Newly Purchased 2012 E550 - Extend CPO?
 

All,

Looking for your honest opinions. I recently traded my 2006 e55 for a silver 2012 4-matic. Car has 52k miles on it with a CPO until December 2017. I have the option of extending my CPO for an additional 2 years for $2,400.

Coming from both a w215 cl55 and a w211 e55 the w212 e550 seems to be extremely reliable. I have the direct drive suspension option so no airmatic issues either.

My question is for you long term owners, have you experienced enough costly issues that you would recommend that I purchase the extended CPO? And, if so, where is the best place to buy an extension?

Double-A

Go over to the warranty forum here, you can likely get it a lot cheaper. Call one of the 4 folks they suggest.

Thanks for the guidance. However, not sure it answers the other part of my question. Specifically, is extending the cpo a good idea Based on ownership experience guys?

I think you'll find you can get the extra 2 years for about $2000. It's really a personal decision. If we could say for sure that you'll spend over $2k in repairs in year 2-3 then the warranty would cost more.

That said your need one major repair in years 6 and 7 for a pretty complicated car to make the warranty pay for itself. Plus it is unlimited miles so somewhat depends on the miles you'll drive.

With my experience overall with $50,000 German cars I consider the warranty a bargain but I know others will disagree. Just the piece of mind of not fearing the next check engine light is worth it to me.

I would get the warranty for piece of mind. I get them for all of my cars. Sometimes I am ahead, sometimes behind but when I am behind, it is never by a lot. Good luck with your decision.

As others have said, it depends. I'm a DIY guy, and have only taken my 3 MB cars to the dealer once. In my case, I used the extended warranty money to buy tools, like an SDS and other tools and parts to fix my cars. I've pulled the oil cooler to replace the seals out of the bottom of my V6 diesel Bluetec, so I'm not afraid to get dirty. $2500 at the dealer...$300 DIY.

If I was not a DIY guy, I would buy the warranty.

All,

Thanks. Looked in the forums Warranty area.. good discussions. I will have to keep reading to decide on pulling the trigger. Will need to consider my current CPO goes to December - ample time to flush out potential issues.

Sorry good point. I have only had my car for a few months but I'll tell you I DID get the warranty, and I would recommend it to you. On its highest level these cars are complicated and while certain jobs you can do yourself, there are many that require the dealer mainly for the special tools (ie their computer diagnostics) that you don't have access to, or its not worth buying as a regular person. Thee is NOTHING cheap on these cars and they have some fairly complicated systems that aren't DIY friendly.

I plan on owning my car for the duration of the warranty, and then moving on to another CPO Benz. Nothing against the car, I love it, but I just don't want to have to worry about fixing my daily driver in my limited time, nor worry its gonna cost me an arm and a leg to fix if I don't have the time. And this is from a guy (me) who has built multiple race cars.

If you just bought it, I think you're supposed to buy it within 30 days or the price goes up a little bit. If you like going to the dealer, get it, if you can DIY it, you may consider skipping it. You might also look into getting the maintenance package, spark plugs I think are at 60k so you should get a 3 service package. For 2012, the plugs are more complex that the previous engine. I hope your wood trim isn't faded, open the door and make sure the wood trim matches in the hidden side. Won't be covered under CPO but if you just got it, complaining to the dealer might get it fixed. Then there are other issues like the ripped seat and non working seat heater. There's a bunch of little issues that could pop up that will be a few hundred on the DIY route and 500-1000 at the dealer.

Two thoughts:


1) It's fully refundable if cancelled before your CPO expires - if you feel comfortable there will be no issues you basically are out no money other than an interest free loan to MB, lol. Even after that, it's prorated if you want out.


2) If they (MB) want hundreds of dollars for a plain vanilla service (like an oil change), I just think that it may only take one 'minor' issue to recoup the investment if you are a dealer service kind of guy. This was mentioned above. It can be 500-1k easy at the dealer for a 'minor' issue.


