This subject seems to come up all of the time. So I figured it might be a good time to put some of the BS to rest and talk some truth about the different plans available and whether they are worth your time and money. Dealers love to sell different plans, especially when they are selling used cars. Over all, dealers are in it to maximize profits and selling warranty plans (service contracts) are a great way to do that. The biggest problem with buying these plans in the F&I office at the time of sale is that most people haven't done the proper research going in to see if what they are buying is a fair value and don't know exactly what they are getting. Some people like "Triggered Woman" think that warranty plans are ALWAYS a bad idea when purchasing a used car. I wholeheartedly disagree with her if the person buying the plan knows EXACTLY what they are getting and if it is priced fairly.

CPO warranties and extensions: Most folks on these boards think that this is by far the best plan available when purchasing coverage. In order to get this coverage, the car must have passed a somewhat extensive multi-point inspection and be within certain year and mileage limits. CPO comes with 1 year of unlimited mileage coverage and you can purchase up to 2 more years of coverage at the dealership at time of sale only for anywhere from about $3500 to $6k, depending on the model and how much profit the dealers want to make for themselves. But are they the best deal? IMO, absolutely NOT!! CPO warranties are "named component". If a failure happens due to a part failing that isn't explicitly named, that policy isn't going to cover the repairs. The thing about modern MB engines and transmissions is that they are pretty reliable. Many of the items that are going to break aren't covered by the CPO plan. When comparing these polies to aftermarket plans, the aftermarket plan might be called something like "powertrain plus" or something similar. Here is a link to CPO coverage documents:

http://extendedlimitedwarranty.merce...rage-documents

MB extended warranty plans: These plans are available to buyers of used MB cars only if the car is still within the original 4 years AND 50k miles factory warranty period. These can be purchased at any MB dealer, even if you didn't buy the car there. There are many folks here who have directed people to certain dealerships that will sell these plans at a discount from full retail price. It seems that the dealerships that sell the plans at a discount all sell them for the exact same price. But is this a good deal? IMO, I don't think so unless you are too lazy to look at other available plans out there. These plans will cover the car for an additional 1 to 3 years and coverage will end when the odometer hits either 75k or 100k miles (depending on the plan you buy). Coverage on these plans kicks in as soon as the factory warranty expires. This is also a "named component" policy. It covers more items than the CPO warranty, but is NOT exclusionary coverage. If you are considering one of these plans, ask the dealership to email you a sample policy (not the 2-3 page brochure) so you can read the policy in full and know exactly what you are buying.

If your car is not CPO or within the original 4 yr AND 50k mile factory warranty, then neither of those plans are an option and after-market is the only coverage you can buy.

After-market plans: This is exactly where I always do the most research before I decide to buy a used car like a MB. There are literally dozens of companies out there who would love to sell you a plan. I'm sure your phone gets blown up like mine does with annoying robo-calls from these companies trying to sell you a plan. These plans are all over the place as far as what they will and will not cover. Some of them can be decent deals and some of them can be complete rip-offs. "Triggered Woman" would likely tell you that they are ALL rip-offs, but of course she would be wrong. The ONLY type of plan I would ever purchase from any after-market company would be "exclusionary coverage". This means that every component on the vehicle is covered except for all of the items in the "exclusions" section of the policy. Exclusions are usually items like fabrics, leather, glass, body panels, all normal wear items (brake pads & rotors, tires, belts, spark plugs, etc), one time use nuts and bolts, etc. These exclusions can vary widely based on the company selling the plan. After-market plans also may offer several more years and miles of coverage that none of the MB warranties can. A few things to remember when researching and comparing these plans:

