vdubpower

hey guys been a while

been mostly over at benzworld dealing with my w126's

so anyways....my 2012 single owned e63 with 61K miles is going to be out of extd warranty which i purchased when the car was new.

I am nervous about amg ownership after warranty, no doubt but i dont think selling it and getting a mere 30-35 grand for it is really worth it....the new cars are 110000 plus and yes they are faster and great but in so-cal traffic it doesnt really make sense... And i dont really want more car payments.....Or do i just get a regular joe schmow camry or something for pt a to b drives and enjoy my w126s and 911 for spirited drives..

in december i complained of a knockingnoise in the right front suspension...drove it with a tech, they put stethoscope on it and figured something was wrong with shock right front....as to what it was no one knows..but they swapped it out and that was that....noise went away...i was happy about that but now i have one 60000 mile shock and one new apparently....obviously they wont replace the other

this noise i actually heard for a yr plus prior but they could never figure it out....other issues i have had was other front end stuff, sway bar links etc things like that, and the dust cap on top of the shock spring...

luckily no major motor issues....long ago cel for 02 sensors, and thats about it

so are there options for another ext warranty to cover me that wont screw around?

PeterUbers

vdubpower

in my family we tend to keep cars, we buy them, pay for them and use them

my 85 500sel, purchased by old man when i was 7...i make sure its driven 1-2 times a week....pride and joy
after the 126 dad purchased a 140 and 220, both 220000 miles each...now they have a 221 and 222 then are still going strong

it seems in todays car market its all about the turnover...everyone leases, and 2 yrs something new.....i dont want to do that but yeah i suppose your thinking make sense...set a limit as to what its cost would be comparing to what another new car would potentially cost in that time

PeterUbers

homeofstone

Just move to a 2015 amg with a Mercedes extended warranty.

Vrodman

I like this logic a lot. Only thing to keep in mind, is that if we use my recent engine issue as an example, that new engine in the crate was $57k !!!! So allocate $57k ??? LOL

jvakos

vdub - i also tend to keep my benz vehicles for 10+ years as well and the out of warranty issues are painful!!

Gotta find a reputable indy guy who knows these cars and does great work with much lower labor cost than dealer - plus source your own parts on the cheap from places like parts.com and save some money there. an out of warranty benz will always be pricey especially AMGs but would rather drive that then a new warrantied camry any day

PeterUbers

Vrodman

Yeah,

In fairness though, if this had happened to me out of warranty, I would likely have just kept driving it until it got worse and then have the motor repaired by an Indy (block honed, new rings etc.). It would have been much less than the $57k MB was willing to invest. It still likely would have been $10k to $15k though minimum. So the allocation idea does really have merit.

BTW that ticking sound that I posted on the site was very mild and did not get any worse after driving it for 2 months even when jumping on it. Also, the very minor wall scoring they pointed to is not unheard of for a motor with 30k+ miles on it. I am still not convinced that they needed a new motor in my situation, but I was indeed happy to take it!

PeterUbers

jvakos

the MB CPO extended warranty is pretty good BUT does have exclusions vs original factory - - - attached is a version of the MB CPO brochure that provides those details on whats covered (EX doesnt cover battery, shocks, glass, paint etc)

i added a 2 year CPO for my 15 E63S (had 27k miles and I bought it CPO) which cost $3600 and should pay for itself with 1 repair

NOTE - the CPO warranty also states this about required MB service needing to be done:
Failure to follow the required Mercedes-Benz service maintenance schedule, using specified materials, fluids, and parts, at the specified intervals could cause vehicle damage not covered by this Warranty.

I.T. Guy

Not even an AMG my wife's 10yr old GL cost $4-6k a year the last few years, and that's no major issues!


Don't do the Camry.

I.T. Guy

PS call Fidelity Platinum and get a warranty quote.
They are awesome.

try m3

I would just keep it and budget for future repairs. I feel like the M157 cars are a bit higher in maintenance/repairs my CLS63 has cost me way more than my E55 with 160k miles I think over the last 8 years only thing that broke was my supercharger bearing besides wear items lol. Start thinking about fuel system components they will be next to go I just replaced both high pressure fuel pumps. My SA and AMG tech said they are seeing fuel system failures start to pop up on these direct injection engines.

dn325ci

My thoughts on this one are sometimes unpopular, and I've read vrodman's story many times since he faithfully reports it in every reliability thread, but I usually pass on the extended warranties. It's pretty widely reported they are among the most profitable products in the automotive industry - more profitable than the cars themselves.

Kiplinger: "It’s no surprise that extended warranties for autos rank high on consumer complaint lists. Contracts are riddled with exclusions, making it hard to tell what is covered and under what circumstances. If a covered part is damaged by a noncovered part, you may be on the hook for the whole bill. And if you haven’t followed the maintenance schedule, the warranty could be terminated. Payouts over the life of an extended warranty typically fall short of the cost of the warranty. In a 2014 survey by Consumer Reports, more than half of extended warranty purchasers never used their policies. Those who did, on average, spent hundreds more on the policy than they recouped. The median price paid was just over $1,200 (though less-reliable brands and luxury makes charged $1,500 to $2,200); the median savings on covered repairs for all brands was $840."

Consumer Reports: "Instead of buying the warranty, invest that $1,200 in an interest-bearing account. That way, you’ll have an emergency fund if a post-warranty problem arises. And if your car doesn’t need pricey repairs, you’ll already have the money for a down payment on your next car.”

Of course there are catastrophic failures and fear is the strongest of motivators, but the math is on your side.

