Hello All,

The brilliant silver ’01 SLK320 I ordered came in on Sat. 8/5 (Northern California) and when I was looking over the car, I found three items for the dealership to fix.

1)Passenger side mirror: just above the turn signal indicator, four scratch marks, total area of 3/8” x 3/8”.
2)Driver door: about 7 inches below the side mirror, a 1/4” rock chip.
3)Front bumper: front plate area, two holes. (after I had stated to the salesperson two times before the car came in for them not to install the front plate bracket, the person detailing the car didn’t read the not-to instructions on the checklist)

My solution: fix two of the items and put on a new bumper.

The salesperson solution: take delivery and the three items will be fixed by their regular body shop (no other silver SLK on the lot to exchange bumpers with).

My counter solution: fix the three items and then I will decide if I will take delivery.

Salesperson counter: take delivery or place another order.

I then spoke to the general manager regarding the car.

GM solution: They will fix the three items at their regular body shop and then for me to come back on Wed. to inspect the repairs before taking delivery.

What should I look out for when inspecting the repair areas?

Will the paint of the repair areas change over the years?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Arnold,

DO NOT TAKE DELIVERY OF THIS VEHICLE UNTIL YOU'RE 100% SATISFIED, AND MAYBE NOT EVEN THEN!!!!!!!!!

Let me tell you my experience. I bought a new E300D in '96. It was ordered and I anxiously awaited my new baby. There were none to be found in dealer stock. The car lagged and lagged. They could check on it's location at any time, and it got hung up for three weeks at the port. I was afraid that it had been damaged or something, but it finally came in and looked really great with the hood closed. I looked it over the best I knew how and took delivery.

After 70,000 miles of absolute hell, not only with everything on the car breaking, but also the dealer's incompetence, I decided to trade it or sell it. I found a car I was interested in and when they took the car off to appraise it for the trade, they came back showing me where the car had been damaged and repaired. I was able to see, once they pointed it out to me, that both front fenders had been removed and replaced. The dealerships are particularly leary of a Benz which has had crash damage. I told them I had bought it new and had never been in a crash. I'm not sure they believed me. Anyway, that is what I ran into.

They will have no trouble selling this car to someone else, don't be the sucker that buys it if there is any damage, or if it is not repaired to your TOTAL satisfaction.

Raise the hood and look at the bolts along the top of the fenders and see that they have not been loosened and the fender moved.

Get a neutral expert if you have to, but DON'T take a chance on this car if there is even the SLIGHTEST chance that it has received any damage. Even if it has not been bent up, you are paying a ton of money for this car, and you deserve to have even the slightest pile of fly crap cleaned off of it. If they are not cooperative when you are about to write them a check, they will have even less concern for your needs later on if you have trouble and need service. If you have to, find another dealer, I'm sure there are good ones out there, it's just that I haven't found one in my area.

REMEMBER, YOU ARE THE MONEY PAYING CUSTOMER. Wait another two months to order another car if you have to, but don't pay for something that is less than 100% perfect. MB's are expensive, you should not have to settle for the quality of a Yugo, and if anyone who wants you to settle for less, you need to take your money to someone who will treat you right.

Good luck,

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles