Kevinw23michele

Hey guys,

My wife is daily driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 and I have been debating on trading out for a 2005 CL65. My wife works from home and the car will get about 5-7k miles a year. We need a car for her with a back seat, and I would really like to get a V12 car. She will also split time with the E55 and Denali we have.

My question is, the Jeep is sooooo cheap to maintain, and most 2005 65's are out of warranty, so I would have to get an aftermarket warranty, so with worst case scenario and we are out of warranty, what type of yearly maintenance do you incur on the average.

Thanks

HRE

I would not own one out of warranty...the words maintenance and cheap do not go hand in hand with the 65...

TMC M5

I wouldn't say my Jeep Cherokee SRT8 was cheap to maintain. I went through brakes about every 20k miles at about $2K a pop. The recommended oil changes are 3K miles at $100 a pop.

My CL65 has had the following things done:

Front brake pads @ 18K miles with service B was $1,300 at the stealership.

Rear brake pads and front rotors and pads @ 35K miles about $2K with some discounts...should have been closer to $3K.

oil changes recommended at 10K miles, I change the oil every 5k miles. $120 for the oil and filter change at the dealer.

DO NOT OWN A CL65 WITHOUT WARRANTY. I paid $3K for an aftermarket warranty and have had $5K of ABC/suspension work done on the car without a penny coming out of my pocket.

Tom

transferred

great advice...btw 3k per oil change on the srt8, what a pita...never heard lower than 5k

op- when you have a 65 for long freeway trips everything else is a disappointment...

-Rob

Ifari

Seems superfluous to consider the 65 for a stay at home wife and then have to question maintenance costs.

Kevinw23michele

I don't recall asking for you to deem what I am debating on as superfluous or not. Asking guys that have these cars about their yearly maintenance costs. Simple question.

TMC M5

Yesterday the MB dealer fixed a trans-connector leak and replaced broken front lower control arm/boot. Both were covered under my extended warranty. Cost to me $0..... cost to warranty company $1,000. So now the total of warranty claims paid is up past $6K. The warranty more than pays for itself...

Tom

Patentmat

While the warranty can pay for itself, keep in mind that overall the warranty companies are making money. If you can handle the cash flow of items that may need repair, and if you are OK with the risk, then the warranty is not for you. Personally, I never buy the warranty. In the case of my CL55 it would have been wasted money since only a few minor things have gone wrong. I realize it could have easily gone the other way, and if that is a problem, buy it.

TMC M5

To be honest, I have no clue how these warranty companies make any money on these particular cars. It seems like an overwhelming number of CL/S/SLs have had ABC issues. Maybe the extra 400lbs of weight on the CL65/S-class models have a more debilitating effect on the suspension components than on a CL55. Whatever the case, I think you have been very fortunate.

But you are right, I looked at the warranty as an insurance premium. Before purchasing the warranty I did my research and looked at the cost of replacing such things as the ABC suspension, transmission and engine. In a worst case scenario, it could be cheaper to buy another CL65 than to pay out of pocket for what an MB dealer would charge for an engine replacement...

For me, that made the warranty decision a pretty easy one.

Tom

gothabenz

Which warranty did you go with Tom? What all is covered? If you dont mind sharing. In the hunt for a good warranty at the moment and would appreciate any recommendations

Tangofrog

Good question. I just bought an 03 CL600 and the dealer said I can think about what kind of warranty I need/want and let him know. After I took the car to my MBZ mechanic he told me just to buy the powertrain warranty. The previous owner changed the ABS under the extended warranty a couple of months ago. The dealer said I can purchase an aftermarket warranty at any time, but it will not cover the car for the first 45 days.

I've owned over a dozen Mercs, some used and some not, and I generally have not spent the money that a warranty costs. I would suggest one that covers suspension and powertrain only. That's what I think I'm going to do next.

If you come up with the name of a good aftermarket warranty I would appreciate your posting the name, so I can also look into it.

TMC M5

At the time it was Diamler/Chrysler Service Contracts (now known as Chrysler Service Contracts). However, I am not sure they are selling warranty products for MB products anymore. I think there is a thread somewhere on mbworld.

