You are going to LOVE this:

As several of you know, MB bought back my 2020 S560, due to a rough downshifting transmission. Lo and behold, about six months after I surrendered the car to Fletcher Jones here in Newport Beach, I see the exact same car offered for sale at a non-Authorized MB dealer in Kennesaw, GA. When I saw the ad, I compared VIN’s and it was MY car! I inquired as to its status and was told that it was a “buy-back” vehicle and still had the balance of the “full factory warranty.”

Of course, I wondered what would happen if I bought the car back and then brought it to an MB dealer, complaining about the rough shifting transmission. In hindsight, I should have bought the car and had an independent shop deal with the transmission issue. I’m absolutely convinced that MB could have fixed it, but didn’t want to. Seeing these photos again, confirms to me that I messed up. Oh well, such is life.

 

Share the link or the VIN so one of us can buy it 😁

 

It is long gone.

 

[QUOTE=Streamliner;8767848]You guys are going to love this!

Today, I drive my 2022 S580 5 miles to my office this morning. It’s parked for three hours and then I drove it about 5 miles to have lunch. It sat for about an hour. I start it up and start driving back to my office when this red message lights up on the dash that says “Stop vehicle To charge the 12 V battery do not switch off vehicle.” WHAT does that mean? Stop the vehicle and hook it up to a battery charger? Stop the vehicle, but keep the motor running to charge the battery? Whichever, BEFORE I could comply, the car decided for itself to NOT follow its own instructions and just shut off all by itself, leaving me sitting in the middle of heavy traffic. I go to put on my emergency flashers, but they don’t work. When the traffic light up ahead stops traffic, I get out of the car and close the door—which I can no longer open, as the car is 99.9% DEAD and the door handles are in the retracted position. Don’t you just LOVE IT?

Pacific Coast Highway, through Corona Del Mar village is a bottleneck. It is also known as California Highway 1 and is an MAJOR thoroughfare, full of huge semi trucks and people in an hurry. Only two lanes in either direction, separated by an island with left turn pockets. Luckily, I stopped next to a left turn pocket and traffic was able to pass my car on the left, by using that area. My problem caused a gigantic backup of traffic. Everyone was honking, tires screeching as people tried to change lanes, etc. To say the least, it was a less than pleasant experience.

I called Fletcher Jones MB and told them the situation and that I needed an MB Roadside Assistance tow ASAP. They said they would connect me and the next thing I know I hear “Welcome to Mercedes-Benz Financial Services, please enter your ten digit account number.” I hung up, phoned AAA and requested a tow truck which took about 20 minutes to arrive. I also called the Newport Beach police, as I needed HELP! The car was towed to Fletcher, I got a GLE loaner and now I wait to see what the problem is. I am hoping it is something truly catastrophic and that I never see that car again.

In my decades of driving the 32 used cars I have owned and the 60 brand new cars I have owned or leased, I have NEVER been stranded by my vehicle simply shutting down in the middle of the road. Well, there’s a first time for everything and if any car was going to do it, it might as well be this car that I hate, right? $153,700.00 and it leaves me stranded. What if this happened out in the boondocks, far away from an MB dealer, in the summer, with the temperature in the low 100’s? My wife and I take road trips like that. Guess I should be thankful the my MB sedan didn’t give up the ghost in a situation like that. To be continued………..






[/QUOTE


maybe a nice GLB. Lol. This is the mb loaner I have now. My s560 is at the dealer for the 60k mike trans oil change spark plugs and rear end gear oil change. Gonna take good care of my 2018. Seriously though. How about a Range Rover. They have come a long ways. You should test drive one.

]

 

@Streamliner I think you should test drive a Cayenne base (3.0L V6) with air suspension and 19" or 20" wheels, and a Land Rover as recommended above. One of these cars surely will give you the ride you are looking for. I know the Cayenne will, probably also the LR.

 

I can’t imagine a Cayenne giving him the ride he wants given the Cayennes I have been in.

 

Go test drive a 2019 and later base or S with air suspension and 21" or smaller wheels and report back. No need to imagine.

 

Cayenne maybe, but please don't recommend LRs to him. The man has had enough reliability problems with W223 already. You don't want to work his arteries even harder with a Range Rover

 

Was it selling for a big discount after the buy back?

 

Currently going through a buyback for a S580 at the moment through a third party company called Sedgwick. Does anyone know if they do a mileage prorate for buybacks? What are the chances they just give me everything back?

 

He truly wants a Bentley but keeps manufacturing reasons not to get the car he keeps pining away for. So a Cayenne with air suspension and 19” or 20” wheels is the next best thing for his use case. Agree on LR (un)reliability. It’s in the same (bush) league as MB but that hasn’t stopped him from punishing himself multiple times recently.

