Issues with Mercedes Approved vehicle

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Flatteraxe

New Member
Joined
Mar 10, 2020
Messages
9
Location
Loughborough
Car
GLE 350D
Hello all,

I just bought my first ever Mercedes and I am really happy with the car, it's a GLE 350d SUV in black with 21" AMG wheels. I love the car to bits however I have a couple of issues/questions.

I bought the car with 24982 miles on, purchase date was 24/02/20. It was last serviced on 21/01/20 at 24976 miles.

I picked the car up and drove around 200 miles and was happy but then realised the rear tyres were low on tread, both on the tread limit. I called them and they said that the inspection said they were 5mm which was fine. I disputed it and took the car in and they said they would give me rear tyres which are being fitted tomorrow which I'm happy with.

Then my friend pointed out that all 4 brake pads were low, again I hadn't looked or noticed. On the way home from my friends the brake pad warning light came on. At this point I had done 250 miles since owning the car / the last service. I called Mercedes again and the salesman (Warren who by the way is brilliant) said he would speak to the service department and get it sorted. The service department haven't said they won't do them but that at the inspection they were 5mm which is fine. Could the brake pads go from 5mm to warning light on in 250 miles?

I'm happy with the car and don't want to kick up any fuss I would just like to know where people think I stand.

Many Thanks.
 
clearly nothing was inspected
 
Yes but not by me either :-D

I was so concerned with making sure that this was the right car for me (previously owned Range Rovers) that I forgot to do all the basic checks.
 
clearly nothing was inspected

This ^

Mine went from 7mm , according to the techs video, to pad warning light in less than a month (200 miles) , so either someone was "tracking" my car during the night whilst i was sleeping or they were not checked properly (at all) during the service , my ££ is on the later.

They definitely never checked the air filters / pads / and probably never replaced the oil or the brake fluid either , which i couldn`t prove.

The above "thorough" servicing was carried out over four years and at a reasonable cost of £2k through their service plan.

K
 
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Hi,my experience with approved used is if you take ownership of a car without inspecting/finding faults/problems then they will/do appear,what I now do after a similar experience to you with my first approved used car is to inspect then make a note of any defects(ie bodywork blemishes/worn tyres/pads etc) then explain to the salesman what they are and that I want them put right before hand over and that has worked for me without question-it seems the dealerships hide behind the approved used inspection to make you think the car has indeed had a multipoint /thorough inspection when in reality it’s probably had a quick once over at best and down to the buyer to find any faults and have them rectified.
 
Thanks guys. The salesman told me that tyres and brakes etc should have a minimum left on them to qualify for Approved Used. They obviously didn't have this so I will fight it.
 
I had occasion to visit our Mercedes local dealer the other week to obtain a new key.
Whilst in the workshop they gave the car the once over and passed the results to me.

It needed:
new wiper blades all round (replaced by me 2 months ago and still in excellent order)
They measured the tyres at 4mm all round (they have covered 2000 miles and are almost as new)
They fitted a Mercedes me gadget which took the Bluetooth phone out, it took me some time to realise that it was this that was playing with the Bluetooth before I took it out.

All in all a torturous experience (the key took 6 weeks from point of order to handover and then they even tried to cancel the appointment on the same morning)

Mercedes dealers aren’t what you’d expect them to be
 
I had occasion to visit our Mercedes local dealer the other week to obtain a new key.
Whilst in the workshop they gave the car the once over and passed the results to me. It needed: new wiper blades all round (replaced by me 2 months ago and still in excellent order)
They measured the tyres at 4mm all round (they have covered 2000 miles and are almost as new). They fitted a Mercedes me gadget which took the Bluetooth phone out, it took me some time to realise that it was this that was playing with the Bluetooth before I took it out.
All in all a torturous experience (the key took 6 weeks from point of order to handover and then they even tried to cancel the appointment on the same morning)

Mercedes dealers aren’t what you’d expect them to be

Actually, judging from posts on here, many of them are exactly that. It's the ones that are what you'd like them to be that are the exception.
 
Actually, judging from posts on here, many of them are exactly that. It's the ones that are what you'd like them to be that are the exception.

Very true, dealing with them gives me a nose bleed
 
Thanks guys. The salesman told me that tyres and brakes etc should have a minimum left on them to qualify for Approved Used. They obviously didn't have this so I will fight it.

You are within their return period.

Threaten to return it under their OWN rules and don’t let them string you along to get you outside it.

