I was scammed by a used car salesman.
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ก.ย. 2024
- At least it looks nice.
James Channel! / @games_for_james
Extra vids for Floaties! www.floatplane...
Game Channel: / @helloimgaming
Drum Channel: / @the.drum.thing .
Tech Channel: / @dankpods
Those saying I should have returned it to the guy: The process of waiting on Mercedes, the 2nd Mercedes guy and then convincing James to do it followed by waiting for a suitable time to start work on it was months. Then only after a lot of work was done did I bother to do the car wash, then I was washed with sadness for the true realisation of the water damage.
oh yeah mate, you should be able to get an exhaust for it that makes it sound at least as good as ole jeffy, those german V8s can sound proper incredible.
oh, and btw, you might want to go to some windshield shop to reseal it anyways if you haven't yet, should it happen to rain on a trip in the german luxury kayak
I wouldn’t eat this cost, man. A Mercedes with electrical and water damage issues that was sold under false pretences is not worth it. The cost, time and frustration will be 100x worse than you think it will be.
I had a late 2000’s BMW with a similar issue (and bought it for the same reasons you bought this… funny enough). I wanted a refined, get-in-and-go German reliable machine… and I got thousands of dollars of electrical gremlins to sort out.
They treated you poorly at the dealership. Don’t let them get away with it. Love ya bud!!
You have a platform, you could name and shame, or you could just go kick him in the groin.
I MISSED TONYY
oh so you done did past the statutory warranty...oooof sorry bro
Check your statutory warranty! The used car dealer will have to pay for a number of those fixes.
This needs to be seen
Stat warranty in SA only applies to cars under 15 years old and 200,000km. I don’t think this one qualifies on the age front, pre-facelift CLS ended production in early 2008.
A licensed motor car trader must provide a statutory warranty if the car:
is less than 10 years old, and
has travelled less than 160,000 kilometres.
unlucky cuz
Limitations don't apply to roadworthiness. Flooding in the cabin during rain and malfunctioning dash lights would have made the car not roadworthy at the time of sale. Those issues must be fixed by a dealer regardless of cost.
that's a thing?
for $20,000 you could have gotten Jeff trimmed in fresh leather
But jeff is banned from having interiors so why would he do that
@@D31taF0rc3Who's talking about the interior?
I'm a leathercrafter, i would've done Jeff for quite a bit less than 20k lol
full leather trimming interior is like $1,000...... he couldve had Jeff Retrimmed... Restored, Restomoded for 20K
20k aud, so around 12k usd
Wade manically laughing in the car wash while realizing the gravity of his expensive mistake was certainly a mood.
Fairly sure that's james?
@@cryaesthetic3603Naw, I am pretty sure it's Wade showing genuine horror and not using his joyful TH-cam voice.
@@Michael-zf1konah, he got sick some time ago so his voice was very rough.
@@xcaiustoOh, maybe. I don't try to keep up with his personal timeline.
That part was actually uncomfortable to listen to. Poor Wade
I love that James was practically running screaming from the car before it was even bought. If James predicts the apocalypse, I'll believe him.
Any mechanic who’s had to deal with old German luxury cars could tell you these are beautiful nightmares.
@@anusername8350Very accurate way to describe them, especially pre-owned. I have a pre-owned GLB200 from 2020. Just 2020, so surely it's got a few years left in it at least. Well, it was already showing red flags. Most notably, tyre pressure. And boy, I was forced to get some new tyres. And some will say it's just tyre problems, nothing much. Mate, that problem alone took a solid few months to deal with.😅
sucks for wade lmao, really should had inspected the car better before buying. All it took was a carwash
Can’t be as bad as my friend’s 2013 Chrysler 300. I told him not to buy it. He said it had no check engine light. I told him that doesn’t matter because it could be disabled. Didn’t listen. He bought it, drove it home. The next day, it was not shifting and the check engine light came on. The car won’t go out of first at all. So now I’m hatching a game plan to fix his mistake on a budget because he has no money. $4k for the car. The person he bought it from wouldn’t let him test drive it further than the end of the road. I swear to god that car about ended our friendship because I told him not to buy it. You could do better for $4k. It has the Mercedes transmission fucking $6,000 for a rebuilt
Oh and to top it off, he lives down the street from the guy he bought the car from. Guy rolls up “I see the car is up on jack stands, what’s wrong with it?” My friend responds “there’s something wrong with the transmission”. The guy responds “I happen to have a transmission I can sell to you”. I was floored when I heard that. What a lazy scamming prick. And what an idiot my friend is for buying the car
-mid 2000s German car
- questionable history
-lots of mechanical and cosmetic issues
-man also has his own "nugget" fleet with each "nugget" having their own nooks and crannies
I am all for it for this channel to become what is basically the Aussie equivalent of Hoovie's Garage, keep up the nugget content mate
yup
It's better than hoovie though
@@agent_bedrock5844 The bar was on the floor.