That said, they make money off these things so the odds are generally against you that it pays off. Didn't stop me though from getting one on my 2013.

Actually you better double check that. On an extended warranty I believe it's refundable or could be pro-rated. I don't think you could do that on CPO but it is transferable to the next buyer if you want to ditch it after less than 3 years, could be a selling point if it has a couple months left on the CPO. It expires if it's traded into a dealer though.

The MB-tex has a history of ripping on the driver/passenger side, driver side first as that gets the most use, but it happens with the passenger too. Close to $1k at the dealer because they charge 3 hours labor and $300+ for the cover, about $241 if you DIY and maybe $150 at an upholstery shop if you want it done for you. You do get the free loaner/snacks/car wash at the MB dealership whereas you'll be waiting around or have to drop it off if going to an indy.

Oh on the E550, it's leather not MB-Tex. But do you have airmatic? Those have a history of going and they're like 1k a corner. If you're lucky, it might not happen in the next 3 years though.

Rogue,

Much appreciated. I will definitely look at the warranty based on your input and the feedback from you guys.

@cetialpha5,

thanks on your feedback. I'm ok with paying for the service when it's needed. It's just that the big issues that show up without warning tend to be a pain in the royal .... the ripped seat and seat warmers I have picked up on. I'll start looking for items like the wood trim etc.

i guess the real question is has anyone gotten blindsided out of cpo under 100k? I have seen some significant issues that would count as a big hit however they don't seem to be common issues.

point #1 - refundable? Ok. Very Interested. Will ask for details from sales person.

Point #2 - I can see needing cpo but the likelihood of going over 2k out of pocket repair (not wear and tear) or cpo on a car that has 52k miles leaves a bad taste in my mouth. But it is as you said... highly likely given their costs. My indie works for me.

@cetialpha5,

i think you are getting to my main point. The car is leather optioned with direct drive (no airmatic).

Not sure people are seeing seat separations with leather. But I think the risk of major failure points in my car is reduced.

I would extend the CPO Warranty as far as you can afford to. It's like Insurance- You hate paying for it since you probably won't use it, but you will be kicking yourself if you pass on it and something happens. These cars can be VERY expensive when they break.

I bought my 2013 E550 CPO and added the ELW to it once the CPO expires. I am 100% sure of that. I can cancel my ELW up until the day it kicks in, which is the day the CPO runs out, lol.

That's a little strange. Are we talking about the MB CPO and MB ELW? The two don't really mix because if you have one year of MB CPO, you can buy an additional 2 years of CPO so you have 7 years worth of warranty with unlimited miles. With MB ELW, the max is 7 years/100. So I don't see how one can start after the other even if they are MB warranties. If they're not MB, then it makes sense.

They called it ELW when I bought the car, could they have meant CPO, who knows. Regardless, it is fully cancelable until he 1 year CPO extension expires. I am 100% certain of that, it's in the contract language.

By the way, for the OP, whatever it was called cost me $750 less than you were quoted...........

Did you buy the car from an MB dealer or a 3rd party? You can buy 2 extra years of MB CPO. I don't think you can buy ELW once you have CPO. If they called it ELW, then maybe it's not MB which would make sense. And any 3rd party dealer can call their warranty a CPO, but an MB CPO and is either from an MB dealer or private party. The MB CPO or ELW is considered better than any 3rd party warranty which it sounds like that's what you may have.

Yes, through a dealer, all MB paperwork, covered by MB. Whatever it is called (they called it an ELW) I don't think it matters - my point was that it was fully cancelable up until the 1 year CPO warranty runs out, which is what I thought you were questioning.

So you got 2 extra years of CPO then? I think once it kicks it, you can't get a refund, but if you had the ELW, you can get a pro-rated refund. It's possible that the MB dealer sold you an ELW that wasn't an MB one, they can do that because they make more money on 3rd party warranties than MB ones. They may have called it ELW because lots of times, salesmen don't know what they're talking about.

I am 100% sure it is MB and 100% sure it is cancelable based on what my MB paperwork says.