EuroDriverSD

Hey folks, I might be purchasing a 2008 S550 and I'm looking for advice/pointers. I have been driving a W203 so I imagine I'm headed towards learning a Benz curve all over again.

Anhow, I was looking for a W211 E350 sport but ran into an opportunity to pick up this 08 S550 4matic. It has the AMG package, night vision, newer COMAND system and it has 90-something K miles. It looks pristine and I just can't get my eyes and mind off of it, lol

I'd like some input from those of you that are used to it whether it's worth it, what are the main issues to look for, what's a good price to pay, whether it's going to be a huge money pit, etc.

The owner is offering it to me for $22K with partial trade for some professional services & he's calling me tomorrow. The car is dazzling, but given the mileage, I'm not sure if it's going to end up living part-time at the shop and I'll end up having to budget an alimony payment fund for it. I don't know much about them, since I never really considered getting one before, thus my apprehension.

Your input greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance

WHPH28

Some people won't agree but in my opinion, just like with every car I have owned, mileage does not play a huge role in car buying. It's all about how it was taken care of and general maintenance, driven by an older adult, or by someone young who abused it. If they have all of the service records, that is a good start and then the carfax report and get an inspection, however, I bought my S550 and my S600 with out doing an inspection.

The example I always use is you can have a 100k mile car that was driven by a person using it 10 miles a day to run errands and kept it garaged and looks brand new or or a 100k mile beat up, ran hard and abused. You don't know unless you talk to the seller, get service records, and go with your gut feeling. Of course, inspections always help if you want to go that route. but I've owned multiple range rovers (in the market for another right now), 7 series bmw's, etc and never did an inspection and never had an issue with my cars.

There are plenty of threads on here to search through and read about buying a W221. You could probably find the car above between 19-20k, with out having to trade anything else but if you think it's the car for you, go for it.

With no warranty repairs can be expensive. if you are buying it in cash, you won't have a car payment and when repairs come up, it won't be a big deal since it's paid for. That's how I see it with mine.

W221's are nice cars and you can do nothing to them or a lot to them and they will look nice.

Good Luck with whatever you do.

EuroDriverSD

Thanks, I appreciate your advice. I'll do a search on buying tips. Also, I have been reading about the transmission problems on the '07s but haven't found anything definitive on whether '08s are affected as well. Any info on this?

DaveW68

With that starting mileage, you should plan on budgeting around $5k or so per year for repairs and maintenance. It could actually be a lot higher if something major goes wrong. IMO, it would be a safer bet to buy a much lower mileage example for a little more money where you can purchase a warranty on the car. It's an absolute certainty that you'd use it and get more than your money's worth out of it. People thinking they are getting a good deal in an S Class because it has higher miles are truly testing fate.

EuroDriverSD

Wow. Although I figure I should anticipate upcoming repairs due to age and mileage, $5K/year is no chump change.

I spoke with my local indy this morning, and their opinion was surprisingly at the other end of the spectrum. They told me that although the 2008 does not suffer from the same transmission woes as the dreaded 2007 issues, it's really going to depend of the maintenance the vehicle has been given ad that the difference in average maintenance costs between it and a 2009 E350 are negligible.

That statement makes it a pretty tough choice although I don't know how much of that to believe... If the owner budges on the price, I'm going to take it in for a pre-purchase inspection

Nuru

I would recommend finding a car with lower miles and costing a little more if you plan to drive the car everyday, as you increase your chances of something major requiring repair with that kind of mileage. However, if the car has excellent records and you got a price point where you are willing to go for it, well gofor it. I would search the forums to see what maintenance and repairs are happening with the 2007 and 2008 cars, and that will give you an idea of what you ma be looking at. Good Luck on your selection.

T.H.Carrera

S class is more costly to fix due to the standard air suspension (pump , struts), air bladder seats (fronts) which are expensive to fix.

DaveW68

Apparently your indy doesn't know much about these cars if he thinks that maintenance costs between a E350 and S550 are negligible. The S550 has many more complicated systems on it than the E350 which are very costly when something goes wrong. If he's just talking about cost of oil changes, filters, batteries, tires, and brakes....those price differences might be negligible. That's pretty much where negligible ends between the cars. Don't forget that the W221 S550 was the most advanced car in the world when it came out in 2006. Comparatively, the E350 is just a run of the mill mid-level semi-luxury car where you don't have many complicated systems that can/will eventually fail.


The S-class is not a car for the budget minded consumer. A high mileage example WILL cost you a lot to maintain and repair. Even a lower mileage car can be quite pricey to take care of. But at least you can get a warranty on a lower mileage example.


