Purchased a CPO Benz with a Mileage Blocker Installed

[RoyalOac]

Hello all,

I would like some advice from you guys as I was very shocked to find out this afternoon that my CPO Benz 2015 E350 had a mileage blocker installed previously.

The story is;


Car purchased May 2018

Had heart surgery so couldnt drive for few months

Last Tuesday, the check-engine-light had came on along with a host of problems such as the reverse camera not working, the brake HOLD not working, and MPG tracking not working. I took it to the dealership on Thursday and they dealership was not able to figure out the problem all weekend. Fast forward to today, I get a call from my service advisor that the head tech had found a mileage blocker installed in the cluster. They told me that after unplugging the device, there was an additional 7k miles added to the odo reading.

They aren't pointing fingers at me, nor are they stating it wasn't me, but said that the sent all the information to Benz to figure out when this was installed. I am clearly fuming at this point and know if the Benz has the know-how to figure out when this was installed, I will clearly be vindicated.

I want to ask you guys, what kind of compensation is warranted? I clearly don't want the vehicle anymore since you never know what kind of problems I can run into later and the 'CPO' already left a bad taste in my mouth as a BS way to sell a used car. Do you think the dealership should offer me a full refund? Any advice and thoughts are welcome. Thank you

[GSDLover]

I would be looking into my rights as to returning the car. I had a Similar issue with a dealership where I was sold a car that had been in an accident that they knew about but denied.
They ended up taking it back and my money was applied to a new car.

[ckaynyc]

I would fight for a refund. You purchased a car that was advertised with a specific ODO reading. The ECU should be able to determine when the blocker was installed unless it is a piggyback that sends OK signals back to the ECU while changing frequency to the ODO.

Good luck.

[GoingPlaces]

Should be part of the CPO process. Dealer's bad for not picking it up during their inspections. MB should make good on it. Keep us posted.

[Valenciawatchrepair]

Sounds like this CPO was in fact, NOT a CPO. lol.

[crew]

Originally Posted by GoingPlaces

Should be part of the CPO process. Dealer's bad for not picking it up during their inspections. MB should make good on it. Keep us posted.

I was thinking the same thing. There’s a reason that dealers and manufacturers offer a CPO program. In this case the dealer failed to verify the car’s history.

[breitlings]

I think millage adjustment is a material misrepresentation of the car. They should buy it back and pay you for any payments you made on it without too much issue, they may make you sign an NDA.

[bdex75]

If you like the car, look at a Mb lease on a new one and see what they charge per mile for overage. Probably 25-30¢ a mile.

25¢ x 7,000= $1750.


I don’t think that’s enough cash for me. I would play more hardball than that. Up to and including wanting them to take the car back. You both signed an odometer statement with those (false) miles. I would think that there has to be some protection there for you if needed.

If not I rat the dealer out to MB and let them handle it.


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[R!$]

Originally Posted by Valenciawatchrepair

Sounds like this CPO was in fact, NOT a CPO. lol.

[fastmd]

That car has to be sold with a mileage discrepancy/disclosure. You should be getting a full refund. I buy about 10 cars a year and have over 25 in my collection. I would question this dealership about their practices. Was the an actual Mercedes dealership?

[Daveh3196]

Definitely a full refund. The mileage on the car and the title won’t match. At auction this car would sell as TMU. True miles unknown. This will typically show up on CarFax/auto check once it has been reported drastically effecting resale value and perhaps disqualifying the car from the CPO program assuming it was purchase at a MB dealer.


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[77T]

As for the CPO angle, most mileage blockers are patched-in behind the instrument cluster and piggybacked to be virtually undetectable. The CPO checklist doesn’t have a way to find every place such a thing is installed.
I’ve seen piggybacks under the center console, behind the glovebox, inside an air duct and elsewhere.

Owners who do this can cut their actual mileage in half or even more to preserve warranty coverage. Should be illegal - but isn’t until a fraudulent act is perpetrated via a sale.

Now for this case - it’s clear the blocker malfunctioned somehow. Usually they are programmed to be switched “on” by a sequence of ignition switch actions, or other button. I’ve seen them attached to the emergency flasher button where an on/off+on/off sequence initiated blocking and a 10 second “on” period bypassed it. Hard to detect this stuff.

