The sub £1k Merc S500
Discussion
blueb10 said:
Hi Steven;
I don't know if you remember but I, along with a few others, offered to buy this from you when you first got it but you needed the car at the time.
I really wanted an s500 so I continued to look and found myself one very similar to yours on an 02 plate. Had it over a couple of months now, very happy with it, drives great and is more rapid than it should be for its size, my experience is very comparable to your description in your advert.
Good luck with the sale, it shouldn't hang around too long.
Steve.
Hi Steven, I don't know if you remember but I, along with a few others, offered to buy this from you when you first got it but you needed the car at the time.
I really wanted an s500 so I continued to look and found myself one very similar to yours on an 02 plate. Had it over a couple of months now, very happy with it, drives great and is more rapid than it should be for its size, my experience is very comparable to your description in your advert.
Good luck with the sale, it shouldn't hang around too long.
Steve.
Yes, i remember you were looking to buy it and you'd kindly offered me more than what i paid for it at the time. Seemed to be quite a theme when i first got it so i don't think it'll have any problems selling on eBay now. I thought it was sold but the buyer changed their minds for whatever reason so eBay seems the most sensible thing to do and just let anyone interested on here know it's available on there. It's almost at reserve with 6 days to go so confident it'll go.
Glad to hear you got one and are enjoying it, they are great cars and if i was in the same situation again S500 will be the first search i put into eBay!
Ok, so now i've got some time i'd like to address some points that have been made. As i said last night, i'm rather shocked to see this.
I would have preferred to address any points and discuss the matter over the phone or whatever but as it's in the public domain I shall respond here.
Lets start with why the bottoms of the doors are rusty – The previous owner obviously seen that they were rusty and lightly sanded them and gave them a quick blow over to address this. It looked respectable enough as per the original photos however within a couple of months the rust did start to appear back through. With a closer inspection i would have noticed this in hindsight but i was buying a 1k car, not a 100k car, looking presentable was good enough for me. I made a point of mentioning this in the ebay ad.
Moving on to the mot fail –
The inner wing. What on earth? Now, i must confess i only had the bonnet open a couple of times to check the oil and wasn’t specifically looking at the inner wings but never seen this. I am not struggling to work out why i never. Having looked closely at some pictures i’d taken i can see that area was pretty dirty and has since been cleaned/wiped to reveal the hole.
Offside cat missing. Not something i checked and i doubt anyone else would check to see if a cat was missing. I’m very surprised there was no engine management light on/fault codes present if this was the case. Also, no mention of emissions fail on the mot?
Suspension bush. I was aware of this, my friend gave the car a quick check over and advised this would need done at some point in the future. I passed this information on.
Offside rear tyre has ply or cords exposed. WTF? Unless this was at the very inner edge or the rear sidewall I struggle to see how this is possible. I checked the tyre pressures/levels and filled the car up with fuel before it was picked up and under no circumstances would have driven it myself or allowed anyone else to drive it if i was aware this was the case and i struggle to understand how i would have missed it.
I done under 1000 miles in the car in the 3 months i had it so struggle to understand the brake pads being low either, i have a photo of them at approx 127700 miles and the previous owner had replaced the pads just before i purchased it.
I would have preferred to address any points and discuss the matter over the phone or whatever but as it's in the public domain I shall respond here.
Lets start with why the bottoms of the doors are rusty – The previous owner obviously seen that they were rusty and lightly sanded them and gave them a quick blow over to address this. It looked respectable enough as per the original photos however within a couple of months the rust did start to appear back through. With a closer inspection i would have noticed this in hindsight but i was buying a 1k car, not a 100k car, looking presentable was good enough for me. I made a point of mentioning this in the ebay ad.
Moving on to the mot fail –
The inner wing. What on earth? Now, i must confess i only had the bonnet open a couple of times to check the oil and wasn’t specifically looking at the inner wings but never seen this. I am not struggling to work out why i never. Having looked closely at some pictures i’d taken i can see that area was pretty dirty and has since been cleaned/wiped to reveal the hole.
Offside cat missing. Not something i checked and i doubt anyone else would check to see if a cat was missing. I’m very surprised there was no engine management light on/fault codes present if this was the case. Also, no mention of emissions fail on the mot?
Suspension bush. I was aware of this, my friend gave the car a quick check over and advised this would need done at some point in the future. I passed this information on.
Offside rear tyre has ply or cords exposed. WTF? Unless this was at the very inner edge or the rear sidewall I struggle to see how this is possible. I checked the tyre pressures/levels and filled the car up with fuel before it was picked up and under no circumstances would have driven it myself or allowed anyone else to drive it if i was aware this was the case and i struggle to understand how i would have missed it.
I done under 1000 miles in the car in the 3 months i had it so struggle to understand the brake pads being low either, i have a photo of them at approx 127700 miles and the previous owner had replaced the pads just before i purchased it.
C70R said:
jke11y said:
Just re-read this thread from the beginning, pretty amusing peaks and troughs. You'd have thought from some of the posts the OP had bought the holy grail for a tenner.
Indeed.The MOT failure and subsequent photos almost make it sound like a different car from the one that was described 3 months ago by the OP as:
R8Steve said:
No rust either that I can see, jacking points and everything look great if not a bit dirty
ETA - I'm certainly not blaming the OP for selling a pup. Buying cars privately is always caveat emptor, and it appears that the buyer didn't look very hard in this instance.It was more a musing that this might be the reality behind a lot of the "Look how mint this luxury BARGE that I bought for £27 is!" circlejerk threads.