If you can get a 2008 S-550 with 98k miles for $22k, you can probably also get a 40k mile car for around $26k or so. Throw in a good exclusionary warranty for $4-5k that will cover you for 4 years and you're spending around $8-9k more for the lower mileage warrantied car. Is it worth it? Without question....YES!!! You'll likely burn through that warranty premium in under 2 years and have a lot more coverage left. Not to mention the resale of the lower mileage car in the future will be quite a bit higher....and those warranties are almost always transferable. I haven't heard of a member here buying a high mileage S Class that hasn't spent a small fortune on maintenance....and especially repairs. These aren't Honda's we're talking about. But the ride of these cars are well worth it. Where the E-class feels like a Honda to ride in, the S class is more like a Bentley. The cars are like night and day.

KNBS550

Totally agree. If you aren't prepared to pay out $4K or $5K per year for service on an S-Class then don't buy it. Especially high mileage ones. Many of the wear components start to fail after 100K miles along with hitting some key service intervals. Just search this forum. Control arms need replacing ($600-$1000) each. Flex disk ($600-800). Engine mounts ($1000). Transmission flush every 40K miles RELIGIOUSLY ($600-800). Tires go every 20-40K miles depending on brand ($900-1200). COMAND gets schizophrenia ($150-200) per episode. Radiator fan dies ($1000), Brakes need replacing ($400-500) per side. I should add that the wear items like brake pads and tires wouldn't be covered under warranty.

Bottom line is you have to decide whether to pay the maintenance upfront in the form of a warranty and higher price of a low mileage S-Class OR you will pay it as you go (unpredictably) on a high mileage S-Class.

Good luck with your decision.

WHPH28

All in all - if you buy a car that cost a high dollar amount - parts and labor are expensive if you go to the dealer...find yourself a good indy or you can just DIY what you can and save money also. If you are not a hands on type of person then of course, you're going to pay the premium.

When it comes to owning an expensive car - you get hit with a luxury tax on parts and service just because of the brand.

Brakes you can DIY for under $150 front and rear total.

mnje350

This can be a tough decision especially since it is so easy to fall in love with these cars. They look beautiful, ride awesome and the technology is outstanding. That all being said, I would not own one of these without a warranty. Any MB for that matter. There are certainly much more expensive systems on the S class but expensive repairs are a potential for an E350 or any other model for that matter. I had a seat bladder go out on my E350 that would have cost 1200 without my extended warranty. Rear camera failure, somewhere north of 800 bucks.

My new to me S class needed the seat heater replaced shortly after I bought it. Bought it about a year ago. It's an '11 with 44k miles. That repair would have been about 1200 bucks without warranty. So while it may be difficult to look the otherway, I would go with the advise of some of the experienced posters on this board and look for a lower milage version that you can get a warranty on. There are a lot of options out their. Good luck with your decision.

WHPH28

Are you buying in cash or financing?

I buy all my cars outright and have a warranty on my 600 but not 550. Even if I didnt, I look at it as not having a car payment equaling out to any repairs that need to be done. If a 1k bill came, it wouldnt be a hard hit or a feeling of having to make a car payment and still shelling out money for a repair.

If buying outright with no warraty, look at what the average person is paying per month for a car payment and multiply that by 12 months. Do yearly repairs equal that or come out less? It would be interesting to know what people are paying for these cars monthly.

The other option is to buy a car with a warranty and avoid any potential issues. You really don't know 100% what you're getting when you buy a used car, it could be an absolute gem and turn out to not have issues at all or it could be a repair nightmare.

EuroDriverSD

Thanks for all the input everyone, greatly appreciated.

My plan would be to buy it cash. But the last thing I want is to plunk down ~$20K and shortly thereafter have the car sitting in the garage and me having to shell out a few grand more. Unlikely but possible, it seems. $5K/year is the equivalent of buying 2 of them in 4 year's time.

It's a tough decision - I know it's a crap shoot with any used car, be it an old Hyundai or the S550 I'm considering. having been raised by a mechanic, I'm a pretty adept DIY'er. I can do just about anything myself, except auto transmissions and major electrical. For example, I rebuilt the engine on my BMW 735 a few years back. Most shops ran away from it, those who were willing to tackle the job wanted a mint and yet I found it surprisingly easy to work on. On my C320 I have done all the service (plugs, wires, all filters, gears in the HVAC, etc). I have also replaced the struts, sway bars, replaced the SAM, seat and sunroof modules from a 2005 donor I found at a local JY, and installed the bi-x headlights. Only trips to the indy dealer have been for Service B inspection and STAR diagnostics/reprogramming. I hardly use anything that's not MBZ original parts, but I shop around for best price.

What scares me on the S class though, are the catastrophic failures like the transmission, transfer case, and other "dealer-only" items that are not readily available in a pinch. Probably not easy to source used parts locally.

I'm still not decided, but I think I'm leaning more towards the E class, just thinking about having my daily driver turning into the equivalent of another mouth to feed.

