sam99

I am thinking of buying a 2008 MB S550 with just 15,000 miles on it; is there any value to it in 3 years from now or better to buy a newer model like 2011-2012 but with high miles like 67-90K miles?
I am getting 100K miles extended warranty with the 2008 model. I drive about 1300 miles per month. I have read a lot of negative things about S550 once it has high miles and due to many bells and whistles, many parts go bad.

aeggroup

There is always a value, but the question is - how much : If you get it for the right price - I'd do it. I just got 2010 with 43K original miles and love it. Try to buy extended warranty for your piece of mind if possible.

DaveW68

Even though that car has very low miles, things are bound to go wrong with it because of age. If you can get the car for a great price and get the warranty (make sure it's an exclusionary policy), then absolutely do that instead of the newer but higher mileage car.

EasyPhil

IMO, the lower mileage older car would not be the best buy if it's the same price as the higher mileage newer car. The newer car has many improvements with respect to the entertainment system and redesigned parts.

John Choi

The car be worth about half of current KBB price in 3 years. Most likely it will lose 50% or more since the extended warranty will be no longer offered.

sam99

Thanks everyone for your opinions. I am buying it from Carmax with up to 125K miles extended warranty( 60 months) which is not expensive in compare to Mercedes Benz dealers extended warranty.
Due to Panorama roof and $2k Chrome wheels, the price is $27k, plus $3200 for extended warranty. The original owner paid $92k new for this car and been serviced at the MB dealer.
A 2010 or 2011 model with 65k to 88k miles will cost $24-$28k plus a short extended warranty and some dealers don't even offer extended warranty for high mileage cars.
A 2007 model with 44k to 60k miles will cost $24k.

DaveW68

I hate to be the bearer of bad news. But if you paid $27k for a 2008 S550, you got royally bent over, even with only 15k miles. A 2007 model with those 44 to 60k miles is worth around $18k dealer retail. The warranty is good, but the price of the car is at least $5k too high. On older cars, options carry very little value. Those chrome wheels and pano roof likely add no more than $100 value to the car.

superpop

Holy smokes, don't do it. you are being raped for anything above 26K with the warranty. Mileage is not the issue here but the age of the car and the amount of time it has probably sat. It is a 10 year old car so that is only about 1500 miles a year. Sitting is not good for these cars. You could get a nice 2012 with the TT V8 for around 30K and a warranty for a few grand more.

BigFrizDog

I just bought a 2010 S550 4MATIC for 26,500 otd 80k on the clock. A 24 month exclusionary warranty is expensive, between 6-7k depending on deductible (100, 250, or 500)
No way the Carmax warranty they are offering you is exclusionary.
I think you would be better off buying 2010 or newer higher mileage car.

The Thomas J

I agree with my fellow posters. $27 grand is highway robbery. Don't do it. Look At a 2010 model and up and go from there. By 2010 they had virtually all the issues worked out of the model and the known issues have permanent repairs/.

aeggroup

It's your money and you can decide what to do, but I just bought 2 weeks ago 2010 with 43K miles from MB dealer for $26,900 plus tax plus $3K for 2 years/24K miles warranty.

1bad540

**** i traded my 2010 diamond white/black w amg and pana roof into dealer 2 mos ago and they had it on the lot for 26900 had 50k miles and flawless.That was a benz dealer too.

DaveW68

It is very possible that the Carmax warranty is exclusionary, even at $3200. The Carmax plans are run through the exact same company that the warranty I had on my S600 was. And that policy kicked ***. Starting mileage has a huge effect on the cost of those policies. Plus, Carmax is making so much juice on their no-haggle prices and sell so many cars that their warranty company can afford to offer their policies at a deep discount.

1bad540

Is it white on black?

aeggroup

No, black on black, not yours I got it from the dealer in MA.

1bad540

woulda been cool! LOL I saw you were in Ny too.

sam99

Thanks everyone for your inputs. The color os the S class was Black(Chromit) on Black with a panorama roof.
You are right, even though the mileage was low, all the rubbers around the windows were coming off.
Then I spoke to an MB mechanic of 35 years. He said if a car is worth $100k and you pay $30K, there is a room of $70k to repair that car. He said the S class has many computers and all will go bad and only
a question of time. He said the only way to get this car is to lease it new and then do not keep it. The same goes for BMW 750i which the valve gasket costs $15k at the dealer.

Anyhow, I found myself a super clean 2012 ML350 4Mattic with only 19K miles and that been serviced at the MB dealer all the way up to the 40k mile service.

1bad540

valve cov er gaskets dont cost 15k.lol

aeggroup

You should do whatever makes you happy. On the other hand - listening to your mechanic you should buy Toyota Camry or something equivalent and even that can potentially break and cost big money to repair.
If you think that ML is cheap to fix - you can be unpleasantly surprised.
Congrats on your new purchase and enjoy it.

The Thomas J

MB is not a bad car. There are many things that can go wrong. It doesn't mean that it will. When MB entered into the partnership with Chrysler quality went way down for MB but way up for Chrysler. Why do you think that is? The technology swap hurt MB in the beginning. Once they got out of the bad deal they made their quality went back up between 2007 and 2010. The 2007 and up E class became near bulletproof, the 2010 S class is near bulletproof too. Congrats on your purchase. Enjoy it but, try to get some third-party coverage for it. You will thank me. Also, establish a relationship with a dealer NOW. Don't wait for a major issue to bring it in. My dealer won't even take on a new customer with a major issue that will exceed $2500 unless they agree to pay cash for the repair. There are signs on each service writers desk about it. My guy told me they get too many credit card chargebacks from new or fairly new customers on major repairs.