Edited by C70R on Thursday 26th May 09:54
In regards to the quote above, that is still the case, no MOT fail issues with the underbody/jacking points which i took pictures of. I never paid much attention under the bonnet though which in hindsight i should have, from the attention i did pay i never even seen this and looking at previous pictures i can understand why. The MOT tester has obviously had a good poke at it to look like that now.
muppets_mate said:
I don't want to comment on the buyer/seller piece.
But looking at the car's MOT fail sheet and advisories, the question is are these items fixable at a reasonable cost? The biggie is the rust, can it be repaired/welded? A second hand cat off eBay seems to be £80-150 and some labour to fit? I don't know about the price of a bush or the ease of fitting? The tyre is a question of putting the spare on or buying a replacement.
The advisories don't seem horrendous and obviously don't have to be attended to straight away. Brake pads are standard wear and tear item. If you've got a mechanic changing the cat, they can fix the bracket while they're there. The tyre is as above, replace with new or second hand depending on your preference/budget. Can your mechanic rub the worst rust of the brake pipes and cover in grease? Can the two areas of 'slight' corrosion be cleaned up and Hammerite'd or undersealed to slow down the rust?
If everything else seems ok with the car it seems a shame to get rid if it can be fixed reasonably economically, especially as the new owner (and his wife) like the car.
If the buyer had contacted me i would have contributed towards this, as i said, i'd have rather he had just contacted me instead of finding this out on here.But looking at the car's MOT fail sheet and advisories, the question is are these items fixable at a reasonable cost? The biggie is the rust, can it be repaired/welded? A second hand cat off eBay seems to be £80-150 and some labour to fit? I don't know about the price of a bush or the ease of fitting? The tyre is a question of putting the spare on or buying a replacement.
The advisories don't seem horrendous and obviously don't have to be attended to straight away. Brake pads are standard wear and tear item. If you've got a mechanic changing the cat, they can fix the bracket while they're there. The tyre is as above, replace with new or second hand depending on your preference/budget. Can your mechanic rub the worst rust of the brake pipes and cover in grease? Can the two areas of 'slight' corrosion be cleaned up and Hammerite'd or undersealed to slow down the rust?
If everything else seems ok with the car it seems a shame to get rid if it can be fixed reasonably economically, especially as the new owner (and his wife) like the car.
BenjiA said:
Hi Steve, I'm really not trying to start a fight, I'm pretty chilled. I don't harbor any malice or bear a grudge. I'm only posting on here as I'm frustrated that I'll have to pass on the car to someone else to either fix or scrap.
As you know, I'm a Banker, not a mechanic, I can only go on what my Garage say.
All the best, Ben.
Hi Ben, apologies if i came across that way, certainly not what was intended. I was only putting my side forward. As you know, I'm a Banker, not a mechanic, I can only go on what my Garage say.
All the best, Ben.
I'm in the same boat as you as you know, a banker (some on this thread may think more of a word close to that though) and not a mechanic.
I can understand your frustration in light of how it has turned out, i'm quite frustrated myself truth being told.
Again, if you want to discuss it though you have my number, if you're selling it i'm not sure what i can do but if you were keeping it i'd be happy to contribute to any repairs within reason.
confused_buyer said:
C70R said:
Yeah, I'm not seeing anything relevant...
From https://www.lawontheweb.co.uk/personal/selling-a-c..."This is especially true if the car has a major defect, and is unroadworthy as a result, such as if the tyres are worn out or the mirrors are broken. Selling an unroadworthy car is a criminal offence unless the buyer is fully aware of this fact, so it would be wise to make this very clear from the moment you advertise the car."
From https://www.wigan.gov.uk/Resident/Consumer-Advice/...
"It is a criminal offence for selling an unroadworthy car. If you sell one, you could be prosecuted and if found guilty may be subject to a fine of £5000 on summary conviction."
From https://www.carfused.com/guides/your-rights-and-re...
"Your rights as a private seller
As a private seller you’ll have more control, and you get to choose the price of the car. However, you need to be realistic about the value of your car if you really want to sell it. Car warranty is great to have but it’s not your obligation to provide it. On the other hand, you need to make the buyer aware of any minor or major issue related with the car. You could choose to keep information from the buyer, but that can put you in a bad situation. Being honest and thorough means you’ll have less to worry about if the buyer contacts you after they’ve bought the car.
Privately-sold cars are “sold as seen” and the buyer is responsible for carrying out checks before paying and driving away. After that your rights as a seller will have been fulfilled. Also, if someone promises to buy your car after they’ve viewed it, and you have both agreed on the price, but they change their mind later on, there’s nothing you can do about it.
If the car experiences serious faults or is no longer roadworthy after you’ve closed the deal, you don’t have to offer help, or reimburse the buyer for any money spent on repairs. Of course, if you’ve knowingly hidden serious faults, falsified documents or if you haven’t disclosed that the car is not roadworthy, the buyer will be due compensation or they can potentially seek legal action. In fact, it’s an offence to sell an unroadworthy car, unless the buyer is aware that you’re selling the vehicle for spare parts."
I got 17200 Google hits on the subject and they're just 3 from the 1st page. Can't believe you couldn't have found something.
confused_buyer said:
R8Steve said:
What part of that is relevant here though?
Well, it isn't really although, technically, if you sell a car which can't pass a MOT - particularly due to a tyre - then you are probably committing an offence. It started off with me pointing out that MOTing a car prior to sale can remove a lot of potential future issues and is good for buyer and seller. Another poster appeared to question whether it is an offence to privately sell an unroadworthy car and I just referred them to links where it demonstrates that it is as they couldn't appear to find any. Chances of prosecution are low unless they total it 20 minutes later on a rainy motorway with 3 bald tyres and kill 15 people in which case a MOT might have been a cheaper option!
Anyway, with reference to the tyre here i would not have knowingly driven, nor let anyone else drive, the car with a defective tyre. That's why i asked how it was like this.
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