dukester34

i just pulled the trigger on a 4yr pre paid maint plan 1695.00 no tax.

CaptainE

dukester34

the dealership delivery room tile or concrete
did i get a deal on the pre paid maint

CaptainE

mobster600

dudley07726

mobster600

ua549

5% is a low ball estimate. The dividend from a single share of AT&T tops 6.75%. Overall my conservative portfolio of mostly utilities and blue chip common stocks returned more than 6% in dividends alone. Personally, I like the pay as you go model because one may forfeit prepaid services due to depending upon adverse happenstance.

mobster600

cetialpha5

Those pre-paid maintenance packages money go to Mercedes. That's why you can take it to any MB dealer in the country.

As for whether it's a deal or not, you'd have to check the extended warranty sub-forum. They also sell the package. They say there's not much mark up on them, but then again, some dealers charge more than list price.

Also it's usually only a deal if you're due for spark plugs or transmission fluid so if the mileage is low, it might not be worth it. Those are included in the pre-paid maintenance packages but the dealers charge extra when you need those services. Mercedes tends to run anywhere from $125-$150 off $250-$300 service a couple times a year so you might not end up paying that much for Service A or B. The $150 off $300 just ended on Dec 31st.

JTK44

Just my $02:

Our local dealer charges $199 + tax for the A service and $350 for the B service. That is $550 for A and B, times two $1100 so your cost of $1695 does not seem to be an efficient use of your money.

5% on the use of the money as UA529 has posted, is a conservative estimate.

Further, the four services you paid for take you through 50,000 miles. If something happens to you car between now and 50,000 miles you lose your money. RBYLAW has posted that if you do not use the services you can transfer them - but only to another Mercedes.

The one place that it does make sense is if you lease. The prepaid Mercedes Benz service when put into the lease is residualized: on my 36 month lease without service the payment was $881 tax included. With service for 20,000 miles, Service A & B $896 tax included. The MSRP of the 20,000 miles service is $890 plus tax, in New York that is $966 no bargain! The additional $15 dollar a month in the lease, equals $540 which is a bargain!

Hope this helps

rustybear3

Not in today's market it's not. Only the insiders are making money in the wild fluctuations. You could lose your shirt. Invest in a sure cd fund in your IRA or 401k to be safe. At least 3% returns.

p.s. Most of those pre paid maintenance packages are ripoffs.

cetialpha5

Nothing is safe. Investing in 3% returns means you're safe from high returns. Even with the recent market turmoil, returns over the last 10 years have historically been higher than 3%.

rustybear3

At my age, I can't take any chances waiting long term if the market tanks. Cds most likely will see either 4 or maybe 5% in the coming year or so. So, yes. for now that's where the smart money is going.

ua549

I keep a portion of my investments in stocks with steady, high yielding dividends such as AT&T. Price fluctuations do not matter matter unless one is selling. At my age I'm a buy and hold investor. My heirs can take the capital loss.

cetialpha5

You would have been off holding an index fund. AT&T has been flat over the last 10 years vs the S&P 500. I focus more on total return, doesn't matter if you get 5-7% in dividends when holding an index could yield around 10% over the last 10 years.

ua549

Many index funds were flat or losers for 2018 and/or must be traded to realize a gain. I'm not a trader. I do have 3 separate portfolios - investment grade, dividend and speculative grade. Even so, I may only do 3 or 4 trades per year.