EB_1920

Thought you guys might be interested in this report.

Best And Worst Cars to Maintain | Frugal Mechanic

Top Five Most Expensive Cars to Maintain:

1. Mercedes-Benz ML550
2. Mercedes-Benz S55 AMG
3. Porsche 911
4. Mercedes-Benz CL55 AMG
5. BMW 750i

And just for fun.....the Least Expensive Cars to Maintain:

837. Pontiac 6000
838. Buick Reatta
839. Yugo Cabrio
840. Nissan Pulsar NX
841. Chevrolet Celebrity.

maw1124

I'm not really sure what the Frugal Mechanic is talking about, but the under $500 quote they list there would be a steal, IF I could actually sneeze at brakes for the numbers they have quoted. With the exception of the O2 snesor, the rest of those numbers don't look all that bad to me. But like I said, I cannot sneeze at brakes for the AMG at those numbers, and I'm talking about a highline indy shop a friend owns where he gives me his prices on parts.

And of course, the obvious is true -- you don't buy an S-Class AMG to save money.

This is still America -- you get what you pay for, but only if you're smart.

BVLDARI

BMW maintenance is free for the first four years so I am not sure how the 750i can be top 5.

sound 8

Think I had better get a Chevy then.

Corsa9000

BVLDARI,

BMW maintenance is NOT free, it is pre-paid. It is added on to the price of the car and hidden. You can always buy pre-apid maintenance from any new car dealer, MB, Toyota, Nissan, etc. It includes a certain number of services based on mileage and time, packaged and sold.

If you lease a BMW for 2 or 3 years, you have lost out on the balance of pre-paid maintenance which is 4 years.

This is a common mis-representation by BMW, nothing is free........

BVLDARI

no kidding

are you serious?

wow. thanks for clarifying. and here I was thinking that I actually paid nothing all these years to have my BMWs serviced at the dealer...

Of course it is included in the price. But as far as maintenance costs are concerned, it is free. And as far as “losing” the maintenance if you lease, you don’t lose it, the guy that buys or leases the car after you, uses it - you pay a prorated amount. It is no different than me paying my portion and you paying your portion on an MB.

What I was referring to in my original post is that it is near impossible to compare what the price of maintenance is. The guy that wrote the article is whack because he is comparing part prices for Yugos to MB and others. He forgets that there are no running yugos left and if there were, the price to keep it running will be cost prohibitive to do so. The entire article compares apples and oranges. If we compare apples to apples, e.g. 2010 S550 to 2010 750i, the BMW has a much much lower cost of maintenance = free.

Corsa9000

BMW's ads even car magazines very are misleading re "Free Maintenance".

Take a any new BMW, say it needs 4 oil/filter changes, one set of brake pads, 2 tire rotations for the first 4 years, 48K miles. They simply add the cost of the above service to the price of the car and hide it. You can not go into the dealer and ask for more frequent maintenance, say every 2K miles oil changes or a set of brake pads every 3 months, since coverage is limited. It is pre-paid service not free.

You can buy the same pre-paid maint. from MB too, I think it is $765 for the C and E Class cars, it is actually an item on the option list. This is a better approach, since you can take it or leave it, with BMW it is a hidden charge and you have no choice. If you do your own maintenance with a BMW, then you have paid for something you are not using.

BVLDARI

Corsa,

I respectfully disagree with you. If I leased a BMW and was only interested in doing “scheduled” maintenance, then I know exactly how much this is going to cost me from the start = my monthly payment. Also, if I used up 4 sets of brakes, they are all covered. Agreed that they will not cover in between oil changes.

With MB and most everyone else (VW now is doing free maintenance) you don’t know how much it is going to cost you. You either: A. Find out when you show up to get your brakes changed or B. You pre pay.
Either way, I do not think it is misleading at all.

And of course, one can always argue that this is an incentive similar to say “0% financing” which BMW eats. No one knows for sure, but logic would dictate that they build it in the price of the car. Either way, I don’t think it is misleading in any way shape or form.

But going to my original point, if we are going to compare apples to apples, then a 2010 S550 maintenance is ~$800, and a 2010 750i maintenance is ~ $0 for the same type of package.

Corsa9000

Maintenance costs are not a secret, your MB dealer can tell you exactly what a Svc A, B or brake pads cost before you go in.

I don't want to beat this topic to death but, nothing is for free, it is pre-paid, so calling it free is misrepresentation.

