scott727

I’m seriously considering purchase of CPO S550, 2-3 years old vs CPO E300, 1-2 years old. Will the S550 be as reliable and give me similar longevity as the E300? If different, how much less reliable and/or less mileage will I get out of an S550?

S_W222

Are you serious? The S-class was built as the top of the line for MB, therefore it has the most reliable (not only luxurious) components compared to all other models. Now there are certain components that are shared and same between other models, but as far as overall reliability (if you maintain them) the S-class can take you far more than other models in terms of reliability. The quality is better in general. However, one thing to understand is that your bill will be higher when you visit the mechanic but that's something different than reliability. It also worth mentioning that with a good maintained S-class you would have less visits to the shop as compared to other cars.

Mitch Alsup

My bet is that if you get the car serviced regularly, both will go way over 200K miles, maybe enve 400K miles.

At that point you will be bored with the car and want another one anyway.

hyperion667

I'd say try the 300 first. If this is your first Benz, just test the waters a little....both would be great, if maintained well as Rami said. S would be much more to maintain as far as cost but a lot nicer than an E.

cetialpha5

Plus you're going to get a 4 cylinder turbo 4 in an E300 vs a twin turbo V8 in the S550. If you're going to compare an S550 to an E class, at least compare it to the E400/E450/E43/E53, at least those have V6's in them.

As for reliability, I'm not really sure you can make the case that the S550 is more reliable. The more tech in them like airmatic, the less reliable the car and the S class has a lot more than the E class. But if you get a CPO car, just get the extra 2 year warranty from one of the vendors mentioned in the extended warranty subforum. If the car has some of the original factory warranty left, you could end up with a car that has a warranty for 4-5 years.

JohnDoeMB

If you go with the S550:





You know that 'emergency find' Dave Ramsey talks about. Better make one for your S550 as well, atleast 5K for catastrophic failure of suspension, steering and non wearable. I dropped 2.1k on a horn module and and battery replacement for non functioning aux systems...

But in reality 2.1k is 1.5% of the original MSRP. Picture is parts quote only...

OEM Brake rotors cost $300 each...

Almost everything is proportional to the original MSRP.

If you are an enthusist and are prepared go for it! The joy of owning a majestic S Class far exceeds and monetary desire or need of mine and I'll gladly pay for it's upkeep.

Depreciation having another perspective for me, good thing you are looking at used, might as well flush your money down the drain if you buy it new.

cetialpha5

Basically the S550 is so big, they can see you coming. That Aux battery should list for about $125 at the MB dealer. Should be covered under the original factory warranty, not sure about CPO.

https://parts.mercedesbenzofwappinge...ery-0009829308

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/mer...mer-0009829308

superpop

I purchased a 2015 S550 4Matic with AMG package and original MSRP of 120K for just under half of that amount in 2017. The biggest expense on this car is the depreciation, not maintenance. After the 3rd year they drop about 10K a year until they end up on craigslist. Mine had 17K miles on it and still looked and smelled new. It now has close to 40K trouble free miles, these are very dependable cars but they do require the usual maintenance. You have 3 choices here, do it yourself, find an Indy, or take it to the dealer. Your choice here will determine your cost of ownership. For example, dealer wanted 2400 to do my front and rear brakes with all new parts and labor, I did the exact same thing for around 800 in parts. A good indy would have probably done it for around 1800. Oil changes are around 150 bucks and tires, well you get the picture. If you are comfortable wrenching, these cars are very easy to work on and do all maintenance yourself. The great unknown with any car is the unexpected catastrophic failure of a major component but that is pretty rare, short of that anything after around 2015 is pretty well sorted with regard to the S class.

chuck007

I agree with Superpop, have the same car and so far NO problems except the batteries !!

Utopia Texas

I don’t always believe surveys but this latest one from Consumers Reports has the S Class as the least reliable Mercedes.....
https://www.consumerreports.org/car-...reliable-cars/

S_W222

I respectfully disagree because they list this rank based on an average of less than 3-5 reviews for each car which makes the uncertainty pretty high. These websites care only about subscription to show you the full story and even if you subscribe they have less than 5 reviews for mercedes car which they based all their ranks on (same for other brands)

Utopia Texas

Where are you getting that they only surveyed 5 Mercedes owners? Look at the chart again......

MBNUT1

I rather doubt Mercedes engineers are designing the S Class parts to be any more reliable than they are the E Class parts. Is the switchgear in the S Class higher quality than in an A Class? Probably. Is it more reliable? Maybe, maybe not. In general an S-Class has got more parts so it is more likely to be less reliable. For sure my E Class is more solid, more heavily built and higher quality construction than my wife's Mazda 3 but the Mazda 3 is more reliable. But is a far less complicated car.

S_W222

I know this website. Create and account and subscribe and you'll see the data and what am referring to. then go to S-550 2015 for instance and you'll find this "copied from website": ("Owner Reported Trouble Spots: No Data Available). Then search through the website and u'll find that N/A means there is no sufficient data points in the database for this car. I see 4 history points for the W222 S-class.

