I have some questions:

- I live in Arizona. What's the likelyhood I could get a new E500 with only the sunroof and entertainment package for $55,000 plus taxes and license?
- If I had to go to California to get it, would Phoenix dealers service it w/o a problem?
- Does MBUSA offer an extension to the warranty and is it from MBUSA or some third party?
- Anyone have a rough idea what it would cost to extend the 4 year warrantee by a couple of years?
- Is the air suspension worth the aggrivation or would I be better off with the E320?
- Can you order a car to get some color combination not currently stocked by the dealer? Will it come from the factory or just another dealer who happens to have that particular car?

I hope these questions aren't too naive.

Thanks in advance.

 

- You just have to shop around to see if you can get the car you want at the price you want.

- If you buy the car in California, you won't have any problems getting it serviced or having warranty work done in Phoenix.

- Mercedes offers an extended warranty. You have up to a year to purchase the extended warranty. It is not from a third party.

- A three-year extended warranty will run from about $1800 to $2200 or $2300 depending on where you purchase it. You don't have to purchase it from your selling dealer. Check past threads for Lisa from the Mercedes dealership in Chico, California. Many folks have found she offers the best prices on MB extended warranties although your mileage may vary.

- I would definitely go for the E500. I have one and the Air Suspension system has worked wonderfully. No problems whatsoever. There have been threads here recently noting some serious problems some owners have had with the system. However, you have to put these threads in context. While the problems described are indeed serious for those experiencing them, I would guess that only a very small percentage of owners have had or will have any such problems with the Air Suspension systems on their E500's. Owners who do not have problems with their cars commonly do not report that fact on forums such as this one. Moreover, from reading these threads, the Air Suspension system problems being reported seem related to cold weather which is something you won't have to worry about in Phoenix.

- You can certainly order a car with any combination of colors and/or options you desire. You can order from the factory or the dealer can check to see if any other dealer in the area or region has the car you want. If your dealer finds the car at another dealer, they can do a trade. Trading between dealers is very common.

Hope this helps

 

Thanks Dave.

BTW, your color combination sounds great but maybe not for Arizona.

Bud

 

Give me your email address by pm.

 

Just an FYI,

You can get airmatic in either the 500 or 320 configuration. It's a common misconception that it's only available on the 500. Another misconception is that the 320 with leather and airmatic cost the same as a 500 (with those options as standard equipment.) They do not cost the same. I've done the math and spreadsheets. If they did, I would have gladly bought the 500. Identically equipped cars (airmatic, leather, etc.) still have about a $5 - 6 grand difference when choosing the big motor option. Not a lot to some people, but enough of a difference to sway my decision.

As to airmatic in cold weather, I will report here that I haven't had any troubles, noises or otherwise and we drove our car around last week in "minus 24 deg. F" weather. I would get it again. Airmatic is sweet!

 

Neither MB-USA nor Edmunds show the E320 Sport package for the 2004 E320. I looked at a 2003 that had it but didn't like the interior. I prefer the wood trim.

An E320 with sunroof, leather, 4-zone heating and the entertainment package now has an MSRP of $53,665. Up $605 after the price increase.

An E500 with sunroof and entertainment package now has an MSRP of $59,386. Up $865 after the price increase. Add $1,000 gas guzzler tax and the difference is now $6,790 between the E320 and the E500. Of course the E320 has the standard suspension.

I'd forgotten or didn't know about the gas guzzler tax and that pretty much kills the E500 for me.

 

The sport package got renamed shortly after my order date and is now called the appearance package for 04 models. It contains the airmatic option. The web site for mbusa is very misleading and not always up to date with accurate info. As to wood trim, the black trim on (sport) appearance package is actually black stained bird's eye maple. Very unique and cool. Set with ash or stone interior, it's a knock out combo. With charcoal interior the wood trim gets a bit lost. I agree with the $1 grand tax bite, it's a bit dishartening to pay that and not get any option in return. A turn off for me. But the day they make the E55 AMG in 4 Matic trim, I'll pony up and pay it regardless. That would be one crazy beast!

 

Taking the MBUSA site with a grain of salt, it appears that if you opt for European delivery you now get 7% off MSRP, you don't have to pay the $720 US delivery fee and (guess what!) no $1,000 gas guzzler tax on the E500.

We're waiting for our Euro delivery specialist to find out about the availability of the E320 CDI but I plan to ask him about the gas guzzler tax on Euro deliveries of E500's.

 

Please post what you learn with regards to Euro delivery and the tax bite through your sales rep. That would certainly soften the overall impact.

 

Yes I will. The Euro delivery guy travels between Scottsdale and San Diego and won't be back until later in the week. I'll try to talk to him then.

 

I just spoke to the Euro Rep. He said you have to pay the gas guzzler tax on the E500 even if you take delivery in Europe