craigworkinger

should i buy the extended warranty for 2003 S55 AMG V8 Kompressor that only has 14,000 miles on it owned by a car collector? The warranty is for 4 years or 50,000 additional miles? They want $5,000.00 for it. What do you think about adding Lo-Jack s it needed on a MB?

Hotrod-Realtor

Tough call on a $5,000 outlay of cash. If I were a betting man, I would say you will have to replace the ABC pump within the next four years which will cost $2,500. Ball joints are common too but aren't that much. Motor mounts @ $600. Intercooler pump and I'm sure others can chime in with other common problems. At the end of the day if you plan to keep the car the four full years it is probably not a bad idea to purchase the warranty.
I would guess that you could command a higher sales price when you go to sell it if it still had a warranty. With that in mind you would probably recoup half the cost when you go to sell so I say GET IT!
What color and options?
Take care,
Warren

bzliteyear

if this is a zero deductible bumper to bumper, then i think $5k is a no-brainer.
if there are exclusions and larger deductibles, it makes it tougher to analyze. i bought 2 yr warranty for my 92k miles 2002 S55 almost 2 yrs ago for about $3k. the bad news is i've paid close to $4k in deductibles/non-covered items(ABC, flushing, etc). this is why i felt no brainer if warranty includes all. for me, since even though it was probably a break-even on benefits receiver vs. what i paid, i still think worthwhile.
PL

Corsa9000

I say it is a smart move. As others said above ABC pump replacement is a given now and will cost you $2,500 to $3,000. I have and highly recommend MB warranty for three reasons:

1. Zero deductible
2. Fast approvals by MB Service Dept. within minutes
3. Transferable, so whatever you pay now is added to your resale value and will go to the new owner, just in case you decide to sell

Good luck!

lungs414

Different car I know but try Lisa, just takes a phone call and she is super sweet and knowledgeable. I just bought an 09 s550 4matic in Sept. and my purchasing dealer wanted $4K for a 6yr/75K warranty I got it from Lisa for $2790, and it is a MB warranty.


Call Lisa Lehrbaum at Courtesy Motors (authorized MB dealer in Chico, CA) at 1-800-655-3535. They used to sell MB expended warranties for just a little over 50% off. Maybe they still do?


Ok, to help others purchase cheap MB ELW's, there are 2 ways to directly contact "Lisa":


1) DIRECT LINE: (530) 230-3154. The best times to reach "Lisa" are in the evenings, 5pm-8pm PST. She also has Tuesday's off (as well as one weekend each month), so if she's not there, then call back another day. If she's busy, then call back in a few minutes. DO NOT LEAVE HER VOICEMAILS!!! She receives too many voicemails, and cannot respond to all of them! The best thing to do is to be patient, and call back in a few minutes... or use Option #2 below....


2) E-MAIL: lisal@donotspam.chicocourtesy.com <== REMOVE "donotspam." FROM THE ADDRESS! If you cannot get a hold of her using the telephone, or don't have the time or patience to call, then you can also reach her using e-mail. If you are e-mailing her, please include the following information about your Mercedes-Benz vehicle:

MB ELW YOU'RE INTERESTED IN (ie: 7yr/75K, 7yr/100K, etc)

CAR YEAR
CAR MAKE/MODEL
VIN#
# OF MILES

YOUR FULL NAME
ADDRESS
TELEPHONE NUMBER (so she can call you back)

She will respond to her e-mails as soon as she can.

ivanj

Besides "Lisa", get the VIN and have a dealer run the service history on the car and make sure the present owner has any Bulletins taken care of before the car is purchased.

Lojack depends on where you live. I have one in my used G500 but have never activated it.

