SL63AMG

Hey guys most of the dealers i've talked to are giving some sort of deal on the car, but most of the cars have less than a 100 miles from being test driven. What are your thoughts about buying a new car with about a 100 miles? worth it or hold out for the right one. Thanks guys

AMGC60-3

100 miles ? 100 miles aint shiet, as long as some a$$ wasnt doing donuts in the parking lot with it.

propain

I dont like buying cars like ours with 100 miles on it. These cars require proper breakin before you go WOT. You know that those 100 miles were spent 1 mile at a time doing test drives stomping on the gas.

No thanks for me.

i_am_amused

+1 TRILLION

there is no way I would by a dealer-lot-new AMG with 100 test drive miles on it. I know that my normal test drive routine is to drive about 2 miles to the bottom of a certain long hill, then do a u-turn and stomp on it to see how well it merges up hill. (AMGs do just fine)

propain

Yup. For sure.

However I did purchase a Buick Enclave with 500 miles on it recently. Its a pig so who cares if someone tried to stomp on it.

gravedgr

Do you have any test data to back that up? Or anything outside of the owners manual?

SebringSilver

How good a deal are we talking about here?

Everything's relative.

propain

Also the sticker right in your face on the windshield, on the car when you buy it.

If the manufacturer of the vehicle says break it in. I think they are doing it for a reason. Ya think? Or do you think they just like to torture people for the first 1k?

Unbreakable1

hahaha...are we really gonna go through 'proper break-in' again?
lol

on topic, i would tend to side w/ Propain cuz you never know how those 100 miles went, but Sebring makes a great point about just how great the deal is

propain

I hope not!


He asked if it was anywhere else, I told him where.

Even Money

After having many thoughts and conversations, I think it boils down to this.

The break in period is more for the driver, and not necessarily the motor, driveline. These cars have so much hp/tq that an inexperienced driver can get into trouble in a hurry. Maybe 1,000 miles can help them learn the car?? If so, then MB and others can avoid bad press from having lots of cars wrecked. They have to assume that some folks buying this car can't drive a lick, so lowest common denominator.

This AMG motor is designed and built to such tolerances....nothing like the motors in the old days where a break-in might help? I just think the tech in the motors and the cars is so much more ahead of the driver now, that the driver needs the break in...at least some do.

propain

Maybe..

But the GTR is a much faster car and it states that it is completely broken in and ready to go.

Dr_jitsu

Modern high performance motors like ours are best broken in by a thorough warm up, followed by going to 4.5K, then 5.5, then 6....some say even harder. Doing so will better seal/seat the rings and a car broken in thusly will make a good 10-20 more hp than a car that was babied.

I confirmed this with the Mercedes Master mech who was in my car yesterday.

The warm up is more related to the drive train and Mercedes just covering their asses.

Dr_jitsu

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

eagle_lex

the break in isnt for the motor its for the tranny. the motors are solid and run in before mounting in the car.

Dr_jitsu

tranny and rear end.

propain

There ya go.

YYZ-E55

Finally! Someone get this guy a gold star!!

Even the trans and diff were built to take abuse from day one. You realize the guys at the factory who loaded your car onto the train, the train jockeys who unloaded the car at port, the port guys who loaded/unloaded your car (on both sides of the pond), the train guys in USA/Canada, the trucker, the gas jockey and the detail guy all hammered your car, right?

As long as there's no sticky white mess anywhere, drive it and enjoy it. If anything, they did you a favor because you're more likely to find a problem sooner (while under warranty).

Dr_jitsu

I agree you can hit the tranny fairly hard from day one, as long as you are not in a high gear at a high speed.

Punching it at 100 mph plus puts much more stress on the tranny than at lower speeds.

That is why so many of my 996 friends have broken tranny's and gear boxes at the mile where the big boys are doing over 200 mph.

That is also the reason that Mercedes wants us to keep it under 85 for the first 1K.

sunil1234

Also the reason for the diff oil change at 1k miles ( well in the uk anyhow) to allow tranny to bed in a bit

AMGTTV8

+1

When has someone recently had a problem with their engine and drivetrain being "overdriven" within the first 1000 miles?

I personally can't think of an instance in the recent past - please inform me if you know of an instance so I may change my position.

dwn4cause

I agree that others might have test driven your car before you bought it even with 20 miles or so. Sometime dealers do drive (or tow) them to other dealerships and that could put some miles on the car. I wouldn't worry about 100 miles.

aroonkl

Any paper or anyone support this? Thanks.

dockt

Aren't these cars or their engines already broken-in, or at least driven to some extent, at the factory? I agree w/ the notion that your car will not break from non-grandma driving for 100 miles. There's just so much other strain from a commute to work or spirited driving at later miles that would be a factor (if at all as well).

What's more important is you check the wear on the leather on the seats and bolsters.

I personally would negotiate another couple thousand off the price of the car given that it's not "new." Pretend that you didn't know the mileage before and that you just found out and then go crazy!

Let us know how it goes, good luck.