1. Get a sample policy and read that thing from cover to cover so you know exactly what you are buying and know the exclusions and kind of maintenance you must do to the car to maintain coverage. Most plans will tell you that you have to maintain your vehicle based on manufacturer recommended service intervals.
2. Look at all of the options for mileage and years of coverage. Often, the best deal is to purchase the maximum number of years and miles available as the costs aren't usually much more than shorter terms. These plans are almost always transferable to the next owner of the car if you sell it private-party, which can add significant value in the sale. If you later trade in the car, you can get a prorated refund for the unused time and miles.
3. ALWAYS go with a plan that is backed by a large insurance company that has been around for years. This way, if the company selling the plan goes out of business, the insurance company will cover you for the remaining term.
4. These plans almost always have a 30 day, 1000 mile period from the time of purchase before coverage will kick in, so people don't buy the plan just to cover something that is already wrong with the car. Pre-existing conditions are not covered.
5. Shop around and don't be afraid to negotiate on price. The cost of ALL of these plans are negotiable to some extent.
6. Call your "trusted" MB service advisor and see if they have experience working with the companies that you are interested in. If your advisor has had poor experiences with these companies, then it would be best to shy away from those.

When I purchased my old 1-owner 2007 S600 with just 24k miles in 2014, I had done the research on that car and figured it would be a good idea to have coverage because there were so many systems that could be very expensive to repair if things went wrong. I purchased exclusionary coverage through my credit union and boy was I glad I did. I documented my experience here. Go to post 65 to see the final tally on what was paid out on repairs:

https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w...ms-thread.html

At the time I purchased that plan, that company was covering AMG cars and V-12's. But they no longer cover those models as I'm sure they have taken a bath on them like what happened in my experience. In fact, about the only way you can get any coverage on an AMG or V12 these days is if you purchase them CPO. So in the case of "Triggered Woman's" car she has for sale, nobody will cover that car due to the high mileage and being outside of original warranty.

You must remember that warranty coverage is an insurance policy. The used car you are buying may be completely reliable and nothing may go wrong with it in the time that you own it. That was certainly the case with my 2013 GL550. I purchased that truck with 40k miles in late 2017 and purchased coverage through the dealership for about $5000 that covered the vehicle for 4 yrs, 48k miles. When I traded it in, I received a refund for about $1500 for the unused portion of the warranty. So in that case, I lost about $3500 on the gamble. But the jackpot I won the S600 more than made up for that loss.

I personally would never buy a used MB unless I could have exclusionary warranty coverage at a fair price. IMO, German cars aren't worth the risk of buying used without coverage since there are so many things that can and usually go wrong and they are extremely expensive to repair when things do go wrong. And they don't exactly have the best record of reliability. In my case with my S-550, I secured an exclusionary policy on my 30k mile car for about $4100 that covers me for 7 years and 100k miles from the date of purchase. I've only had the car less than 4 months and the policy has already paid out over $2k. So that gamble paid off pretty quickly. I'm sure there will be plenty more warranty repairs in the future since this is a Mercedes.

The most important 3 items to remember when considering a MB and are interested in warranty coverage?

1. Research
2. Research
3. Research

 

CPO coverage is fairly comprehensive, but not exclusionary. I've done my research as well and the "exclusionary" offerings from my credit unions have still had specific things they will not cover in the fine print - namely expensive things like lighting and sound reproduction. As you note, transmission and engine reliability is pretty good.

I went ahead and extended the CPO coverage on my E-class. A couple of things have happened - a small headliner bubble near the C-pillar will not be covered due to trim, but I can hardly imagine any warranty covering this outside of the original new car one. What will be interesting to tell is whether or not my suddenly defunct rear defrost will be covered. Is that going to be "glass" excluded or covered due to the extensive coverage of the electrical system.

Some of the CPO stuff does not make sense. It covers seat heating elements specifically, but no mention anywhere of seat cooling.

Research... yep, important.

 

Katie22 is fundamentally right that warranty companies would not make money (and be in business) if on average people didn't pay more for the warranty than they got back in repairs. CPO / MB extended warranties are somewhat different in that regard in that Mercedes gets the labor and parts at cost so they should be a better deal. But this is true of any insurance policy. It really comes down to somebody's risk tolerance and ability to self insure. Katie22 has a built in advantage over most high end Mercedes owners due to her skill set, tools and willingness to repair her own cars should she run into a serious issue.

Another point is if you think that a car is that unreliable that you are afraid to own one out of warranty why would you honor that brand with your money.

