New to me S 550
11-25-2014, 10:33 PM
#1
Super Member
Thread Starter
New to me S 550
Just picked up a 2011 S 550, 42k on the odo. Seems pretty loaded from the research I have done. 19in Wheels, P2 with parktronic, Diamond White. Imaculant.
What do I need to know about the car. Seems like it does everything.
What do I need to know about the car. Seems like it does everything.
11-30-2014, 11:00 AM
#6
MBWorld Fanatic!
Most of the stuff that makes an S class what it is goes on behind the scenes until something fails and then you get a very quick education about that particular system. For the other stuff this thread about cool features we've accidentally discovered covers a lot of the hidden gems from a user's standpoint:
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ad-manual.html
Having owned three S Class I can tell you not to be fooled by their pretty face. They can be perfectly maintained and look brand new cosmetically and still turn around and bite you on the *** with a nasty repair bill. If you haven't done so, I recommend finding a decent 3rd party warranty.
https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ad-manual.html
Having owned three S Class I can tell you not to be fooled by their pretty face. They can be perfectly maintained and look brand new cosmetically and still turn around and bite you on the *** with a nasty repair bill. If you haven't done so, I recommend finding a decent 3rd party warranty.
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11-30-2014, 07:32 PM
#8
Super Member
Thread Starter
Mike 5215,
I think your comments are spot on. While I have no second thoughts on pulling the trigger on this beauty, I did buy 2 extra years of extended warranty from MB. I know, stratosphere prices but I have had good experience with my dealer's service department and their covering repairs. That plus the extra year they give on the original mfg warranty being a CPO covers me till January of 2018. The car has 42.8 k on th clock and if the car is relatively trouble free during that period, I may consider keeping it. If not, I will cut and run.
I bought my wife a CLK 350 three years ago and had the same type of warranty, 1 extra mfg. year plus two more bought years. That car was in the shop way to many times over the period of ownership. The warranty expired on Nov. 22 so I sold in on Nov 24th. Now I have a new to me S class with three years of warranty.
I also have an E class that I bought new in 2010. By comparison, that car has been almost repair free over the past 4 years of ownership. In September, I bought 3 more years on the MB extended warranty because I really like the car and I put almost no miles on it. I hope to keep it a while because I think that it has a real classy look to it.
So a rather long winded response to your comment about having a warranty. I have one that will hopefully cover anything major. My real hope is that this does not become a garage queen that only looks good in the repair shop. From the VMI I pulled, it has not spent much time in the shop. I hope that it stays that way. I have no experience with S series so I really do not know what to expect from this car. I have read lots of horror stories over that past few days but I bet I could find that about any car I choose to become attached to. We shall see. It will all become known in the fullness of time as they say.
I think your comments are spot on. While I have no second thoughts on pulling the trigger on this beauty, I did buy 2 extra years of extended warranty from MB. I know, stratosphere prices but I have had good experience with my dealer's service department and their covering repairs. That plus the extra year they give on the original mfg warranty being a CPO covers me till January of 2018. The car has 42.8 k on th clock and if the car is relatively trouble free during that period, I may consider keeping it. If not, I will cut and run.
I bought my wife a CLK 350 three years ago and had the same type of warranty, 1 extra mfg. year plus two more bought years. That car was in the shop way to many times over the period of ownership. The warranty expired on Nov. 22 so I sold in on Nov 24th. Now I have a new to me S class with three years of warranty.
I also have an E class that I bought new in 2010. By comparison, that car has been almost repair free over the past 4 years of ownership. In September, I bought 3 more years on the MB extended warranty because I really like the car and I put almost no miles on it. I hope to keep it a while because I think that it has a real classy look to it.
So a rather long winded response to your comment about having a warranty. I have one that will hopefully cover anything major. My real hope is that this does not become a garage queen that only looks good in the repair shop. From the VMI I pulled, it has not spent much time in the shop. I hope that it stays that way. I have no experience with S series so I really do not know what to expect from this car. I have read lots of horror stories over that past few days but I bet I could find that about any car I choose to become attached to. We shall see. It will all become known in the fullness of time as they say.
...lol Mike 
12-01-2014, 12:10 AM
#10
MBWorld Fanatic!
Despite my really nasty experience with my first S...a CPO car that had $13k in warranty repairs in two and a half years and then ate a $6000 tranny 3k miles outside the CPO...it didn't sour me on Mercedes or the S Class. The repair costs are exorbitant but the frequency if incidents is low, so it's not like it's always in the shop. But it did teach me the importance of not keeping a car out of warranty again.