But now you have a good case for the MB dealer to buy it back before you file a fraud civil suit naming them. BMW has had to so this in the past, too. Your case would be just like the old days of ODO clocking - the sales contract states a mileage that was wrong.


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[RoyalOac]

Originally Posted by fastmd

That car has to be sold with a mileage discrepancy/disclosure. You should be getting a full refund. I buy about 10 cars a year and have over 25 in my collection. I would question this dealership about their practices. Was the an actual Mercedes dealership?

Originally Posted by Daveh3196

Definitely a full refund. The mileage on the car and the title won’t match. At auction this car would sell as TMU. True miles unknown. This will typically show up on CarFax/auto check once it has been reported drastically effecting resale value and perhaps disqualifying the car from the CPO program assuming it was purchase at a MB dealer.


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Thank you all for the response and advice.

The car was most definitely purchased from a well known Benz dealership with a CPO.

Do you guys thinks Benz can actually find out at what mile it was installed as they claim they can? I hate for it to be inconclusive and not be able to be vindicate me.

[Daveh3196]

Originally Posted by RoyalOac

Thank you all for the response and advice.



The car was most definitely purchased from a well known Benz dealership with a CPO.



Do you guys thinks Benz can actually find out at what mile it was installed as they claim they can? I hate for it to be inconclusive and not be able to be vindicate me.

The dealer has the mileage recorded at the point when the vehicle came to them. They record the mileage again when they file the CPO paperwork with MB. Mileage should have been recorded again at the time of your purchase and should be on your paperwork. It shouldn’t be too hard for them to find a mileage discrepancy based on the vehicles service history assuming it was serviced at MB. Did the seller give you a Carfax history report at time of purchase?


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[fastmd]

It is illegal to tamper with odometers. I would call the GM of the dealership tomorrow morning and let them know you are contacting the State and office of DMV if they are not going to remedy the situation. No dealership wants to deal with this. They will buy the car back and wholesale it with the title issue.

[RoyalOac]

Originally Posted by Daveh3196

The dealer has the mileage recorded at the point when the vehicle came to them. They record the mileage again when they file the CPO paperwork with MB. Mileage should have been recorded again at the time of your purchase and should be on your paperwork. It shouldn’t be too hard for them to find a mileage discrepancy based on the vehicles service history assuming it was serviced at MB. Did the seller give you a Carfax history report at time of purchase?


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Yes, I got the carfax report and I did find it strange in the following history:

4/4/2017 : 22,XXX miles

3/10/2018: 23,XXX miles

a total of ONLY ~800 miles added to the car in one year! I let my guard down on this one.

Originally Posted by fastmd

It is illegal to tamper with odometers. I would call the GM of the dealership tomorrow morning and let them know you are contacting the State and office of DMV if they are not going to remedy the situation. No dealership wants to deal with this. They will buy the car back and wholesale it with the title issue.

They seem like they want to remedy the situation so far. They are supposed to give me a call in a day or two, albeit the holidays is coming up. IF it comes down to them with a modicum of doubt trying to blame me, I will go full force as you have suggested.

[Daveh3196]

Originally Posted by RoyalOac

Yes, I got the carfax report and I did find it strange in the following history:



4/4/2017 : 22,XXX miles



3/10/2018: 23,XXX miles



a total of ONLY ~800 miles added to the car in one year! I let my guard down on this one.









They seem like they want to remedy the situation so far. They are supposed to give me a call in a day or two, albeit the holidays is coming up. IF it comes down to them with a modicum of doubt trying to blame me, I will go full force as you have suggested.

I see you listed location as NY. You shouldn’t have any issues getting this resolved. The DMV should be able to help you if the dealer will not.


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[77T]

Originally Posted by RoyalOac

Yes, I got the carfax report and I did find it strange in the following history:



4/4/2017 : 22,XXX miles



3/10/2018: 23,XXX miles



a total of ONLY ~800 miles added to the car in one year! I let my guard down on this one.









