Never trust the photos in a car ad!
Went to see THIS E320 cdi this morning after being in contact with the owner via phone & text. I was assured twice that it was in great condition apart from the odd stone chip etc. I even emailed THIS photo to her to 100% confirm there was no rust, and again I was told no rust etc.
I was also informed it had a full service history including a main service a couple of months ago with a £600 bill backing this up, all sounded good I thought apart from the photos, if you look carefully you can see they are taken in the midst of winter.
So this morning my Dad and I drove over to see it which was at a friends garage as she had just been to see a family member in hospital the night before (I agreed it was fine to still view the car). Straight away I could see the car was filthy, and had both rear arches covered in rust.
Got the keys and went for a test drive, inside the car it was also really dirty with paint on the passenger seat and a huge rip in the trim below the drivers seat. Out on the road the traction control light kept flashing and the 'check oil' malfunctional was displayed.
After pulling over I was able to have a good look around the car, both rear tyres were almost completely smooth, huge amounts of moss, leaves were around drainage holes and window trim. Inside the engine bay there were large amounts of green/grey foam in the top corner? evidence of an oil leak on the right hand side of the engine block below the plastic cover - this the injector leak? and half a trees worth of leaves. Around the front of the car the headlight plastic had gone yellow, the mesh looked like it had popped out and the plastic inner wheel arch trim was sticking out also.
Looking through the MB service history, the last service was in May 2011 not 'recent'
I called her up and offered £4500 explaining everything which was wrong with it and told her I would need at least a £1000 getting it shipshape, she again told me it had a recent service and said the paperwork was there - all I could fine was a new front tyre fitted 6months ago. she came down to £5500 and I walked away.
Amazing how a car can get in that shape is one thing, expecting a sale is another!
She also told me she had already dropped it £1500, the garage owner said he it had been with him for nearly 3 months in his parking lot.
Waste of fuel and time heading over to Bicester thanks the owner of MC53 KBP good luck with the sale of your wreck!
Went to see THIS E320 cdi this morning after being in contact with the owner via phone & text. I was assured twice that it was in great condition apart from the odd stone chip etc. I even emailed THIS photo to her to 100% confirm there was no rust, and again I was told no rust etc.
I was also informed it had a full service history including a main service a couple of months ago with a £600 bill backing this up, all sounded good I thought apart from the photos, if you look carefully you can see they are taken in the midst of winter.
So this morning my Dad and I drove over to see it which was at a friends garage as she had just been to see a family member in hospital the night before (I agreed it was fine to still view the car). Straight away I could see the car was filthy, and had both rear arches covered in rust.
Got the keys and went for a test drive, inside the car it was also really dirty with paint on the passenger seat and a huge rip in the trim below the drivers seat. Out on the road the traction control light kept flashing and the 'check oil' malfunctional was displayed.
After pulling over I was able to have a good look around the car, both rear tyres were almost completely smooth, huge amounts of moss, leaves were around drainage holes and window trim. Inside the engine bay there were large amounts of green/grey foam in the top corner? evidence of an oil leak on the right hand side of the engine block below the plastic cover - this the injector leak? and half a trees worth of leaves. Around the front of the car the headlight plastic had gone yellow, the mesh looked like it had popped out and the plastic inner wheel arch trim was sticking out also.
Looking through the MB service history, the last service was in May 2011 not 'recent'
I called her up and offered £4500 explaining everything which was wrong with it and told her I would need at least a £1000 getting it shipshape, she again told me it had a recent service and said the paperwork was there - all I could fine was a new front tyre fitted 6months ago. she came down to £5500 and I walked away.
Amazing how a car can get in that shape is one thing, expecting a sale is another!She also told me she had already dropped it £1500, the garage owner said he it had been with him for nearly 3 months in his parking lot.
Waste of fuel and time heading over to Bicester thanks the owner of MC53 KBP good luck with the sale of your wreck!
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