Hoovie sucks
It's basically Aging Wheel's but bogan
As a former mechanic, I weep for the both of you. A car like that should not have met such a fate...
They should have made them better then
@@JossRickardnot the cars fault it was owned by brainlets... It was a repo car... That explains everything. I've owned a repo car before and doesnt matter what brand and what model they tend to be absolutely ruined no matter what. All my friends own used mercs, audis and bmws, i myself own a b6 passat and interestingly none of us have any issues like this... Mine is on 370k kms... Gearbox shifts perfectly, engine runs like a dream, everything works... Its almost like taking care of them will make them last 🙄
@@waifuracer6516No, it's a terrible Mercedes from the beginning of truly terrible cars from Mercedes.
@@waifuracer6516 this era of Mercedes are junk. Even on the Top Gear episode it was on, the headlights were broken, on a brand new, press vehicle. This model in particular had caused me a ton of grief, trying to keep them on the road.
@@waifuracer6516mercedes, audi, and bmw are the worst, i would rather be locked in a room full of crocodiles then deal with their dealerships
I'm only a novice "car enthusiast" and even I know "There's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes!" Best of luck mate.
i wanted my uncles 2008 mercedes e250 diesel so bad when i was a freshman,i even planned to swap a cummins in it.
I always wanted an 80s SEL because they were only a few grand up until recently. No idea what it would have cost to keep running, but with such a low entry cost it doesn't really matter. Now the decent ones are expensive, and still have that risk of needing a lot of money, so that dream is dead.
@@AfferbeckBeats actually the 80's Mercedes are quite reliable. Back then Mercedes was independent and over engineered their vehicles. 90's and 2000's especially was all s**t because of cost cutting and eventual Chrysler merger. Feel free to research all of this but you on the right path mate.
@@AfferbeckBeats It depends on the difficulty of finding parts, and well, thanks to the response to COVID some used cars go for new prices. So... yeah, hard to really gamble now. Like the Dank man says, "it depends on how many people are willing to help keep these nuggets alive"
@@xxyvng6831 Does Cummins make engines small enough to fit in there?
I feel so so so bad for James. Sorry James from all of us.
"Angry James" sounds genuinely upsetting...
James needs to investigate the injured Mercedes mechanic. Some one - or some THINGS - will stop at nothing until James alone has to work on all the European cars in Australia.
@@Arum638 Having worked with german cars, I completely understand his frustration. Add in some water damage which is ALWAYS FUN to diagnose. I understand.
@@NEEDbacon I swear dude, working on euro cars keeps me up at night
For James to just say "no" is a foreign concept. Through all the memes, James has been up to work on whatever you give him. For James to refuse something means it's truly something awful
Not really, he's just an actual mechanic, no mechanic wants to go home after work only to have to work on the same shit again when they get back
The nuggets are something different and a hobby, but he works on modern cars all day
@@Alucard-gt1zf Luxory cars are complicated, rare and expensive, so most mechanics just don't have experience with them. What makes it worse is their parts are likely more proprietary (no cost too great for luxory), extremely expensive/rare, and potentially little to no documentation, both online or officially publicized.
That's not even getting into how it's likely a bucket of moldy, rust brown, rat nests of electronics under all that pretty interior.
Mercedes: leaks
Tony: viciously gets beaten for it.
"TONY YA SUCK! TONY YA CRAP! TOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!"
Tony is the whipping boy of the fleet.
Hi Wade, I can’t even begin to express how sorry I feel about you buying this lemon and as a benz enthusiast, I would like to share a couple of observations. First of all, I am afraid that the car might have been rolled at one time, as front windshield leaks don’t usually happen without a reason, at the very least the car must have sustained some sort of roof damage (hail?, hard to say really) and since moisture must have been leaking inside of it, there is a pretty likely chance that mold has formed pretty much everywhere (a common place for it is the seat foam under the upholstery and, of course the sound deadening). Secondly, you should definitely look into replacing the balance shaft and idler sprocket as those parts are a common failure point on the m272/m273 engines and can lead to major engine damage. Furthermore, I would definitely check the underside of the car, behind the cover panels especially as the w211 platform cars, of which the cls is a close relative have been known to have rust problems in those spots (less likely to happen in australia, but worth checking nonetheless, considering the fact the the car has been on a forklift and could have sustained some damage there. Lastly, I would definitely consider a visit to a MB dealership as they do make their service records available to the public upon request, and are able to read more of the stored computer information hidden in the cars computers. Also, I would definitely look into returning the car to the dealership who had sold it as this seems like an open and shut lemon law case, and wouldn’t bother keeping the car as its resale value will probably be quite low, considering the damage to it, and the potential cost needed to bring it back to a respectful state. Here’s hoping you can find a way to get rid of this piece without it being a burden to you.
