rgleason

I'm a new Mercedes owner. Just bought a 2002 C240. I have an opportunity to purchase a Mercedes Extended Warranty at a significant discount. I know repairs to the Mercedes are expensive. How important is it to have an additional 3 years or 100K miles? Is it worth the cost?

**** Gleason

peet

What is the cost and is it a factory warranty?

whitecar2003

Hey Peet:

From what dealer (in Chicago) did you get your '03 coupe? Mine is on order from MB of Chicago (downtown on Clark) and they said they haven't recieved any '03's yet (as of a few weeks ago) and that mine was in their first batch, due at the end of the month or early Sept.

Just curious?

Blueice

Get it

tommy

Well, that would depend on the cost, wouldn't it?

At any rate, they offer these warranties because they make money on them, but if it will give you peace of mind, it might be worth it.

Personally, I'm looking forward to the end of my warranty; that'll be my sign to start to mod the he11 out of it. Only 3 years, one month to go.

pocholin

Even if you modify the car get the extended warranty, it adds peace of mind, A/C compressor will mostly pay having the warranty, add an alternator. Get the point?

rgleason

It is a Factory Warranty and a dealership in California is selling a "Premium" 3 year, 100K Warranty for $1690.00.

NANA

Get it if you are not planning to do any mods on your car. If you add pulleys are other mods, the warranty may be voided.

pocholin

Well, make sure the mods you make can be easylly reversed in case you need to take it to warranty repair.

whitecar2003

Did they get into the fine print on this 7/100 warranty, i.e. is it transferable to a next owner, is there a deductable after the standard 4/50, does it only cover powertrain or everything, etc...

pocholin

Well the extended warranty is not as extensive as the original warranty, but it covers more than just powertrain. If I remember correctly you have your choice of deductibles at time of purchase (I might be confusing with Chevy since I also got it on my suburban and it has more than paid off by itself), but it is worth every pennie

rgleason

This is the same warranty that one would buy at the dealership when a new Mercedes is purchased. The current retail price is $2,380. The Business Guy at the dealership where I bought my car said he'd give me a deal if I purchased it from him and he quoted me $2,000. So the California dealership is giving a fairly significant discount from retail (29.99%) and is $310 better than my dealer. I'd be happy to provide the contact information for the California Dealership Business Manager if you email me. I'm not certain about the appropriateness of posting it here (so I won't).

pocholin

I bought mine for 1100 bucks, my car was a Certified Starmak, therefore they give you one year extended, all I did was buy two more, for a total of three, it is ovbious that the first year is included on the sale price, but it helps for the piece of mind.

peet

Whitecar:

I got mine from Naperville MB. They had something like 12 cars and only 2 were '02. Also Motorwerks in Barrington had 6, Loeber had like 8. Your dealer is pretty pathetic if he didn't have any. Probably means they are low volume and on the crap end of the allocation list.

I suggest you take a spin into the burbs. I'm loving mine! Funny thing is I came off a 1998 M3 and the only thing I miss is the stick shift. The car's plenty fine for 90% of driving (I guess I also miss the 10% of driving at 2am on i355 ~130mph) and I love all the toys and extra roominess.

Anyhow, hope you have some good luck. BTW Naperville has a 2003 Pewter, C5, C7 and a bunch of other goodies that is due to arrive in 1-2 weeks. I'd have bought that one but needed something sooner.

Peet

rgleason

So if you paid $1,100.00 to extend for two additional years, and if the price per year is actually $550.00, the total cost for three years would be something like $1,650.00. I don't know when you actually purchased your car, but assuming some increase in price, it seems the $1,690.00 I was quoted is on target.

pocholin

Yep, at least it gives you a good indication you are not getting riped on the price!

MB-BOB

Someone correct me, please. Isn't $1690 the norm for this extended warranty? Each time it comes up on this forum, I recall that figure is quoted. If so, it means you ARE getting a deal better than the Dealer-packed quote of $2300. But it also may mean you're getting the standard deal, not really a discount.

DO keep in mind it's really just a 50,000 mile warranty. The first 50K is included in the price of the car.

pocholin

You are right, car manufacturers like calling it 100k mile warranty but it is in fact 50k mile warranty, and it is not as extensive as the bumper to bumper, yet it is still a good gang for the buck since mayor items (that usually breake are included such as alternator, a/c compresor, orifice, evaporator, etc.).

bagwell

ALSO - if you're not going to keep the car past 4 yrs or 50k miles, don't bother with the extended warranty...it adds $0 to your resale value !

rgleason

I don't understand the rationale behind this comment. Why wouldn't offering a used car with a 50K warranty add value to it? Also, as I understand the warranty, if one were to trade in a car at a Mercedes dealer, he or she would get a credit or a refund or whatever for the price of the extended warranty. Anyway, why would "...it add[s] $0 to [my] resale value?"

pocholin

I don't agree with that, it adds some value and secirity to the car if you try to sell it to an individual.
That argument is only true when you trade it in or sell it to a car dealer since they can't pass it along.

kompress

What happened to the logic that extended warranties are for suckers??

I am not criticizing. It is a sincere question. I am starting to wonder if I should consider it. But it seems like an awful lot of money to drop.

Plus I plan to find a good non-dealer mechanic. I have not been satisfied with dealer work in general-- that is especially true for the MB dealership I deal with. They're nice enough, but I am sick of bringing the car in 5 times for the same damned problem!

rgleason

But I'm told that you can get a pro-rated refund of the price you paid for the warranty if you trade the car to a dealer.

avlis

They are.

Kompress, take the $1600 and make a wise liquid investment. Broken part insurance isn't one of them. Then if something does break, you've got at least $1600 plus interest to put towards the repair. If nothing breaks, you've still got your $1600+. Check out the quote in my sig...

bagwell

adds security yes...but does not add any $$$ to the resale value.

If I was looking at 2 used cars the same price, one with ext warr and one without, sure I'd buy it WITH the warr. BUT if the car with the ext warr was $1000 more I wouldn't buy it.