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Luky
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, EU
Vehicle(s): 300GE LWB auto, E320CDI 4M, VW Polo Classic 1.6
Posts: 1062
| G parked for 9 years
A local car dealer is selling a 2009 G320CDI with just 18.000 kms. The story he told was something like- the car was stolen by some gang when it was just 5 months old probably they planned to use it for some criminal activity, but it was just parked at their hideout. After 5 years the gang members were arrested and the car was moved to a police garage where it was parked for another 4 years until the case was closed and the court has decided who is the rightful owner.
The seller told me he just changed all fluids and filters and bought a new set of tires. That´s probably all the maintenance which was ever done. So my question is would You buy something like this? I am affraid ecpecially about all the rubber parts like seals, hoses...
Thx in advance.
P.S.
I will post a few pics which I took but i need to resize them first. |
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DUTCH
Administrator Doppelgänger
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: US, GA, Atlanta
Vehicle(s): 2015 Audi Q7 3.0 TDI,2018 Sprinter
Posts: 9963
| RE: G parked for 9 years
Luky - 2/18/2018 5:18 AM
A local car dealer is selling a 2009 G320CDI with just 18.000 kms. The story he told was something like- the car was stolen by some gang when it was just 5 months old probably they planned to use it for some criminal activity, but it was just parked at their hideout. After 5 years the gang members were arrested and the car was moved to a police garage where it was parked for another 4 years until the case was closed and the court has decided who is the rightful owner.
The seller told me he just changed all fluids and filters and bought a new set of tires. That´s probably all the maintenance which was ever done. So my question is would You buy something like this? I am affraid ecpecially about all the rubber parts like seals, hoses...
Thx in advance.
P.S.
I will post a few pics which I took but i need to resize them first.
Depending on the price, rubber parts are not terribly expensive.
How does it check out on a STAR system?
Does it have the Diesel Particle Filter and Urea (AdBlue) exhaust system? Is it working properly? These are NOT inexpensive to replace.
Can you get a clear title or registration papers?
PS - Congratulations to Slovakia on winning gold in the women's ski and shoot event at the Olympics! |
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FrogWagen
Member
Date registered: Nov 2008
Location: Provence, France
Vehicle(s): G300TD LWB
Posts: 18
| Re: G parked for 9 years
Hi
An interesting dilemma you have. This is how I would approach it:
1. Is the car a great (super low) price compared to a market value? If so, you can afford to buy any rubber parts that may have perished (Dutch covers the costs in his post).
2. If you buy this, can you be sure you are truly the 'legal' owner given it's history. I don't know the law in your country, but is there any chance the 'original' owner could turn up one day and claim it's theirs? Do you get all the official paper work? and even still can it be proved that 'legal title of ownership' has passed to you?
3. What is your situation with cars for basic transport? i.e. if this is your only car and you need it to be reliable (i.e. start every morning at 7am to take the kids to school), given your concerns about it's potential reliability, can you cope? If you can handle some inconvenience, my guess is that any rubber parts that are going to break will do so in the first few weeks/months - normally extreme cold or extreme hot. Once you had it for 6 months you're probably home and dry!
Dutch has way better technical knowledge than me, but I can give you some of my experience. I've owned my 300TD in the South of France (we get -10 deg. C in winter and +35 in summer), mine lived outside for some years (didn't have a garage) and gets very low use (perhaps 4,000Km year max.). I've NEVER had to replace any rubber part (beyond what Mercedes replace in a standard service). Bottom line it's still a Mercedes and originally a military spec. vehicle underneath all the alloy wheels and LED posh lights.
Finally, if it was a disaster, you could probably sell it and get most of you money back if you buy it for a great price.
Hope that helps with your thinking. Good luck if you decide to go ahead. Let us all know.
BW
FrogWagen |
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Luky
Elite Veteran
Date registered: Apr 2006
Location: Bratislava, Slovakia, EU
Vehicle(s): 300GE LWB auto, E320CDI 4M, VW Polo Classic 1.6
Posts: 1062
| Re: G parked for 9 years
If I understand, the question of ownership was already decided by a court, so I don´t see a problem there. The same with paperwork- when a car is stolen it is just temporary unregistred, so if it is found a technical inspection has to be done and the traffic authority will issue new reg documents.
The price is about average for the year and model (40k) but the car doesn´t have much options. Things like sunroof, sat nav, leather seats, towing hitch are all missing (there is another car on the market nearly fully loaded with 100k kms for 37k).
Does have DPF, doesn´t have Bluetec. Want to use it as my daily driver so yes, reliability is important.
PS- Thx  Looking forward to the USA-SVK ice hockey match even if is a bit sad neither Yours neither our best players were allowed to come by the NHL bosses. |
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H1LM002G55
Expert
Date registered: Mar 2010
Location: S Florida / Geneva / Jeddah
Vehicle(s): 500 GE, G55, LM002, H1
Posts: 1796
| Re: G parked for 9 years
Negotiate a lower price. |
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