Cheers
Oh, and also a minor nitpick; the rims are based on a Brabus design, not amg. But since they appear to be fakes (and also the rear ones seem to be too narrow, as the originals would be wider at the rear axle) I would advise throwing them out and putting some used OEM alloys on it (less blingy maybe, but definitely less likely to bend and snap after hitting a pot hole).
This needs to be seen by him! I hope this gets more likes
I'm wondering if a bad repo, or the fork lift tweeked the frame causing the windshield to misalign. Then it probably sat in the repo lot with a bad windshield seal for months slowly causing more and more water damage
he's rocking a M273, that doesn't have a balance shaft. The idler sprocket is of concern, but that isn't nowhere as bad as a balance shaft (source: I own a 2005 SLK 350)
@@pleaseelaborate3163 That Also might be possible, the chassis got stressed and the windshield went out of alignment.
"I'm a car enthusiast, I gotta role the dice."
This is the way.
This is the way
This is the way
This is the way
This is the way
This is the way
You can't set the clock because the clock was set on the original headunit. Pro tip: disconnect the battery and connect it at 12am or 12pm. The clock will default to that time
I can absolutely relate to that feeling of something being perfectly great until it suddenly isn't anymore. Then you look at it completely differently for the rest of the time you own it and there's always a little bit of lingering doubt.
We saw this alot at the tech shop i used to work at, we called it "losing faith". It would happen alot to people when theres multiple things wrong with there device even if the repair cost was way less than the cost of the machine people would still lose faith and buy a new machine.
This is how I feel about my first car I'm driving as of this year. Previous owner said it was fine and just had some bumper damage. Like hell it does.
I had to splice in new connectors for the spark plugs. The actual PLUGS that go onto the coils were broken. Not the spark plugs, the plugs that go on the things holding them.
I could write a wall of text of the issues with my car found by either me or what others have noticed on it. The short of it is that this thing's not been taken care of and has signs of being worked on by a crooked mechanic because of things like the rear headlights' brackets holding them in place are broken. They didn't slot them in, they just put them onto the slot and then bolted it it. It's like if you put a drawer into a cabinet by slamming it in diagonally.
Silver lining? I'm getting a nose for sniffing out these issues. I'm figuring out what's wrong with my car just on how it runs or the way things look on it.
Tonight on Dank-Gear
Wade gets scammed
James commits arson on a nugget
And Frank slithers her way into Tony's glovebox
what glovebox?
@@AdrianBelmonte96 knowing Tony, it's probably a glorified bucket lmao
@@cupofearlgreytea7651it probably is a bucket
Tonight,on Garbage Time,Wade gets scammed,Frank says nothing and is a fat idiot,and James repairs a nugg
there is only shelf big enough for a map
I think to solve Jeff's 0-100 you should give him a massive turbocharger
no,LS swap.
Just kick him REAL hard.
With the tall gearing it probably has? Good luck those turbos ever doing anything. Give him a supercharger/LS swap
Manual swap it and change the rear end. A Tremec 6-speed and a 4.10 rear end would really wake Jeff up.
Supercharger preferably
As a Mercedes mechanic and the owner of an even more notorious SuperNugget (an S55 amg), I wish you the best of luck! I’m probably not the first person to say it but the engine counterbalance shafts are a major timebomb on the early m273 (mostly 07/08, you can actually find out if yours is affected based on the engine #). The transmission debris is worrying as those 722.9 transmissions are very stout and reliable. As far as the water damage goes, you definitely want to get the interior apart ASAP to see the extent of the mold/corrosion and to start drying everything. Of course if you get everything sorted out a CLS with that drivetrain is a serious machine! Really too bad so many were abused like this one 😢
PS James I feel for you, nothing worse than working on a turd of someone else’s making.
Second this, when looked after. These cars are crazy reliable. But unfortunately, to many people abuse and don't service their cars. then claim their trashed because its having issues at 120k while never having an oil change in it's life. The 7G tronic transmission are generally bomb proof. Almost as good as the 5G tronic that preceded it. and yeah, the balance shaft is an issue. Same goes for the V6's.
Yes, I specifically looked up the engine number on my CL500 before purchase. Seems the S and CLs escaped the issue!
I have 2011 E550 and used to be an MB mechanic, but I 100% agree good sir with the M273 paried with the 722 transmission, it's beast if maintained. truely love this engine with the sound on top of that in addition to the W212 looks.
I will agree. The 9G in my W213 E class is absolute buttery smooth. Seamless shifts, but If you put it in Sports+. she can shift hard when you want that fun! Crazy that to get in 9th gear, I have to be doing 125kmh, and I'll be doing just over 1300rpm at that speed too...@@Nuggeteer-iq4oj
Is it a later 722.9 though? I heard the earlier ones are bad
Professional mechanic here, I feel James' pain on this one. We always tell out friends not to buy that tempting piece of good looking euro trash because htis is so often what it turns into lol. And then WE get stuck trying to sort it out.
But hey, another nugget for the horde!
