nwestclk

Just purchased a 2002 clk430 with 11,500 miles on it and 6 months left on the original warranty. Probably keep the car two or three years and sell with 45,000 to 60,000 miles on it. Figure I'll have 6 months to see what may need to be done under the original warranty but wonder if an extended one may be a smart move. If so, any recommendations as to what may be a good company to use and the cost. I know there's a vast number of warranties that cover a wide range of "problems".

Chappy

There are only two warranties I can recommend:

1. The Mercedes-Benz Premium Limited Extended Warranty. Unfortunately, this is an option only available to the original purchaser of the car and must be purchased within the first 12 months of ownership.

2. Starmark extended warranty. Unless you purchased your CLK430 from a Mercedes-Benz dealer, this was not available to you.

You'll have to consider going to an aftermarket warranty company. Recently, there have been two very large extended warranty companies that went belly-up and the contract/policyholders were left holding worthless paper.

My suggestion is to contact the repair facility where you will be taking the car for service and repair. Ask them if they accept any extended warranties...and which companies pay their claims without too much fuss. Once you have the company names, do your research for pricing, BBB rating, complaints, lawsuits, etc. and then make your decision.

If the price "seems to good" on the warranty contact, then it probably is.

Good luck in your search and please share and results you find.

Slotracer

I was able to get an extended warranty through my dealer (San Diego). It's via UnitedAutoCare. I bought the Platinum Plan which includes six scheduled maintenance visits (probably would never get to use all of them with our service schedules). I also got the 'disappearing deductible'. I basically added three years to the original (I now go to 84 months or 75,000 - for me I'll hit the months first). The plan covers everything! It cost me $2,018. I may have been able to do better thru AAA but I'm happy with it.

Slotracer

I should add that I had to get the warranty before the original expired and...I had to pay them to inspect the car first. That was a drag since I had paid the original selling dearler in Florida to inspect the car before I bought it (found it at an Infinity dealership via E Bay) and had it shipped.