gkgeiger

My '15 ML250 is at the dealership and has been there for 2 weeks. They are waiting on parts. The SA says they are replacing the DPF and some sensors. This is not my selling dealer, but he has been more helpful than any dealer I've had the car to. We had an off the record conversation about me keeping this car. It has 47+K miles and will time out in April. I asked if I should keep it or dump it. He said if I like it (which I do) that I should keep it but buy a MB extended warranty. I asked for a quote on the longest time available. He came back with $4750 for an additional 3 yrs with unlimited miles. Sound like a better deal for me than trying to get anything for it on a trade. What do you guys think?

Micah / AF1 Rac

rustybear3

If you want a discounted, fair quote try Jeff Jackson Tafel motors, 502-896-4411 ext 1246. I've bought the MB extended warranty from him and his prices can't be beat. You can buy your Mercedes extended warranty from any dealer; not just your own.

kajtek1

I love 250 Bluetec for great mpg. What are you getting in ML ?
But DPF and DEF are very costly items added to perfectly good engine and chances are they will cost you.
Than $4700 is huge amount of money and you are getting new DPF as we speak?
I am risk taker and I would keep the car AND the $4700. Spend $150 on ScanGauge to monitor DPF and that should keep it healthy for years.
Worse come to worse, if the emission system start failing and you don't have smog checks, we have several members already who deleted DPF and it becomes more and more popular trend.

gkgeiger

I have never gotten worse than 29 mpg on a tank. I can often get 34 on a trip with a full load. We drive back and forth from Ohio to Florida every year. That's part of the reason my miles are high. After reading all the things that have or can fail I'm not willing to take a risk. I need an SUV for my travels and I could not find anything equal to my ML for $4700 difference. Maybe a small Kia or Hyundai. If I can drive it 3 more years without any major financial outlay I would be happy. At that time it will probably have $0 value. At this time the trade in value is about $22K with a $60K MSRP.

gkgeiger

gkgeiger

Thanks for the heads up. Jeff can save me at least $500 over the next best price. There is about $800 difference between the 3 dealers I checked. My selling dealer being the highest. Now I need to decide whether I want to keep it.

Micah / AF1 Rac

drewkeen

By Federal law in the US all emissions equipment is required to be covered under warranty for 8 years/80k miles. With your lower mileage the extended warranty becomes nearly useless because these are the most common failure points. At 47k miles on a 2015 model you are driving 10-15k a year which would put you barely running out of miles before the 8 years is up. It also seems that as these get older and have failures, many people convert them to "offroad or track use only" and the emissions equipment falls off and they get a tune.

I would advise against the warranty and instead put the money you would pay in a savings account. I imagine at the end of the 3 years you will have a nice little fund to take a fun trip with!

gkgeiger

It sounds like the only failures you think will happen are emission related. Why are there so many post regarding mechanical problems? By the way, tell me which bank will pay me "a nice little fund to take a fun trip with" on $4700 for 3 years?

drewkeen

That is the most failure prone part of that vehicle.

How many people come on here and post up about their car running great? You only will see the bad things. If you are worried about it having a ton of mechanical issues then why would you even consider purchasing the car?

If they won't give you back the portion of the $4700 you don't use for any repairs then you probably picked the wrong bank. If you pay $4700 for the warranty it is gone, I was talking about the remainder of the balance that would almost certainly be well above $0. You'd probably make enough interest for a nice trip to the grocery store though if you are only focusing on that portion.

JALLEN4

I don't know whether you have a ML250 or not but I do. Your advice is somewhat faulty. If you read the warranty, including the emission warranty, the parts most often failing by all reports are expressly excluded in the emissions warranty. There have been multiple threads on the forum regarding this topic where people have run into this fact. Those excluded parts are considered to be maintenance items and therefore not covered under the statute.

JALLEN4

I am a retired new car dealer who had multiple stores of multiple brands. I know little about the motorcycle world but I can assure you I have never seen a warranty offered by an automotive manufacturer with a 50% margin. Never!