And its a 00's Merc, probably the worst of the trash of that period, when Merc decided that making reliable cars was too expensive and not profitable, so you went from cars that were nuclear in relability, to being heaps of junk that you could put at an equivalent level of reliability to a french car, but with none of the cheap level of parts, and nonsense stuff like SBC
Whatever they could pay You to fix this thing, is not enough.
ITS NOT ENOUGH
@@MysteriousFigure To be fair SBC isn't much different than the integrated ABS units found in modern cars today. They recalled all of the sbc cars as well and will replace any parts related to it for 25 years after date of manufacture of an afflicted car for free. My 05 with 130,000 miles didn't need an SBC pump until last month. 18 years seems like a good run to me for an original part. M112s, M113s, and 722.6 transmissions from this era are also near bulletproof.
87 year old professional mechanic here, i think i got you beat. nice try tho
You would hate to hear my roster of soon-to-be attainable dream nuggets:
-01 Saab 9-5 Wagon
-84-86 N/A 300ZX 2+2
-E30 325ix sedan
-5th Gen El Camino
And on top of that, I've been eyeing an 8-series pretty much all of my life, and that 20k value will be quite within my reach. At least I have the common sense to idolize the V8 840ci and not the V12...
That’s the only possible outcome of interacting with used car salesmen.
I had a car salesman who told me the car being sold was perfect, despite my mechanic listing a few issues. The salesman said “If you won’t buy it, I’ll find someone else who will for more!”
usually six months later exactly where you left it standing with the car salesman: the so called perfect car, still unsold.
Yeah, that's always a huge red flag.
Never give the time of day to a car salesman giving you the FOMO runaround. It always means they're going to junk it.
For more? Then why the hell is he wasting time with person, who is willing to pay less?
Depending on what the issues were and if they were bad enough I would of said “Good they can take this POS off of you and you can scam the shit out of them”
I feel the car should be called "Mercy", because she hasnt had much mercy before she met you.
That took me a while to realise it's like Merc 😂
that was my grandmas cats name, lived a long 17 year old life and was the baddest daughter of a b#### i ever met
exactly the nickname of my dad's old Mercedes. Oh boy no mercy was given to Mercy for the 10 years he had her lmfao
Mercy has now had the mercy of becoming Wade's nugget
Hatecedes.
James needs a raise, what a guy
Headsup: the car lowering when parked (and hissing out) means that the airbags in the air suspension have a leak. don't delay too much on changing em out, otherwise you will burn up the compressor from overuse.
Funny how the one thing he likes about the car is yet another issue 😂😂
@@red_ben3487 at least that one's a wear item....
@@ZeDestructor00 doesn't make it any cheaper lol
@@red_ben3487 yeahhhh.....
I occasionally do vendor work on a used car lot that specializes in older luxury vehicles. It’s incredible how few are in good condition. Destroyed upholstery, ground up wheels(or mismatched ones), and ridiculous mods done by previous owners are super common.
And thus did we come to the first recorded case of a car dealership being the subject of an arson attack... with the ignition source being a 4th gen iPod nano with an expanded battery, 24hrs after a warning note reading "THE NUGGET IS ARMED" was delivered sharpied onto a roadmap-style manual for Chinese electronics.
Love it
This
_So like mate there was this time when i bought a used Mercedes mate, like proper luxury mate, i saw the price it was 19.995 and i was like yeah I'll sell the house for it cause this is better than my house anyway, so like i got it and once i got it id had like a thousand problems mate, i talked to the owner mate and he was like "nah the car's fine" so in the night i took an old iPod mate with like a spicy pillow of a battery on it and a device set to puncture it mate, i left it next to his office and drove off to just enough so i can safely see the spectacle mate, and it was glorious mate, anyway good this thing has a 5.5 v8 mate cause I'm running from the cops mate, absolutely amazing mate, i have no house to go to though. Can i have 50k?_
Under rated comment lol
@@miaugato93 perfect recreation.
If you want to restore this car to its former glory, I’m sure it would be an adventure.
Ah yes old mercs
@@themuffincatwould be easier if it was a proper old merc, I've got some experience on that poor bastard's fat cousin (the 2nd gen mercedes ML, one of the diesel V6s) and it can be quite annoying to work on at times, and just a damper (it had electronically adaptive dampers and air suspension mind you) would set you back the same as a new set of dampers and suspension arms for a normal car
Given it's water damage that's the biggest concern, and given how many electronics are in that thing, I'd be thinking it wouldn't so much be an adventure as an exercise in emptying your bank account every month for the rest of your life.
He's gonna need more patrons
@@LaughingCarrot if I needed an excuse to become a backer than I would for this
You know it's gonna be bad when he hypes it up so much without saying anything bad
And he's not even halfway into the video
Oh man this sucks!! We do pre purchase inspections in our workshop and although we have informed customers not to purchase vehicles based on what we find, we've never seen one that bad! Hit me up for a free one next time as I'm in Adelaide 👍
Out of curiosity what do you recommend new drivers to check for in a car?
