Is it ok to buy this car with this repair history?

[Jorg-xkbhp]

Hello,
long time member here but first time poster.

I want to buy a used A class 2016 200d sport with 40k miles.
It’s being sold by a main dealer. Not a Mercedes dealer, this dealer got it as a part exchange.
It’s a good price compared to other listings.
The car has a good main dealer service history and they serviced it at their own dealership recently as well.
It comes with 12 months warranty.

Here come the issues:
I spotted that in their pictures the check engine light was on while the engine was running.
When I asked about more details they said the car has been with them for some time now (maybe 4 to 5 months) and they themselves had to put a new battery in but then also sent it to Mercedes who diagnosed it and had to replace the ECU. They said they paid Mercedes £2000 for all their work and all is well now. No more engine light.
I did ask them for the invoice from Mercedes to see exactly what was done and also for future warranty on the repair but not got it yet.

My question is would you buy a car that has had an issue like that? Will it likely have more problems down the road or is this not a big deal and all should be well now? Don't know too much about ECU issues myself.

It’s the lower price that has me a bit suspicious now. Do they just want it out the door now? 😩

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[ARHarh]

why would it have more problems if its been fixed? But if unsure surely there are loads more to choose from.

[PositronicRay]

A car that's been sitting for months on a dealer forecourt would put me off.

[C Lee Farquar]

It would concern me that it's possible the new ECU may not cure the problem.

If the light comes back on in a month you're not going to be happy.

[Jorg-xkbhp]

ARHarh said:

why would it have more problems if its been fixed? But if unsure surely there are loads more to choose from.

Unfortunately not at this price for this model. But yes, I do think as well once it's fixed it should be fine. Just checking it's not one of those things that's known to be recurring.

PositronicRay said:

A car that's been sitting for months on a dealer forecourt would put me off.

Apparently it's been sitting so long because of the issue. It took them a while to take it to Mercedes and have it sorted.
I agree though, males me think a bit too why haven't others bought it yet?

C Lee Farquar said:

It would concern me that it's possible the new ECU may not cure the problem.
If the light comes back on in a month you're not going to be happy.

Apparently Mercedes did a diagnostic and the issue was the ECU and since it's been fixed the light hasn't come back.
If it did come back I could get it done under warranty but it would definitely be annoying.

[MitchT]

PositronicRay said:

A car that's been sitting for months on a dealer forecourt would put me off.

Out of interest, why? A four year old BMW 4 Series that I'm interested in is showing as "Tax Expired June 2022" so it's probably been sat around for a long time. It was for sale at a BMW main dealer for ages but was recently bumped off to an independent garage. It's a stunning car so I don't understand why it hasn't sold, but the fact that no one appears to want it is putting me off too. Are people doing due diligence and uncovering something?

[QJumper]

Jorg-xkbhp said:

Unfortunately not at this price for this model.

That's the bit that would concern me, why it's priced noticeably lower than others of the same make model.

Of course it might be fine, but I recall when speaking to a corporate buyer once that a common rule was to automatically reject both the highest and lowest quotes, and then pick from the rest.

Whilst nothing in life is certain, personally I'd rather spend a little more on something I was confident in, than save a bit and have doubts.

[soad]

PositronicRay said:

A car that's been sitting for months on a dealer forecourt would put me off.

Potentially overpriced? The garage still has one for sale since August, even gave me a lift in it last year.

I bought a different car from them.

[Drive Blind]

I guess it boils down to if you believe what the salesman is telling you.

I'm captain cynical most of the time and there's no way arnold clark spent £2K at a main dealer fixing it. They'll have punted it to auction rather than take the £2K hit. They'll have reset the light and when it does come back on the salesman won't want to know. You'll then need to get it booked back in for diags - "sorry we're booked for the next month" - and then they'll say your warranty doesn't cover it. When you mention the previous fix at the merc main dealer they'll have no record of this and anyway this is a different problem.

there are 50+ 2016 A200d's ont' trader, is this one with the engine light on, that's been sitting at the dealer for 6 months worth the gamble ?

[shtu]

Drive Blind said:

Ithere's no way arnold clark spent £2K at a main dealer fixing it. They'll have punted it to auction rather than take the £2K hit. They'll have reset the light and when it does come back on the salesman won't want to know.

This is sound advice.

[TCX]

'don't mess with Mr Inbetween',no not worth possible future hassle,look elsewhere

[Jayson78]

Drive Blind said:

I guess it boils down to if you believe what the salesman is telling you.

