Hello MBWorld gurus - bought a 2018 C63 about 18 months ago - love the car, but have been shocked at the upkeep cost. I knew I wasn't buying a Toyota Corolla, but also did not expect to be spending ~$500 per month / ~$0.90 per mile on what amounts to relatively routine stuff (i.e., not like my transmission blew up or anything). Breakdown of expenditures below - does this seem like normal run-rate upkeep for these vehicles? If your answer is yes, this is a premium automobile, stop being such a ***** about it, I will accept that.

 

Where is the breakdown of what you have spent?

 

Largely yes, normal. It's a performance car. Tires and parts for it are expensive. You did overpay for the rear brakes as far as I can tell. Not sure what was done to the front brakes, but that looks more reasonable. If all this work was done at a dealership then you overpaid on some of it. My last full brake job was about $1300 combined for both front and rear. This is because I source my own parts from FTC Euro and have them installed at my Indy. FTC Euro has lifetime replacement, so they refund the cost of the worn set. I had the front set from them, so I got about $1100 back. Now I have the rear set from them as well, so next time around I'll get a refund for the rears as well.

Cars like this eat brakes and tires for lunch. My front tires only last about 8000 miles and the rears a bit longer. Brakes last about 16k miles. That's the nature of the beast. Other expenses are to be expected as well. Your car is around 6 years old, so a new battery is not unusual. I get the feeling that my 2019 needs a new battery shortly. My digital instrument cluster has suddenly started to revert some of the settings such as the layout. It keeps reverting to Sport from SuperSport when it's parked for a while. Gonna have to get this sorted out. With an AMG you will also regularly need transmission and rear differential maintenance. Those things are lifetime in normal cars. Spark plugs are due at 50k miles or 5 years, whichever comes first. Just had mine done in January.

Starting out with an out of warranty 5-6 year old car means you gonna be hit with these expenses right away. I bought mine new and paid for the pre-paid maintenance, so the cost for the first 4 years was mainly tires and brakes. Repairs were covered under warranty and the pre-paid maintenance saves some money over paying for each service, especially with the labor rates going up every year as they've done lately. Here in California they also have to refund the unused portion of the pre-paid maintenance by law if I decide to sell the car, so it's a win-win.

 

I would highly recommend doing what superswiss and many other members do and purchase through FCP Euro with the warranty. Don't go to the dealer for services A and B. You are paying hundreds for an oil change and for them to do a lot of "checks". Check wipers, check washer fluid, etc. All silly stuff you can easily do with the slightest of mechanical inclination, or take to an indy for far less. I change all my standard fluids myself (engine, trans, diff) not only to save money but because I get satisfaction from knowing the job was done 100% right. That definitely isn't for everybody though. Also, special services like trans fluid change/coolant flush aren't even included in services A and B, they are added billables.

 

Literally the only way to do it. I live in utah and there are multiple European shops that have hired techs from dealerships. They do a better job and care way more because they want your business. I only go to dealership for warranty items.

 

I still do services at dealerships. Labor rates at indys around here aren't necessarily cheaper. I do aftermarket and wear & tear work at my indy. It's not just warranty work, but if you maintain a relationship with the dealership there's a high chance you'll get goodwill repairs out of it once the car is out of warranty. I've had a few of these over the years saving me thousands. At the dealership I also get a free loaner, whereas with an indy I have to pay for my own transportation. That can add up if it takes a few days to get an issue resolved or waiting for parts to arrive. Last time they gave me an EQS with 86% charge and as opposed to gas loaners I wasn't required to bring it back at the same charge level, so basically had free transportation for two days.

 

Thank you all for the thoughtful, informative responses - I'm off to check out FCP Euro!

 

Had this occur on my 2021 AMG Wagon when PPF and Ceramic Coating Techs drained my battery to critical levels during Installation. In hindsight should have given them my MB CTEK Battery Tender. Lost S+ and Race settings. Drove to ABQ Mercedes dealership and they reloaded Software. It sucks for me since ABQ 225 miles from NM Residence. All is well since November...about to drive 1500-miles back West from Georgia Residence since have a clear weather window for a few days.

Good Luck and stay dry.

 

Thanks. Good to know. So far I haven't lost any other settings. Just the layout keeps going back to Sport, then I change it to SuperSport again and it stays for a while. Drive mode settings etc. are all still there. I just had it in for the 5th service and no critical battery issues. Back in December before I left for Japan and wanted to activate standby mode it said for the first time that the battery charge was not enough to activate standby mode. So I charged it up and then it entered standby mode just fine. I definitely don't drive enough to keep the battery fully charged, but I periodically hook it up to the tender and I never let it go to the point where I get the critical battery alerts. If it gets worse I'll take it in sooner than later.

 

No problem. Could not drive back East before Thanksgiving without SuperSport layout and lack of AMG specific functionality. Felt like I was driving in a generic E-Class after being cheated by the AMG Fairy. Almost deployed to Japan in 2012 for RADAR gig, instead worked in West Texas Oilfields. If I can drive Mack, KW, and Peterbuilts for 14-hours it's easy driving an AMG for up to 18 and crash with old Oilfield Roommates for free. Returned to Engineering 2013-2015 at Missile Range then Retired. Feel like Oppenheimer since was educated on East Coast, worked in SoCal, LLNL, and New Mexico but on High Energy Lasers. Plus have an Aunt who lives near Princeton. Glad you're enjoying C63s RWD experience; I always thought the A5, S5, and RS5 was too heavy for your Mission.

 

That is wild that your indy rates are same as dealership. Mine are about 1/3 to 1/2 and I also had a coolant warning and my local shop just filled it and said it was due to weather changing and not a leak. Zero cost. The dealership wanted to charge me to even look at it. Do you buy your Mercs new from the dealership? I know that is what my dad did and they always took great care of him. I always target vehicle 2-3 years used with extremely low miles because I am an accountant and cant stomach the depreciation.

I have a C400, C63s, E53, 2000 Jeep TJ, so a loaner car is never an issue. My wife only drivers her E53.

 

Yes, I buy new. There's a lot of competition around here. I have like 8 MB dealerships within 20 miles. It was the same with Audi dealerships before. I typically service it at the dealership where I bought it and get treated well in return.