S65 CPO or No CPO




But as others have stated, having a warranty is definitely the way to go, especially on fancier cars where more can and will go wrong.
If you don't mind me asking, who's your warranty provider as I've heard that National no longer covers AMG cars (losing too much money?).
But as others have stated, having a warranty is definitely the way to go, especially on fancier cars where more can and will go wrong.
If you don't mind me asking, who's your warranty provider as I've heard that National no longer covers AMG cars (losing too much money?).
If you don't mind me asking, who's your warranty provider as I've heard that National no longer covers AMG cars (losing too much money?).
When its your own money, I think you're more likely to live with a problem, or find another way of resolving it, for example by using back-street mechanics, fitting used parts, and do-it-yourself. When repairs cost as much as the car itself, its no longer a viable proposition, and dealer parts and labour costs might drive many cars off the road.
More likely, those costs will simply drive those cars to a different part of the used car market, where owners take a different approach. Rather than looking for the benefits and assurance of a new car, but with (hopefully) lower cost, they accept that cars will go wrong, and deal with it. A warranty should be like an insurance policy that deals with unlikely and unpredictable events. The break-down of a ten-year old car is not an unlikely event though, and like a teenager driving a Corvette, its logical that the insurance will cost more than the car.
This is where forums like this come in. Every car has its foibles and challenges. We know what our are (and I think I've just found another) but we also know there are ways round them. I recently bought a 2004 S600TT with about 146,000 miles from a private seller and NO warranty. Exactly the sort of thing that sends the newcarwannahaves running for the hills. Breakdowns are no longer an uncertainty or a statistical risk, they're an inevitability, and I've definitely had problems. But the only major expense has been a new coil pack (and I wonder if I shouldn't have simply tried to repiar my old one). 146k miles, one new coil pack and one original one - hmmm, I wonder what might happen....?
Now, if I had a warranty, firstly that would have cost more than the repairs (same for all four W220's that I've owned). Secondly, the warranty wouldn't have covered it anyway. The only warranty I could get for my car covered the engine, transmission and final drive - just the things that I'm not worried about.
Warranties aren't about getting something for nothing, they're not magic pots of money: they have to be paid for. And for our cars they're expensive. If they weren't, the warranty companies would go out of business - hence the bold type in the quote above. Warranties have to make a profit for the warranty company, by underwriting the risk of the worst repairs, where the owner can't take that risk.
We've all heard stories of how people got double their money for repairs incurred, but for every one of those stories, there will be many more where the warranty was unused. We don't hear about them, but it can't be any other way.
Nick
Last edited by Welwynnick; Apr 6, 2014 at 04:54 AM.
When its your own money, I think you're more likely to live with a problem, or find another way of resolving it, for example by using back-street mechanics, fitting used parts, and do-it-yourself. When repairs cost as much as the car itself, its no longer a viable proposition, and dealer parts and labour costs might drive many cars off the road.
More likely, those costs will simply drive those cars to a different part of the used car market, where owners take a different approach. Rather than looking for the benefits and assurance of a new car, but with (hopefully) lower cost, they accept that cars will go wrong, and deal with it. A warranty should be like an insurance policy that deals with unlikely and unpredictable events. The break-down of a ten-year old car is not an unlikely event though, and like a teenager driving a Corvette, its logical that the insurance will cost more than the car.
This is where forums like this come in. Every car has its foibles and challenges. We know what our are (and I think I've just found another) but we also know there are ways round them. I recently bought a 2004 S600TT with about 146,000 miles from a private seller and NO warranty. Exactly the sort of thing that sends the newcarwannahaves running for the hills. Breakdowns are no longer an uncertainty or a statistical risk, they're an inevitability, and I've definitely had problems. But the only major expense has been a new coil pack (and I wonder if I shouldn't have simply tried to repiar my old one). 146k miles, one new coil pack and one original one - hmmm, I wonder what might happen....?
Now, if I had a warranty, firstly that would have cost more than the repairs (same for all four W220's that I've owned). Secondly, the warranty wouldn't have covered it anyway. The only warranty I could get for my car covered the engine, transmission and final drive - just the things that I'm not worried about.
Warranties aren't about getting something for nothing, they're not magic pots of money: they have to be paid for. And for our cars they're expensive. If they weren't, the warranty companies would go out of business - hence the bold type in the quote above. Warranties have to make a profit for the warranty company, by underwriting the risk of the worst repairs, where the owner can't take that risk.
We've all heard stories of how people got double their money for repairs incurred, but for every one of those stories, there will be many more where the warranty was unused. We don't hear about them, but it can't be any other way.
Nick
The Best of Mercedes & AMG











that being said, I kept it past warranty...