I'm captain cynical most of the time and there's no way arnold clark spent £2K at a main dealer fixing it. They'll have punted it to auction rather than take the £2K hit. They'll have reset the light and when it does come back on the salesman won't want to know. You'll then need to get it booked back in for diags - "sorry we're booked for the next month" - and then they'll say your warranty doesn't cover it. When you mention the previous fix at the merc main dealer they'll have no record of this and anyway this is a different problem.

there are 50+ 2016 A200d's ont' trader, is this one with the engine light on, that's been sitting at the dealer for 6 months worth the gamble ?

I agree. I don't trust anyone when it comes to used cars.

I do have an email from the dealer already in which he states that the store manager confirmed it has been repaired and cost them £2010.58. If it turns out it wasn't repaired then that alone would be fraud from their side and considering the size of the dealership it's unlikely they would risk that.

However I still don't trust them. I asked for a copy of the invoice with repair breakdown, which they say was carried out by a main Mercedes dealer.
Let's see if they will send me one.

The thing is, a faulty or broken ECU is apparently one of the most common problems for an A class, so part of me thinks having a new ECU fitted is like buying a used car that had a new clutch fitted. It's not really a bad thing. As long as they can prove the work has been carried out.

[Panamax]

Surely the reason it's cheap is because it's a diesel?

Or have you been doing exact, like-for-like price comparisons?

[Jayson78]

Panamax said:

Surely the reason it's cheap is because it's a diesel?

Or have you been doing exact, like-for-like price comparisons?

It was on autotrader marked as "low price" and compared to very similar models around £500 cheaper which isn't a lot for a £14k car but still.
There is another very similar one for the same price but has 70k miles instead of 40k. The other is an AMG line though. So price isn't insanely lower but definitely on the cheaper side out there.

Edited by Jayson78 on Sunday 8th January 14:20

[Jayson78]

MYOB said:

It sounds like your instincts are telling you to walk away.

Personally I would walk when something seems a little “off”.

I'm actually 50/50 still.

After a bit of research the repaired ECU seems not be bad thing as long as the dealer provides the invoices as proof of repair.
The fact that it's a huge manufacturer owned dealership also gives me a bit more confidence compared to the countless shady small side street dealers out there.

I'm still trying to make up my mind though

[Lincsls1]

I'm not too sure what the issue is here.
If the price is good and the car is as you want it then buy it.
If there is an under laying issue, it will appear very quickly, certainly in the space of 1 tank of fuel, in which case you'd be able to reject the car. Otherwise, make sure the 12 month warranty is a good one and hopefully enjoy the car.
Obviously give the car a super thorough and lengthy test drive.

[PositronicRay]

MitchT said:

PositronicRay said:

A car that's been sitting for months on a dealer forecourt would put me off.

Out of interest, why? A four year old BMW 4 Series that I'm interested in is showing as "Tax Expired June 2022" so it's probably been sat around for a long time. It was for sale at a BMW main dealer for ages but was recently bumped off to an independent garage. It's a stunning car so I don't understand why it hasn't sold, but the fact that no one appears to want it is putting me off too. Are people doing due diligence and uncovering something?

I worked in a main dealer, workshop lads would treat the pitch like a spares dept.

[Jayson78]

Lincsls1 said:

I'm not too sure what the issue is here.
If the price is good and the car is as you want it then buy it.
If there is an under laying issue, it will appear very quickly, certainly in the space of 1 tank of fuel, in which case you'd be able to reject the car. Otherwise, make sure the 12 month warranty is a good one and hopefully enjoy the car.
Obviously give the car a super thorough and lengthy test drive.

I wasn't sure about the whole ECU issue. It was just checking it's not one of those issues that might mean there's other underlying issues or it's something that keeps coming back.
Have done quite a bit of reading up since and seems to be a very common fault and once fixed all good. Hopefully anyway...

[Dashnine]

Drive Blind said:

I guess it boils down to if you believe what the salesman is telling you.

I'm captain cynical most of the time and there's no way arnold clark spent £2K at a main dealer fixing it. They'll have punted it to auction rather than take the £2K hit. They'll have reset the light and when it does come back on the salesman won't want to know. You'll then need to get it booked back in for diags - "sorry we're booked for the next month" - and then they'll say your warranty doesn't cover it. When you mention the previous fix at the merc main dealer they'll have no record of this and anyway this is a different problem.

there are 50+ 2016 A200d's ont' trader, is this one with the engine light on, that's been sitting at the dealer for 6 months worth the gamble ?

^ This, all day long.

[Jayson78]

I don’t trust the dealer either but let’s assume for a second he does come through and sends me the invoice from the Mercedes garage as proof that the work has been carried out.

All good then, or would you still not trust the dealer and stay away from that car because it had a previous fault with the ECU?

I’ll push them again tomo for the invoice. Let’s see what happens