James laughing agile drowning at the carwash was pure gold😂
That was Wade under the weather, not James
James wouldn't be laughing
Mate’s grown so much on YT he’s got the dough to blow on crap like this and I’m all for it
It’s not cause of TH-cam.
@@JasonZakrajsekit literally is though
@@JasonZakrajsekwhat is it then
@@jbritain he got super lucky with crypto a couple years ago, he's mentioned it a few times
@@roseroserose588he got like a few grad, that was it.
It was enough to help grow his channel and drum collection but this is all TH-cam/patreon
Anytime you buy a car from a dealer you're getting scammed in one way or another
That’s not true at all, it’s all about finding someone reputable
@@TheCompyshopbollocks
It really depends, you absolutely have to do your research on the vehicle because there's a good chance the salesman knows bugger all about cars and is just trying to shovel units, or they know everything about it and just want it gone for any price
@@InvisibleSquids That and I’d suggest a pre purchase inspection if you’re buying an expensive car. Obviously if you’re picking up a 5k car it’s not going to be perfect, go wild. But a PPI on a big purchase is something I always suggest to my customers. If a dealer is confident in their unit, they won’t have any issue with you having it inspected
It all depends. My dad was a mechanic and he would never sell a car like this for 20k.
My uncle, on the other hand, would totally sell a car like this for 20k. He's a lot richer than my dad is.
I recently bought a VZ wagon and I've nicknamed it the Asylum due to the drivers side door randomly locking when it rains. Seriously works perfectly when it doesn't rain.
Oh, that is terrifying 😂
my moms freind had an cadillac that did that lmao except it locked all the doors lmao
If you crash into a lake it's taking you down with it.😂
Update time Summer door was perfect now winter has hit and the Asylum is once again Locking it self when it rains.
12:50 these are the sounds of a upset aussie trying to hold back the tears after getting ripped off by a car salesman.
My 2006 Mercedes CLS is my pride and joy. It makes me sad watching this video with how much abuse this one as gone through. Truly an epic car that deserves to be fixed up and treated better! If you fix this up, you truly have a beast!
Can we get a “late for work” type Litreboard where you legally flog the cars through the same route & test economy? 🎉
perhaps including a mandated beach stay
he did that when he just had the nugget and tony awhile back i think
i've always been confused by the used car salesman scam meme, but then i realised in the uk and europe, by law, the car sales company need to warranty the vehicle for 6 months for any undeclared faults, but apparently thats not a thing elsewhere
Wow, so like if the engine has a misfire and they don't tell you that, they have to get it fixed at no matter the cost?
Not for cars this old in most places
@@blizzy6427 Yupp! It's what happened with my sister's nugget! She bought a used Toyota from the local Toyota dealer, which had apparently a of issues that were not only undisclosed, but actively dangerous had it not been fixed. Her windshield had a hairline fracture from stone damage, the undercarrige was faulty, as well as a lot of other issues. Most she did not have to pay for to get fixed (thanks dad for being Stubborn and knowing her rights!), although certain issues we've had to fix ourselves (the tires, the faulty packaging with the windows, the atrocious smell...). But mostly, if you buy a used car from a dealer, you get protections. Just...don't buy them off of Finn (our Facebook Marketplace) without checking up with dealers and getting yourself protection. Heard some real horror stories from those adventures, haha.
@@blizzy6427the problem is they won’t sell you old cars, so you only can get them from private owners. All dealers don’t bother with them and dump them to Africa or so.
@@blizzy6427 It's very situational. Misfires are difficult not to spot though. But this one would have most likely won in Consumer Disputes Board here. Mainly because of the windscreen+water damage that the seller absolutely would have noticed and did not disclose
I feel ya mate, I got got by a crappy used car salesman as well, I needed a car, time was up, I needed something, and the corolla I was sold was absolute rubbish. At least I only paid 1000 usd for it
Corolla, rubbish? The previous owner must have took horrendous care for it
@@StyxYRenegadethey usually thrash them. People think "it's a toyota so it's reliable" do *no maintenance* and beat the fuck out of it
@@StyxYRenegadeit was all painted over rust, transmission was screwed up, engine ran like a sowing machine though
@@Gandalf721 For that price, yeah, but sometimes you don't got a choice and the budget just isn't there to go even a smidge higher.
@@Gandalf721 naw it wasn’t advertised as such. And hiding rust is super scummy
you could try your case with your local ombudsmen, despite being out of the statutory warranty period if you had one...they might justify it still being valid due to how messed up the car actually is
no papers mostly means :mileage rolled back: look at the pedals and the steering wheel if they are worn out a lot then it means it possibly has a rolled back odometer
Mate, Bruce 2 isn't the nugget shepherd. YOU are the nugget shepherd.
