Motorway

[byrnezy88]

Hi All,

New to hear with a very limited knowledge of cars so go easy!

I have just sold my C220d on Motorway. They dealer came to collect this evening and I left him to inspect the car and test drive on his own. He can back to say there’s and issue to my surprise. The gears were taking longer to change, at maybe 2500-3000 revs. I went for a drive with him and he was right. I hadn’t driven it for a few days but it hadn’t happened before. I’ve had no mechanical issues whatsoever and it’s been well looked after. Most of the services have been by Mercedes.

He proceeded to try and knock the price down by £2000 which made me slightly suspicious. I said know and he asked what I’d take. I let him know I wasn’t comfortable and would have to come back to him when I knew more. I drove the car 30 minutes after he left and it wasn’t doing the same thing.

Is there anything he could have done? Or is it just a coincidence and it’s something I need to sort?

Thanks in advance

 

[tony gee]

was the engine cold ? the normally hold gears a bit longer, perfectly normal

 

[byrnezy88]

was the engine cold ? the normally hold gears a bit longer, perfectly normal

It was when he came. I’d purposely left it for a couple of days. He asked for it to be cold.

I I’d say by the time I got in the car it probably wasn’t and was still doing it. It did seem unusual and something I hadn’t seen it do before.

But as mentioned it wasn’t doing it after he left and there are no engine lights and never has been.

 

[tonysmb]

I don't know the car's age but either cold or possibly performing a dpf regeneration, in both cases will hold on to lower gears to generate heat.

 

[byrnezy88]

I don't know the car's age but either cold or possibly performing a dpf regeneration, in both cases will hold on to lower gears to generate heat.

It’s a 15 plate with 100k on the clock.

 

[tony gee]

if you ask me he's manufacturing an issue just to lower the price, if its been left unused for a while it could be that ? see if it does the same thing the next few days.

 

[SpikyMikey]

It's tempting to say he'd just overbid to get the car and was trying to claw something back.

 

[byrnezy88]

Driven again this morning and I couldn’t notice any issues.

It is strange as it did seem unusual when I was in the car with him. Like it was holding on to the gears for longer than usual.

One thing I’m going to check this morning is that it’s had the gearbox service. First 7 services were with merc. The last one being at 76650. I’ve done a bit of research and it’s looks like that’s due at 77,500

 

[markjay]

One thing I’m going to check this morning is that it’s had the gearbox service. First 7 services were with merc. The last one being at 76650. I’ve done a bit of research and it’s looks like that’s due at 77,500

...or 5 years, whichever comes first.

 

[tonysmb]

I wouldn't bother with the gearbox atf; it was probably a dpf regeneration it can hold the revs unusually high for a while, particularly if driving slowly. If car is now fine, I'd just leave it.

If you're selling the car to one of these motorway- type companies you'd just be throwing away the cost of an atf change.

 

[markjay]

Did you try both transmission modes? E (or C) and S?

 

[m80]

Run it some to be sure that all is ok in your mind.
Try to sell again.
Personally I wouldn't turn my back on a buyer while in reach of the car, and if there were 2 cam i would want a second bod watching their 2nd bod.

If you have never noticed this holding on to gears during your ownership it is just toooo suspicious.

 

[FiveAlive]

With DPF regeneration the revs will be kept around 1500-2000. If the revs were going to 3000 that sounds more like limp mode. You haven't mentioned the EML so I assume that didn't come on. Given that the car hasn't done it before or since, I'd be very suspicious of the buyer. I agree with m80, never leave them with the car by themselves. There are too many stories of dodgy buyers fiddling with stuff to bring the price down.

 

[SpikyMikey]

Did he have it in manual mode?

 

[byrnezy88]

Thanks all for the replies.

I’ve called Mercedes and it’s never had the gearbox service. Slightly surprising as i think it looks like it had a service plan and as mentioned, it was serviced at 76,659 by Mercedes at 7 years old.

Mercedes quoted £360 for that. I’m tempted to offer to reduce by that, take it or leave it!

 

[byrnezy88]

Did he have it in manual mode?

I don’t think so. Would it still change gear if it was in manual mode?

 

[toteimerced]

Stick it on autotrader, sell it privately, you’ll get much more for it and sell sold as seen, you’ll never get it’s true value from one of these “ we will rip you off dot com” cowboys.

 

[DSM10000]

I don’t think so. Would it still change gear if it was in manual mode?

Not until you reach high rpm.

 

[markjay]

The OP mentioned that the car has not been used prior to the test drive. I don't think that the car will attempt a DPF regen before the engine reaches normal operating temperature. The whole purpose of revving the engine during DPF regen is to increase the exhaust temperature to burn off the soot - and there's no point in trying that with a cold engine. And so, whatever the issue was, I don't think it's a DPF regen - unless the test drive was particularly long?

 

[byrnezy88]

I just spoke to my local garage. He thinks they might have put it into learning mode so the car plays up.