I also have access to the W222 table an it shows "N/A" next to almost 95% of the ratings for all 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 W222 cars Then there is this message below:
"NA indicates that we did not receive a large enough sample size to provide data for a specific year."

C280 Sport

I do not trust a 4banger turbo for longevity. The V8 is tried and true. If this was years back with an N/A V6 E Class vs an S Class with the ABC or Airmatic then I would say go for the E Class. Not the case. What was once a V6 now is a 4banger turbo in a heavy car and I personally do not see these things lasting. Lots of weight to tote around.

Remember the reliability and cost of ownership service are not the same. Reliable means does the car go from A-B and back to A? Service cost is how much is the oil change? How much to replace pads/rotors. Quality is how it is made (Materials and things you feel and touch). I personally do not think a car is unreliable if the cars radio broke or the window gets stuck closed.

OnlyGerman

They will both be very reliable, obviously more things to break in the S with the turbo and v8 but still very reliable when compared to other german turbo v8 (just look at bmw)....As others have said the biggest issue is depreciation, so buy used and you'll get a 120k car for the price of a base new e300. The S has come a long way in reliability, it just has a bad name from the haters.. Just get a warranty for some piece of mind, because when the small stuff breaks, it can be expensive..No different in the new E as they have lots of tech too. In all, 2 completely different cars, you would need to figure out which is better in terms of size, fuel efficiency , etc.

FASTTRIP

The guy that wrote the consumer article likes to ride bicycles. , yea I trust his word. He also has the Lexus LS as least reliable Lexus, seems he really don’t know what a flagship car means, or probably never owned one ,I have the S63 and the LS great cars is all I can say.

S_W222

Agreed!.
same here, in addition to the S-class, I also own Lexus LS. I bought my Lexus LS with 110Kmiles on it at that time, and today I have over 240K miles on it. No one believes me when I say this, but I swear that I never took the Lexus LS to a mechanic except for an oil change (and only once for brake+rotors change since then!!). Drove it for 130K miles total (from 110K to 240K miles) with only oil and brake changes.!!! I haven't even changed the timing built (which is crazy and wrong) but now after all these miles I feel like am going to drive it until it dies, but it's just driving perfectly fine which makes me think that maybe I should change timing built, sparking plugs, put new filters and other stuff maybe it could take me for another 200K miles who knows! I currently use the Lexus LS for long drives only or during winter when there is heavy rain or snow so I can keep my other cars including the W222 safe and clean with low miles too if I can avoid driving it for a long trip if it's not meant for fun or family time..

OnlyGerman

So you take a car with 200k on long drives and keep the s class stored away??? Just drive the damn thing...it is a deprecating asset, will not gain any value sitting and looking at it.

hyperion667

Yeah I agree, what are you saving it for Rami? Drive that thing!

S_W222

no that’s not what i said. I said for long distances, unless it’s a long trip with family or a vocation, i’d take the lexus.
i use the S-class to commute to work, all family trips and all other daily activities. Enjoying it to the max... But I use the Lexus when I go buy groceries (feel okay to park it at Walmart tight between cars) or when i travel long trips to another city or state (for work only) when i travel by myself. There is really no reason to drive my s-class when i travel from one city to another 200miles for half an hour work/meeting once a week...

i’ve already put 74K miles on my S-class in less than 4 years, don’t worry about it 😅😂 am killing it already 74K

if i took my W222 for those weekly 200miles trips for that 1hr weekly meeting, i’d have ~120K miles on it instead of 74K now so i can enjoy it on a weekly boring trip by myself.... imagine the service and depreciation value for 74K vs 120K W222....? Does it make sense? Sometimes we have to be wise with how we use our assets.

TNS550

While the 15 is my first S, I have had three LS models (400, 430, & 460). The LS does not have a timing belt (at least since 2007). They have timing chains, so no need to replace.

To confirm comment above re depreciation, when I bought my 15 S550 in April, it had 6,200 miles and I gave less than 40% of MSRP.

S_W222

My LS is the LS 430, so it does have the rubber timing built

Regarding 40 MSRP, do you mean 62K miles or 6200 miles? 6000 miles only for 40% MSRP (like $45K USD) seems pretty low (unless you meant 62K miles).

TNS550

My last LS was a 2007 and I knew it did not have a timing belt, and did not remember about my other two, which is why I qualified my comment.

6,200 mi is correct. It was in a private party transaction, in which I paid asking price. Which I believe the gentleman had determined from talking to two dealers, including one MB dealer.

S_W222

yes, the ls 430 2002 has a timing belt not a chain.

are you saying you paid 40% MSRP (like around 45K USD) for a 2015 W222 with 6000 miles only on it? Unless it is the base model with no accessories or options then I think that seems really low and below market value. Seems like you beat that guy really hard with that deal. 6000 miles on 2015 W222 with interior/exterior options is certainly in the 50s (50-58K USD minimum) As a fair deal. 6000 miles is like nothing.