Pre- Delivery Vehicle Damage Question

08WhtX5 · #1 09-26-2007, 04:09 PM

Looking for some input:

Trading in my 2004 Mercedes S430 for X5 - Bought brand new from dealer.

Salesman comes in after inspecting my trade and asks who did the paint work.

I said the car was never hit , not a scratch or a ding 23K miles. He tells me the entire car was repainted. He shows me the tell tale signs and whips out his "paint meter". Tells me no body filler but car was definately repainted. Now the BMW/Mercedes part of one dealer family so I ask him to call MB and find out what the story is. Comes back in and says must have been "port" damage the paint work is to good to be body shop.

Spoke to General Manager at MB today and showed him the car. He didnt say much but agreed the car was re-painted but claims the dealership has no knowledge and no record of paint work.
They upped the trade in allowance from 30 - $31,500 but I still feel I got taken on original purchase and probably wouldnt have taken a $78K car that had just been repainted without a substainal discount. I'm sure I'm getting popped for it now at trade in time.

Question - should I let it go or push harder? It is a 3 year old car now but I just cant shake the feeling that i got screwed and here I am buying another car from them. I would cancel the order but I do like the BMW rep and car is scheduled for week 40 build.

China Man · #2 09-26-2007, 06:32 PM

Chances are that your dealer is (as does most other dealers) using Galves for a trade-in value.

Does your S430 have any optional equipment? (i.e. sport, 4matic?)

According to the latest galves book, a 2004 S430 opens up at $30,000 with 36,000 miles on the odometer. You can add a little for the low clock (23k miles). This $30,000 is assuming a clean, never painted car that needs very little to no work. The book calls for a 300 dollar deduction per 1,000 miles that's over the 36,000. You're 13,000 under, so 300 x 13 = $3,900 / 2 (you divide by 2 for adding back money for low mileage) = $1950. $30,000 + $1,950 = $31,950. Since they have a Mercedes dealer as well, I'm assuming they will just take the car over to Mercedes and retail it there. Therefore, I would ask for more money on your trade. Another 500 would be fair, to say the least. If the dealer was just going to wholesale your car, I'd say $31,500 is right on the money, if even a little high.

08WhtX5 · #3 09-26-2007, 08:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by China Man

Chances are that your dealer is (as does most other dealers) using Galves for a trade-in value.

Does your S430 have any optional equipment? (i.e. sport, 4matic?)

According to the latest galves book, a 2004 S430 opens up at $30,000 with 36,000 miles on the odometer. You can add a little for the low clock (23k miles). This $30,000 is assuming a clean, never painted car that needs very little to no work. The book calls for a 300 dollar deduction per 1,000 miles that's over the 36,000. You're 13,000 under, so 300 x 13 = $3,900 / 2 (you divide by 2 for adding back money for low mileage) = $1950. $30,000 + $1,950 = $31,950. Since they have a Mercedes dealer as well, I'm assuming they will just take the car over to Mercedes and retail it there. Therefore, I would ask for more money on your trade. Another 500 would be fair, to say the least. If the dealer was just going to wholesale your car, I'd say $31,500 is right on the money, if even a little high.

Thanks - no 4matic yes sport. Did the Galves online and had it higher with the options.

Just more annoying I guess and woud still like to know what actually happened to my car.

Also had me wondering if I had leased the car would I be getting nailed on the return?

China Man · #4 09-26-2007, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 08WhtX5

Thanks - no 4matic yes sport. Did the Galves online and had it higher with the options.

Just more annoying I guess and woud still like to know what actually happened to my car.

Also had me wondering if I had leased the car would I be getting nailed on the return?

sport adds a few thousand to the value of the car.

Bring this into your dealer, and tell them you know what your car is worth. You should not have to pay for MB's mistake at port.

If you had leased the car, you would have not gotten nailed at return, as the paintwork was done by an "authorized" center ...

08WhtX5 · #5 09-26-2007, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by China Man

sport adds a few thousand to the value of the car.

Bring this into your dealer, and tell them you know what your car is worth. You should not have to pay for MB's mistake at port.

If you had leased the car, you would have not gotten nailed at return, as the paintwork was done by an "authorized" center ...

Thanks - does the "port" have the facility to repair damaged cars and would they / are they obligated to disclose that to dealer? Work appears to be high quality, no tape lines and all trim and mouldings must have been removed prior to spraying.

Dealer still claims they have no record of the paint work and i dont doubt them.

B-Line · #6 09-26-2007, 08:49 PM

Do you have any teenage sons with access to car keys?? lol.

B

08WhtX5 · #7 09-26-2007, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by B-Line

Do you have any teenage sons with access to car keys?? lol.

B

No - dealer also asked who had access to the car. The ironic thing is the entire car appears to had been sprayed but no evidence of any bodywork.

That had to cost a few sheckles to do thar right