You've been given this great gift of gathering all the nuggets on the road and guiding them in their nuggetness. Even when you're not looking for a nugget, the nuggets come to you anyway.
He cares and tends to his flock of nuggets.
12:18 hearing (I assume) James laughing his ass off and commentating on the disaster unfolding is a welcome addition to the video
Edit: okay yeah it is Wade but still hilarious
That's definitely Wade, he was sick a few weeks ago when he got back from Canada so it may have been recorded then
@@GrifKilla97 yeah that's a definite covid-wheeze laugh
@@kaitlyn__LSounds exactly like James to me.
@@Vacced that’s due to the proximity effect (also known as Radio Voice)
If James is scared this is NOT getting fixed
Nah mate, James can do anything
@@KaanCan-hx9oqyeah
@@KaanCan-hx9oq can do anything =/= will do anything
Watching this after the iphone 15 video unfortunately makes the lens switching very noticeable, and _very_ distracting.
Jeff sounds so good you can actually see the sound coming out of the exhaust!
The air ride suspension should be the reason you don't want that specific CLS. It's prone to breaking and very expensive to repair. This also has that strange brake system that needs replacing after x amount brake uses? Also very expensive. Good luck keeping this thing on the road.
The braking system can be 'reset' with a 30 dollar sbc recalibration tool, i had the same in my e class estate.
The air suspension wears out rather than breaks - you have to accept that the bags and shocks will develop leaks by 125-180k km and budget adequately (I just did mine on a puny C350e!)
Air suspension is not that bad of a repair. Buy arnott struts with lifetime warranty, problem solved. Also, the air struts last about 10 years.
@@Wha_SAAB mine didn't make it that far, sadly. and somewhat annoyingly, Arnott's don't make em for my specific car (2015 C350e), so I'm buying a mix of Mercedes rear bags (actually built by Continental) and Bilstein rear shocks and fron struts. it is what it is and within budget. *shrug*
@@Wha_SAABunfortunately they only do a 2 year warranty now. I called last week to verify.
Ugh, the American version of these things shows up all the time on Craigslist in my area for $7k, $12k in actually mint condition. The engines are so unreliable, and the American version's angled tank-nose looks HILARIOUS. You got ripped, and they didn't even give you a 1-year parts n service?!
12k USD is 19k AUD, and the Stalian’s get screwed because of having to import everything which makes prices higher. Honestly the price isn’t as awful as it sounds, but the car is.
The engines are very reliable
@@Nikola_W211 Yeah like, what the hell is the guy on, they're tanks
@@kristoffer3000 you guys are talking about the m113 5.0 v8 the M272/3‘s are ticking time bombs if its not one bulid After 2007 because of that stupid gear sprocket
@@CoconutMigrating I made the comment before finishing the video assuming it's electronics weren't entirely fked. I'll edit just for you.
You should get an old quirky Citroën with the hydropneumatic suspension
cx2400 palas
Or a panther body, I think he’d love a Vicky
naah mate, he should get a freaking Saab
@@Hoodlum045 That would be a fun nugget
DS 23
Ya know, having worked on a few Mercs for the past two decades and even gutted two of them to exchange parts, I gotta say: You have bought a challenge, not a mistake. The price was definitely way too high though. Get the gearbox back in order and check for known major engine issues of your specific engine, see if you are affected. If these two components are fine, the rest is mostly parts and quite a lot of fiddly work, but nothing impossible to solve. Even the fiber optics aren't too bad to replace and most likely still there. If you can't find used parts, you will be surprised that quite a lot of OEM parts are still available at the dealer and some of them (most plastics) are often cheaper than used parts.
I did the exact same thing recently, picked up a 550i twin turbo V8. Check engine light came on during the drive home 💀 luckily I have BMW's workshop tools on my laptop (ISTA+) and I was able to see it was just a pre-cat O2 sensor. Generic OBD II scanner said it was the post-cat sensor.
You *REALLY* need the workshop tools for these complex European cars, otherwise you'll be chasing faults endlessly.
That was actually heartbreaking. The thing about the water ingress though is that it's not necessary for it to be from the windshield. Unless you can tell the windshield has been replaced before, it's very likely that the sunroof is leaking. I know you said that the water drainages "work" but that doesn't mean that the pipes going from the sunroof to the drain in the a-pillars aren't cracked, like they were on my w211 that I fixed last month, which is basically the same as the CLS; or it could also be the seal itself of the sunroof. I can't attach pics in the comment, but for starters I would remove the headliner and see where exactly it's leaking fom.
Damn what a shame man. I’m sorry you got screwed. This is one of the reasons why I’m afraid to buy a used Benz. At least you’ve got another nugget haha. When you were laughing in the car wash, I felt that pain lol
Just gotta be super careful about which Mercedes you're buying in terms of its history. I love my CLS that I bought, I got the 350. It's my dream come true!
