Unfortunately the main dealer won’t be able to tell what the internals are like without stripping it down, and that will get very expensive quickly. Ultimately it may have been maintained well, you just don’t have the history.
My Dad keeps his cars years. He’s old school and maintains them himself after the warranty period ends. They get serviced twice every year even though they do no more than maybe three or four thousand miles each year.
When my Dad eventually sells his cars there will be no service history after the first three years but I would say that they’re equally well maintained as my cars which are spoiled rotten by the main dealer. I paid for the stamps he didn’t.
If you’re worried reject it. If you’re otherwise happy with the car try to reach a fair agreement on a goodwill gesture. But whatever you do, don’t drag it out as the longer you stew on it, the more frustrating it will be.
Thanks, some good advice there. Particularly around not dragging it out.
Without wishing to overload you with loads of post purchase advice
Ask for recommendation for a good Merc Indy down your neck of the woods. They would be able to do your gearbox fluids and assess your rear subframe. Taking a 2014 121k Merc to a main dealer is a waste of money in my opinion.
Yep, have a really good one near me - merc service SW.
There is a statement in the above paragraph that is not quite right - He's suggesting I'll have to pay for repairs to the vehicle traded in!. He as a professional dealer had the opportunity to assess the car in which ever way he wanted before making you a part exchange offer. And a professional he has no come back on you. His statement was made just purely to put you off pursuing your claim against him. DO NOT allow this to deter you in your actions against him !
I asked citizens advice about this. They laughed and said exactly what you've said. He saw the car, test drove it, and priced it accordingly. He's the motor trade expert, not me. Once it is in his possession, any issues uncovered are his responsibility without cost or impact on service to me.
Like me (and you), they don't believe him and think it's just a tactic to scare me and stop me from proceeding. A lovely character.
Gearbox service is a one off at 40k miles buddy , MB doesn’t have a schedule for future gearbox services
In the service book I have for the car it says every 31,000 miles.
You have had some very good advice from others on here.
Compared with some car purchases, the car that you have bought is not a complete disaster by the sounds of it. The SH is not as complete as you were led to believe and there is a wheel bearing fault.
As others have said there are not many eight yr old cars that have a "proper" service history - after yr 3 or 4 most cars are neglected to one degree or another and the older the car / the more owners / the more miles the worse the neglect becomes. It does not mean that the car is about to blow up, it just means that the probability of future repairs is increased.
An 8 yr old car with 120k miles and a full proper SH is a rare find; so if buying cars of this age it is worth checking carefully. Most sellers don't have a clue what the SH really is - even most dealers fumble through paperwork and stamps that they have clearly not looked at properly themselves.
To keep things simple with the seller and to avoid getting into a discussion about having your old car back from him, you could ask for a reduction in price based upon the reduced value of a car without full MBSH and the repair needed.
And you have learned something - most car dealers are not completely honest. Shock horror. To be fair the second hand car market is awash with wannabe car dealers with skinny margins and no scope for offering a real service - and the genuine dealers have to try and compete with these wannabes. So it is tough. Which means that as a buyer you have to check everything before you buy and dont assume anything or take anyone's word for anything.
Agree, this has been a great forum and some great advice, so thank you all for taking time to reply and help me out.
Having had time to think, it isn't a complete disaster. I've written a letter to him the citizens advice helped to formulate asking for that. They've said if that fails, I get the repair done, and bill him and demand a reduction in price. If he refuses we go to court. They've said if we do a small claim, 9 / 10 don't end up in court. I hope it doesn't come to that. I just want an easy, stress free life.