They seem like they want to remedy the situation so far. They are supposed to give me a call in a day or two, albeit the holidays is coming up. IF it comes down to them with a modicum of doubt trying to blame me, I will go full force as you have suggested.

Yep, that’s a good indicator. But remember life changes like yours did. An owner might have been unable to use it for a period of time. Absent that, the history leading up to that sudden drop off in annual mileage would be a sign of monkey business.


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[RoyalOac]

Originally Posted by Daveh3196

I see you listed location as NY. You shouldn’t have any issues getting this resolved. The DMV should be able to help you if the dealer will not.


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That's good to hear. Thank you, I hope that's the case.

[josephvman]

This should be a no-brainer for the dealership and they need to take the car back and give you a full-refund, no questions asked. They should actually be insisting on this. The fact that they are an authorized MB dealer and sold you a CPO car that was supposed to have been not only inspected to a high level but also very likely has some sort of title guarantee and background history check included (most CPO programs do) leaves them absolutely no room for negotiation here. While I abhor the idea of going legal, any semi-competent attorney would have a field day with this one. They would have a very tough time defending any civil litigation that this was fraud, and the penalties for fraud are exponentially higher than than what it's going to cost them to buy the car back. Depending upon the laws in your state, they could be liable for triple the transaction amount plus your legal fees. If the service department discovered that there was a mileage block on the car now, they should have been able to find that during their CPO process.

I would not under any condition keep that car, even if they want to buy you off with a pile of cash. You cannot sell it with any mileage disclosure other than "True Mileage Unknown", which on a 2015 Mercedes might as well be salvage title.

I'd give the dealer the benefit of the doubt and the opportunity to do the right thing, but if there's any pushback you definitely hold all of the cards here.

I hope you're recovering well from your heart surgery!

[Chewbacca]

A Mercedes-Benz with fault codes and engine lights?

In all seriousness, they admitted a fault but I personally don’t see how 7k kills a car or how a mileage “blocker” on the cluster() proves anything.

You have grounds to take the car back but I think there’s more to the story.

[RoyalOac]

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

A Mercedes-Benz with fault codes and engine lights?

In all seriousness, they admitted a fault but I personally don’t see how 7k kills a car or how a mileage “blocker” on the cluster() proves anything.

You have grounds to take the car back but I think there’s more to the story.

It shouldnt matter if it was only 100 miles that were blocked; a device was previously installed intentionally for fraud. The head tech disassembled the cluster and found something plugged in. i am not a car tech savvy person so I cannot describe this better to you.


More to the story? As if I had any part of this illegal move? Get out of here.

[Danny83]

The dealer would buy it back.

[bondtoys]

I wouldn't keep such a car.

If the previous owner was installing a mileage blocker, I'd always wonder, what else he was hiding with the car.

[superdog]

Sounds stressful

Sorry you have to deal with this.

[ejvette]

Interesting I've never heard of a mileage blocker!

[1William]

I would ask how they will remedy this situation and based on what they say I would then tell them what I want. I would want a full refund and a discount on another vehicle. I had been with MB since the early 90's and have owned at least 8 different vehicles. Some better than others but no lemons. I always have enjoyed the cache of the MB brand but have gone over to Lexus for what I believe is a superior vehicle across the board. Build quality and reliability exceed that of MB in my opinion. The only point of contention is styling and Lexus has caught up. Read Consumer Reports on brands and vehicle. After my last S class no more. Have a 2017 LX 570 that I bought new and have had no issues and one oil service.

[RW16610]

That's insane! I hope you vigourlosly pursue having this taken care of. Prior to this thread I didn't even realize people were still able to (seemingly) easily do this.

[RichM]

Originally Posted by ejvette

Interesting I've never heard of a mileage blocker!

That makes two of us. Here's to hoping you get it all sorted out. Please let us know how it goes.

[Chewbacca]

Originally Posted by RoyalOac

It shouldnt matter if it was only 100 miles that were blocked; a device was previously installed intentionally for fraud. The head tech disassembled the cluster and found something plugged in. i am not a car tech savvy person so I cannot describe this better to you.


More to the story? As if I had any part of this illegal move? Get out of here.

You’re rather defensive and clearly didn’t understand my post.