Tom

Fraser

A few months back I got one of these for my '04 S600 from www.factoryplans.com
http://www.factoryplans.com/assets/c...ximum_Care.pdf

$3220 for 5yrs/70k miles with $200 deductible. A lot of people on here have them (TMC M5 recommended it to me actually ) because they cover V12 engined vehicles and ABC is covered by Maximum Care. Required a $170 inspection at our local MB dealer and some paperwork to send in and it was done. This was the super duper warranty so you can probably just get a less thorough one for cheaper. At $3220 for the top of the line one I couldn't see the point of skimping.

Even if I don't get all $3200 worth of use in 5yrs (something I highly doubt to be honest!) I got $3200 worth of sleep in the first month of owning the car alone. My father had an early W220 and the 'what's going to go wrong today' feeling when the car was a couple of years old was painful.

06E55

You do realize that the 3,000 mile oil change recommendation is nothing but a pure and simple myth don't you... Especially since you are taking it to your dealer, or even an automotive shop. They want your money and will do anything they can to get it. Heck, even the CA government website lists this myth...

Oil changes are so simple to do, I don't understand why anyone goes to a shop to do it... I can do mine (06 E55) in about 15 minutes start to finish. Of course, it helps that I have a lift, but even so... Put the car on ramps, remove the oil filter, remove the drain plugs, let oil drain, replace drain plugs, fill with oil, replace the filter and you are done... 9 quarts of oil and a filter... about $50...

TMC M5

You do realize that the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8 comes with an owners manual...and that owner's manual says 3K miles. The burden of proof then shifts to the owner if you do not follow their guidance and something goes wrong with the engine.

As a consumer, I always ask for the maintenance records of a used vehicle. If it was a do-it your-selfer on a $100K+ car...I probably would lose interest in a hurry. You ever heard of the term...penny wise and dollar foolish?

Tom

06E55

I'm sure it does come with an owner's manual, and I am sure it does say that it is 3k miles... That doesn't mean that it isn't a myth... Do some research, I'm not making this up... Of course they recommend 3,000 mile oil changes. And that's for the same reason Jiffy Lube started this... To keep a revenue stream coming in...

As for the maintenance records of a used vehicle, I am much happier to see a do-it-yourself person doing the maintenance on all of the 100k+ vehicles I have owned, than the service department. Bottom line... The service department only cares about making money. Half of the stuff they say needs service, does not actually need done (case-in-point: my wife and I purchased a brand new 2009 C350. We took it in for it's recommended 1,000 service [we wanted a new Nav update so that was an excuse to get it to them and get it done] and they stated that the tires were feathered and needed replaced immediately. In fact, they even called her and tried telling her that the tires needed replaced and it was a safety hazard. I picked up the phone from her and told her that if they needed replaced after 1,000 miles then it was a tire defect and to have them replaced under warranty. All of a sudden a "senior" tech was asked to inspect the tires and he concluded that the tires did not need replacing at all. A brand new Nav update was recently released and now the tires have over 20,000 miles on them. We took the vehicle in for the update and asked them to look at something else electrical related. They asked if we wanted a complimentary inspection. I said sure. No mention whatsoever of the tires needing replaced. In fact, when my wife asked about the tires, they told her the were wearing extremely well...)... And the tech only wants to get to the next vehicle as quickly as possible. Most do-it-yourselfers that work on 100k vehicles are much more meticulous than the service department techs. I just finished an oil change, transmission flush, supercharger belt change, serpentine belt change, air filter change, cabin filter change, wiper blade change, and some other minor things. Not only did I save well over $1,500 by purchasing the parts and doing the work myself, I carefully inspected the vehicle to make sure nothing else needed servicing. Not only that, I took the time to detail my engine bay and the undercarriage of my vehicle as well. Not only that, but I found that a few screws had wiggled themselves loose and I was able to torque them to the correct specifications before they could cause any problems. Not only that, but I got the satisfaction of doing it myself. And I was able to plan the items needed for my next service (a complete brake service [sensors, pads, rotors at each wheel, brake fluid flush], an oil change, and the panoramic roof lubrication. Just because it isn't serviced at a stealer, doesn't mean that it wasn't serviced correctly!!!

And besides, maintenance records do NOT tell you if the car was abused... They only state that it was serviced. My good friend thought I was crazy for doing oil changes myself. Then he took is brand new CL65 to MB for an oil change. On the highway at a speed of over 85mph, codes started coming up. Turns out the service tech forgot to put TWO o-rings on the filter assembly at his previous oil change. Needless to say, they replaced the engine... I have NEVER forgotten the o-rings when I do the oil changes...

