bzliteyear

trying to spend about $33k, and currently finding several:

2002 S500 sport 60k mi, no warranty, very clean/wood pkg
2001 S55 50k mi, 14 months left on starmark
2001 S600 70k mi, no warranty
...oh, and a 2001 CL500 amg 55k, although not much backseats, the car drove GREAT so much better than the 4 doors.

i previously owned a 93 600SL and i know the V12 is amazing and also could be quite expensive to maintain, but the others would probably not be cheap to maintain either.

any input from the group here would be greatly appreciated.

patrick

Singularity

My choice is 2001, S55 since those are hand built rather than all others. Whatever you do, don't buy S600. It will triple all maintainance costs since it's heavier on the front prepare to spend $$$$$ on ABC, Control Arms, Struts & joints every 20-30k miles depending on your driving style. S55 is more reliable, like I said. Second logical choice is S500, 2002 but only if it's ABC rather than Airmatic, since ABC is by far more reliable than Airmatic.

fusion2007

yeah but airmatics have a better ride

IluvS500

If I recall the early years of ABC were not that reliable. The Airmatic is probably more reliable in that sense. I myself would buy the S55 though just because of the warranty and the moderate mileage.

Chucky300

I had a 2002 S500 with Sports Package and ABC - and it broke.... TWICE
But, the ride is MUCH better with ABC - you are flat in the corners.... much better than rolling in the corners with AIRmatic....

VERY expensive to maintain when the warranty is out.

bzliteyear

thx to all for the input.

i drove an S600 today, model yr 2001, blk/blk in SF area, 58k miles...really enjoyed how solid the car is built.

although my plan originally was to try and find a clean S500 sport, it seems like the prices are the similar to the S600...and it doesn't have the nice leather interior and all the goodies.
the S55 is also very nice, but it's more money and i think the interior is still disappointing for a $100k MSRP.

the challenge now is that i need to find a good warranty company so that i can safely own the S600 for the next 3 yrs. from what i hear, they're beautiful cars but the resale is terrible and the repair bills could be nasty.

any thots guys...what what might you offer for the car i described?

blackE55

What are the chances you can move to an '03 S600?

Certainly more expensive, but is quite an experience and more reliable than the older cylinder shut-down 12'ers. The twin turbo's are wicked fast. Horsepower and tq figures published by Merc were conservative at best, as not to upset S55 customers.

Anyhow, I've seen '01s with ~50k miles in the low thirty range. Snoop around autotrader and cars.com to see what they're fetching. Never mind the price guides.

A third party wty will probably cost you a few grand, but do research before buying one, lots of scams out there.

DRTYLNDY

I don't want to sound stupid but what is the difference between airmatic and ABC? I believe I have airmatic but I do have a button on the dash to adjust the ride. Thanks.
Johan

bzliteyear

i would love to get S600 2003, but if they're clean and under 50k miles, my guess is that they're still going for $50k+..similar to S55 2003 model. besides being much higher than i'd like to spend, i think my cost of ownership/depreciation for 3 yrs could be closer to $20-25k+ vs. what i'm hoping would be $12-15k.

btw, i'm going to try checking out an MB auction next week...i've heard some amazingly low prices on the S600 and CL600's($25k to $33k for 2002's). if these are clean, then some of these dealers are REALLY making a killing.

p.s. seems like on MSRP % basis, the S55 holds up much better than S600, while the S500 sport holds up the best?

wish me luck.

blackE55

True. Generally '03 S600's with ~40K miles are in the mid $50K range. Some may be less, but I'm guessing they've had more than one owner, no service history and no balance of a warranty.

I considered an S55, but owned an E55, so the twin turbo S600 was a natural progression.