What I have noticed is that people are stealing accessories, mirrors and stuff like that as the economy crumbles. Lojack doesn't help with that.

hegar817

I just purchased my extended warranty from autoprotection.com for 2003 s55 with 110,000 miles bumper to bumper. Coverage is for 5 year 100k miles for 130.00 dwnpmt and 94.00 per month for 24 month for like 2400.00. I feel such a relief.

djamer

without a doubt, buy one a warranty. An 2003 model even in pristine condition is still an 2003 model. To replace the ABC or repair leaks/valve replacements. These are pretty costly.

bzliteyear

are you sure the ABC is covered?
besides the pump, the valves are also very expensive. my warranty covered the pump, but they wouldn't pay for the flushing of the new fluid, or the new valve.
Patrick

djamer

ABC Flush is considered maintenance, and yes, an extended warranty will not cover this procedure. But the warranty will cover ABC Failing due to valve leak, bad strut or ABC pump failure. Most reputable warranties cover these components. See fine print.

I had my ABC leak and valve replaced under extended warranty. No questions asked.

If you plan on keeping the car, dealers are recommending a ABC Flush every 30K and ABC Filter change to keep the main components free of contaminants. Also, it's important to note, these cars are meant to driven, at least from talking to other owners, when their SLs or S classes are garage queens, that's when the ABC issues occurs: lack of driving. just a thought.

Good luck w/ your purchase.

hegar817

While on the ABC subject. Do you guys notice that when not driving the car, the car tends to lower itself until its turned on then goes up back to normal.

bzliteyear

sadly, that's the first symptom that the system is not working 100%. my car lasted another 12k like that...and then pump went out.
PL

Reckless

My car is in the shop getting left side struts replaced for $7400 + $900 for motor mounts = $8300 + $2000 work of transmission work 6 months ago =$11,300 and I still have 85k miles/6.5 years left to go on my warranty. I bought my car with 23k miles.

It really depends how many miles you drive a year. My dad only drives 3-5k miles a year so its not a big deal... I like to drive, so I average 25-30k miles per year.

Corsa9000

Hegar817,

Please keep us posted on the coverage and general service from autoprotection.com. Curious to see what they cover and how good they are. Thanks.

hegar817

Definately will do my friend. Waiting on the details to arrive in the mail.

03MBAMGs

I have an 03 S55. I've had it 3 years now and it had 21,221 miles on it when I bought it and only has 34,970 now. I bought an extended warranty when I bought by recommendations from this forum. I paid $3500 for mine & it's anything mechanical, electric or hydraulic. Close to bumper to bumper. I've had more than $4k in ABC repairs alone that only cost me $200 in deductibles. As they told me, "DO NOT BUY A USED AMG WITHOUT A WARRANTY UNLESS YOU HAVE DEEP POCKETS". BTW, I love my car. 99.9% of the time it's driven like a grandma but when my buddy pulled up along side of me this morning @ a stop light in his Beemer 540i I enjoyed leaving him like he was tied to a tree and that was even with the tranny in C mode.

pas

That is normal the valves have metal seats for longevity and do not hold pressure for more than two weeks, if the car is sagging in a week or less you have a problem.

carsnob

Just paid $3500 to extend my '07 S 600 wty to 7 yrs. Based on what I've read, that seems to be money well spent. Anyone had experience what happens to the V12's when the wty. runs out? If this car becomes a classic keeper after 7 years, will I be needing deep pockets when the mileage adds up? (I'm guessing 90-100,000 miles on a V12 could require some serious repairs...

Zachmac

I made the mistake of NOT having one initially. I then spent $2700 having the ABC pump replaced. After thatI decided to start researching warranties. Based on posts on this site I went to the nearest Chrysler dealer and bought a 2 year unlimited milage policy for $2780. That is for the BEST policy they sell, basically bumper to bumper. They will write up to 5 yrs depending on milage but my car was already at 81k miles so they would only do the 2 yrs.

About three weeks later my car starts drooping on the left front overnight. Sure enough it was the ABC valve body. Another $2700 to the Mercedes dealer BUT now all I was out of pocket was the $200 deductible (you can pay a little more and get 100 or 0 deductible). Dealer said Chrysler was easy to work with and covered the repair no questons asked. The Benz dealer said they have had nothing but good experience with this policy. It is fully transferable as well if you go to sell. Highly recommended! It cost about half what Mercedes quoted!