I'm looking at buying a Merc SLK.
I've been offered a 2001 vehicle which was originally supplied as an import. It's around £3000 less than equivalent UK-supplied car. Looks a bargain.
Question is, what about warranty? UK supplied Mercs have 3-year warranty, but only manufacturer's portion of that will apply to import.
Does anyone know whether the MB warranty splits 2yrs manufacturer/1yr dealer (in which case I'd probably have a few months left) or the other way round (1yr M, 2yr D), in which case I'd be out of warranty cover from day 1?
Billings's third law:
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand."
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I saw a long thread on this very subject on another website(Mark deletes if I post it).It resulted in a highly contentious situation which was long drawn out.The law was clear but dealers were reluctant to observe it.
Simon T.
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Just remeber there's a reason why it's £3k cheaper. 'Cos there's no warranty, or if there is MB will jerk you around forever and a day, and it will be worth correspondingly less when you sell it.
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If you can't answer the question, don't reply.
I'm not totally thick -
I KNOW the car doesn't carry full warranty rights.
I KNOW that's one of the reasons it's cheaper.
However an older vehicle at the same price will be out of warranty anyway, even if it's a UK car.
The question is simply how much warranty the car carries as an import. It's important because it will affect my bargaining position when the price comes under discussion.
AFAICS, it won't make much difference to the value if I eventually sell it after the warranty would have expired anyway, i.e. after the car's third birthday.
Billings's third law:
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand."
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Ah BigTJ, don't wet yourself.
I was adding comment to your statement about being a bargain. I think you may well find that a 3 year old import is worth less than a 3 year old UK supplied car, even though neither carries any remaining warranty. If you took this to mean I thought you were totally thick, then I apologise. If you are pig headed, as your 2nd post implies, then I don't.
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It doesn't matter how MB UK split the warranty as this car is, as you say, only covered by the MB warranty. Assuming this is an import from a EU country, then MB supplied a 2 year warranty from late 2001 (1st October?) However, even if the car is late 2001, I think you will have to give the VIN to a MB dealer who can look up the warranty situation. That's the only way to be sure.
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I'm not that bothered about the warranty as such, I could buy a 3rd party warranty for much less than £3k.
It must be an early 2001 car as it carries a Y reg.
Did MB change their warranty provision in late 2001?
It does make a difference as if MB manufacturer's warranty is only 12 months, it's already expired. If 24 months, it may not have done (depending on the date of sale by the supplying dealer). Thus if any problems become apparent in the first few weeks (the kind of things you might not spot on inspection/test drive), they could be fixable under warranty.
The vehcle is priced at about £25k.
Therefore my bargaining position goes something like:
"It's got no warranty, I'll only give you £24k"
Or
"It's only got 3 months warranty, I'll only give you £24k"
Billings's third law:
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand."
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What I meant was MB UK have given a 3 year warranty for some years. Originally, years 2 & 3 were an extended warranty. I would assume that since Oct 2001, only year 3 is an extended warranty but I don't know and it's irrelevant to you as you're only interested in whether the manufacturer's warranty is 1 year or 2. As it's Y reg, there's little doubt that the car only has 1 year so it has expired.
One other thought - some manufacturers allow the original owner to buy an extension e.g. I could have bought year 2 & 3 for my early 2001 BMW import for £815 from BMW UK. Again, a dealer would be able to tell you if the original owner bought an extension, assuming MB UK offer this.
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A comprehensive answer.
Many thanks.
Billings's third law:
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand."
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With an attitude like yours I'm surprised you had an answer at all.
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As its an MB i would not give a toss how long/short the warranty is,just offer a very low price because you want to,and be prepared to come up.As you rightly point out as the car gets a little older it makes no difference where it came from.Some brands you need a warranty,for me MB is not one of them and i for one would much rather buy the car for a lower price and take my chances.£3,000 buys a lot of warranty work.
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I was thinking along those lines myself.
Choice between 2 year old import car with no warranty, or
3-4 year old UK car with insurance-based used car warranty.
On a statistical basis, 2 year old car lees likely to cause less trouble than an older model?
Billings's third law:
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand."
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Didn't mean to be rude, but I thought I'd asked a specific enough question.
(1)I didn't want to start a debate on the rights/wrongs of block exemption. We've covered this before, at length.
(2)I was well aware that one of the reasons for a lower price was likely to be inferior warranty entitlement. I thought this was obvious from my original post.
Billings's third law:
"As scarce as truth is, the supply has always been in excess of demand."
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