WHPH28

Good luck with whatever you do. I drive mine up and down the east coast and never worry about any issues. Do whatever is best for you and your situation! Get an E55 or E63. :-)

EuroDriverSD

Lol, I wish! As it is, I have an extremely hard time staying within reason of the speed limit in my feeble C320 - the thought of an E63 scares me!

bentleymp21

If an aftermarket warranty always pays for itself, then how/why would any company offer coverage on this car?

That's my question.

The Thomas J

They play the average that by selling in bulk they will always be ahead of the curve when claims come up.

mrbobby

Whenever I buy a car in my head I always add 10% to bring the car to a standard that can be supported with proper maintenance. Sometimes it's a little low, sometimes it's too high.

PPI's are not always perfect and sometimes even the pros get fooled but 1 thing is agreed, whether by the Yeas or the Naes, the S series, generally over $100,000 new, are NOT inexpensive to keep on the road.

As an example, there is quite a thread on the best tires. One sells inexpensively and Bibendum costs a ton. If you automatically choose to go with the least expensive option I suggest your vehicle is going to be expensive to enjoy.

I think you're leaning the right way. While you can afford to purchase either car, you will probably enjoy the E 350.

Mike5215

An aftermarket warranty company, like an insurance company, may pay out more in claims expense than it earns in premiums. It earns a profit by investing the premiums it collects to earn income, exactly the same way you buy stocks or funds. A typical policy is paid in cash and in full up front, but generally will go many months before a claim arises. In the spread, that money is available to the company for investment.

If you look at the annual report of a publicly held insurance or warranty company, you'll see a number called the Combined Operating Ratio or COR. A COR of .94 means they spent .94 cents of every premium dollar on claims and claims expense (offices, adjusters, etc).

Some insurers run a COR as high as 1.05, meaning they lose 5 cents on the dollar on straight premium.

The annual report will also show what they hold in their portfolio, and how it performed.

bentleymp21

Now that's an answer.
Makes sense. Appreciate the knowledge.

Mike5215

^ Well hopefully Dave doesn't see it because I'm always chiding him about how his warranty company is going to go out of business based on premium vs claims expense.

Mr_Clifton

I'm only five months in, so definitely take this with a grain of salt... but I own a 2007 S550 and I don't think they're anywhere near as scary as what folks are saying above. I personally think a warranty is a waste of money, unless you buy a car with ABC or a V12. I bought mine with 90,000 miles and have only needed to do small items, like oil change and replacing the transmission mounts ($150).

Everything on this car is better than a W220. The soft close is more reliable, the AIRMATIC system is better. I spent just under $4k a year on my 2006 S430 and this is looking MUCH cheaper to maintain. Arnott offers rebuilt AIRMATIC struts for a reasonable price if anything goes wrong and I've replaced those myself in the W220 (which the fronts went bad before 100k miles).

Having the ability to do the work yourself or at an indy mechanic will always bring the maintenance costs down, which is what I do a mix of. I think the costs are reasonable (although they'll never be as cheap as maintaining my 2009 C300- that only costs about $1100 a year to maintain).

Some people have given me crap for only "upgrading" one model year, but the W221 is a much better platform. And while I only have the first year, it's still a great car.

If you like the S550, I'd say go for it If you want to avoid anything scary (unless you love setting money on fire), stay away from any AMG car, anything with ABC, or a V12. The 6.2L M156 has massive headbolt issues and rotors/brake pads are cost prohibitive. Replacing the front rotors and pads will cost you minimum $3500 (each caliper has 4 pads). The V12s always have leaks and coil packs are expensive. ABC when it goes bad will bankrupt you.

WHPH28

Owning both the S550 and S600 I definitely love my 600 more, ALOT more. One thing about cars is that you have to know what you're buying before you buy it. Yes, parts are expensive (from the dealer) and it has a plethora of things that can go wrong with all of the features it offers, but when you buy a 100k+ car, you can't expect to pay a few dollars for a repair.

It's the cost of ownership. If you buy a lambo, you're forced to replace the clutch every 15k miles or else you're warranty goes out the door...and that isn't covered by anything, it's out of pocket. People buying 100K+ cars, have the money to fix them...if they don't, they simply should not be buying them in the first place...just my opinion.

Would someone buy a bugatti and then expect to pay 100.00 for an oil change or some cheap price to replace a bad radiator, etc? lol, not at all. You have to pay to play...a lot of people make the mistake of wanting to play but they can't pay.

Mr_Clifton

I was saying that the S550 is reasonable. The S600 and AMG models are something I personally can't justify budget-wise at this point in my life. But I'd rather have an early model 221 than a 212 E350

To folks that do have the money- its pretty easy to justify a one of a kind ride. And yes, you definitely gotta pay to play

T.H.Carrera

I want to play but dont want to pay