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Sold a Merc E250 CDI today to a very nice retired couple, just returned to the UK for good after living in Portugal for 15 years. 

The part ex looks very nice too, 2006 Jeep Cherokee 2.8 CRD Limited Auto, Left Hand Drive, lovely condition, huge spec and mine for £1800. Market price (not that there will be any competition for this here) will be over £5K. I saw and drove it the other day when we were agreeing this deal. Perfect! They were supposed to come and collect yesterday but couldn't. 

They arrived in the Jeep today, parked it in front of my garage, paperwork was done already so they jumped in the newer Merc and drove off. 

I waved them happily, tried to move the Jeep and it doesn't start. At all. No cranking. You press the brake, turn they key and nothing at all happens. As if the starter motor has failed. The way the car is parked disrupts my entire operation so my mechanic is coming early tomorrow morning to get it started and fixed but my question is: Do you think they knew???

Or are they the luckiest part exchangers in the world where the car lasted them exactly until the moment of being traded in :lol: 

I am only suspicious because they couldn't arrive yesterday as agreed so maybe it failed to start then. Bless them, I hope that Mercedes serves them really well! 

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Have you tried putting it in neutral Nick?

I have a Tucson that won’t start in park but will in neutral  

Also, I guess you have put your foot on the brake whilst starting?

Theres good money in that mate once it’s going  -anything LHD on English plates is an earner  

 

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Oh I tried all of this for a while before ringing them to ask if there is a knack to starting it or a hidden switch somewhere but no. 

Plus, the other day when I went it started immediately as soon as I turned the key the first time. I have two keys, same thing. Starter motor or the wiring to it has had it. 

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1 hour ago, Nick M.K. said:

Sold a Merc E250 CDI today to a very nice retired couple, just returned to the UK for good after living in Portugal for 15 years. 

The part ex looks very nice too, 2006 Jeep Cherokee 2.8 CRD Limited Auto, Left Hand Drive, lovely condition, huge spec and mine for £1800. Market price (not that there will be any competition for this here) will be over £5K. I saw and drove it the other day when we were agreeing this deal. Perfect! They were supposed to come and collect yesterday but couldn't. 

They arrived in the Jeep today, parked it in front of my garage, paperwork was done already so they jumped in the newer Merc and drove off. 

I waved them happily, tried to move the Jeep and it doesn't start. At all. No cranking. You press the brake, turn they key and nothing at all happens. As if the starter motor has failed. The way the car is parked disrupts my entire operation so my mechanic is coming early tomorrow morning to get it started and fixed but my question is: Do you think they knew???

Or are they the luckiest part exchangers in the world where the car lasted them exactly until the moment of being traded in :lol: 

I am only suspicious because they couldn't arrive yesterday as agreed so maybe it failed to start then. Bless them, I hope that Mercedes serves them really well! 

Did they know. Yes. 

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At least it doesn’t stand you too much!!

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Moons back had a mint Rover 45 in part chop that was the same, thought it must be something sinister but car was fine when it was examined. Turned out the starter motor failed at just the perfect time for the owner!

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16 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

Sold a Merc E250 CDI today to a very nice retired couple, just returned to the UK for good after living in Portugal for 15 years. 

The part ex looks very nice too, 2006 Jeep Cherokee 2.8 CRD Limited Auto, Left Hand Drive, lovely condition, huge spec and mine for £1800. Market price (not that there will be any competition for this here) will be over £5K. I saw and drove it the other day when we were agreeing this deal. Perfect! They were supposed to come and collect yesterday but couldn't. 

They arrived in the Jeep today, parked it in front of my garage, paperwork was done already so they jumped in the newer Merc and drove off. 

I waved them happily, tried to move the Jeep and it doesn't start. At all. No cranking. You press the brake, turn they key and nothing at all happens. As if the starter motor has failed. The way the car is parked disrupts my entire operation so my mechanic is coming early tomorrow morning to get it started and fixed but my question is: Do you think they knew???

Or are they the luckiest part exchangers in the world where the car lasted them exactly until the moment of being traded in :lol: 

I am only suspicious because they couldn't arrive yesterday as agreed so maybe it failed to start then. Bless them, I hope that Mercedes serves them really well! 

They knew! Ive had this happen a number of times and they always seem such nice people to deal with. Hope its a cheap and easy fix. I bet they sounded very 'surprised' when you rang them later asking about the knack to starting it......

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The mechanic has been at it over an hour, not the battery, not clamps, not the relays but it does look like there is a lot of corrosion around the wiring connector for the starter motor (fully exposed under the car). The starter actually works, it's the solenoid that doesn't get it's signal and everything now points towards a bad ignition switch. 

 

Must've known :lol:

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Possibly the gearbox neutral position sensor. Had a few Jeeps with this problem.

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4 minutes ago, MOTORS said:

Possibly the gearbox neutral position sensor. Had a few Jeeps with this problem.

Will drop it off to the garage later and will tell them to check that first. 

