Should you purchase fairly new Mercedes cars from Mercedes dealers ?

[Fastcar155]

Hi , don't want to start any issues but should you ?

 

[Deleted member 150136]

No

 

[Fununcle]

I did, very happy with my purchase, dealer was a nightmare but got there in the end.

 

[Chrishazle]

One nice thing of "MB Used Approved" is 12 months tier 1 warranty, which I was given when I bought the S204. I made sure I had it serviced by them after 11 months so anything they found would be done under warranty - but after that I went indie servicing!

 

[Will]

Correct as above. Obviously new cars come with a 3-year manufacturer’s warranty so newish cars will get the balance of that included anyway.

Approved used doesn’t necessarily mean that the cars will always be better quality than available elsewhere, but you do get a degree of additional protection and cover that you may not find elsewhere.

Any servicing due within 3 months/3k miles is included too, IIRC, as well as key cover and stuff like that.

AMG vehicles come with 2-years warranty which has a reasonable degree of value to some people too.

 

[JB052]

Fairly new, the probably yes,
have heard some horror stories about 'newish' cars purchased from car supermarkets.

 

[KennyN]

We bought a 6 month old Juke from our local Peter Vardy , i questioned why such a new car was outwith the dealer network.

Turns out some of these big "supermarkets" buy newish cars from rental companies who buy them new , run them up to around 10k miles then auction them off , ours was from Enterprise. Having said that there was an £12k saving from new at 6 months old.

When i contacted Nissan it wasn`t even on their database for some reason , it is now though and today it was in for its second service and they discovered an oil leak that is covered under warranty.

K

 

[Dryce]

Turns out some of these big "supermarkets" buy newish cars from rental companies who buy them new , run them up to around 10k miles then auction them off , ours was from Enterprise. Having said that there was an £12k saving from new at 6 months old.

Where do you think a lot of the 1 to 2 year old MBs come from ? Including the ones on the MB dealer used stock lists? This 'dirty secret' used to get rediscovered every few years. Then there are 'ex-management' cars that may well be cars allocated to staff and family on various short term deals or be part of a pool.

Things seem to be less rigid than they were - rental companies seem to hold on to cars for longer - so there are more higher mileage ex-rentals (20K+) and slightly older 2 years whereas 15 years ago you'd see very few ex-rentals with more than 15K and 12 months - they seemed to be passed on at around 10 to 15K and 6 to 9 months.

To be fair on modern manufacturers - I've found that the older/higher mileage rental cars I've had over the last two or three years have been in reasonable condition. I only rent automatics - and my general view is that over the years the condition of the automatics compared with manuals rented and driven with colleagues have been a bit more roughly treated.

 

[Will]

We bought a 6 month old Juke from our local Peter Vardy , i questioned why such a new car was outwith the dealer network.

Turns out some of these big "supermarkets" buy newish cars from rental companies who buy them new , run them up to around 10k miles then auction them off , ours was from Enterprise. Having said that there was an £12k saving from new at 6 months old.

When i contacted Nissan it wasn`t even on their database for some reason , it is now though and today it was in for its second service and they discovered an oil leak that is covered under warranty.

K

Nothing wrong with your purchase, but I often see quotes relating to the used price of a car against what it was when new.

Is that £12k saving off list price or £12k off what it cost? Even private buyers often get quite large discounts on various new cars these days (eg drive the deal/Carwow or just plain old fashioned negations/manufacturer offers etc) and if the car was ex rental/lease you may be surprised at how much they paid for it when new

I think this is one of the reasons rental companies used to buy loads of random stuff - eg Vectras/Insignias and stuff like that, no one would ever pay list price for those sorts of cars and sell them a year or two later.

 

[st13phil]

whereas 15 years ago you'd see very few ex-rentals with more than 15K and 12 months - they seemed to be passed on at around 10 to 15K and 6 to 9 months.

Back in the 1980's and early 1990's the big rental companies (Hertz, Avis, Godfrey Davis, etc.) used to command massive manufacturer discounts to the extent that upon disposal - usually at a maximum of 9 months and 10k miles - they would often make a minor profit.

 

[Eddy77]

Back in the 1980's and early 1990's the big rental companies (Hertz, Avis, Godfrey Davis, etc.) used to command massive manufacturer discounts to the extent that upon disposal - usually at a maximum of 9 months and 10k miles - they would often make a minor profit.

Up until recently I believe that was still the case! Might still be even today.

