Pre-Purchase Inspection a Scam? What recourse do I have?
About a Month ago I flew to LA to pick up my new car. An 03' CLK500 which was a private party deal. I had the owner of the car take it down to Penske West Convina Mercedes for a Pre-Purchase Inspection.
When I arrived, they told me the car was in EXCELLENT condition and everything checked out. Now one month later, my local dealership, Ken Garff Mercedes in Salt Lake is telling me that they found the dreaded "gylcol contamination" in my transmission and that the whole trans was rusted and corroded. This is a KNOWN problem to MBUSA and it's dealers for these cars and I have the internal mercedes documentation stating so but MBUSA, knor Penske/Ken Garff are willing to even think about helping me out. I really believe that this should have been a recall but because Mercedes no longer cares about their consumers who are paying top dollar for what the Mercedes name has came to be, but the dealer who inspected the car, knowing this was an issue, still told me go ahead and purchase the car. How in the hell was an issue like this missed? And they are trying to say that it could have been caused within the time period i've had the car? I don't think so. A whole transmission does NOT rust in that time period.
The car is out of warranty but why did I pay money to Penske if this car was a P.O.S.? And what recourse if any do I have against them for these issues?
Your Pre Purchase Inspection may not have been a scam, they may just not have gone that deep. Oft times they only surface inspect cars for the $75-200 PPI. They would not pull tranny fluids for that price to check for shavings.
What paperwork did you get with your PPI from that dealer? I assume you paid for it and got a receipt? What does it say?
Also, now would be a good time to fill out your profile so folks can get to know you a bit better.
Yeah I ended up pay $218 for it and got a full breakdown that said the car passed all of the checks. It has a satisfactory check next to "Check Transmission" and "Check Transmission Fluid".
Yeah I ended up pay $218 for it and got a full breakdown that said the car passed all of the checks. It has a satisfactory check next to "Check Transmission" and "Check Transmission Fluid".
The "devil is in the details" since interpretation of that report could verify that the car had an operating transmission and that there was an adequate amount of fluid in it.
I'm guessing that the PPI report also has the standard fine print that it does NOT constitute a warranty or guaranty of the performance of the car. There is likely to be a part about limitation of liability. Of course, you may be able to get your $218 back.
If you paid for it with a credit card, I would dispute the bill!! If you have already paid the bill then you only have ONE option, File a law suit, will cost you a LOT of cash??? May lose, Will have spent enough money to have the trans repaired (on the suit)and still have to repair it!!! Find an Indy that does trannys and have it repaired.
Yeah I ended up pay $218 for it and got a full breakdown that said the car passed all of the checks. It has a satisfactory check next to "Check Transmission" and "Check Transmission Fluid".
during a inspection, the trans pan will not be pulled. only thing done is check to see if the level is correct. if there is metal in the fluid now, its not really anyone fault. you may never know if the previous owner new about it or not, but i assume you are having trans issues now????
And even CPO is only as good as the dealer that inspects the car and Certifies it. Mercedes failed me badly in 2000 when I bought a Starmark car that turned out to have been badly wrecked in the past. When it got hit while at a stop light and unable to be fixed due to poor repairs the previous time [to the unibody] I went to Mercedes after the selling dealer blew me off.
Mercedes basically said the dealers were franchise and they were not responsible nor would they intervene. At one point I was told they had more FU money than I did and would just wear me down in court.
And this was after I did ALL the leg work to prove the original undocumented wreck, original dealer that hid the wreck damage from the Benz database, original dealer that sold the car to a partner dealer in NY from Florida and the NY dealer that failed to inspect the car for damage when certifying.
The NY dealer [Friendly's in Wappingers Falls] did everything they could to avoid responsibility.
So, CPO is only as good as your relationship with YOUR DEALER. It cost me an easy $15K over time.
Vehicle: 2001 E320 - Brilliant Silver/Ash: MBCA member
Location: The Mountain State
Posts: 6,021
McBear,
I remember that now and thanks for reminding me and telling the others. Especially true is your statement that "And even CPO is only as good as the dealer that inspects the car and Certifies it."
Pre-Purchase Inspection a Scam? What recourse do I have? 
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