netienne

I just read the ELW Agreement and I see the following in the Exclusions section....

"OTHER: ..... shock absorbers and struts."

Perhaps someone with more experience with Extended Limited Warranty can clarify/confirm for me,

1. under Extended Limited Warranty the Airmatic struts are NOT covered under warranty? I ask, because ive thought I read that owners have indeed gotten the struts replaced under ELW. But perhaps I am mistaken.

2. under the New Vehicle Limited Warranty are the Airmatic struts covered?

The Thomas J

Thank you for sharing.

The Thomas J

I have never seen and ELW that covers air suspension.

ClasseMiaMadra

Hi all. In the last stages of the process to get a rebuilt 2012 S550 4matic with 72k. The car appears to be in excellent shape mechanically. The damage was only on the rear driver side body and it seems the reason it was salvaged was the cost to repair rather than the extent of the damage. Was planning on getting an exclusionary warranty policy but I was told by the carchex rep that it is not possible to obtain one for a rebuilt title car. Any thoughts or options anyone can share are appreciated.

DaveW68

Nobody will warranty a branded title car. And with that car with a pre-accident value of close to $40k, with the insurance company totaling it because estimated cost of "correct" repairs likely surpassed $30k, I'd stay the hell away from that car....even though it may "appear" to be a good deal. Somebody likely picked up that wreck at auction for $15k, put $8k in cheap repairs done by a guy named Vlad whose shop would likely scare you away from ever buying anything that ever entered it, and then trying to sell it on to some unsuspecting sap who thought it looked nice and was getting a good deal compared to a car that had never sustained a major collision.

ClasseMiaMadra

Thank you for the common sense advise. Normally I would be a +1. But there are details. I chose that car from the auctioneers and my buddy who is in the business bid it for me. Was not a wreck by any means. Everyone is actually wondering why it got salvaged as the car is really really clean. Parts MSRPs were pretty steep but there are other options. My buddy had the work done and overseen and the car is now ready for inspection Based on the postings I read on the boards though coverage is a must, especially since my mechanic, (Eugene in Woodside, NY for those who know) is kinda far for me to visit.

Interesting observation btw, at least to me, I also drive a Lexus. The MB board is full of "my this lit up, my that came on, my other needs replacement" and so on. The Lexus board on the other hand is almost boring. People have no problems to report but once in a blue moon and most threads are just pics, praises or esoteric adjustments and mods. I often smile remembering that guy whose "big" issue was that things rattled in the door pockets and that he got so upset that he started looking and found after market mats that solved his problem. OMG...

DaveW68

It sounds like you've sold yourself on this car. That's fine, but expect a slew of upcoming repairs coming your way with that mileage....as that's around the time where lots of expensive items start to go wrong. Read through the forum and you'll see how expensive it can get. A warranty is pretty much a must unless you have an unlimited budget for repairs....which I'm guessing you don't since you're interested in a cheaper branded title car. And even if a warranty were available on that car, with that mileage, exclusionary coverage would be expensive. It makes much more sense to suck it up, spend more money on a non-branded, lower mileage car with warranty coverage, and enjoy peace of mind. Over a period of 3 years, the higher priced warrantied car will likely cost you less than the car you want to buy. Plus the resale value will be substantially higher when it's time to sell or trade.

Visit this thread to see how expensive repairs can be, even on a very low mileage S-class: https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ms-thread.html

Regarding Lexus, I've owned 4 LS's and a GS400 over the years. Without a doubt, great cars. While they are known for their legendary reliability and lower cost of repairs, they are not problem free. I was a frequent contributor to the Lexus boards over the years and most of the threads were about things breaking and how to do repairs without having to pay dealer prices. It seems that all forums follow that same theme. When it comes to MB, and especially the S-class, these cars are needlessly complex and over-engineered, making them costly to maintain and repair. But the driving experience and comfort is much better than the Lexus LS460. If you really want to see a very impressive S-class than no Lexus can touch, have a test drive in an S600. It might quickly draw you away from the S550.

YCHU

Hi Guys,
Long time viewer and first time posting.
I have 08 S550 with 27000 miles. I've got the car from a friend when it had only 7000 miles in June of 2016. I've since done Oil Changes(every 5000 miles), Transmission Service, Transmission Mount, Front Brakes, rear Tires, Spark Plugs, Fuel Filter and Air Filter. I've done some of them as preventive maintenance since the car is 8 years old even with low miles. I've been reading this thread and have been thinking about purchasing 3rd party warranty but still can't decide on. I've got a quote from Hal Moses, who I've found in this thread, at $4000 for 4Yr/60000Miles, Component Type Bumper to Bumper Coverage. Also, there is another plan at $4697 for 3Yr/36000 miles, Bumper to Bumper Plus Coverage which spells out the parts that are not covered. My car runs and looks excellent just like any car with 27000 miles should be. I've planned to keep this car for over 100,000 miles but I'm now having a second thought about keeping that long. I'll be leaning toward trading it for newer ones in 3 to 4 years and it will have about 60,000 miles. I'd like get your opinions as to what should I do with 3rd party warranty.
Thank you in advance for your advice.

