MrStainLeSs

In the NY / NJ region and considering purchasing a 2007 E350 with AMG appearance package and Navigation or Key To The Cure Edition.

- Looking to get one with between 35,000 - 45,000 miles
- Regardless of the mileage most cars will be at the end of the factory 4yr / 50,000mile warranty by December
- From what I’ve read, intent to get an extended warranty from Warranty Direct, got a quote for around $ 4,200
- Noticed a large pricing range, $ 25,000 to $ 35,000


Any help with the following would be greatly appreciated:
1. What is a reasonable and realistic to price to expect paying?
2. Around 40,000 miles, what major maintenance should be due or expected to have been performed?
3. Is there any first time E350 buyer’s advice to be given, what to look out for or to expect?

Thanks for any and all assistance

Clinton Horn

I don't have any opinion about resale but as far as maintainence goes:
1.At 39000 a transmission flush is "recommended". MB may still be clinging to the lifetime fluid policy but these trannys are expensive. Consensus on this board is that failure is too big of a risk. No one seems to think changing transmission fluid is a waste. You cannot self perform this. It is a dealer only task.
2. That year deleted the SBC braking so I don't know about brake pad life but the pads / rotors could be close if the car was driven hard.
3. The oil / filter could be anywhere in the 13000 mile cycle. I would change it regardless for my own piece of mind.
4. The battery should give at least another year but if you are in a northern clime, maybe not.
5. I use Sylvania bulbs in my (older) non HID car. These things are great but very short life. If yours has factory HID, you should be OK.
6. There is a high failure rate on HVAC blowers. Put the blower on lowest speed and listen for a faint chirping noise. These appear to be lubricant related and more of a time oriented problem than use.
7. Some options might include flush brake fluid, grease sunroof rails and a host of "inspect" items that dealers love to mention as they take very little time and almost no part expense.
8. Tires are a given. At that mileage, I would expect a fresh set as 35-40K gets all of the OEM tires that I am aware of.

Good Luck- These are great cars and they do grow on you.
If you can perform some maintenance yourself, they can be only slightly more needy than a Japanese equivalent. Maybe that is part of the attraction, as they do not tolerate being ignored.

gwinsper

I just bought a Black Siena CPO '07 e350 4Matic with the AMG package and Nav with 32K miles on it for $32,000. I live in central NJ, and after much research on CPOs, I felt this was the best deal I could get. I use my car to commute to work every day so the 100,000 warranty was key for me.

Henry71

In shopping around over the last 4-5 months it seemed to me that 07-08 E350s here in the greater Seattle area were significantly more expensive than in many other parts of the country. We just took delivery from an Ohio M-B dealer of a CPO 2007 E350 4Matic in flint grey metallic, black leather, P2 package, Sport package, Keyless Go, and a few other options to boot, with 32,200 miles. Less than $31,000 including the various dealer document fees, etc. but excluding tax and shipping. The car stickered new at $61,000.

So far we are extremely pleased and feel that we got a whale of a lot of car for the dollar. Even with paying $1,100 to have it shipped out here I feel we likely saved $2-4,000 over what we would have paid for a similarly optioned car in the same general condition purchased locally.

The 350 has 268 hp and so far has plenty of oomph - I am sure a 550 would be a lot of fun, but realistically I don't need that amount of thrust and I wanted to get reasonable fuel mileage, too.

I did not purchase any of the extended warranty, we just went with the extra year and 100k warranty that comes with all CPO cars, and that gives us lots of miles and nearly two more years of coverage. I bought the factory DVD service manual and will be doing most if not all of the non-warranty stuff myself.

Hope this helps -

vettdvr

Buy a MB Extended warranty.

Frasmat

Try to buy a CPO and the extended warranty for as long as you can get it for. I know that sounds redundant to what everyone else has said but you can’t stress that enough.

MrStainLeSs

Thank you

MrStainLeSs

Point taken

Thanks

bchalou

I cannot understate the warranty.

I bought an 06 E350 and after 2 weeks I have transmission problems. Luckily most forum members pushed the warranty issue so I bought an aftermarket one from my credit union.

MrStainLeSs

Warranty is a must. The question really was MB ELW vs Aftermarket, so far seem MB is the way to go

Jamison

I'm very new here, so I can answer #1...but #2 and #3 are well beyond my current knowledge:

I just purchased (last friday) a certified 2008 E350 4Matic, Sport Package (not AMG), Premium 2 package, keyless go, parktronic, with only 15,000 miles on it.

The car is pristine...I paid $36.5 and the warranty was $2,800 for another 3 years after the factory and certified warranties run out.

So adjust your expected price accordingly...add a little for the AMG package...take a chunk off for the 40k miles...take some off if it doesn't have nav or premium 2 package...etc.

I do know that 2008 E350's between 14k and 17k miles are going for 26.5 to 28.5 at Mannheim as of last monday (3/8/10), that's probably more bare bones packages but dealers are probably getting a car with 40k miles at or around 25k with a premium 1 package. if you go certified figure another 1.5k to 3k of dealer cost on top of that...

hope that helps, cause I just went through the same thing.