Gove them a binary choice. Fix the issues or take it back. No compromise unless it is in cash
 
Generally the Approved Used warranty is pretty good, and your local dealership will sort any issues out (whether you got the car there or not). I got a new battery on my SL, my wife's C Class had an occasional indicator repeater error and they replaced the whole door mirror without any quibbling. They will do a service if one comes up within a certain period, and you are covered for any MOT fail items as well.

I had a brake warning come up on our Vito a month after a main dealer B service where the rear disks and pads had been replaced. No idea how they'd missed that the fronts needed doing as well - these things do happen.
 
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Yes but not by me either :-D

I was so concerned with making sure that this was the right car for me (previously owned Range Rovers) that I forgot to do all the basic checks.

As a main dealer approved used car you should not be expected to be crawling around it inspecting brake pads etc, it should have been checked over with a similar check list that most main dealers, Jaguar, Ford etc , do as a complimentary health check whenever your vehicle goes in for any work at all, any items should then be rectified, we pay a premium price to purchase from a main dealer as we like to think they will be a "top" car. worth making a fuss over this if it is exactly the right car for you.
If it had been a private seller then off course you would be expected to give it a once over yourself, or get an RAC or AA report done.
 
So everyone is in the mind that they should cover the brake pad replacement? The thing is that they are all low, what they will do is say for example the rears are setting off the warning so we'll replace those but not the fronts. We'll see tomorrow.
 
You will probably find the "inspection" is more rigorous when you have to pay for what is not right.

If tyres and brakes are not to the required worn out levels as per the approved used scheme, they should be replaced.

I get the impression these days they don't check the cars at all most of the time and see what they can get away with once the punter buys it.

Ultimately if they have to cough for some stuff it's cheaper than sorting everything that should have been done.

I don't doubt not all dealers are like this and it comes down to whoever is doing the "inspection" but it shows up on here a fair bit.
 
I'd ask them to put the car through the inspection again, with a different person doing it, as clearly whoever did it the first time was incompetent. As was the quality control on the inspection.


Isn't there a thing that approved used cars shouldn't need any work for 3 mths / 3000 miles? Maybe that only applies to servicing, but it's pretty tough if it needs tyres and brakes in that time.
 
So everyone is in the mind that they should cover the brake pad replacement? The thing is that they are all low, what they will do is say for example the rears are setting off the warning so we'll replace those but not the fronts. We'll see tomorrow.
I would definitely be asking them to replace the pads. It used to be that there was a minimum tyre tread depth, time/miles to next service, etc but looking at the Approved Used Programme leaflet there is no mention of it now. I believe you would be within your rights to ask for it though.

https://tools.mercedes-benz.co.uk/c...sed/Mercedes-Benz-Approved-Used-Programme.pdf

The last Approved Used Mercedes I bought had new tyres and brake pads fitted before collection, and I didn’t even have to ask - both were picked up in the workshop before I even viewed the car. The salesman pointed it out to me as I viewed it.
 
I've posted the details before but I once bought an approved used E Class estate.
There were issues with it and I took it to my local main dealer. They wouldn't touch the car (unless I emptied my wallet into their till) as I couldn't produce the 114 (or whatever number) check list from the supplying dealer showing the pre-delivery checks from their workshop inspection.
Without this check list as far as they were concerned the warranty couldn't commence.
The supplying dealer admitted that the checks hadn't been done so the car had to be returned to them.
They really screwed up bodywork problems making them worse. The car was returned to them and a full refund issued.
It was back on their forecourt within days at a higher price.
 
Actually, this is quite interesting and makes me rethink my recent purchase.

I bought our GL from a large dealer group, Sytner, their car supermarket arm, not an approved used Mercedes dealer.

Our car came with 4 new tyres, 4 new discs and pads, new wheel centre caps and, eventually, 2 keys where only one was with the car. The vehicle is almost as new with refurbed wheels, only 1 minor chip on the door and has a full MBSH.

It doesn’t have the warranty of the MB used car scheme and is too old to be sold by them, (2011), but I’m quite pleased now the memory of modern car sales techniques has softened
 
Call up MB help desk (central one) and raise a complaint (*after* telling dealer you will return the car unless they agree to fix it)

R
 
The salesman told me that there has to be a minimum of 3mm on the tyres at the point of sale. The inspection report said there was 3mm, I pointed out that this was impossible as after 200 miles they were now at 1.5mm and level with the wear indicators. They said they would replace the tyres with zero argument. Then when the brake pad light came on at 250 miles I called up and told them about the pad, the salesman told me that there should be a minimum on the pads just like the tyres. It is only the mechanic who has given me any sort of pushback. I fully expect them to sort the pads when I see them in the morning, its just a shame my inspection obviously wasn't carried out correctly.
 

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