DaveW68

So you've put 20k miles on your car in only 6 months? At that rate, you'll hit 100k miles 2 years from now. A 3/36 warranty would only cover you for 1 year. You might want to think about picking on a cheap Honda as your daily driver and save your Benz for weekends.

YCHU

Sorry, I've meant June of 2015. Also, I had someone use the car from June 2016 to Dec 2016 which brought mileage to 20000 from 7000. My wife drives it now for about 12000 miles/yr.

DaveW68

Buy a good exclusionary warranty to cover you for at least the next 4-5 years (if you think you'll keep the car that long. With your low mileage, you should be able to find a reasonably priced policy that should cover you for as long as you need. It's probably best to purchase the longest available policy that you can, even if don't think you'll keep the car that long. Almost all policies are transferable and can add nice resale value to the car when you're ready to sell as the next owner likely would not be able to find a reasonably priced policy.

YCHU

Thanks Dave,
Do you recommend any particular company for warranty?
Which companies should I contact for a quote?

DaveW68

I purchased mine through Baxter Credit Union. You would have to live in the Chicago area to buy through them (which seems to be the best deal for coverage and premium, especially with low starting mileage). But I know another member purchased the exact same policy I have through another source and that info is here on the forum somewhere. I'll do some digging and see if I can find it.

DaveW68

OK....the company that sold the same policy that I have is Carchex Direct. You'd want to take the Titanium package that is administered through "The Warranty Group". You can pick your deductible and terms. I believe that they also offer free or cheap financing of their policies.

https://www.carchex.com/auto-warranty/

kn51

Yeah Carchex will give you a total price which they will spread across over a shorter term of months versus the warranty term and they will bill you monthly. Or pay it all at once and they knock off around 10% or so.

And as Dave said, do not underestimate the repair costs.

Mike5215

Yeah, it's impossible to really get the most out of an S Class ownership experience if you're always waiting for the next shoe to drop. A good warranty is the best kind of luxury on a 221/216.

YCHU

Thank you all for your advice.
I've just contacted Carchex, but they no longer offer extended warranty on S550 in California. I think they've lost a carrier in CA.
I've checked with Assurant but I can't get membership with USSA since I have no ties with military. Is there other reputable 3rd party warranty company?
I can still go with Hal Moses, Auto Advantage Inc, for which I've listed plans in my initial posting here. Has anyone purchased warranty from him?
Is it better to get Exclusionary Bumper to Bumper Coverage than Component Type Bumper to Bumper Coverage for $700 more but with one year less and 24000 miles less in coverage.
Component Type Bumper to Bumper coverage spells out what's covered and it appears that covers most parts, but I don't know what can be missing. And I'm not sure why it only covers axle shafts on front wheel drive vehicles.
Again, thank you in advance for all your comments.

DaveW68

There's no such thing as a named component bumper-to-bumper warranty. The only type of policy that you should consider on a Benz is an exclusionary policy. Most of the things that go wrong with an S-class would not be covered by a named component policy. Be sure to get a copy of the actual policy and read through the entire thing so that you know what the exclusions are prior to purchasing.

Donnymac

You might check with an established Credit Union. They offer different plans to their members and those issuers have generally been thoroughly vetted by the CU for the benefit of the members. My 3rd party is thru a CU. Have never used it and mileage sits at 75k. Good luck.

DaveW68

Yes, mine too. I was very fortunate that mine offered a 7 year, 75k exclusionary policy with $100 deductible on an S600 for only $3300. I've only had it for just over 2 years and it's already paid out 4x what I paid for the policy. Amazingly, they also cover the S63 and S65 at the same price, where most companies won't touch anything over a V8 or AMG car. The only caveat to buying a policy through them is that you must live in the Chicagoland area to join the credit union, or have a family member (parent, sibling, or cousin) who lives in this area, who would have to join the credit union and you can purchase it through them. But you'd have to put the full cost of the policy into their account so the credit union could withdrawal the funds to pay for it. No payment plans allowed.

1bad540

wow 7 yrs for $3300, sounds like a deal.

DaveW68

I agree. But my car only had 24k miles when I purchased it. The higher the mileage, the more costly and less available years/miles you can get.

YCHU

Mine currently has 27000 miles, and if i can't find warranty for 4 years for $4000 to $4500, i'm going to take chance with Mercedes without warranty.
I'm planning to keep the car for about 3 more years, 35000 miles, and the odds for spending more than $5000 should be slim. I've had numerous ML and E class MB for the last 20 years and none of them had any real big issues. Also, I currently have 2004, G500 with 170,000 miles, which I drive everyday and didn't have any issues for the last few years. I can also deal with most issues where I don't have to have STAR and/or lift cars.

DaveW68

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...-thread-2.html

Go to post #37 for latest update. Do you have any family in Chicago or its suburbs? If so and if the family member is willing to help, you can purchase a warranty through the credit union I used.

superpop

Good luck, I have had my S550 4Matic for around 14 months now and it had 26K miles on it and was 3 years old at the time. I spent 3400 on an elw through MB and I am already at about the halfway point on repairs at around 1700 so far covered. 2 O2 sensors, reverse cam wiring issue, and a few other things and it adds up. I still expect more problems but I drive mine like I stole it. I will sell mine at the warranty end date or just before as I don't want to risk a major repair.