@Streamliner test drive a Cayenne with air ride and your Bentley and report back.

 

I believe about $70K.

 

[QUOTE=chassis;8777826]He truly wants a Bentley but keeps manufacturing reasons not to get the car he keeps pining away for. So a Cayenne with air suspension and 19” or 20” wheels is the next best thing for his use case. Agree on LR (un)reliability. It’s in the same (bush) league as MB but that hasn’t stopped him from punishing himself multiple times recently.

@Streamliner test drive a Cayenne with air ride and your Bentley and report back.[/QUOTE

When the 2024 Cayenne is out, I will try to test drive one with air suspension.

 

Ever consider an Audi RS7 or S7 or RSQ8 or SQ8?

 

Definitely not Stream's type of car, way too sporty and aggressive. He doesn't even like the AMG-Appearance Package on the S-Class let alone.

 

Agree on the S and RS variants. Q7 or Q8 with air suspension is the "same as" the Cayenne. And Bentayga and Urus for that matter. Urus in the most comfortable configuration likely is not what Streamliner is looking for.

However, Q7/Q8, Cayenne base and Bentayga models with air suspension are quite good and worth test driving.

Note that Cayenne with the base powertrain can be optioned with all luxury features that any Cayenne model can be optioned with. Said differently, there is no luxury option excluded from Cayenne base models. Luxury in this case means leather, air suspension, custom colors, wood trim, multi-zone climate controls, matrix headlamps, deep pile floor mats, etc.

It goes without saying that the Bentayga has available options for maximum comfort and luxury.

I am not intimately familiar with the Audi option logic/strategy, but the platform is capable of good things. "Good bones" as "they" say.

 

He'd have to do a Bentayga or Cayenne, the Q7/Q8 interior is pretty mediocore in material quality in my opinion, have to step up to the S/RS models for nicer interiors and stitching anywhere.

A6 Allroad or E450 All-Terrain would be a nice option I think.

 

I believe Streamliner already has a E450 Wagon, why would he want a all Terrain. The E450 Wagons are great cars, I have a 2019. It feels much more sports car like to drive over my S560. On non bumpy Roads I actually prefer driving the E450 wagon although on bumpy roads like what I encounter up here in the northeast its the S560 hands down, the car is pure comfort especially with the MBC suspension.

 

He was considering an AT before the move to the 223, and likes his 213 a lot, and for him no panoramic roof which is a big deal

 

I can tell you for sure a Q7/Q8 with air suspension does not ride like an S Class.

 

Sure, nothing rides like an S-Class except an S-Class. The Q would ride like a Q with air suspension. Question for streamliner is whether it is acceptable.

Go to your nearest Porsche dealer and drive a Cayenne with the smallest wheel size they have in stock and report back.

 

I will do that, but I have driven several Q7s and Q8s, and I don't think he will like the way they ride. They ride well, but they don't ride like what he had in the W222. The only SUV i have ever driven that I truly felt had a similar ride is a full Range Rover.

There certainly are cars that ride like an S Class, the 7 Series...A8 rides really great...the G90 is a very similar ride...the LS460L with air suspension I had was very similar.

 

Yes, we love our 2019 E450 Wagon and just extended the warranty. It’s my wife’s car. We bought it used when it was about 11 months old. I was astonished to find the loaded wagon with the Luxury styling and without the Panorama Roof, sitting at a BMW dealer that was walking distance from our home at the time. It has AirMatic, 18” wheels and Bridgestone QuietTrack tires. It’s a wonderful vehicle, but I wouldn’t want it to be my daily driver. I prefer something bigger, with more heft to it.

 

I found my old 2012 A8l road better on bad roads over the s580 which has this annoying reverberation feel with the suspension bobbling with standard suspension which isn't that concerning but the planted feel of the A8l is something the S can't match even in sports mode.

 

Interesting, as my number one complaint about my S580–aside from the obvious safety issues—is the performance of the EABC suspension over regular, city & neighborhood streets. When it hits a bump, it seems as though it doesn’t simply absorb it in one cycle, it feels as though there are multiple reactions, giving me an unpleasant sensation. My S560’s with MBC, over the exact same roads would simply absorb the imperfections with one, very managed and dampened movement, resulting in the absolute minimum discomfort for the vehicle occupants.

I am currently driving a 2023 GLE350 loaner and over the same route between my home & office, I actually prefer the ride of the lowly SUV over my S580, because the GLE rides as I feel it should. It deals with bumps with one reaction, one & done. The S580 constantly annoys, since I know how it COULD have been designed but wasn’t. Oh well, 18 days and counting……….