pointman

I am the original owner of my 04 C32. I do love it. However, warranty is ending in a few months and I am starting to get scared. Car is super clean with 40k miles. I basically have my car dealer serviced for 100% of all work. I fear running into a huge bill out of warranty and this makes me consider dumping the c32. I can handle a repair bill every once in a while, but don't want to get owned by some ridiculous repair that I have to do, or it won't even run to trade in.

Thoughts? Comments? stfu's? I respect your opinions. Any and all appreciated.

boohooramblers

Your car is probably in great condition (being an '04 with 40K miles).
However, you will probably be grabbing your ankles and purchasing a lot of aloe if you try to sell this car or trade it in.

Since you're at 40K can't you get an extended warranty? For the sake of ~$3k, I'd get the warranty and hold onto it for a while.

pointman

Indeed, it is PERFECT. A really cherry, always garage kept, and everything fixed due to my OCD and great hearing. lol.

I wish extended was available, but the reputable places (MB and AAA) I know of don't want to touch it.

The thought of selling for what... $15k makes me want to cry.

c32used

wawy

Well, you have to consider a few things:

Are you done paying for it? If not, are your payments reasonable enough to allow for the added cost of possible repairs? If it is paid for is that extra $600-$800/month free or is tied up in something else already? If it's still free then I wouldn't worry too much about repair cost. What is the repair history of your C32 already? The 04s were the last year of the C32 so I would be inclined to think Mercedes worked out some of the major issues (IE I haven't heard of any 04 with glycol contamination in the tranny). On the other hand, if you had an 02 like I had then I would hesitate keeping it around (Note: there are exceptions like everything)....

boohooramblers

Don't you DARE sell that car for $15K!
There must be some reputable companies around that will warranty the car with reasonable deductibles. In fact, I think I saw a recent thread in the W211 E55 subforum on such a topic.

That said, (and this goes for everyone who owns their cars past the warranty period) if you maintain your car and are 'in tune' with your car, I believe that preventative maintenance can save you a lot of heartache.

Owning a C32 without warranty isn't necessarily bad if you are willing to get your hands dirty.

Realize that there are a plethora of excellent threads posted on the C32 subforum that have DIYs to most of the C32 problems.
If you are proactive about maintaining your car (and you are), it is not unreasonable to hope for a significant period of trouble-free ownership. Especially if the car has OE equipment.

Consider this: you own your well maintained '04 C32. It's out of warranty and you still love driving it. You know the value of the car upon trade-in is ~ $15K. You have nothing more to lose by holding on to it.

I've owned my car out of warranty for over 2 years. Yes, I have had issues that I have had to fix on my own - I've shared many of the problems and solutions with y'all.
More importantly, it has been a great experience wrenching on the car and I'm actually glad that issues have arisen - I've learned a lot about the inner workings of the car itself.

FrankW

if you can afford to move on and get a newer/better car. by all means go for it. if it's not the best financial sense for you then purchase the extended warranty for 100k miles and call it a day and keep the car till it dies.

saer1one

that would be the smartest thing to do IMO.. this is exactly wut im waiting on.. keep my c32 for a couple more years untill i am financially stable enough to buy a c63.. but as of now with the purchase of my home, i barelly have money to enjoy myself..

Tamadx

i will give you 17 right now

pointman

It is paid off. And its not about money. I am ok there. Its more like being scared of getting cornered into a large repair bill. I love this car, and paying a couple grand a year in repairs is OK. I just fear something big. I have had a ton of stuff fixed, but a lot of it cause I am so dang obsessive about the car being perfect.

pointman

Interesting, and good read. Thanks. makes me feel better knowing someone out of warranty hasn't gotten destroyed on repairs.

pointman

I can afford to move on. But I actually really love this car. If there was a reputable extended warranty available, this thread wouldn't exist. However, I am having a tough time finding a reputable extended plan.

pointman

tough decisions... dang. My local MB dealer's top tech wants to buy.

jturkel

don't sell it!

i am the second owner but have had it since October 2003 (mine is an 02, with 84K on the clock). I ran out of warranty last August. AND....i do NOT have a warranty. AND i have not had a single problem since! im going to keep my fingers crossed.

Its not worth selling this once 56K car for 15K now. keep it for a while IMO until you find something really worthy to upgrade to that you can afford.

