,and that includes private.

Malcolm

 

[KentishMan]

Thanks - Great replies esp Conington!
Looking for 04/05 C270cdi est BUT would like to sell my 98' 160k silver C250td est sport first so as to have the freedom!!!!
I suppose most of the Merc's at car super mkts on sale are from companies & lease people? So service history etc should be ok.
Anyway I will visit Cargiant & check that & other possibilities.
I hate the thought of buying from MB dealer & the huge depreciation the minute I leave the garage!
Regards
James

 

[conington]

Agree

Agree with your comments, it would be great to sell a car privately and then go "on the hunt" with a bundle of cash, unfortunately I see a car and find it very hard to wait ... I guess we all have to weigh up the pros and cons accordingly. It was however nice to go to a single venue with such an overwhelming choice of vehicles, I had been looking for an S class for a couple of weeks and there were very few available that interested me - Car Giant just had the choice and when you see the vehicle in front of you it is very hard to leave it and wait (I guess they are aware of this hence taking advantage on p/x).

Guess I have to work on my patience !!!

 

[television]

Handy point about the keys, My car came with 4, including 2 remotes, 1 card, and the re set key. (red or blue) if you are missing 3, that's £450 before you start, a couple of tyres and you are up to £1k, take your time.

Malcolm

 

[tom7035]

One final point - They will allow you to drive the vehicle away on the same day (2 hours after I saw the car in my case!), this is great at the time but I have since found out that I could have been fined due to the lack of tax on the car (despite being able to prove I had just purchased it and was waiting for my Insurance Cert' before I could tax it), I spoke to the DVLA and the police and both said that the only time you may dirive without tax is on the way to getting tax, car's now on the diveway awaiting an insurance certificate for taxing

A minor point perhaps, but I can't understand both the DVLA AND the Police giving this duff gen. You may only drive without a valid tax disc (1) When going for or returning from an MOT by prior arrangement (and by the most direct route), (2) When engaged in conveying voters to/from polling places in a general election, or (3) To the docks if exporting. Certainly not going to buy a disc in first place!

 

[jon_harley]

At the end of the day you need to ensure that you are happy with the condition of the vehicle

Which I guess is fine if it's in a well-lit place and is very clean and you spend lots of time checking it over carefully.

I bought my second-hand CLK a week ago from a M-B dealership - they got the car in from another part of the group, and within hours I test drove it and did a deal. After the deal was signed they polished it up and discovered three little scratches that I hadn't noticed when the car was merely clean. So it's going off to a body shop to have the whole door resprayed at their expense. Also they discovered that all the tyres were below 3mm, and although the legal limit is 1.6mm, they won't sell a car with less than 3mm right across, so it got 4 new tyres at their expense. Apparently the sales manager was quite unhappy!

A car supermarket wouldn't even notice these things, let alone tell you, let alone fix them for you at no extra cost.

 

[television]

Very good points in your post Jon, and how right you are.

Malcolm

 

[jberks]

I would happily buy a car from anyone if, firstly, the car is right and then the deal is right. Sure, buying from the showroom is a lovely experience, Sir, Madam, leather couches and all those beautiful shiny motors. But you pay for it.
I accept that the trade-in's are poor at the supermarkets, but trade in is simply an illusion, it's the 'cost to change' that matters. I was once offered a fantastic trade in on my C against an E320, but firstly the E was tatty and secondly it wasn't what you'd call cheap! - hence cost to change was exactly the same as another dealer who'd offered a lousy trade in.

Jon's comments about condition are also true. I took my last E back for a number of items that were not as they should have been. The dealer didn't quibble. I suspect (though I may be wrong) that a supermarket would not be so accomodating. Actually, if I did but a used car from a supermarket, I think I would ask to be allowed to wash it personally. That is really the only way you can properly inspect the condition. It's all down to luck really. If you get a good one, then you're going to be ahead, if not - well. Its the same thing as the auctions really - less protection again but an even better price. You pays your money as they say.

The only advantages of the dealer are
1) 30 day no quibble exchange - never needed it but could get you out of a hole
2) 12 month comprehensive warranty - worth around £600

Beware of cheaper after market warranties. This has been discussed before, but most (warranty direct etc) list what they cover. It looks fine until you realise that they have listed maybe 100 items out of the 1000's of bits on a car. Sure gearbox (named components only), ECU etc were covered, but not the dash cluster or plug leads that gave me trouble.
I bought an extended warranty from the dealer to kick in when the MB one expires on my 270. I thought I was buyinbg an MB one so kicked off when I discovered it wasn't. However, on reading the small print, it lists only what is not covered (brakes, clutches, exhaust except cat. If it's not on the list - it IS covered. Ok - £150 or so more expensive, but a lot safer.

