hi,

I recently purchased a 13 c-class 4matic as my first MB. The factory warranty is about to expire by mileage and I was suck into getting a extend warranty. 4 yrs or 48 K miles for 3K ( Fidelity Warranty Services - gold level). Is it worth it ? or should I return the warranty ? I did take car to Mercedes dealer for a full inspection and everything checked out.

thanks

cf

 

These cars are high in cost to repair. It's always good to have a plan in place. I made sure my first MB I purchased had warranty. I will extend it too when it's over. Factory Mercedes warranty until 50k. Car has about 16k miles. If you are financially stable where an emergency can happen at any given time and able to cover it, then that's the only reason I wouldn't get the extended warranty.

 

moved to W204 forum...

 

Its not old, if its not a lemon you really shouldnt need it...
but then again....

 

First, most extended warranties do not cover normal maintenance (i.e. brakes, batteries, flushes). An important factor in purchasing an extended warranty is your ability to make repairs yourself. Also, will you trade the car in before the extended warranty expires?

I am on my 6th Mercedes and generally find them reliable (as opposed to my 3 BMW's). The highest mileage Mercedes I currently still own is a 2005 C320 with 165,000 miles. Except for some early factory warranty covered repairs, it hasn't seen the inside of the dealer service bay since.

Not that that the car hasn't had problems, but I have been able to fix them all myself with the help of a code reader and this forum. Parts replaced include:

- water pump
- alternator
- camshaft and crankshaft position sensors
- battery
- sway bar link
- steering wheel height drive link
- EGR valve
- fuse box (turn signal bulb stuck on)

If you feel you can handle the types of repairs listed yourself, save your money. If not consider a warranty. I also believe your four wheel drive has some additional repair risk.

P.S. My 2009 E350 with 80,000 miles has not needed any unscheduled maintenance.

Lou

 

I kind of look at it if a car is just out of warranty it IS almost like buying a new car in a way, provided regular scheduled maintenance has been kept up. By that I mean when someone buys a car new under warranty any little squeak or rattle and people will take it to the dealer and have it fixed because it is free. Plus, it usually not even that inconvenient because often they will get a free loaner. So, that by the time the warranty is about to run out any issues that came from the factory have been addressed and the car is fully sorted. Is it a risk not being covered, of course, but $3K over 3 years is a lot of money. A good case can be made either way. All depends on what you are most comfortable with.

 

Thanks. Usually I buy 3 year old "luxury" cars to take advantage of the early years depreciation. Plus usually people that buy these cars do take care of them with regular maintenance. I am thinking about canceling the warranty soon. I did find a good article about this: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/m...ginMethod=auto

 

I just bought a 2008 C230 4matic from the local MB dealership on Monday and I passed on their extended warranty. I figured not much can happen in 2 years on a car in the condition mine is in. Never winter driven and looks like new still. A 2 year/40,000k warranty as around $3000.


The warranty was offered by a third party which made me hesitant.


The car only has 60,000 kilometers on it so hopefully nothing major will go wrong.

 

The extended warranty on my 2010 C300 4matic certainly paid for itself when I had my transmission replaced last week because of the bad transfer case. Not sure if mine is considered high mileage but I have 130k KMs on it.

 

I purchased a two year unlimited mileage warranty from Tafel Motors a Mercedes Dealer the warranty is a Mercedes Benz Certified Pre Owned Extended Limited Warranty for $1968.38. My dealer in Connecticut quoted me $2900 for the same warranty. It features a $0 deductible and unlimited mileage.

You can e-mail Jett @ Jeff Jackson <jjackson@TafelMotors.com>


Nelson

 

Thanks for all the replies. I did cancel the warranty today as the car turned 50K and I got my 3K back. The reasons:
1. Powertrain and transmission have a 3 year warranty given by the selling dealer already.
2. It is a late model c-class ( w204 chassis ) so many bugs and glitches have been worked out.
3. Consumer Reports give a above average on reliability.
4. If in the next few years I ended up on the mechanic a lot I will re-think this strategy.
5. There is a very good Mercedes shop and a dealer around me.
So far a love the car and I am happy I replace the A4 2.0 turbo for it.

 

First, good choice on a MB vs Audi. I had a 2004 Audi A4 1.8T that was a lease trade-in and NO extra service had been done on it except oil changes. I bought it from a used car dealer that "wish I know then what I know now." The warranty that I bought when I financed from a credit union paid around $10,000 in repairs over the 4 years I had it. The car itself was $13,000!!
That being said, I bought this car with an extended warranty for $2500. The repairs that I used it for only ran about $3000, so I figure I broke even. The repairs were minor; motor & tranny mounts, front sway bar links, both front seat brackets and motors, and tranny fluid change (was able to get this covered because it was to see if the tranny module was the cause of my problems). Any of these repairs are minor and can be a DIY. I have done a full brake rotor and pad change. I get my oil changed cheap because I bring my own oil and filter. This forum has helped a lot too!!!!!!!

Most of us on here take care of our cars, but just one repair can be expensive. I just had to replace my ignition module and that ish has to be done at a dealer and out of 3 dealers in town, one was the least expensive at $1000!!!

It's good you've found a good indy shop. That'll save you $$ in the long run. And you're right, these cars are like tanks, if you take care of the maintenance like anything else.

But, you are wrong about people who own luxury cars taking care of them. The indy shop I go to, I'm friends with the owner and mechanics, tell me stories of people who don't take care of their cars because its too expensive and then they break down and expect the repair to be cheap. People who feel a synthetic oil change is too much and take it to Jiffy Lube and get sludge. There's a dentist who owns a C63 that came in a year ago for service, didn't get it done and then came back because the car was running like a$$.

 

Nelson,

Thanks for the info. I contacted Jeff and I did get the extended warranty from them for $2,788 ( 7 years or 100 K - in my case till Spring 2020 ); the same warranty that my local dealer quoted me $4025.

 

Damn, I did good 2200.00 for my extended warranty. Then again I was working for them at the time ��...