Pretty stoked to take delivery of the ML today. Love the color and happy with the sport package. I'll post more photos and a "first impressions compared to my X5" later ... One question for you folks (well 2 actually)...

• Dealer wants $3,790 to extend the warranty to 7yr/75K. That seems crazy ... wondered if folks have negotiated this down. Else I'll just skip it.
• Prepaid maintenance is $2,509 for 5 years (so a total of 5 services) - includes windshield wipers. This seems reasonable as I'd probably pay more for those 5 services (I'd expect that I'd do mid-year oil changes). Thoughts on this

Yes I know these questions have been discussed in numerous threads ... just thought I'd ask them quickly as I have to decide tomorrow.


And now a pic from my delivery...

 

If you don't take the ELW (suggest you do), budget $1500 to $2000 a year each for years 5,6 & 7 for unplanned for repairs. You might not have to spend it, but you might. So really you're paying for peace of mind.

Don't plan on mid year oil changes, you're throwing a couple of hundred away each time. The car has a big oil capacity and Mobil1 which is designed to go the distance. The car's engineers know what they are talking about. ...of course if it were a taxi, that would be a different story.

Enjoy

 

Congrats!!
Get the ELW from here ... http://www.checkbook.org/auto/ExtendedService.cfm

 

Contact Dan Boone from MB of Austin, he can give you a big discount on mercedes extended warranty.

Also unless you drive a lot of miles, the pre-paid maintenance usually doesn't make financial sense.

 

I don't understand what increase mileage has to do with it. The regular maintenance schedule is 1 year or 10,000 miles. I drive right around 10,000 miles a year and have done so since I retired 18 years ago. I seldom deviate from that. But if someone drives 30,000 miles in a year, eg, they will have three routine maintenance performed each year. For me, it is one general servicing per year for three years. I have a three year agreement and that is how long it lasts. For the high mileage driver, it could be used up in one year.

I would say the longer you string out your maintenance in the time factor the better. I say that because you are locked in from the start and the cost of each service (which increases with time year after year) can not increase for you at any time during the period of your agreement. Using that logic, I would also say the person driving less miles and getting to the anniversary date of the agreement each year is better off than the one putting on a lot of miles and going through the agreement in quickly. Unless I am missing something that makes sense to me.

 

Here's how it was explained to me by several MB dealers, as well as what many on forums have said. (One would think dealers would urge you to get the pre-paid maintenance since they make some $$ on it, but every dealer I've spoken with urged against it)

If you get pre-paid maintenance, and your car is totaled or stolen, you do not get any $$ back for the maintenance you paid for but have not used. Thus if you drive a lot of miles, you're likely to use up the pre-paid maintenance before maybe an accident. Unlike extended warranty, you can cancel at any time and get a full refund if you are still under original 4yr/50k warranty or pro-rated if you are already into the extended warranty portion.

Also, I've checked out service prices at 3 CA dealerships, by paying for each service individually, the price comes out to be actually less than what the pre paid maintenance package costs or exactly the same as the pre-paid maintenance.

While you are right the prices may go up each year, but the increase will be gradual and not a sudden 50% increase. One dealer that we visit has been at $169 for service A for the past 4 years.

Some folks may be able to invest that $2k over the 5 year period and get a good return on it.

Pre-paid maintenance, the way its priced currently, doesn't seem to make a lot of sense for most people.

 

That makes sense if those conditions are met. I paid $699 for the three year prepaid maintenance. That seemed reasonable given the cost of service at the time. I realized as well that I would loose it all if my car was wrecked but that really would be the least of my worries. I would not pay $2000 for the five year coverage because after the C service, you can do better with directly with the dealer, especially if you are in an area where the dealer gives discounts for MBCA membership.

Actually, I did not want any of this because I always have done my own maintenance and the first three performed are nothing more than oil and various filters and various component inspections. Heck, I have always done things like that and even more complicated for almost fifty years! But here is why I thought $699 was reasonable. First, I have no way of updating or even knowing when an update to software is required. My dealer checks this every time. I also understand that unless you want to unscrew a bunch of bolts on the plate protecting the oil pan you need a device to extract oil from the dip stick and that device has to cost something to purchase. The oil required (Mobile One European) is hard to find out here where I live and the filter can only be purchased at the dealership and is not available elsewhere (at least that was the case in May 2012 when I bought my ML). And quite frankly, my days of crawling under cars are pretty much finished.

However, the biggest factor was that someone here on the board mentioned that MB has a mind set about this that says they will stand behind you if something goes wrong and all work has been performed by a dealer. If you do it yourself and something goes wrong they will look for any mistake you may have made and that mistake could void the warranty.

Everyone is different and every dealership has different prices. My dealer is the only one within 140 miles of me so they charge high prices for everything. In fact, I had to travel to the next nearest dealer that was 140 miles from me to purchase the vehicle because the local place was way too high. I don't doubt what you say is true in some areas and in some situations but it just did not work out that way for me.

 

my 2 cents:

Your car comes with 4yr/50K warranty, no need to double up the first 4 years with a 7 year "overpriced" extended warranty. If you plan to keep the car past 4 years, make a decision at that time based on past reliability. MB will come back to you towards the end of your 4/50 with an extended offer, you can always negotiate a price at that time if you feel you need it.

Skip the maintenance package. I have my MB dealer change the oil and filter every 7500 miles for $100. They have the history on the car and I avoid the overpriced schedule A & B that are no more than a oil & filter change.

So far I am at 24,000 miles on my 2012 with no issues.