TMC M5

I think you made the best point in this discussion...pay the MB dealer and if something gets screwed up...it will come out of their pocket...not yours.

Tom
I do

06E55

I NEVER said they paid for it!!!

TMC M5

So the owner paid out of pocket for a new engine...when the MB service tech forgot to put two O-rings on the filter assembly? Is that what you are saying?

Tom

06E55

Only after a lawyer was involved did Mercedes pay to replace the engine. Originally, Mercedes thought the failure was from abuse. Luckily I was there to take pictures before the car was towed into Mercedes and got pictures of the oil sprayed all over the inside of the hood. So, ultimately, Mercedes paid for the engine. But do you really want your vehicle serviced by a tech that forgot to put two o-rings on a filter assembly? If they forgot something as common as this (ALL modern MBs use this assembly), what else are they going to forget? Not to mention, my friend was without his vehicle for almost a month.

I think it is you that is missing the point. Obviously, we are going to disagree on this matter, and that is fine. Trust me, I understand that not everyone has the knowledge/mechanical inclination/capability or even the desire to do maintenance themselves, and this is fine. However, you are the one that stated the expense of the oil changes on the SRT8 as well as the C65. If a person choses to do this themselves, then much of this cost is much lower than this (oil changes are around $50 each in my E55, a complete brake job [sensors, rotors, pads, and a brake fluid flush] is less than $800). And there is NOTHING in any manual that says that repairs are only warrantied if the work was performed by yourself. This is the same reason you can take your vehicle to any service station and get these things done.

Don't think that just because you take your vehicle to the dealer or a service station that your vehicle is better maintained than mine. I guarantee that I won't forget o-rings on a filter assembly! Not only that, as I working on my vehicle, I also take the time to do a thorough inspection to plan the items I will do for my next service interval. While I am also doing this, I also take the time to detail my vehicle (e.g., if I have the hood open, I take the time to detail the engine bay). Sure, I take my vehicle to the dealer for items that I cannot do myself (for example, my airmatic suspension went out one day while driving. this was covered under warranty, so I let them fix this). However, for routine maintenance, I would much rather do this myself...

TMC M5

I think you are missing a point...anyone can make a mistake (I have made plenty). I had a Ford dealer forget to put the O-rings back on a coolant hose when they replaced my alternator (the coolant hoses kind of surrounded the alternator on my old SVT Cobra and needed to be removed to get to it). People make mistakes...I like having the dealerships do the work for most maintenance items. to me it is a cheap insurance policy. My car takes 8 quarts of Mobil 1. So that is a minimum of $51 (with tax). The oil filters are probably around $15. So for me to do it myself it would cost $66. So the dealership charges me $120. To me the extra $54 is more than worth it given I don't have a lift. Although I do change my oil about every 5-6K miles...I would rather waste money on doing oil changes too frequently given that I take my car to the drag strip.

We obviously don't agree. I think most on this board err on taking their cars to the dealer...we know it is not the cheapest solution...(buying AMGs isn't a cheap way to go to begin with) but it is the one we are most comfortable with...

Tom

Ifari

A blown engine caused because a supposedly trained and qualified technician forgot to install O-rings on his company's benchmark car during a simple oil change is an unacceptable mistake IMO.

I share the view 06E55 has.....someone can pay a lot more and yet get much LESS good service, than another who pays a little less and will get a LOT more thorough service by DIY.

"If you want it done Right--DIY"

NORCAL///AMG

chawkins2001

Hey Kevin, on a side not what is done to your e55 to make the numbers in your sig? those are stout numbers.

06E55

I concur! In my opinion, forgetting to install o-rings on a filter assembly on a 200k$ car is absolutely inexcusable! Yes, mistakes can happen, and yes, the dealership ultimately ended up paying for the engine replacement; however, this mistake is unacceptable. Not to mention he was without his vehicle for well over two weeks. Needless to say, he has never taken his vehicle to that dealer for service again! In fact, I taught him how to do the routine stuff on his own.

I understand that some people don't have the knowledge, capability, time, tools, or even the desire to do routine maintenance themselves; however, don't assume that just because a DIYer does routine maintenance on their vehicle (no matter that cost of the vehicle) that it is not properly maintained. I have put over 100,000 miles on vehicles that NEVER went to the dealership for any services whatsoever and they still ran and drove like they did the day that I purchased them!