scott727

MTrauman, since you’ve owned MBs for over 30 years you would probably know better than anyone. How many times have you had a repair that cost over $2,000? (Other than the gas tank). And what model had the problems? Thanks

MTrauman

Clearly not every service is over $2000 but more frequently than you might think. For example, last month the car my son drives (2013 E350 4matic) was in the shop. The bill was $1866 (oil leak getting into a wiring harness). I do have the local MB dealer do all my service work. Yes you might be able to reduce the cost by doing service at an Indy shop but I buy many MB cars so by doing service at my local dealer provides huge benefits to me in many ways. For example, I have purchased three new S Classes since 2014 with the most recent being a ‘19 S63 AMG as well as three used E classes since 2014 from the same dealer with much ability to negotiate on price since they service all my MBs as well.

I can even think back to 1995 when I had a 1987 300E. In 1995 I remember a difficult situation I had on the 300E. I remember spending over $2500 (in 1995) on fixing a leak in the air conditioning system. If one is going to have these cars outside of warranty one better be prepared for some much higher repair bills.

Wolfman

Edmunds listed maintenance costs are literally impossible numbers on the S-Class. There is no way to have an annual maintenance of over $8k. Maintenance accounts for service and consumables (brakes, tires). The S550 is cheap on all those accounts. $2-3k would be pushing it at most.
If one disregards any warranty coverage whatsoever, only repairs could be expensive. The S550 has a relatively easy care engine, so suspension or electronic modules would be likely culprits.
Even MTrauman's listed suspension issue for $10k is one that could either be done for less via an Indy (assuming 4 struts/pump for approx. 40%) or via MB covering the parts costs. MB will cover partial repair costs on out-of-warranty cars if under 7 years 70k miles upon request. But for the sake of argument $5k+ for repairs are not a stretch.

scott727

I’ve owned a bmw so sounds like these costs aren’t too much different than that. For example one set of brakes was 1500 and had to do that twice. Also had a couple of 2-3 k repairs. I’m probably either going to get an E300 or an S550 so wondering given your actual experiences if the S550 will really be that much more to keep up than an E300. The problem is I drove an S550 and I have never experienced anything like it before! I can see why you guys are fanatics about these cars.

superpop

A lot of the variance on maint seems to be based on your ability and desire to do the work yourself or paying someone to do the work. Dealer wanted over 2K to do my brakes on all 4 wheels. I did it myself for around 800 in parts and I did all new MB rotors, ceramic pads, all new HW and a fluid flush using MB fluid. Pretty easy to do and I knocked it out in a few hours on a Sat. I have an Indy for oil changes just because I do not want to deal with the mess of an oil change and most of the other maint items are very easy to do.

MBNUT1

See that is the thing. You would be foolish to buy one these cars used without a warranty unless you love it so much that you are prepared to pay big ($5K+) repair bills or are able to manage the costs with a combination of DIY and Indy. And there are certain repairs that that strategy won't save you from. There is no free lunch with these cars. There is a reason they depreciate as much as they do. You won't get the S Class experience at Subaru costs.

superpop

Extended warranties on these cars are nice but expensive. Think of an ELW as an insurance policy. If you are not OK with surprise repair bills than an ELW might make sense for you. Personally I am comfortable doing the basic wrenching myself and going to an indy for bigger stuff. These are fairly reliable cars at this point especially with low miles ( under 50K) so the odds are that you will not use any or all of the warranty but you never know. Same could be said for most any car though.