jwc

Hi guys,
I'm thinking of upgrading my 03 E to and S500 due to the new addition coming into our lives in March (baby for those who couldn't figure that out). However, I'm concerned with its reliability considering all the ticky tack problems I had with my 03 E. What's your consensus on the S? I do not really want the new one at this point. Thanks!

Oxygen

I actually laughed out loud when I read that!

jwc

glad I could get a chuckle out of that...
so how is the W220?

gtig

Get a warranty. A 48x48 (48mos, 48k miles) warranty (with $100 deduction per incident) should run you under $3,000 if the car has less than 50k miles on it. If it is over 50k miles... it will be hard (or impossible) to get a 48/48, and you will want to get a 36/36. These (depending on brand and level of service) should cover any/all issues in the car (except where you actually break something).

If you can't get it for under $3000.. then you are being ripped off. In fact, my warranty was WAY under that price. If you want... contact me and I will put you in contact with someone (I don't know if he works outside of Seattle, but can check) that will sell you a killer warranty.

When you get the new car... take pics and post them!!!

jwc

Any weird issues with the W220 though? For example, my E pulled to the right despite being aligned correctly..the radio would go out, the AC blower would shut off etc...

Thanks again!

newton22

Hit or miss. A few W220s are dead reliable and some others that live in the shop. Get warranty and acquire all records and history.

ProV1

no offense but if reliability is your primary factor then skip the W220 unless you can buy the b2b full warranty. you'll be kicking yourself when you get slammed w/ the repair bills.

if you want more room, get a CPO S-class or a lexus LS

jwc

what's a CPO S class?
LS is so boring to drive.

whoover

CPO, certified preowned, is called Starmark by MB dealers. The car comes with one year longer than the original warranty (which makes 60 months from the original delivery date) and the mileage limit bumped to 100K miles. Of course, like all warranties, it's whichever (time or miles) comes first.

If you buy a Starmark (again -- only MB dealers sell Starmarked cars, and not all their used cars are Starmarks), you also get to buy a one or two year time extension. That gives you six or seven years from original delivery or 100K miles, whichever comes first. Starmarked cars cost more than non-Starmarked used cars at the dealer, which cost more than used cars acquired other ways. And the one or two year extensions aren't cheap either. But it's buying peace of mind, which is very valuable with these cars.

I bought a Starmark S55 with two-year extension. It certainly paid for itself many times over. Yes, things break on these cars and they're very expensive to fix. I've never had any questions asked with the Starmark. I always had the same service as if it were the original factory warranty.

When I traded the car with almost a year left on the extension, the factory even refunded most of the second-year premium. That was a very pleasant surprise but I understand it won't happen in all states.

I would never own a W220 without some factory coverage, but they're great cars.

blackE55

+1

If repair issues rack your brain, yes, think "Lexus". Entry price might be reasonable, but you gotta pay to play.

kenstudios

Dont let the S class scare you. For every bad there's a good. It's true some have reliability issues but you never hear of those that don't. People tend to report the bad and say stay away from the S class but the same applies to any used car that you buy. There will be some kind of repair down the line. I would buy one with the factory warranty remaining on it and purchase the extended from a reliable company (Some will burn you). Also remember that the newer the ride the better the reliability factor. 04-06 seems to be the best. True we had airmatic problems but over the years we've learned how to deal with it. There are plenty of people on this site with 00-02 that have never had problems with their cars, but you don't too much hear about them. If you plan right you'll have a good car. Ensure you ask for the maintenance record, carfax report and have that car checked out well.
I had numerous problems when I used to babysit my car but now that I really push it hard, no problems out of it. It's been 25K miles of pure fun. Good luck with your purchase and keep us posted.

Skylaw

The following post has a number of imbeddded links on the topic. http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w220...questions.html

jwc

Thanks guys that helps a ton. I found a CPO 06 S500 with 6.5K miles for 64K from an MB dealer..not too shabby right?

whoover

Sounds pretty nice. There a quite a few around (you can check the inventory at http://www.mbusa.com -- you seem to be in Texas) so you can try to get them to throw in the Starmark extension for their cost. That assumes you'll want to keep the car for a while. You need to find out the delivery date of that car. Don't forget, it could be in 2005. The warranty will run until 5 years from that date unless you get the one or two year extension. They retail for $2,400 and $4,000 respectively but there's a fair mark-up and the dealer will often give you a deep discount on the warranty extension to close the deal.

Skylaw

Not too shabby - RIGHT!!!

jwc

I checked out the S500 and discovered it wasn't as big as I thought (still bigger than the E though). Now I'm contemplating the 750Li and LS460...we'll see though..