brtuffli

I have enjoyed this thread and both sides make valid points. There is absolutely no way that one can know ahead of time if one is going to be dollars ahead or behind at the end of the warranty period. No matter how much research, watchdog-article reading, and forum searching you do, it’s still a crap shoot. It truly comes down to peace of mind: how much risk are you comfortable with? Can you afford to fix a multi-thousand dollar problem? As mentioned many times in this forum, if you can’t, you shouldn't own these cars. Even if you’re not convinced you will save money by NOT buying an extended warranty, maybe you’ll sleep better with one, and that can be difficult to put a dollar value on. Potentially expensive repairs are a fact-of-life with these cars. I’ve owned them since the 90s, and had cars with expensive problems, and cars that have been essentially problem free.

On the subject of Mercedes Roadside Assistance, I've only bought one of my cars from the dealership, but have had consistently positive results with MRA on all of them, so apparently Mercedes doesn’t care where you bought your car. Admittedly, I have mostly used them to tow a car to the dealer, whom I paid to repair the car, but was never charged for the tow. Indeed, when my S550 refused to start while on a trip in Valdosta, Georgia, Mercedes towed the car 80 miles to the dealer in Tallahassee, Florida, with no charge for the tow. Another time, they showed up for a dead battery, hot-shotted me and sent me on my way, no charge.