Bought C63 AMG - advice required!

[ViperPict]

Hi. Fairly new here so hi to everyone.

I recently (a week ago) bought a 2012 C63 AMG from a reputable dealership. The V5 was not available (the car had previously had a private plate and DVLA were processing the new document) but I was told it had one previous owner. However, after 3 days the car broke down (pretty sure it as in issue with the V belt as both power steering and power to battery were affected). Not such a huge issue in itself but over the weekend I get the V5 and find that the car has actually 4 previous owners!

These two things together have got me concerned and I am considering returning the car now. I would not have bought the car for the price I paid (£28k on 40k miles) had I know it had had 4 previous owners. And the breakdown has further compounded that.

Firstly is 4 owners in 4 years in itself something to be concerned with for this type of car (not having owned an AMG before)?

And, given the additional issue of the breakdown, should I be seriously considering returning it?

The garage have passed it onto the local Mercedes dealership to undertake a full inspection of the car (including ECU diagnostics) but I'm not sure that that will fully reassure me. It has a full one year warranty but, again, I still have some doubts. Any advice greatly appreciated!

 

[brucemillar]

4 owners is not in itself a big concern. The dealer telling you it was 1 owner is a huge concern.

The V belt snapping is again not a concern assuming the dealer check is good?

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[ash59fifty-uk]

6.2 litre v8 super unleaded guzzling powerhouse I wouldn't be surprised if it had as many owners as years on the planet, but the seller telling a whopping fat lie about previous owners is of slight concern

Perhaps they ran the info of the private plate which may have only been on one car previous, if you run private plates on the gov checker it can turn up all sorts of wrong info. Possibly an honest mistake but then again the V5 should've had the owner amount

 

[cliveBRABUS]

Hope you go back to the dealer and demand your money back

 

[SamW]

Get your money back and buy from a main dealer with 2 yrs warranty.

If you do anything other, then you've got massive kahoonas.

It might be an honest mistake, but then again, if he's lied about that, what else could he have lied about.

 

[ViperPict]

Just to point out, I did buy the car from a main dealer. Not Mercedes though. I do think it was a genuine mistake re. the number of previous owners. But I still would not have bought such a car with 1 previous owner per year. I'm insisting on a full check of the car from top to bottom by the local MB dealer and I will need a three year warranty too. At least.

 

[uumode]

1 owner per year, would suggest that the C63 did not hold their attention / they thought it was a boring car / not a long termer for them / some other car was superior / they could not stomach the fuel consumption / gained too many points on their licence / had some underlying issue

But if I had a C63 I would treasure it for that bit longer, what's not to love?

However it might have been pre-registered and only have '3 owners'

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

As Bruce suggested four owners in four years is not unusual for cars like this. Some owners tend to be into cars and have the money to have what they want - when something better comes along they change so they can play with anther toy or have the latest and greatest.

The number of owners can also "artificially" increase on cars like this, because they're se tines bought through a business, then "sold" to the business owner or their husband/wife, etc, although it's still owned and driven by same person in reality.

However in this case the buyer sounds like someone who holds on to cars longer, and therefore wouldn't buy a car which had changed owner regular. Made worse by the dealer fibbing or making an error on this very point.

If you wouldn't have bought the car having known the ownership history, then you need to talk to the dealer about what would make it right. Handing it back for refund is one option, or asking for a partial refund as a sweetener is another option.

Good luck!

 

[MancMike]

If they're lying about something that isn't a concern, what else are they lying about?

 

[bootsboy121]

What happened in the end?
did you get a refund or have you still got the car?

 

[David404]

Also interested to know what you did in the end.

Did the MOT history and MB service history stack up OK?