For future reference, youre totally able to pay a couple hundo bucks to take a mechanic with you (totally normal)
Or maybe take James with??
a James is all you need
With weekend penalty rates, a good mechanic is gonna cost ya more than a couple hundo dollarydoos for a weekend roadtrip!
@@Respectable_Username it was a local car dealership and I am talking about a weekday inspection, but if it were far away and you don't get a local mechanic, sure would be expensive but also strange to do that
That’s rotten luck, that is.
And those 0-100 numbers on Jeff are obscenely bad. I had a 1990 Volvo 740GL that would put up a time of 9.5 seconds with a naturally aspirated inline 4 cylinder with a 4-speed automatic transmission. And that thing was built like a goddamn tank!
Those are genuinely worth around $5k USD here in Bald Eagle Land, Mercedes never hold any value except for the G Wagons.
there's definitely a legal precedent in Ozz that prevents you from being _entirely_ screwed
Man those things are Emperor Nuggets. You always see them with dead suspensions, huge electronics problems and awful maintenance costs because of how complicated it is to work on them. In Europe, most of them are driven by drug dealers which is nice...
Even odds this specific car was owned by a drug dealer at one point.
especially cause it was repossesed lmao@@irtbmtind89
Ironically, it's not all that hard to work on these cars. The air suspension can be remedied with a coil spring conversion in a weekend for the cost of 2 air struts and the error light coded out with a handheld scanner. The lower end models of the W211 cars had coil spring suspensions and the W219 shares its suspension and drivetrain with it. So you can go buy rear suspension arms for an e320 and fit springs and front struts bolt right up with no modification. Electronic issues are usually related to unremedied trunk leaks. There's a large fuse box and computer module back there, as well as the audio gateway for the fiber optics. Water gets in through the radio antenna and makes its way down to the computers through capilary action when the rubber seals dry out.
That windshield leak is hilarious, I've never seen one dump so much water before.
For true Nugget status that needs patching up with duck tape...
@@Eric_Hunt194 duct
In America we have used cars inspected before buying. If the seller says no, theyre hiding something and its time to look elsewhere.
That's why you always always take the vehicle to a specialist before you buy it not after.
Poor James, he was laughing to hide his crippling sadness.
James probably brought a sledgehammer with him when he went to the office knowing he had to work on the big v8 nugget
I feel you pain. I paid about 7 grand for my car only to find out it wasn't technically road legal. Lexus IS300 wagon so it was excedingly rare, and I'd just lost my sedan so I was sad and desperate. It only got certed when the mechanic was sure that I wouldn't turn around and sell it. I still have it, and love it, but the issues are... present. Mainly rust.
😭that’s proper sad, those cars are so beautiful
I'm glad to live somewhere the local government doesn't breathe down my neck about rust. Because _everything_ is rusty here. Sucks your Sportcross is eaten up, those are awesome.
@@flurpoid yeah, being in Michigan has it's benefits
This is the only man i know that can spend 20k on a car and laugh when it takes it to the carwash and it gets flooded. WhistlinDiesel kinda vibe
Or anyone who bought a old car with T tops and it wasn't a Rattler
I really hope you manage to make this car into what you wanted. Sucks that so many people dont care about lying to someone and potentially putting their lives in danger for a few bucks.
Dang that's a rough history for this car. I hope you get this fixed up to a degree, even if it takes a long time.
Worlds first 4 door coupe? The 7th generation Pontiac Grand Prix came out in 1997 and you could get it with 2 or 4 door, and they both had the same roof line. In fact I remember hearing somewhere that some GM folks were upset that companies like Mercedes took that design philosophy and claimed it was their idea
Sounds like you should be looking for a replacement dash and everything behind it. That's going to be the only way to truly fix the electrical issues since the whole dash is jank now.
I love the Pokémon Cards for each of the nuggets. Its so funny.
Thanks for teaching me a great lesson about buying used cars. The first thing to do when you buy it, is to take it through a car wash!
And a prebuy inspection
I love how even though he dropped some legit money on this thing, and it seemed to be a decent deal and not a bad looker, especially by this channel’s standards…it’s still an absolute colossal nugget like the rest of them!! I’m sorry Wade, but damn that’s funny! And I’m convinced that if he bought a car, brand new, like literally just came off the assembly line directly into his hands, it’d turn into a nugget instantly!! XD
It’s always a good day when he uploads
AHH you beat me it man
Well doesn't this feel like a bot
@DontReadMyProfilePicture.104 Stop
The most expensive nugget reviewed on these channels so far... I think.
At least it looks nice.
A while ago you did mention that you could do an engine swap for a 500 horsepower donkey van... I don't think I need to say more.
I think he might have meant that he could mod the donkey vans stock engine to make that power. He said it's related to the Mitsubishi Evo motors. A 5.5 litre v8 van would make an awesome sleeper though
holy shit, the car wash bit had me rolling. that was great.
