wangsauce

Hi everyone - I am looking into a used S550 for occasional weekend driving / errands and have come across an 2007 S550 that was a corporate car for a dealer in TX. It was sold at auction to another dealer, where it is for sale right now. The price is around 9K for ~150K miles, which I know, is probably not a great idea but after reviewing the Carfax, maintenance appears to be spot-on and I'm assuming that it, being a Corporate car, may possibly make it be well-maintained? Although my gut would tell me any corporate car is likely to be beat on.

The VIN lookup has showed this does not have the engine code for the problematic engine drive shaft issues of the early 2007 models, so this makes the car feel attractive. Honestly, this is more of a weekend toy than a necessary mode of transportation, so I feel this could possibly work.

I'm not located near the dealer that has this vehicle and I am planning on a PPI to take place in a week or so but wanted the opinions of those on this sub. Should I run away or could it be worthwhile to look into this more?

chassis

A 14 year old high mileage complex German car should be viewed with caution.

You are not near the selling dealer, correct? Greater level of caution required. It’s not unusual that these cars don’t age well.

Maintenance might be well documented, or it might not be. Caution.

Is there another car for $9k that will serve your needs? Is a 14 year old high mileage S-Class your bucket list car?

hyperion667

Welcome to the forum
To answer you question:
run away.

vettebk

If, and only if, you have $9K for the purchase and also an additional $5K to pay for probable repairs; then go for it. If you don't really have the extra $5K, run away.

I love my S600 but it is expensive to maintain.

places

Beat on or not, 150K on an S class is enough to concern me. One repair can sink you. Too many complexities.

EasyPhil

If you can fix your own car and have a star diagnostic system and you can get the price down to $6K, that would be a good deal provided the car is in excellent condition with all of the options you want. I bought a 2007 4 years ago with 184K miles for $10K and still have it.

DaleB

And I'll say this... Never... EVER believe a single word you hear about who previously owned a car, or what it was used for. You know, every single beat up POS on your local used car lot was owned by a little old lady who only used it for highway trips to see her grandkids, right?

If it was owned and used by a dealership, then my guess would be it was used as a loaner, parts runner, or whatever. It most certainly was not the boss' pampered pride and joy. Not a 2007. So it's just a 15 year old car (not 14; it was likely built in 2006 and certainly more than 14 years ago) with high mileage and not a stellar reputation for graceful, trouble-free aging. @vettebk is correct, buy it only if you are OK with spending at least another $5K on repairs during your first year as you figure out what was neglected and/or worn out by previous owners.

MBCO

Let me add to the discussion from a different point of view. Life is too short and precious to deny oneself the little pleasures in life. Like those that driving an sclass can bring. So if OP wants it then he should.

Getting a PPI hopefully at another dealer will give him the baseline. Be sure it includes the VMI (inventories of all parts replaced on the car and date and mileage). These cars like new parts so be prepared for it. On my 2012 W221 I spent 1500 on motor and transmission mounts, 1000 on control arms in 2 years 14,000 miles. Replaced 2 speed sensors diy. This expenditure is on a 1 owner dealer maintained car, I have the records and VMI.
You will need to maintain the fluids and filters as prescribed in the owners manual. If maintenance is proper, there is no reason 250k plus can be achieved without engine and transmission replacement. These bodies and interiors are high quality and last.

Good luck and keep us posted.

DaleB

@MBCO is correct, and I didn't mean for my post to sound negative. The cars are wonderful, just don't expect a cheap ownership experience, and certainly don't expect this (or ANY) used car to live up to its billing from the person trying to sell it to you. Eyes wide open... it doesn't matter if it's a 2007 S-class, a '62 VW, a 2015 Toyota, or a two year old Porsche. Unless you're buying it from a very close friend or relative, you have no idea where it's been or how it's been driven and maintained. Caveat emptor. Get a pre-purchase inspection, and certainly (obviously) not by the selling dealer or previous owner. Even with that, be prepared for the next thing or three that's going to break.

The reward will be in the driving of it. Just don't think of it as a $9K car, think of it as a $20K car that you get to pay for in installments of unknown size and timing.

EasyPhil

If you are a DIY guy, motor and transmission mounts will cost you less than $500, that's the price of the OEM (Corteco) parts.

MBCO

My indies did the work, without a hoist those 4 matic engine mounts are tough.

EasyPhil

Having done this job on the street, I disagree.

wangsauce

Hey folks -- really appreciate the input and perspectives here. The S550 is a nod to a stepfather who I no longer can see or communicate with because he got me into cars and really loved the S class. This is what's driving my desire to at least experience something like this. I don't see myself owning this for a very long time but just want to know what its like and I do appreciate the perspective of being prepared for another 5K in repairs in the year of ownership. That's to be expected and makes sense as a "long-term" cost of ownership with repair installments.

It's not a primary mode of transportation and is just for something fun, so I thought this particular car could be interesting. I think I'll move forward with the PPI to see what they uncover.

EasyPhil

Keep in mind that a lot of these comments and cost estimates are from people that are using independent mechanics to do the work and aren't doing all of the work themselves. There's nothing wrong with that approach but if your mechanical aptitude is high you have to take that into consideration.

wangsauce

True, Phil. Although I am in the camp as well. I don't have a space to work on cars so would be relying on other mechanics.

hyperion667

Well, if you're looking for something fun, why not get an AMG, or even some type of exotic? What is fun about the led sled that the S class is? It's a boat man!

Snake_Eyes

HA! I love it!

Kammie

Did I miss a memo or something on the 550? An s with 150k miles is high mileage and should not even be considered? I would definitely go check it out and do a good ppi with star read out. Then again I would always go check out at least 4 or 5 cars of the same model and never get the first one you see.

MBCO

Agree with all posts here. Definitely look around. Plenty of W221 with that mileage around. Make sure you love the colors and equipment and options. Many times a very well appointed with options comes around and non MB dealers don't know the difference . I got lucky and found a designo paint and interior with bang and olufsen sound among other goodies that msrp total 130k. 98k was base price w221 in 2012. GM dealer priced very close to the base model so my good fortune.

have you run your vin at lastvin.com it will give you the build sheet on the car.

ps. Easy Phil tip of the mechanic hat to you on the motor mounts replace on the street. Hopefully the weather cooperated.

Roman Savelyev

Stay away...... Unless you can comfortably afford the car, as in you are spending 75% of your car fund to buy the car, and the remaining money saved for emergency repairs, or you are capable of comfortably fixing the car yourself, specifically electrical problems. I found in most cases it is the labour that kills. I do work on my car myself, I had a few odd dealer only part electrical problems where I dished out some money for parts, but all in all usually the problems were all labour intensive with little parts cost. A good example, although not my car is my acquaintance's 2011 GL350 that has an oil cooler leak. ALL the parts as per mercedes quote to get the job done is around 400$ where I live, yet they quoted the labour to be around 2800$. I've done the same job on a diesel E class in about a day or so.

An example of this with my car would be when I had to change the power steering harness due to some serious issues I had. All in all took me about 2 days to take apart my interior as the harness goes from the front right corner of the car, through the interior, and out to the front SAM. I'd imagine dealer would charge me at least 1000$ for the labour not to mention diagnostics, while the part only cost 120$. And I do drive a 2010 S450 (canadian model) with high mileage. All the current problems in my car are all electrical.