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We have just had to cancel a deal with a customer at handover

On px appraisal was told it had 2 keys, full history ( book wasn't in the car at the time ) and parcel shelf is in the garage at home....

day of handover, we have lost the second key, service book has gone missing..... cant remember where services were done.... and shelf is lost.. no problem we will be charging you an extra £700 due to having to re value the part exchange with this information.


customer kicks off and calls us crooks lol. and wont be proceeding. no problem jog on and forget your deposit oh and try telling the truth next time.

lying gits.

  • Like 1

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1 minute ago, Dan W said:

We have just had to cancel a deal with a customer at handover

On px appraisal was told it had 2 keys, full history ( book wasn't in the car at the time ) and parcel shelf is in the garage at home....

day of handover, we have lost the second key, service book has gone missing..... cant remember where services were done.... and shelf is lost.. no problem we will be charging you an extra £700 due to having to re value the part exchange with this information.


customer kicks off and calls us crooks lol. and wont be proceeding. no problem jog on and forget your deposit oh and try telling the truth next time.

lying gits.

They never think you will be that brave. Hats off to you for this. 

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8 minutes ago, Dan W said:

We have just had to cancel a deal with a customer at handover

On px appraisal was told it had 2 keys, full history ( book wasn't in the car at the time ) and parcel shelf is in the garage at home....

day of handover, we have lost the second key, service book has gone missing..... cant remember where services were done.... and shelf is lost.. no problem we will be charging you an extra £700 due to having to re value the part exchange with this information.


customer kicks off and calls us crooks lol. and wont be proceeding. no problem jog on and forget your deposit oh and try telling the truth next time.

lying gits.

Well played....

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4 minutes ago, Ocsltd said:

Well played....

or do the same to the car they are collecting and watch their faces

take the spare wheel or gunge as well:lol:

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2 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

Will drop it off to the garage later and will tell them to check that first. 

I was going to say it may well be starter relay, and that was before I watched the video, now I'm almost certain ;) 

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55 minutes ago, Dave2302 said:

I was going to say it may well be starter relay

Not the relay, we swapped it with another and no joy. To start it we removed it and shorted two of the relay connections with two screwdrivers. The diagnostic data shows the gear as Neutral while the actual selector is in Park so it has to be the selector position sensor as @MOTORS suggested. Image attached. 

And as I was dealing with this  just got another p/x with an issue which was not there two days ago at appraisal. Diesel leak, the whole engine stinks, 2012 ML 350, done only 33K miles, just had a service (although I told the customer that he didn't have to do it). They've replaced the diesel filter, broke one of the plastic fuel return line connectors and superglued it back. Of course it didn't hold for long but it's right at the top of the engine and visible easily, the second photo shows it well. The customer will get £200 less (£19K car!) because of this, I told him to not use the same garage again :lol:

IMG_0844.jpg

IMG_0839.jpg

Edited by Nick M.K.

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OK, Starter Relay off the table then.......................

But it should still start even if it thinks its in N when in P, on some Cars I've seen Snap On only report "Neutral" when in "Park or Neutral" and only Report "Drive" when in Rev, Drive, 4,3,2,1, etc etc

What does Data say as you move through the Selector Positions ?

I'd want to be 100% Certain on that Selector Position Sensor, especially if it turns out to be an £800 part, as some are :blink:

Can you see any "Start Enable" on the Data in Engine ECU or similar to confirm or refute ?

Is this Jeep one of the VW Based "bastards" ?  They can be a real headache, don't ask me how I found that out recently :lol:

HTH

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4 hours ago, Dan W said:

We have just had to cancel a deal with a customer at handover

On px appraisal was told it had 2 keys, full history ( book wasn't in the car at the time ) and parcel shelf is in the garage at home....

day of handover, we have lost the second key, service book has gone missing..... cant remember where services were done.... and shelf is lost.. no problem we will be charging you an extra £700 due to having to re value the part exchange with this information.


customer kicks off and calls us crooks lol. and wont be proceeding. no problem jog on and forget your deposit oh and try telling the truth next time.

lying gits.

Well done Dan :)

  • Like 2

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23 hours ago, Nick M.K. said:

Sold a Merc E250 CDI today to a very nice retired couple, just returned to the UK for good after living in Portugal for 15 years. 

The part ex looks very nice too, 2006 Jeep Cherokee 2.8 CRD Limited Auto, Left Hand Drive, lovely condition, huge spec and mine for £1800. Market price (not that there will be any competition for this here) will be over £5K. I saw and drove it the other day when we were agreeing this deal. Perfect! They were supposed to come and collect yesterday but couldn't. 

They arrived in the Jeep today, parked it in front of my garage, paperwork was done already so they jumped in the newer Merc and drove off. 

I waved them happily, tried to move the Jeep and it doesn't start. At all. No cranking. You press the brake, turn they key and nothing at all happens. As if the starter motor has failed. The way the car is parked disrupts my entire operation so my mechanic is coming early tomorrow morning to get it started and fixed but my question is: Do you think they knew???

Or are they the luckiest part exchangers in the world where the car lasted them exactly until the moment of being traded in :lol: 

I am only suspicious because they couldn't arrive yesterday as agreed so maybe it failed to start then. Bless them, I hope that Mercedes serves them really well! 

Given that they didn't show yesterday, they probably had the issue yesterday. Hope it's not too costly to fix.

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