 

[conington]

Dvla

Thanks for the advise, glad I left it at home today !!! Seems as though Cargiant need to review their procedures i.e. not allowing buyers to drive the vehicle off the premises without Tax.

 

[gary350]

Buying a MB from an MB dealer is not always a safe bet as you would think I know a few friends that have been caught out this way and bought real dogs and fought to get their money back, If you part exchange its even more difficult. Buying from anyone has a risk attached and its up to you to check the quality of purchase and quarantee should it need returning.

gary

 

[benzo]

I face the same dilemma. Have been searching for my 'ideal' E class for over 3mths now. Have cast my net wide from auction sites to autotrader to the mercedes sites - used mercedes and direct mercedes.
Quickly discounted the auction sites because as a private buyer paying the kind of money these cars command, you want some kind of guarantee or comeback should something go wrong.

Autotrader brings up a wide variety in my price range, but am worried about dodgy dealers. Have called up a few and even visited one 160 miles(!) away who turned out to have misrepresented his car on the advert.

Used Mercedes and Direct Mercedes I'll put in the same league. They all seem to have very clean cars, but their prices seem to command a premium of about £5-6K over the equivalent ones on autotrader. Now I read that their cars are not always that fantastic after all

Would hate to pay say £22K when I can get the same car for £17K.

 

[jberks]

The ideal scenario is to buy from a private seller who is simply trying to get a better price than the derisory trade in offer. Then take them and it to their dealer, have the full history pulled off the computer and at the same time have the car put through a pre-warranty inspection (£150 or so).
If all ok, you have the same car you would have bought off the forecourt for a few grand less and for a extra few hundred, now its been inspected you could have a full used warranty to boot!

 

[hawk20]

I face the same dilemma. Have been searching for my 'ideal' E class for over 3mths now. Have cast my net wide from auction sites to autotrader to the mercedes sites - used mercedes and direct mercedes.
Quickly discounted the auction sites because as a private buyer paying the kind of money these cars command, you want some kind of guarantee or comeback should something go wrong.

Autotrader brings up a wide variety in my price range, but am worried about dodgy dealers. Have called up a few and even visited one 160 miles(!) away who turned out to have misrepresented his car on the advert.

Used Mercedes and Direct Mercedes I'll put in the same league. They all seem to have very clean cars, but their prices seem to command a premium of about £5-6K over the equivalent ones on autotrader. Now I read that their cars are not always that fantastic after all
Would hate to pay say £22K when I can get the same car for £17K.

The price differences are nothing like as big as some are claiming. I just ran a check on S320cdi's from CarGiant or Used-Mercedes or Direct mercedes and the differences are very small -like for like, year for year, mileage for mileage. But the Merc dealer knows the car and what to look for AND gives a 12 month guarantee. Might get a bad one -that can happen anywhere - but at least it is guaranteed and will be put right free. And being able to part exchange and get a fair price is worth a lot too both in money and hassle. My Merc dealer phones all his trade contacts and seeks the best bid on what you are part exchanging and uses that as the base from which to haggle upwards. Seems fair to me.

 

[hawk20]

The ideal scenario is to buy from a private seller who is simply trying to get a better price than the derisory trade in offer. Then take them and it to their dealer, have the full history pulled off the computer and at the same time have the car put through a pre-warranty inspection (£150 or so).
If all ok, you have the same car you would have bought off the forecourt for a few grand less and for a extra few hundred, now its been inspected you could have a full used warranty to boot!

Sounds good. Do Mercedes offer this warranty even though they didn't sell the car?

 

[jberks]

Sounds good. Do Mercedes offer this warranty even though they didn't sell the car?

The warranty I got was supplied by the dealer rather than MB themselves. As they'll make on the warranty sale, plus they'll earn from the inspection charge and then make on any repair work carried out under that warranty - I'd say yes, they'll sell you one!
Admittedly it won't be a signature warranty so check the small print, but as I've said, if mine is anything to go on, it appears to be just as comprehensive.