On the other hand there is nothing wrong with choosing to predefine your expected operating costs with a high quality warranty. The obvious argument in favor of this is that the combined cost of warranty plus reduced used car depreciation is cheaper than new car depreciation.

 

At the end of the day, it all depends on the service department of the respective Mercedes dealership that you are taking in your car into. Based on my own personal experience, there is a Mercedes dealership in Arcadia, CA that is horrible. Online reviews are solid, but my two experiences have been really bad...to a point where I no longer tell my clients, family members, or friends to even step foot onto that dealership. Their service manager gave some BS excuse that my CPO warranty on my S-Class would not cover the repair and even wanted to charge me a diagnostic just to look into the problem.

On the same day, I took my vehicle into a Mercedes dealership based in West Covina, CA and the service team was great. Took my car in, documented all my concerns, and within 3 days, received my car back with all the repairs done without having to pay a single penny.

Take home message: If you are blessed to have multiple Mercedes dealerships in your area, try to find one or a service advisor who understands and isn't going to brush you off. Warranties are great, but having an excellent service department is even better.

 

Just for sake of clarity CPO does not cover everything that the original factory warranty covers like hoses, belts etc.

 

I would refuse to sell my car to anyone who thinks a car with 75000 miles is going to need a warranty. Never mind the fact that my car is in excellent condition. I would refer that person to some other brand or car................. Dont need to sell my car and certainly dont want to make someone worry about some possible major failure that will break the bank. Of course all these worries ignore EVERY SINGLE consumer protection groups advice in the country. They ignore the mountain of complaints that places like the better business bureau gets about car warranties that dont pay up. They ignore the simple logic that cars today are built better than ever before. They even ignore the evidence the car warranty companies use. Crap even a dam Mitsubishi Mirage will likely go 100000 miles without any significant failure...............

Buy what I think is the most amazing thing is WHY the F__K would anyone buy a product that they dont believe is going to provide expected service life? Or why would anyone buy a product that costs at least 100000 dollars and have fear of not being able to afford facing some very unlikely 10000 dollar repair?


What happens to a car after 150000 miles? Do they all of a sudden blow up and kill the owner as they drive down the road? I wonder because my Ford E series van has 185000 miles on it and it drives great. Mind you I had to go in and do a lot of suspension component replacements (but then these do wear out and not part of a warranty). IS my van going to blow up in a ball of flames because its got 186000 miles on it?

By all means those of you that can afford to buy a 100000 dollar car but cant afford the remote possibility of some major failure then of course get your warranty but then the reality is perhaps you should have brought something different.

Some other even more educated people who have an opinion on car warranties below. Just a small handful (out of many) of experts such as Dave Ramses and Clark Howard. Or you could simply call your local repair shop and ask them what their opinion is of these extended warranties.

http://www.ramseysolutions.com/debt/...ded-warranties
http://www.creditkarma.com/auto/i/extended-car-warranty
http://www.edmunds.com/auto-warranty...nty-scams.html
http://www.reviewgeek.com/18448/are-...ever-worth-it/
http://clark.com/cars/extended-car-warranty/
A 2013 study from Consumer Reports found that 55% of owners who purchased an extended warranty never used it [5]. And many of those who put it to work didn’t rack up enough repairs to offset initial costs.

You Tube

 

"Triggered Woman", you obviously didn't take the time to try to comprehend my post. You just went back to your same old tried and true remarks about why all warranties are a rip-off. Even though you may be good at turning wrenches on basic repairs and can reduce some of your labor costs (but not on parts or diagnosis), the majority of people who would buy a high mileage luxury car like yours at the price you're asking don't have the same skillset. And I certainly wouldn't want any garden variety weekend mechanic trying to do repairs, especially if I had a car like yours and were going to spend $85k to obtain it.

Do you really think that somebody like me with my personal experience with Mercedes cars and warranties (I've documented them on this forum) and who understands how to research companies and how to read and comprehend a service contract made a poor decision on spending $4100 on an exclusionary policy that has better coverage than any MB used car warranty which will cover my car for 7 years and 100k miles? Remember, it has already paid out a little more than half of what I paid for the policy in just the 1st two months of ownership. And that's on a 30k mile car with full service records and oil changes every 3000 miles or less.