 

[markjay]

My experience (at least as far as the C-Class is concerned) is that franchised dealers have the nicer cars, often privately-owned low-mileage cars with a decent set of options, while non-franchised dealers will mostly have ex-lease ex-fleet cars (Kx-reg) with only the basic options.

So if you want (say) COMAND, Pano roof, leather, heated seats, driver aids pack, illumination pack etc, on a low mileage car in pristine condition - then go to the dealer, but be prepared to pay a huge markup for the pleasure.

If, on the other hand, you're OK with run-of-the-mill spec on average-mileage car in great condition then you'll bag a real bargain at 'pile 'em high sell 'em cheap' car supermarkets.

As for the one year AU warranty.... as pointed-out, it won't really make much difference on a nearly-new car anyway, and even on older cars it isn't a big deal and you can purchase it separately if that's important to you.

 

[KennyN]

Is that £12k saving off list price or £12k off what it cost?

Off list , for Joe public paying list the car would have been £24k , we paid £12k. Obviously Enterprise would have got it for much less as they would be buying in bulk but i was happy with what we got for our money and the fact it had 30m warranty remaining.

K

 

[markjay]

On another note, dealers will often have for sale cars which are new pre-registered, nearly new ex-demonstrator/ex-courtesy car, or ex-staff car, which will be offered at significantly discount.

However, it's a bit of a gamble, because these are not 'one driver' cars, and there's no way of knowing how they were driven (or by who) for the first part of their lives.

 

[davymead]

I think this is one of the reasons rental companies used to buy loads of random stuff - eg Vectras/Insignias and stuff like that, no one would ever pay list price for those sorts of cars and sell them a year or two later.

Absolutely, a wonderful way of selling on otherwise unwanted overproduced vehicles.

 

[Dryce]

My experience (at least as far as the C-Class is concerned) is that franchised dealers have the nicer cars, often privately-owned low-mileage cars with a decent set of options, while non-franchised dealers will mostly have ex-lease ex-fleet cars (Kx-reg) with only the basic options.

I think you'll find that different dealers operate different strategies.

The chains can buy large batches.

So if you want (say) COMAND, Pano roof, leather, heated seats, driver aids pack, illumination pack etc, on a low mileage car in pristine condition - then go to the dealer, but be prepared to pay a huge markup for the pleasure.

We used to note that the better spec'ed cars were typically at least 2 years if not 3 years old. More likely to be a private buyer PCP return. Rentals tend to be standard Elegance or AvantGarde with no extras.

I have found the rental A, C, and E class models I have had do vary a in the last few years - a few of the C and E have had AMG line branding, have the fancy LED headlight systems, or memory seat controls. None have had pano roofs! I suspect that is one feature that the rental companies don't want because of additional damage risks.

 

[Dryce]

However, it's a bit of a gamble, because these are not 'one driver' cars, and there's no way of knowing how they were driven (or by who) for the first part of their lives.

All used cars are a bit of a gamble. The pricing notionally factors in that risk.

I have been through periods over the last few years of having a hire car every couple of weeks - after a week and 500 to 1000 miles with each car there are very few that I would decline to buy at the right price based on condition or the way they drive if I were in the market for that model.

 

[Fununcle]

I think you'll find that different dealers operate different strategies.

The chains can buy large batches.



We used to note that the better spec'ed cars were typically at least 2 years if not 3 years old. More likely to be a private buyer PCP return. Rentals tend to be standard Elegance or AvantGarde with no extras.

I have found the rental A, C, and E class models I have had do vary a in the last few years - a few of the C and E have had AMG line branding, have the fancy LED headlight systems, or memory seat controls. None have had pano roofs! I suspect that is one feature that the rental companies don't want because of additional damage risks.

They do come up, our ex rental c class was one year and 8000 miles old prem plus so fancy lights, command and pano roof etc.

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , from asking my initial question I purchased my Mercedes approved car from Mercedes South West.

I must say the the preparation was first class and all major paperwork provided prior to delivery.

In general terms I feel that it is safer from purchasing a Mercedes from a Mercedes dealer.However always a exception to the rule !

The reason I asked the question was I was alarmed by by what certain pre owned dealers described a car with a MBFULLSH service history.

Cars that are less than three years old by that have one service by MB and leaves the family.

As yet have not found a newish Mercedes with no service history yet ! / unless you know better .

 

[SarahAnn200]

My ex had a new A250 delivered from MB South West before he changed to a 35.
We met the chap from MB South West at Doncaster services and everything went fine. Very pleasant to deal with on the phone and in person.