Buying a car at a blind auction is Russian roulette, even for seasoned professionals. One moment it seems like the deal of the decade, and the next it threatens financial ruin. For one buyer, that nightmare nearly came true when his Mercedes-Benz GLE Plug-In Hybrid refused to function at all—four full months after purchase—until a YouTube expert finally stepped in.
The story begins in Wembley, at a local body shop where the GLE sat collecting dust. The SUV had been bought at auction for £30,000, which is around €36,000, roughly a third of its original retail price. With only rear-end damage visible, the purchase looked like a straightforward repair job and a chance at a quick profit for an experienced panel builder.