I agree with you that you should never purchase a warranty from the dealer at the time of sale without doing a lot of homework ahead of time to compare their offer and plan to others out there. I believe I explained that pretty well in the original post. Most people who feel like they've been burned by warranties I can guarantee didn't understand what they were buying because they didn't do any research into what they were buying.

 

Dave please ignore me. Really I promise I ignore you. It began that time you suggested my engine was going to have problems based on your experience with a decade+ old car with a different engine (yes MB classifies my engine being different) so you were not even accurate with you comments. And lets not forget the creepy crap you did about looking up a Carfax on my car that (was not even correct) you had no intention of buying. Even other people were telling you you were being creepy. Then of course you called me on being deceptive with my car when I was not and you didnt even consider I was being truthful. You simply took the Carfax as face value instead of doing research or even asking for some sort of verification. As far as I am concerned there is nothing you can say that I would even want to try to comprehend since its not likely to be correct based on your past statements.

Please stop using my name in your posts its kind of creepy.

You be my guest and buy your rip off extended warranties and note ALL EXTENDED WARRANTIES are encompassed in the data by other professionals. None of the data has anything to do with someone being able to fix their car themselves. NO FREAKING NEW CAR is likely to EVER consume the money you spend on an extended warranty and that sir is a fact. If it was they would NOT sell these dam things.

Once again please STOP using my name in your posts. Please simply ignore me and I shall ignore you. I promise.

 

Some of ya'all are just plain crazy. Look, as politicians like to say before they say something "look"... I bought a 2008 S63 used years ago and bought an extended warranty for it from the selling dealer. I think it was called Continental, whatever. In the first 2 months the car cost me $11k to fix stuff that went wrong!!! The $4500 or whatever the cost was, paid for itself twice over!!! So don't just say that we'd be an idiot to buy a warranty. That's idiotic in itself.

I don't want to pay $5500 to fix a Nav unit again. I don't want to pay SO MUCH money to fix other stuff again when it breaks. My 3 S63's, when they mess up are NOT CHEAP TO FIX. The warranty gave me peace of mind and more than paid for themselves. I got a 10 year/100,000 mi warranty on my new 2018 S63 that I bought 3 years ago. Some would say that's stupid, I think it cost $5k, but I plan on keeping this car for at least 10 years so to me, the dealer was stupid to sell it to me at all.

In the 8th year when and if I have an $8k repair, ... it will more than pay for itself.

So I'm a dummy for buying the warranties? Really? Same thing on my 2012 Porsche 911 Turbo. It was a 7 yr, 70000 mi warranty and it's paid for itself plus some by now. Fidelity warranty on that one I think. Just because you think it's stupid to buy one doesn't mean we're stupid for buying one.

 

Wow, I guess the only way anyone can end a conversation with you is to say " YOUR RIGHT".

Dave Ramsey is a money person not a car authority. He is discussing everyday cars not high end or exotic cars. The problem with the news cycle today is we have people commenting on issues they shouldn't even be in the room to hear.

Did you ever think that it has nothing to do with brands or how much a car is worth it is all about risk and your tolerance for it. Plus the vehicle itself plays a huge roll in if a person thinks a warranty is worth it. Thy are generalizing all vehicles not taking into high component pricing on certain vehicles. If your buying a car that has a lot of expensive technology or performance components that has to be weighed into the decision. Anybody who wrenches on anything mechanical knows failures occur no matter what the brand.

On my S550 the extended warranty cost approx $2400 for 3 years. If it was a stripped won E class I would have agreed but instead its a car with a lot of expensive tech and accys. In the end the warranty more than paid for itself with a turbo issue, suspension components and them also covering some small electronic issues. As some have stated it also depends on the dealership and what they will put through.

Take a Ferrai FF. Free 7 years and about $5k a year and still worth every penny as the expense is outrageous if there is a failure. Ask the guys who got that $40k tranny invoice with 10k miles. So to me paying $5k to possibly cover $40k is worth its weight in gold and it has NOTHING to do

Paying $2500 for a Honda Accord with a $55 alternator is not a wise investment and that is the cars they are referring to.

