CL55 Update. PCS

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toffee-pie

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Guys,

I've had Olli look at my car and he has done all the jobs I asked him to do, I also told him give it a once over for peace of mind.

I got a bit of a shock with his comments. (circa £3k to resolve)

- tyres were bad, I noticed this also. Ditch finders, need 4 new tyres most likely. The tyres he said were the likely cause of a vibration at ca 70+ mph

- coolant wrong type

- a/c weak

- brake pads in front worn (forget which side) > need 2 new pads

- rear brake lines? corroded (think this is what he said)

- leaking rear strut

-front ball joint worn (creaking noise on full lock, he thinks most likely ball joint)

- spark plugs, should have been done at last change.



Now. I am not entirely pleased with much of this, not because of the cost but because the seller I bought car from had this car checked and had work carried out prior to me collecting, by an independent specialist he uses himself.

I asked the seller to check A/C before I collected, give me a full health report and change the oil.

When I collected car and took it home I saw oil not done, so the seller came to my work place and took the car to his own specialist to do the oil.

I also got them to do the coolant and brake fluid.

Why would they not put in correct fluid? why not top up the A/C.

The report said brake pads at 50-60%, not according to PCS.

This brings me to the warranty, I am looking into have some of this carried out by this, mainly strut, ball joint and corroded brake lines. I think its £300 or so per repair job. How should I approach the seller, the invoice just said 3 month warranty , £300 per job or along the lines of that.

Its an expensive car for sure and I knew that before I bought it, just feel incredibly let down by the garage he used, plus I am not entirely convinced they knew what they were doing with that rear camera modulator I got, I also saw 2 screws missing on the Comand unit. Not the service I would expect on such a car.

I should point out that the car is in very good condition other than these things I need to look into, its 13 years old after all.

cheers.
 
Surely the onus was on you to check the car thoroughly prior to purchase?
 
well I have a report from the other independent garage, they put in wrong coolant among other things. Not the service I expected.

The plus side it the CL55 is a million miles from the diesel estate Merc I had as a hire car.

Saying check the car prior to purchase is well and good, but its not like you can ask some dealer to borrow a car for a day or 2 so you can take to an indy of your choice.

I relied on his good word and also the MOT which had no advisories, and I relied on the independent health check from his own garage.

I am going to give this feedback to him and make use of the warranty he had provided to make good some of the bigger jobs on the list.
 
Hi, if he has given you a 3 month warranty then just ask him to sort it. Sounds odd though if he was a private seller giving you a warranty?

On the plus side, PCS have gone through it top to bottom by the sounds of it, and it's all easily fixed. I always ear mark £2k for jobs needed on an old car when I buy one. £3k though is a little eye watering.

Let us know how you get on
 
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It was not a private sale, it was a dealer.

I asked for a once over and thats what I got from PCS.

I need some tyres, can I get feedback on these?

2 x Pirelli P Zero at £205.99 £411.98
2 x Bridgestone RE050A at £168.50 £337.00
 
Sorry my mistake, well that's good then, get him to sort it.

Can't help with the tyres sorry
 
My thoughts:

Wrong coolant is a 50/50 one. By wrong coolant does Olly mean it is not Mercedes recommended coolant? Or is he saying it is the wrong type of coolant?

The usual issue with coolant notable by the colour (Pink or Blue). Trouble is we are a nation of followers. So if at some point somebody put in pink? it is probable that ever since then people have added pink. Pink is now not in fashion as it is seen as corrosive to hose joints etc. This was not always the case.

Brake line corrosion. One man's rust is another man's wire brush job. Olly is one of the best in the business so I would go with his version here. That said your previous guy may have felt that the corrosion was acceptable - Many do and it can be so.

Ball joints etc. I would say these are all age related. As with the rust one garage may well accept them another would not. There was a recent MOT post on here about exactly that point.

If it eases your pain ;^) I had almost an identical scenario with my C55 two years ago. A £3k MOT bill. £800 of which was tyres. The remainder was corroded brake lines, worn front ball joints and split rear CV gaitors. Oh and a split prop donut.

If you love the car. Try and take it on the chin. With Olly you know you are getting the best in the business and can drive home skint but safe and he will not have bent you over.
 
The strut must be a expensive job, and also would have thought it was a Mot failure? advisory at least.

The Pads only one side? does that mean a new caliper? as it may have been binding? if so surly a brake imbalance again Mot advisory?
 
Olli said wrong colour coolant.

Brake pads were worn on 1 side, nothing about calipers., (could have been discs?)

I looked up the MOT now and see it had advisories. I must check the MOT again when i get car back.

Test date 18 March 2016
Expiry date17 March 2017 Test Result Pass
Odometer reading 123,131 miles

Test date 14 March 2016
Test Result Fail
Odometer reading 123,116 miles

Reason(s) for failure
front Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively (8.2.2)
offside rear Brake pipe excessively corroded (3.6.B.2c)

Advisory notice item(s)
Engine cover fitted
Damage to windscreen
Under-trays fitted
Corrosion to underside of vehicle
Corrosion to brake, fuel and suspension pipes
offside rear Shock absorber has a light misting of oil (2.7.3)
Front wheel bearing has slight play Both (2.5.A.3c)
front upper Suspension arm has slight play in a ball joint both (2.4.G.2)
front brake disc worn, pitted or scored, but not seriously weakened both (3.5.1i)
 
^ To be fair, Ollie has only pointed out items that are advisories on the MOT fail + tyres. Assuming the corroded brake pipe was replaced to get a pass certificate, it leaves you with the items PCS noted.

Hate to say this but all the things that are wrong with the car were pointed out and given to you as an MOT certificate with advisories.
 
Under sale of good act a seller should put right any faults, suspension issues - ball joint, arms , struts are pretty significant areas.

Doesn't explain for the shoddy service in having wrong coolant used.

The corrosion is interesting, how is this rectified?
 
It seems that those two tests were done in two MOT centre's in a radius of 5 miles.
Just by the lack of advisories on the later one I would ask the seller for some sort of proof (invoices) that all these issues from first test were sorted.
Advisories from 14th are pretty much the same as PCS has found which makes me thinking that the seller is not the most reputable one and you should send him a letter asking for sorting all these issues or a refund.
I believe that rigging MOT test is a criminal offence.
 
A disc is fixed, pad wear should be even on both sides of the car, Could be caliper/sticky piston, a caliper slider not sure if there brembos if so dont think they have sliders, a brake hose etc etc. its got or "had" a slight in balance.
 
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