I'm picking up my 2000 E430 this Friday.

Are there any things I should be sure to look for or at before driving out of the dealership? Any certain areas in particular to look at or things to ask?

Thanks in advance,

Taison

Make sure EVERYTHING works, right down to the light bulbs. Go over any inch of the car and ensure the paint's in perfect shape. Ditto the interior. If you leave the dealership with a scratch and go back, it's that much more unlikely they'll take care of it.

Good luck!

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Best regards, Michael
'92 500E
'88 300TE

Pick it up on a bright sunny day. It is hard to see scratches at night or in the rain. Try to check the paint as much as possible especially areas like the doors and bumpers where we normally get dings and scratches in parking lots. Get down on your hands & knees and check the paint for flaws. Open the doors and stand on the door sills to check the paint on the roof. Look at the paint from various angles. I have seen new MBZ's with paint flaws from the factory and the cars get dings during shipping. Hope this helps.

You may want to have the dealer start the car and let it warm up to operational temp to ensure there is no fluid leak. Be sure to check your instrument cluster to make sure all electrical components work as well.
BTW, check to see if they hide a bottle of German wine under the seat - my dealer did that to the 2 MBs I bought :-)

95 R129
98 ML320

Check your tire pressure. All of my tires were inflated to 46 LBS when I got my new E430. I think they run high pressure to reduce bounce on the transporter. The dealer forgot to properly set the pressure before turning the car over to me.
Also, ask them NOT to install the front license plate frame if you live in a state that only requires a rear plate. The frame is actually screwed into the bumper.

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Bill Wood - Webmaster
MercedesShop.com, LLC

What is the correct tire pressure then?

Tire pressure info should be on the driver's side door jamb, or the inside of the fuel filler door. My 1984 300SD recommends around 30 psi front / 34 rear but your 2000 E430 is likely to be different. 46 psi is way too high though :) I'd reiterate what Michael and Kevin suggested about going over the exterior looking for dents, dings, paint flaws, and scratches. Spend a good long time doing it.

I would check both power seats. My 99 E430 Sport driver's seat failed three times during the first 3 weeks of ownership. At the third time, I threatened to excercise the Lemon Law. I guess that really got the dealer's attention. The dealer gave up on resetting the computer and simply replaced the whole power seat assembly to solve the problem.

Also within the same period, the fiber optic cable got "bend" somewhere between the deck and CD changer. The radio sometimes displayed "No CD Changer". The dealer did replaced the cable and the main deck (preventive measurement), but not the CD changer.

OK, it's Friday already so you probably won't see this in time. But I'll say it anyway. Make sure they didn't stick you with Continental tires! MB should know better than to do this on a 430, but they put Conti-Touring Contacts on my E300 and they're just awful. You may have better luck getting Michelins if there are no miles on the car.

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Rick Miley
99 E300 TurboDiesel
87 300E
86 190E 2.3

Rick has a VERY GOOD POINT on the Conti's. Just say NO to Conti's! The Michelin MXV4's are MUCH better.

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Bill Wood - Webmaster
MercedesShop.com, LLC

CRAP!! I think I got the Conti's. I'll have to go and double check.

Should I go back to the dealership and ask for the Michelin's? Do you think they'll switch them out?

In case someone forgets to mention...
Tell them in advance NOT to stick on the dealer decal or plate on the back of the car.
Some of them really stick them on there by drilling holes into the sheetmetal.
Just as bad are those metallic foil stickers that are near impossible to remove without ruining the paintjob.

Just to ask, why are Conti's so bad? I don't know what to compare them to since I haven't driven on anything else.

Go to the Wheels & Tires forum and search for CONTI. There are several posts regarding them.

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Bill Wood - Webmaster
MercedesShop.com, LLC