tkelley.EClass

Hey folks, curious, my factory warranty expired last month. Is MB a stickler about the expiration date or do they honor certain things within 30-60 days of expiration or anything like that? I wanted to get a few things looked at if it's not too late.

konigstiger

Normally MBUSA honors 90-day goodwill most readily if associated bulletin addresses concern however, not so sure now during COVID. Also attributing factor is dealer discretion/support, discuss matter with Service Manger.

Phillyfinest

That’s true. My warranty expired in September. Last month I took car in for iPhone 12 wireless charging issues and there was an associated TSB on it. They did the software update and did not charge me. It took me talking to Service manager and he getting approval from his boss.

tkelley.EClass

Thanks guys! My Magic Sky has the notorious "bleed" and I have dust, that I cannot get rid of, behind the main display. Wasn't sure if they would bite on either of these...

Robb92914

Good luck! I dropped mine off to replace the Magic Sky yesterday due to the bleed but still under warranty.

Highline-Autos.com

Let me know if you are interested in seeing a quote and example contract of a manufactures extension from Freedom Warranty, repairs are accepted at all Mercedes Benz dealers and licensed independents in North America, and you're covered for $275 in labor. Contact me at (602) 909-9216 or tgibson@highline-autos.com if for nothing else, a bargaining chip to get the dealer down on their price.

badq45t

That warranty only covers $275 in labor on any repair? That covers about 1 hour in Bay area

DaveW68

I think he means "up to" $275/hr based on avg labor rates in your zip code. The Freedom warranty he sells has a max lifetime cap of $20k in repairs, which is among the worst of aftermarket warranties since most cap at NADA retail value at purchase or actual purchase price including taxes. His warranty would make more sense on a used Honda or Toyota, but not on a high priced ticket item like a used Benz. The list of exclusions is pretty long too.

Highline-Autos.com

No, $275 and hour in labor.

Highline-Autos.com

No Dave, anyone can be have $275 in labor per hour coverage. You know exactly how I'm going to reply to this by now. No policy I have seen has ever exceeded their cap, the only one that has exceeded $20k was a Ferrari and it had $40k in cap. Not even Fidelity will cover something nicer than a Mercedes Benz, meanwhile I have Freedom policies on Bentley's and Ferrari's. I'd love to see an example of the Extended Warranty contract that is so short that makes you believe the Freedom Exclusions are so numerous.

I had a meeting with Fidelity just last week, and we talked about all sorts of shady Extended Warranty companies in the business, but he had nothing negative to say about Freedom Warranty. Luckily for you, we are in the process of being certified to offer Fidelity policies, so forum members have more of an option from a name they are familiar with.

DaveW68

As I told you last week, the warranty I had on my low mileage S600 paid out $24k in claims in just 3 years, and I still had 4 years of coverage left when I just got tired of taking it in for repairs every couple of months. If I had Freedom, I'd have been on the hook for the last $4k in repairs, assuming that they would have paid out as much as my policy did on claims (doubtful).

I've heard very good things about Fidelity coverage and them paying out on claims, but have also heard over the years that those policies are extremely expensive and likely not worth the high cost of admission. But like the Freedom limited cap policies you sell, it will be up to the owners of these cars to figure out how much risk they want to take.

Highline-Autos.com

All V12 vehicles receive a cap of $40k, your S600 would have had $16k in coverage available, and still have 4 years left as swell.

DaveW68

Freedom covers V12's? If so, I bet it isn't exclusionary coverage. I'd hate to see the premium on one of those service contracts.

Highline-Autos.com

Yes, I have a number of policies on V12 Mercedes, Bentleys, Aston Martins and BMWs. There is only a 2-3K premium, but like I said, comes with an additional 20k in coverage. Also it is exclusionary, the same manufactures extension coverage.

MBNUT1

So to clear this up on Dave's 2015 S550 what would the cap be for Highline and Dave's policies?

DaveW68

If buying the policy right now, current NADA dealer retail value for my policy, $20k for the Freedom policy. My cap was based on purchase price include tax. So about $50k cap for mine.

Highline-Autos.com

Dave's S550 caps at $20,000, his old S600 would cap at $40,000

A lot of variables go into pricing, age, miles, purchase date. Dave had 32k miles when I first quoted him, if he had contacted me within 14 days of his purchase of the vehicle, costs would be $300 less

Complete Manufactures Extension 5 years / up to 100k miles, covered for $275 in labor an hour at your local dealer:
2015 S550 (V8)- $4,595 cap $20k
2015 S600 (V12)- $7,335 cap $40k

cfmistry

If Freedom actually pays it claims, it is still worth every penny - even at a $20k cap. The real question is, how good is Freedom’s claim acceptance rate?

Fidelity may be a better warranty but the cost is about 2-3x. I believe their premium warranty was about $11k for my 2015 S550; which is 25% of the current value.

Highline-Autos.com

100% Claims acceptance, just last week, fellow forum member had $2,800 in repairs done to his GLS63 AMG, on a policy that cost $4,295, 3 months after purchase, already almost paying for itself.

I agree about Fidelity cost being more expensive, but I think part of your example may be including $$$ the dealer places on top, either way after meeting with Fidelity they were pushing an exclusive, meaning I could only offer their policies, and not Freedom as well. I told them I want to offer as many possible options, giving you guys the best value and options.

DaveW68

I'm gonna have to call on this claim. There is no way that Freedom has a 100% acceptance rate on claims. Do any search online about them and you'll see there are plenty of complaints about them not paying out on claims. In all fairness though, you'll find complaints about EVERY warranty company not paying on claims. Often it has to do with the customer not doing their due diligence about what the dealer sold them and only relying on the small brochures they hand out without ever getting a copy of the full policy...or the dealer giving them a line of BS. But there is often that the customers had valid claims that the warranty company just wouldn't pay on, and that includes Freedom.

MBNUT1

Your original purchase price not replacement cost? What did yours cost and what is the time and mileage coverage?

Highline-Autos.com

The policies I have issued have 100% claims acceptance, I can not speak for Freedom as a whole, but I also only provide information and quotes on policies that offer the most coverage, leaving as little to interpretation as possible.

DaveW68

Yes....my purchase price including taxes since I purchased the policy within 30 days of buying the policy. If it would have been more than 30 days, it would go off of the NADA dealer retail value at time of policy purchase. IIRC, I paid about $4200 for my exclusionary policy (less exclusions than Freedom) and got 7 years/100k miles of coverage with $100 deductible. It paid out over $2500 in a claim I had less than 60 days of purchasing the car. I also got interest free pmts for 3 years.