12:30 - the manic yet cheerful laughter of a man who just burned 20 Grand - *hugs*
this guy is changing my vision of cars, I used to hate this specific benz, but now I really like it! I thank you so much
I imagine you've seen Hoovies Garage and said "Yes, I want that torture"
i love how he's wearing the LTT WAN sweatpants in the carwash. I literally only recognized it because im wearing them right now
Oh Wade, I know how you feel and have been here.... finding that car you really want exactly how you want it, for a price you can really afford... but knowing deep down during the purchase that something is kind of off, but you buy it anyway...
*iPhone 15 changing lenses*
I have a 2011 Volvo C30 that had a windshield leak (common issue on those cars, it’s since been fixed) but it was never THAT bad. Wow.
My c30 was pretty bad too but nowhere near that 😂
It should be called the dripmobile
The sound of this hysterical belly laugh from Wade got to me 12:42
stawpp im already wettt
Seems like a important enough of a car that it would be worth putting the time and effort and money into fixing it and getting back to pristine. You obviously really enjoy that model and find it to be very nice looking, and that drive train is crazy good.
“The only way it can be worse than Jeff..”
Jeff: And I took that personally.
400 horsepower in a country where 3km over the limit gets you a ticket
That sounds painful to be honest
When I saw the Merc badge, I was immediately like "Ho boy. He's in for a ride"...
We Germans might have a very good history in making cars, but I feel like right around the '00s is when our car makers took an absolute nosedive, and they never recovered...
newer BMWs don't seem too bad. I recently got a used 750i and so far it's only needed regular maintenance for its mileage.
Mid-2000s mercedes with no papers from a used car lot. The moment it came on screen I let out an audible "uh oh"
The 70s-80s were the peak for Mercedes imo. Right before they started cheapening out and stuffing in unreliable tech to compete with Lexus.
@@trevorgray3681 Well, that BMW of yours isn't so bad until you get some electronics issue. Have fun debugging that...
Sorry to see you got ripped off buying it, sucks that it took so long to get it looked over otherwise more things could of been done. On the bright side at least you got another car to make content out of and get some of the money back. I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait for future episodes on the merc, Fingers crossed for you and James that there isn’t too many electrical issues and not a ball ache to work on. Hope you can get some of the problems sorted out ok.
Bro thats so much damage and work, its worse than rebuildung a engin of tony. The gearbox is basically garbage and almost all Electronics have to be replaced and rewired so its not worth it
i feel so bad for jeff, this was its chance to finally be better than something else
Oh James my sweet sweet boy, my neighbor had this exact same car for two or three years and I kid you not I was out there helping him with some new problem every other day. I’m so sorry my boy
New nug-rebuild series coming?
As awesome as that would be to watch, seeing James unleash his rage on this car may potentially be traumatising, who knows
It does seem unsettling to think James would get genuinely angry at a car when all the videos we see him in have him being very carefree at the most ridiculous issues.
Either way, I think it would be considered a warcrime to make him rebuild a Mercedes, lol. Especially since most of the damage is electrical.
@@Michael-zf1ko I'd imagine James is mad because this car is in such bad shape and because of what it sold for.
I would return the car. It’s in bad shape and has hidden damage. Not a keeper especially not for 20k Kangaroo Dollars.
He would never financially recover from this.
@@myhandleiswhat I'd say James is more annoyed with the type of damage, as electrical and water damage is one of the worst types of damage to deal with. Because there the parts often aren't easily accessible, you need to remove interior pieces all over the places, cables themselves are annoying, etc.
For comparison e.g. a broken radiator is far nicer, as the radiator is easily accessible and you basically just need to pull the old one out and put a new one in.
I love the difference in perspectives here because while he's going nuts over this super cool legendary car I'm just seeing a totally normal automobile lol
Ahh that video of Dank in the car wash getting rained on is the funniest thing, the sad but truly surprised laughter is so funny 😂
Always, ALWAYS get a pre-purchase inspection before buying any vehicle.
This is definitely my favourite video of yours so far, hope to see more of the German AU Falcon soon.
The pained laughing in the car wash nearly killed me😂
I think its time to admit it mate ... you got a Nugget Addiction😔
Oh my gosh, I feel all the pain. My dad and I found an 06 E55AMG for $2000 with a ton of spare parts. We figured it wouldn't be too hard to get it going since we have experience working with Crossfires. Turns out, there was a leak in the trunk that killed all the computers back there, causing about a hundred billion issues. Long story short, after a little over a year, it's my family's daily beater with almost 600 horsepower lol
James is a damn hero and gentleman, and I am deeply sorry to hear you're dream car was a bust. Nothing quite as disappointing as a wish being granted but via a monkeys paw scenario.
used car salesmen are awful. got a 2017 santa fe in almost mint condition from one back in january, guy said the "emissions were bad" only to find out literally the night we got the car it was actually the entire ECU that was cooked and the car wasn't even supposed to be for sale until it was fixed