Micah / AF1 Rac

JALLEN4

I agree 100% about third party warranties. Most often my stores would not accept the third party warranty unless the customer or the warranty paid up-front.

gkgeiger

JALLEN4, I am the OP and a retired Fixed Operations Mgr. from a new car dealership. I'm just curious about your ML250. Did you buy it new, how many miles do you have, how do you use it, and have you had any warranty issues? As my selling dealer said to me, these are very rare vehicles, not many imported and sold. I think I've only seen one other. Also, do you have an extended warranty on yours? Thanks in advance.

JALLEN4

I bought the car new in July 2015 and traded a GLK in. My wife is on her second E350 and I have a Corvette as well. There were a limited number of the diesels available when I bought mine but in our area there were a few. I use it as a daily driver and it has about 42,000 miles presently. I have not bought the extended warranty and do not plan to do so. They make money selling the warranty after paying the commissions so I am willing to self insure.

I have had very few problems to-date. One check engine light when the mileage was in the 20's and a recent no-start where the dealer replaced the battery. The selling dealer tells me they have had a limited number of problems with the 250 diesel unlike the previous 350 diesel. The E250 is widely used as a commercial vehicle world-wide and the same engine is used in the Mercedes vans that are used commercially. These examples have recorded a huge number of miles with minimal problems according to reports I have read.

I really like the way the vehicle drives...better than the new gas GLE. It would likely cost $35,000 or so to trade for the new one. I am convinced that for no more than $25,000 I can drive the present one to 200,000 miles which could be longer than my personal expiration date. Buying the new one would require maintenance as well and be basically worthless at high mileage, the same as the present one. At this point it comes down to what I enjoy and I do enjoy my ML250.

kajtek1

You list 2 states in your location, so which one is it? Other FL member said he has no smog checks, but I know sometimes different county in the same state can have different inspections.
Point is that if you have houses in 2 states, you can legally register you car at any of them.
With my connections I can register my car in 3 states that are within 1 hr of driving from my residence, what would not be perfectly legal, but not enforced. That is why I risk DPF delete even having sniff tests in Las Vegas.

Micah / AF1 Rac

peter2772000

From Google: "In Ohio, there are just seven counties that require drivers to submit their vehicles to emissions checks. Drivers in Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit counties must have their vehicles tested for emissions every two years, according to the Ohio EPA. Oct 5, 2015"

Interesting. I'd never have guessed that counties would/could enact laws usually reserved for guvment at the state level.

JALLEN4

The emissions checks were not a county initiative in Ohio. The areas where the checks are required were set by the State originally based on impact. Over the years several counties have been released from the requirement and the State testing facilities closed.

Micah / AF1 Rac

gkgeiger

drewkeen

Just because you own the car does not necessarily make you any more knowledgeable on these diesel MB cars than others. You also need to consider that people come on here to state problems way more often that they come on here to say their car is great and has been problem free.

Instead of just being vague, why not tell me exactly which parts you are referring to. I know that there are failure parts that are indeed covered as well. I would be very surprised if these parts would be covered by any used car warranty as well so my point still stands that I think it is a bad investment and that you do have a level of preexisting coverage thanks to the federal emissions equipment warranty.

JALLEN4

I would not wish to in anyway interrupt your theory of how the Federal Emissions Control Warranty works. I would though refer you to pages 34 and 35 of the Mercedes Service and Warranty Information booklet that comes with the new vehicle. On those pages you will find the listing of several items that are not covered past either two years or three years, depending on the State the vehicle was sold in, pertaining to the Emissions system. This interpretation of the Emissions Warranty is based on the caveat in their warranty that it does not apply to parts scheduled to be replaced before 80,000 miles.

While I am personally not interested in doing the research necessary on this Forum, I can assure you there have been a considerable number of threads in several sections regarding this topic on the 4 cyl. diesel. There have been very broad discussions regarding failures of the Bluetec system and the costs involved. If you are personally trying to make a decision on the extended warranty, this would serve you well. If you are simply defending your advice to not buy the warranty...everyone is entitled to their opinion.