CPO is so much easier to deal with than a 3rd party warranty company. I never had the need for a repair questioned on either of my CPO cars. In fact, the dealer often caught things...bad main seal, motor and tranny mounts...on their own and got them approved and repaired with no input from me. I once complained that the little ambient lamp that lives on the underside of the rear view mirror on my 06 S500 had gone out. MB only sold the lamp as part of the mirror assembly. They replaced the entire (motorized) mirror at $1400. The price of the CPO seems high before you actually see it in action, effortlessly soaking up a bunch of four digit repairs for you. Wait until the car needs $3000 worth of motor mounts and a tranny mount and you sign a zero dollar invoice when you go to pick it up. Or when you come out in the morning and it's decided to become a low rider or get a $5,000 AirMatic replacement. You might even get to feeling a little sorry for Mercedes after a bit
The non CPO warranty (EasyCare) on my 2004 S430 was a pain in the ***. They fought every repair and always refused to pay the whole bill. It was usually a couple hundred on top of the $500 deductible I had to pay. When the rear diff bearings started to fail and whine, my choices were a salvage pumpkin or pay the difference for a new part myself. It took forever for them to actually pay the bill, leaving the car hung up for a few hours or even an extra day.
I actually broke even on the EasyCare warranty but they or any 3rd party warranty would be a distant second to a CPO with the two year extension IMO.
CPO is so much easier to deal with than a 3rd party warranty company. I never had the need for a repair questioned on either of my CPO cars. In fact, the dealer often caught things...bad main seal, motor and tranny mounts...on their own and got them approved and repaired with no input from me. I once complained that the little ambient lamp that lives on the underside of the rear view mirror on my 06 S500 had gone out. MB only sold the lamp as part of the mirror assembly. They replaced the entire (motorized) mirror at $1400. The price of the CPO seems high before you actually see it in action, effortlessly soaking up a bunch of four digit repairs for you. Wait until the car needs $3000 worth of motor mounts and a tranny mount and you sign a zero dollar invoice when you go to pick it up. Or when you come out in the morning and it's decided to become a low rider or get a $5,000 AirMatic replacement. You might even get to feeling a little sorry for Mercedes after a bit
The non CPO warranty (EasyCare) on my 2004 S430 was a pain in the ***. They fought every repair and always refused to pay the whole bill. It was usually a couple hundred on top of the $500 deductible I had to pay. When the rear diff bearings started to fail and whine, my choices were a salvage pumpkin or pay the difference for a new part myself. It took forever for them to actually pay the bill, leaving the car hung up for a few hours or even an extra day.
I actually broke even on the EasyCare warranty but they or any 3rd party warranty would be a distant second to a CPO with the two year extension IMO.
Last edited by Mike5215; 12-01-2014 at 12:18 AM.
12-01-2014, 10:21 AM
#13
MBWorld Fanatic!
When a close personal friend is also your MB service adviser and he calls you to remind you to dump your S Class before the warranty expires, I recommend taking him seriously.
12-01-2014, 10:42 AM
#14
Super Member
Thread Starter
While I like having the security of 3 years of warranty, my hope is that this car won't be in the shop a lot. Even if the repairs are paid for by someone else. I suspect that there is a reason that the extended warranty is twice as much as for the CLK Cabriolet that I had and dumped when the warranty expired.
Time will tell. Seems like there were/are lot of issues with the '07 MY. Don't know if they worked any of the bugs out by 2011 or not. Time will tell I suppose.
Time will tell. Seems like there were/are lot of issues with the '07 MY. Don't know if they worked any of the bugs out by 2011 or not. Time will tell I suppose.
12-01-2014, 11:33 AM
#15
MBWorld Fanatic!
While I like having the security of 3 years of warranty, my hope is that this car won't be in the shop a lot. Even if the repairs are paid for by someone else. I suspect that there is a reason that the extended warranty is twice as much as for the CLK Cabriolet that I had and dumped when the warranty expired.
Time will tell. Seems like there were/are lot of issues with the '07 MY. Don't know if they worked any of the bugs out by 2011 or not. Time will tell I suppose.
Time will tell. Seems like there were/are lot of issues with the '07 MY. Don't know if they worked any of the bugs out by 2011 or not. Time will tell I suppose.
On the S however it can get very expensive very quickly. That's why Mercedes wants double the money to warranty the S versus the
CLK...they, more than anyone, know what's coming. You can't forget that it's a car with a $100,000 MSRP. Granted we buy them depreciated out by half or so, but the cost of parts and labor haven't depreciated one cent. The parts for a 2007 S550 that somebody paid $25,000 for cost exactly the same as the parts for a $50,000 2013 S550.
The S is okay for the first 50k miles. It seems like after that is when the real fun starts.I think the post facelift cars probably have more of the bugs worked out than the 07-09s but if I had to wager I'd bet that you'll recoup that CPO warranty cost and then some over the next few years.
12-01-2014, 02:18 PM
#16
The guys driving older 221's without protection just rationalize that their car is different, their luck is different, or both. The difference between masturbating and rationalizing is that it's almost impossible to go 24 hours without a good rationalization.
When a close personal friend is also your MB service adviser and he calls you to remind you to dump your S Class before the warranty expires, I recommend taking him seriously.
When a close personal friend is also your MB service adviser and he calls you to remind you to dump your S Class before the warranty expires, I recommend taking him seriously.
12-04-2014, 08:43 AM
#20
MBWorld Fanatic!
^See how easy it is to save money and time on your out of warranty repairs. Simply remove the defective part from the car and mail it to Sweden. In a week or so the repaired part will be returned to you. What could be easier? 
j/k Bilelektriska. That's a nice service to have available.
j/k Bilelektriska. That's a nice service to have available.
^^
