brownboy

Here's one data point on how much these cars can cost to maintain. I bought an '09 SL550 silver arrow in '11 with 35k miles (someone drove a lot in those 2.5 years!) and added a factory extended warranty to 7yr / 75k miles for about $3600. That paid for itself since I had $8775 worth of warranty work done before it expired though the $1600 SBC replacement would have been covered without the warranty since it has its own separate warranty.

I've paid $15k over the last 6 years on maintenance and repairs. Itemized spreadsheet attached but I had to rename the extensions from .xlsx to .xls for it to allow me to upload it. If you have trouble opening it rename it to .xlsx

Most recent was $4k for the front passenger SAM and to replace the leaking front left strut. I still don't know how I only got 8k miles out of a set of rear tires. Batteries don't seem to last that long either. But the car does sit for up 10 days at a time without being driven.

It's a good thing I love this car.

carguyshu

things are cheaper at mbdirectparts.com. struts with lifetime warranty are only 650 though arnott. i'd suggest putting a battery maintainer on the back battery while not driving. I have one permanently wired to the battery and just plug it in when I know its gonna sit for a week or more. Why didn't you replace with a used SAM and why was the labor so outrageously high to replace it? Pilot SS are only $260 each from tire rack, how was that bill $950 for 2 tires? $300 for 1 alignment and $182 for another from the exact same place?

finding a good indy would probably cut a lot of your costs by 30%-50% vs the dealer.

brownboy

Thanks for your response carguyshu.

I completely agree that a good indy would be cheaper. Anyone have any recommendations in Austin?

I live in a high rise condo downtown so I don't have a garage to do work on my car anymore. I also don't have an electric outlet closeby to plugin a battery tender. I could have an EV charger installed but that would be way overkill for just a regular electric plug and I'd have to leave it if I move.

One of the alignments needed a "bolt kit" of some sort.

I don't like that the parts cost at the dealer is higher than the LIST price online.

Key point is that I need to find a good indy...

carguyshu

I think it'd also be wise to flush the ABC fluid as well (assuming it wasn't done when the strut was changed. Sometimes the dealer does this sometimes they don't). At the very least it is unlikely they got the fluid between each valve block and strut out besides the one that what replaced. To do this make sure each bleeder near each strut is opened up too as part of it as that fluid does not circulate through the system and gets black and nasty. MB will tell you that it is 'fluid for life' but this is a lie. You can get pentosin chf-11s in a big jug from amazon fairly inexpensively and you'll also want to change out the ABC fluid filter. Even in a parking garage you could do this yourself. There are several threads showing how.

Heatwave

Brownboy: I have friends and family in Austin. They say good things about Luxury Auto Works. I have no first-hand knowledge of or experience with Luxury ... I'm just repeating what others tell me. Good luck.

brownboy

I had the ABC fluid changed when the pump was replaced a little over 3 years ago. I'm due to B service in 6-9 months and will have it done then.

Thanks for rec Heatwave about Luxury Auto Works. Their google search image shows an SL so that's a good sign. I think I'm going to try Ben's Workshop first though at the recommendation of the Lone Star MB club first though.