As to your last point and example, maint. cost on a 2010 S550 is $800 and probably the same on the BMW. The difference is that you had no choice with the BMW, you paid for it when you bought the car, it was hidden in the price of the car, along with the cost of 4 tires, audio system, horn, steering wheel, seats, engine, warranty, etc.

If you still disagree with my point, it is perfectly OK, fine to disagree.

Thanks.

06E55

Where do you get off saying there are no running Yugos left? My father has two and they are running beautifully!

sound 8

I spent 8k in 18 moths on my SL55. pumps,rams, leaks you name it.
But there again an expensive Merc is going to cost thousands after 4-5 years.

BVLDARI

We are on the same page but are looking at it from two different directions - which is fine.

BVLDARI

I shot from the hip on this one - my apologies.

i_am_amused

my 2004 S55, which I bought in May 2009 at 17K miles, has had about $4,000 in repairs (left side ABC struts, driver's door mirror, driver's door lock, "cupholder" ) and has cost me zero due to the car being CPO through 12/31/2010. I have at least $3,400 more coming (right side ABC struts which I expect will be replaced within a month) that will also cost me nothing.

I'd say zero is pretty low *repair* costs.

I'd rather not talk about the *maintenance* costs

If I had more time I could cut that cost by close to half, but time is in short supply, and the dealer is a half-mile from the office...

I did have a nice coupon, and was able to score A/B service and an alignment for about $450 .

On the not-so-bright side I got a C300 loaner

BVLDARI

yeah, I agree - dropping off an S class and getting a c300 is a bit rough

rondocap

If your car is out of warranty, I'd avoid the dealer...find a good specialized shop and you'll get better work at half or 1/3 of the price usually. The dealers charge way too much - and there is a lot of commission work so often they push you to do things you don't really have to.

i_am_amused

my car is CPO through 12/31/2010, and I have a 4/60 3rd-party warranty through 2013 (did not know the car was CPO until after I bought it), so I am covered for as long as I'll own the car

as for service, I have more money than time (not that I have a lot of money, I just have zero time to waste F-ing around with my car), so I go to the most time-convenient place, and that's the dealer down the street from work.

300SDLguy

I don't have an S65 or CL65, but do have what are probably a close 2nd in maintenance cost, a S600 28,000 miles & CL600 50,000 miles (both STILL in warranty), I personally wouldn't want to own ANY W220-W215 without warranty. But I am glad to see that I DO have one of the ones in the cheapest category. i have a 1990 Buick Reatta (they were hand build like the Cadillac Allante) it's held up well, but the ABS system can be problematic and expensive to repair/maintain, not by MBZ standards, but US vehicle standards.

thegeneraltso

So if we factoring out the cost of the pre-paid maintenance, BMWs are still cheaper to buy than Mercedes . So I say the marketing dept at BMW has come up with a brilliant idea.

C280 Sport

Who is dummy that put this info togeather? ML550 as the most expensive? What? I bet any amount of money my Porsche is more along with the Maserati. What about cars like a Ferrari or Lamborghini? BMW Service is free for like 3 years so how the hell can it be #5? And how come the CL55 and S55 are one here? What about the E55, SL55, ML55 that have the same or similar motor?

nachilus

are they referring to maintenance after warranty? if so I can tell that there data is incorrect. Lets look at it from my experience....

I owned a 05' 745 IL, everything was OK until the 50K mark.

- (BMW) to change the battery $600 dealer only (battery has to be programmed to the car)

- (S55) bought and install the battery myself $140..(autozone)

- (BMW) Guibo Joint (similar to flex disk on mercedes) not a DIY. Part $800 plus labor

- (S55) buddies-Flex Disk $210 DIY

- (BMW) Navi/ASK unit issue, cannot be DIY (needs to be program to the car)_ used $1300 dealer $3180

-(S55) pop a new or used unit in you are done

-(S55) brakes and rotors all way round parts $980 DIY

these are some of the examples I and friends have experienced. BTW I had the 745 for 9 months and it was in the shop ever other month....had S55 21 months, only issue was my IC changed under warranty but could be a DIY. Not sure how they gather their data but from my experience I have to disagree.

amgfast

Perhaps expensive. But well worth it!!

transferred

I think it's perfectly fine...better than most cars and very safe, it's only a loaner, with so many people who lease it'd be impossible to give everyone the same car they brought in...

mbripoff

you are so right - I spend several thousand dollars per year on my sinkhole for cash SL55. The mercedes people will not at any time admid to faulty design or factory quality problems unless they are served with a recall notice from the government. I have been trying to bring these volks down from their high horse with little success.