matnath

Hello everyone.




In the past I've owned an 82 300SD 88 420SEL 89 560SEL and a 95 S320SWB.. All bought when they were between 6 and 10 years old. I took a break for about 5 years after I sold the S320 (went American) but business has been good and I decided to jump back into the M-Benz world.


Though I have the money for an older model W221 I've always wanted a W220 so I bought this 03 S430 with 120k miles on it as a short term quick fix for my Mercedes Benz "itch"... And I couldn't believe how cheap they've become...I've had it for 4 months and realy have not seen any warning signs but I'm worried that .....in general... I may have bought a ticking time bomb but I only drive around 500 miles a month.. I'm debating just selling it and upgrading to a 221. An 07 or 08 is all I can afford for now, so here are my questions.


What can I expect for repairs on this 220? I do not have vehicle history,, it only cost me $8,000 so I just paid for it and drove it off based on instinct and past benz driving experience.. The car is solid... BUT the mileage worries me... My research shows that the trouble areas are usually in the transmission and airmatic... What are my worst case repair costs if one or both need repair? For example old forums from a few years ago show a trannie can be 7k but today ... Sept 2014.. What am I looking at if it becomes necessary? I am NOT a DIY repair guy and so will have to use an INDY mechanic. What else usually goes wrong with these that can cost over $700 to fix? I'm not too concerned about stuff under that.


I have located a few very low mileage 07 S550's *(less than 50k) but these cars are $25,000. (I don't like to finance my cars so 25k is my max for now). The Revision 2010 S550 is another $10k *(they are pricing at around $35k with 50k on them). I won't go that high ...Not yet.




Question two is why is there such a large price diff from an 06 220 and 07 221 with the same mileage? It seems to be about $10k to $15k depending on the color and upgrades. Is the 221 that much better made or a more reliable car than the 220 over the years? What are the repair pitfalls of these cars and how much do THEY Cost now? I am comparing an 06 S500 to an 07 S550 by the way as a low mileage 06 S500 may also be in the cards....(BTW what do you guys think about the 06 S600... RUN AND HIDE???) Can the first gen 221's be better than the best 220's by that much of a margin? I own a computer re-selling business.. I am not interested in 2007 or even 2010 technology as... to me.. they are both obsolete now anyway. Gadgets are as important to me as reliability and long term cost of ownership. Though some 221 gadgets are pretty cool Park assist, rear view camera and night vision. But the last thing I want to do is spend another 20 grand for the car and than have another 5 grand in repairs!


I'm trying to get the best educated guess/ Forecast of whether I should just take a chance and keep my S430 for the next couple of years OR should I sell/trade it for an 07 or 08 low mileage S550? Since I would be paying that extra money to pick up a 221 I would want to keep it for at least 4 or 5 years.. What am I looking at for repairs on "IT" during that time frame... I have one on hold at a dealer with only 34,000 miles but it's an 07 S550... I'm not that keen to buy the first year of a Benz Body style but many forums say they got it rite on this one due to a long thorough beta test period using over 2,000 prototypes and test drivers.


Don't pull any punches with your advise. Give it to me straight!

Quadcammer

realistically, the number of problems that could cost over $700 to fix is so lengthy I'm not taking the time to go through it.

The short version...air suspension, transmission, replacing a few control arms, electronics problems, etc. DIY, a lot of this stuff is reasonable, add even indy labor costs and you're in trouble.


I guess I don't quite understand what it is you're doing.

You bought a 220 because you always wanted one, but did so on impulse and for a lot less than your budget. But you bought the lowest level one with a fair number of miles.

It seems to me like you didn't really give the 220 a fair shot here.

If I was you and I was committed to a w220, I would have spent some more time researching and bought an 06 S500 with some goodies and low miles. They can be easily had for less than $25k.

At this point I'm not sure what I can recommend here other than that both a 220 and 221 can cause you a number of unexpected, and frighteningly expensive repairs. So, if you prefer the 221, get that. I don't think they look as nice or have quite the same feel, but they are solid cars.

I guess drive this car for a while and see if you really want a w220 and go from there.

matnath

Thanks for the response.


My intention was to buy a lower mileage 220 S500... Unfortunately the 3 that I test drove had issues I detected during the test drive one of them had a transmission issue that was so obvious I nearly reported the dealer to the better business bureau.


I than ran out of time that week and found the 430 I now own.. My business and my family take up a lot of my time and my wife is pregnant so I didn't want to keep searching and this 430 was $2,500 under the Kelly Blue book... So I couldn't resist...


The 430 is fine but the price mileage combo just tells me to be weary. How often do major systems, ex transmission and airmatic need to be rebuilt? It seems like whoever had this S430 may have recently done a trannie as it is rock solid and smooth and I have No leaks anywhere. Not even from the engine.. I may be very lucky with this car and maybe should just count my blessings. You never know.

Quadcammer

gonna have to go ahead and disagree on the price point. KBB says the fair purchase price is about $6,240.

matnath

You are quoting the KBB dealer trade in value for what I would get if I traded it in. When I bought it 5 months ago with 117k on it, the KBB value for what I should pay to a dealer was just over $10,000.


I appreciate your responses. Please respond if you can answer my Brief revisal of what I said above:


Put simply, Is it worth $20,000 in cash to upgrade from an 03 S430 with 120k to an 07 S550 with only 32k considering the probably maintenance and repairs for both models?


I hope someone who has already done this can respond with a resounding yeah or neah!

tusabes

Keep your current car

Forget the s550. It has abc suspension which is more problems than airmatic

If you simply maintain your current car you'll enjoy it. There are very cheap fixes for the common transmission conductor leak and cheap fixes for most w220 problems

Also forget the s600. They have both abc suspension and coil pack problems which are 4 figure repairs

lganski

I have a 2006 S430 4Matic which now has 249K miles on it. I am very pleased with this car even though I have done a number of repairs on it. I plan on keeping it as long as I can. The longer I own it the less it owes me. Here is the way I look at it. You can pay a dealer for the cost of a newer car hoping that it won't need extensive repairs or you can take part of that money you were going to give the dealer and put it into repairs. Being a DIY'er is a huge advantage. So far except for the front drive shaft (love those no maintenance bearings) everything I have replaced was a wear item. Airmatic compressor (caused by a bad relay), alternator, PS pump, water pump, front ball joints and bushings, TPM sensors, rotors and pads 2 times, a few tune-ups from my indy, plus the regular TLC needed for PM. All these items and more are covered on this forum. Also you can "head off" potential failures before they happen just by reading what is here. An example would be the problem caused by a leaky trans connector. You know how to identify the problem and what to do about it. Regular PM is key.

Quadcammer

S550 (both 221 and 222, for that matter) has the choice of ABC and airmatic, same as the w220.

Quadcammer

Actually, I didn't. The price I quoted was dealer retail (about $6,300). Private party sale is about $6,100 in excellent condition, about $5,800 in very good condition. Trade in value is about $4,600.

Anyway, whats done is done.

As to your question...yes, I would upgrade.

mercy-me

If you should decide in the future to upgrade to a low mileage early '07 S550, be sure to get one with engine serial number beyond 088611 as early M273 motors had an idler gear issue. See attachment.

You did good with the purchase of the '03 facelift model you have. If it were me, I would drive this one for a year or two before moving to something newer. These are great cars and as has been mentioned, with a little PM can be a great experience. 120k miles is nothing on these cruisers.

I think that I will stay with Mercedes myself from now on and let the first couple of owners take the depreciation hit in the early years. They do drop in price dramatically in the first 4-5 years. (What huge bang for your buck for the later buyers!)

Good luck,

Bob