I plan on keeping mine probably forever as a car to just always have. When I can afford it, I probably will get an additional car in the form of a C63 or new CTS-V. I can just never see myself parting with my love. lol.

JonMBZ

Just keep it unless you want something else, payments suck and will cost you more than repairs anyways. Just put the money you would save from payments in an account and save up like 3k. That's what I did.

JG26_Irish

I cannot speak about New Jersey but here in KY, owning an AMG is less costly than owning a Honda Accord. I had an old C36 that I put over 100k on and ran the snot out of it the whole time. My dealer did all the maint that I either could not or would not do. I had small issues from time to time but the most costly repair was only $700. I had my daughters Honda worked on once and it cost that much. When I sold my C36 it looked and ran as if new and never used oil or had any abnormalities.

My 2003 C32 is out of warranty and I currently have 60k on it. Yes, I ran thru a bout of replacement of SC'er pully and the idler pullies, all easy for a DIY'er. It is in perfect condition and I have little doubt that it will run and last just as long as my previous AMG. These are well built automobiles and unless you are not taking care of them, they will last a long time. They are built like an aircraft, which is to say, they were designed to be driven a long time and maintained along the way with parts and systems that can be rebuilt or repaired as needed. They are not "throw away cars" (like the Honda). As long as you still like the car, and are not already jonesing for a new ride, I say keep it. On another note, I just got an offer for a extended warranty for mine in the mail. Why can you not get one if you want it?

Still in the end if you decide to sell it, send a PM to me, I might give it a good home as long as it is not Silver.

Irish

320 dreamer

heres another take. if the car is paid for and you have disposable cash then drop 5 or 6 k in the bank in a c32 fund. start to do your own maitenence , buy the parts online and use the great forums for help. if something big happens then you have the cash to fix it and start the fund over. having a car you love is a rare thing. treat it well and she will return the love!

ScottW911

My 02 has been out of warranty for 1.5 years now, after 79k miles. The only expense I've encountered was the alternator needing to be replaced. It was about $600.

I have taken some preemptive steps (boohooramblers had the idea first) to purchase some of the more exotic parts that might blow later, online. For instance, I purchased a re-built supercharger on ebay for 1/3 the price of a new S/C pulley. I am set for the intercooler to go on me now, too.

Utilizing the expertise of others on this forum can and will save me (and you) thousands in repair bills.

Much like what has been said already, I plan on driving this car until the wheels literally fall off. I love it.

By the way, I was playing on the Manheim auctions site the other day. They are forecasting my car to be worth about $5k-$6k, at auction, in 12 months (down from the current $8-9k). They are also forecasting the retail to be about $7k. Now that is a big OUCH! No way am I giving up such a nice, pleasurable car for that kind of scratch.

320 dreamer

i think to many people put the emphasis on resale. when i bought my slk32 i paid cash for it and my goal is to pass this car on to my daughter when it becomes an antique, (or i become the antique whichever comes first!) my harleys and cars were never bought for resale because basically they all go down in value. if the car isnt worth selling is it worth keeping to you? mine is

pointman

All so true. I really do love this car a ton. Thats what is keeping me from really moving on. I am glad, like I said before, to hear others without warranty not completely scared. haha

pointman

I also owned a 97 c36 and it was a great car. I sold it at about 100k and it ran strong its whole life. If I can get anywhere near that sort of service and reliability from my c32, I will be beyond happy. Thanks for the post... you guys are awesome. I am thinking that keep is the way to go.

And extended... I got those offers too, but supposedly they are scams are don't really cover much of anything. The only ones I have heard good things about are from MB and from AAA... both of which want nothing to do with a C32.

pointman

Indeed. I am already prepared for some regular issues, just fear the big one. I am not a DIYer at all, unfortunately. I wish I was.

But I completely agree with the concept of finding a car you really love. I just don't see anything grabbing me in this category.

pointman

Outstanding. I can't believe you are that prepared. That is awesome... you take the OCD a few steps further than I do. haha

I am real happy to here that in that mileage you haven't had to sell your soul to the devil cause a major repair.

pointman

Well put. I also never bought from resale, I bought cause I loved the car. But it would be foolish of me to say that it doesn't pain me to see that my beloved is worth that of a Corolla.

pointman

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all the input. I think that I am gonna keep it. Makes me sad to think of getting rid of it.