OK, I'm putting on the kevlar for the inevitable flaming.

I.T. Guy

^^ that's for a Honda or Toyota. Those prices don't even compute in AMG land. $1200 waranty and $800 repair? LOL
$1200 downpayment? That doesn't even pay freight PDI or the gas guzzler tax!

Most people I know that had an aftermarket warranty on say an SL65, Maserati, Austin, Jag, made out like bandits!
If you never have to use it you win with zero down time.
If you have use it you win because AMG fixit price > warranty cost.
I don't know anyone that hasn't used it.
Anyone here own an out of warranty AMG for 3+ years with zero problems?

I am of the strong opinion that the consumer reports warranty losers, pay for the AMG's etc. - frankly I don't know why the warranty companies even gamble on our cars.

Hey, you said you had the kevlar's on

rustybear3

​​​​​​However that policy must be purchased while your vehicle is under the factory warranty, meaning once you have passed 4-years/50,000-miles, Mercedes will not cover your car.

The OP already had an extended warranty on his car, and it has now expired....he can't get another MB warranty that I know of.

vdubpower

i need to go back and read your thread..i briefly looked at it a while ago but cant recall


also i watch a lot of the tasos yt videos, and there is a some scary issues with thesemotors, but mostly the tuned ones it seems

im still stock

jvakos

Vrodman

I generally agree with your logic actually. Just for clarification, I bring up the engine thing when it seems relevant. For the record, I love these cars and am not at all trying to suggest they are unreliable. What happened to me was an outlier on the curve.

With regard to the 3rd party warranty "being riddled with exclusions", this is true. The Members Choice policy I had for 2011 was a 25 page contract and it did have a long section labeled "What's not covered". However, I demanded to see a copy of the full contract before I purchased it and went through all fine print in it carefully. It basically had all the obvious exclusions (exhaust components, brakes, rattles, etc). But in the end it did quite clearly show "What is covered" and it looked good to me and I bought it for $4k. In the end, that policy paid out almost $30k total. There were some denials that my SA and I had to battle them with. But in the end, they paid for everything that I expected them to.

My best advice to anyone who does go the route of a warranty is to keep that contract safe and handy. During a couple of denials they tried to say something was not covered hoping that I wouldn't know better by reading the contract. For instance, when my coil shorted to ground and sent raw fuel through the exhaust that blew up the cats and the mufflers they tried saying "exhaust components are not covered". NICE TRY! I went through the section for what is not covered, and BOOM there it was: "Any item in the not covered list that is damaged as the result of a covered item failing IS COVERED". I threw that at them and they paid. But I assure you if I didn't find that, "REJECTED"!!

Basically your suggestion is the same as what Peter suggested above with his "allocation" idea, and as I said to that, it's a pretty good idea.

vdubpower

so this morning i started the car and the warning for active lane change assist is non op shows up.....nice timing

when i got on the road it seemed to be working and later in day when i started the car it didnt show up

wonder if its worth going in for if its a random deal

PeterUbers

FastWgn

These discussions always amuse me. It's the same for any higher end German brand (BMW, Audi, MB). The end point is easy - you'll be paying for driving a high end car. high end cars are terrible investments...
In one of three ways:

1. Depreciation if you buy a new or newish (2-3 years) car. Maintenance will be limited and car will 90+% be on warranty of some kind.
2. Repair bills if you choose not to use a warranty, or if the car is too old to be warrantied. .
3. Spare parts and sweat and tears if you are a DIY.

Mix this with two additional items,:
a) the Internet is full of horror stories of cars that break - like Vrod. But let's be honest - the rest of us are not making a monthly post about how our engine/gearbox/suspension/ didn't fail this month and how much money we saved. Few people write forums threads about how they paid $11k for Fidelity Platinum but the car ran flawlessly for 5 years and had zero maintenance claims. Everybody wants to feel smart and say they paid $5k for warranty and got $50k of work done.
b) the Internet is an incredible tool for DIY communities and therefore makes us all much more aware of how much we are charged for what many times is limited amounts of work - esp when people discover or develop workarounds to sometimes draconian service procedures. Think numerous sensors that usually have as step 1 in service manual: "Drop motor". Until someone realizes you can loosen a bolt here, move a thing there, tweak your arm in there and then spend an hour by feel replacing that sensor (for $40 instead of $5k)

Different people end up at different solutions.

For me the answer is usually - buy it certified - let someone else take the first 2-3 year, 30-40% depreciation hit, then drive and enjoy warranty years (and hefty service bills from dealer to ensure warranty coverage), to then keep another couple of years doing some DIY and some independent mechanic work. For me that is the right combo of new car feeling, maintenance / repair bills, and depreciation hit.

To OP: You have a one owner, 60k miles car that you like. You have taken a significant depreciation hit ($30-60k or more) and curve is now flattening out. For you to get into a new car (at $110k as you say) or even a 2-3 year old car (at $50-80k) only makes sense economically if you are completely clueless about DIY work, and/or live were you can't work on the car yourself, and you go the dealer for maintenance.
Economically.....

Now - three are other factors - piece of mind, status, etc. Only you can determine how much that is worth to you.

vdubpower

not operation or maybe it inoperable

i drove the 500sec today but when i got home i did start the e63 to move it and it said the same

im looking at my purchase papers.....everything was on 1/24/12 84 month 100000miles
so i assume it expires on 1/23/19 but im sure they will tell me its already over

vdubpower

So past few days the warning has not come on. I could take car in today but if warning is not coming on or leaving message is there any point. Don't dealer always need to see it to believe it
.