If you’ve been following us then you’ll know we are big fans of Mercedes-Benz. Like any car you buy, the combination of options and packages means you will rarely ever see 2 identical cars for sale.
Mercedes is actually one of the simpler brands when it comes to options and packages. All the good stuff is usually packaged together, and then there will be a few miscellaneous options you can throw in.
When shopping for any Mercedes, or an AMG in our case, it’s critical that you know exactly what the car is equipped with.
Options and packages will always vary among what the first owner (or dealer) selects, but it is important for you to look for the right options for your own peace of mind and also for resale value.
When you are shopping for a Mercedes and the original owner does not have the window sticker, there is actually a pretty easy and low cost way to get a build sheet for any Mercedes-Benz.
One of the tools we use during our research is EPCnet Online, a tool anyone can sign-up for and instantly pull build sheets for any Mercedes-Benz.
While there is a fee of $75 to use it, rest assured that it will pay for itself quickly as you will no longer have to guess, or bother others for build sheets.
Another important thing to note is most VIN decoders online are worthless and never really show true vehicle data outside of basic info like country of origin and build year.
So go ahead and register for EPCnet Online and then download the required files on your Windows computer. Once you have the program open, look near the top and you will see a box to type in a Mercedes VIN number.
Let’s assume we are looking at this Mercedes C63 Coupe 507 Edition.
Copy and paste the VIN starting with WDD into the EPCnet tool and press enter. If successful you will see a box dropdown with a list of options.
Look to the right and there will be a button along the top with a blue car to display the car’s Datacard. Click that to see some good info here like exterior/interior color, delivery date, order number, etc. You will see on the left menu tree is an item called “SA code.” This is the cars build sheet.
You can also export all the information into a cleaner document by printing and then exporting the same information into a PDF.
If done successfully you will get an export with several pages with every option and package on the vehicle like below.
The only downside to this method is that it does not include MSRP.
Hope this quick guide helps you figure out what the Mercedes you’re looking at contains. In another post we will show you exactly what options we recommend you should look for to help you narrow down your search!