You getting way too emotional about your car its just a car I don't care what it is. There is no right answer here it is up to the buyer. Calculate the possible failure of expensive components and see if it is worth it. The smart buyer looks up failure rates and costs of major components. Sometimes not buying it is the stupid decision. Then add the ease of resale and value it ads. Cars sell quickly with extended warranties especially on tech cars like an S class.

 

Steve I would wonder why anyone would continue to buy a product from a company where the first product you had cost you 11K to fix. Last time I checked most people if they get a piece of crap they move on to a different product. Ask General Motors about that over the last decades.

More important is how can a company stay in business if they make products like your car that had such costly failures.

 

Your absolutely correct the extended warranty companies do LOOK AT THE Failure rates and with REAL factual data they then charge people a price for a product that exceeds what they will likely ever consume. Sounds like a great money maker for the warranty company.

 

Now listen here "some triggered woman" (I'm abiding by your wishes and not using your name), you're addressing me by my name and that's perfectly fine with me. You are certainly not ignoring me as you were one of the first to chime in on this thread and keep responding. I only mentioned your name, but never tagged you. Obviously just the mention of "warranty" in the thread was enough to set you off and get you to view the thread. But it doesn't bother me if you do share your opinion. We all certainly have them and our own experiences to base them on, just as I have here.

BTW, you've made more false claims by claiming that I was being "creepy". Pulling Car Fax data is extremely easy and I always do it for any car I'd consider buying or if a friend or family member were considering the same and asked me to do it. And you still haven't admitted that I did you a huge favor by posting the Car Fax data (which you never disputed as being the authentic report that they posted) and you even went directly to Car Fax to have a couple of inaccurate line items fixed because of it. I never received a thank you from you, but I'm not surprised and not bothered by it either.

I'm happy to be the victim of being ripped off by service contracts that pay for themselves many times over. Apparently someone being informed and doing research are a couple more of your trigger points. Points noted.

"NO FREAKING NEW CAR is likely to EVER consume the money you spend on an extended warranty and that sir is a fact." Do you want to bet some serious cash on this? Like really make a real bet on this?

BTW, we're talking about people buying used MB cars that are outside of the original factory warranty period. Have you ever done any research into the repair costs on an S-Class, not to mention a V12 version when something goes wrong? My guess is that you haven't based on your baseless comments over and over and over....

 

Buying a used Mercedes is never a rational decision. If everyone were rational and wanted the most reliable used luxury car available, they'd probably buy a Lexus. But then again, Lexus is pretty dull and doesn't offer anywhere near the same driving experience and level of refinement and engineering as an S-class. So this is why people purchase warranties for their high end MB cars to cover repairs on their "piece of crap".

If you're buying powertrain coverage on something like a Honda or Toyota, you're probably right. But German cars are completely different animals.

BTW, when I purchased my wife's new 2017 Odyssey 4 years ago, the dealership was offering extended warranty coverage through Honda. I looked over the policy and saw that it read more like the MB limited warranty and declined. She then showed me a Toyota warranty that read almost like a new car warranty (Yes, Honda was offering a Toyota warranty). They were asking over $3000 for it and I flat out told them NO WAY. After a lot of haggling, I got that price down to $1500 and the van is covered for 8 years, and up to 125k miles. Coverage picked up after the original 3/36 warranty expired. We're now around 52k miles on the van and that warranty has almost paid for itself in the last year.

 

Dave you have issues with the truth. You used my name in the original post. Stop please or I will have a chat with the moderator.

 

Katie you have to understand what you're dealing with. Let's just say he's still waiting for Trump and his swamp to overturn the election. Seriously.

 

Triggered woman, I abided by your wishes and stopped using your name. I know it was used in the original post. You were used as an example and you fully confirmed that example by your responses in this thread. If there is anybody who is having issues with truth, it appears to be you. Go ahead and chat with Wolfman all you want. This thread was for helpful informational purposes only about warranty options. You were the one who went on another diatribe AGAIN about all warranties being rip-offs.

Beat it d-bag! I don't give a crap about your political positions and never mentioned them once.