Dzokayi

Hello,

I live in the Houston area, and I'm in the market for a nice S500 or S600, coupe or sedan. I'm most partial to the S600 coupe; black on black would be superb.

After reading the forum, I still have a few questions as I begin my search in earnest.

Any of you Houstonians recommend an independent mechanic for pre-purchase inspection and subsequent service?

I already know to get a clean carfax, service records, etc. Any serious candidate will be taken to a mechanic for a prepurchase inspection - anything (non-obvious) I should look for before having an inspection done?

I've heard a lot of anecdotal evidence of the 12 cylinder models costing a fortune to maintain. I'm coming from a 1989 1/2 Jaguar XJ-S that was certainly maintenance intensive, but I'm expecting a Mercedes to be much more reliable. Is this a reasonable expectation?

Thanks for your time, and feel free to chime in with anything I have missed.

Cheers...

Hattaresguy

You danced with the devil! Nothing is more troublesome then a Jag, and the Jag V12 is legendary for its break downs! Jag parts also cost a lot more then MB parts.

So you should find an M120 pretty reasonable to own. MAF's fail a lot and make sure the suspension is in good working order.

If you are shoping V12's only mint models with full service historys should be considered.

BenzKid24

Good Luck finding a car of your dreams i was goign to buy a s600 but was told not to for reason i lived in TX and the hot heat of Texas weather doesnt do well for the S600,but i think you can install something to keep it from running hot..the s600 has the cooler 2tone leather and wood steering wheel.

Dzokayi

Are there any people from Houston on this board? I'd really like to know which shope they use for maintenance and/or prepurchase inspections.