LukasBMW

I may be picking up a 2004 SL600 shortly. The car has 35k. The price is attractive...but I'm not touching this car without an aftermarket warranty.

Since Chrysler no longer covers our cars (and the warranty was sketchy to being with in my opinion) I think Fidelity is the way to go.

I want at least 3 years and 36k miles of protection.

What should I expect to pay?

I'm thinking $4k is the best I can do and I may have to pay up to $5k. What has been your experience?

Many thanks.

m_berman

I paid $6,700. for a Fidelity Policy:

06 CLS 55
35K mi
5yrs/60K miles
$100 ded

It may be a chunk of change, but I got it for 5 years and 60K mi from date of warranty. The odds of repair bill(s) exceeding that price is very likely. Well worth the expense. Bumper to Bumper exclusionary policy (the best).

BTW...free 18 months payments.

I got mine from:

Richard Greenstein
> Master Certified Sales Consultant & Warranty Specialist
> Fletcher Jones Motorcars, Inc.
> 3300 Jamboree Road
> Newport Beach, CA 92660
> 949-718-3065 (Direct Office)
> 949-718-3069 (FAX)
> rgreenstein@fjmercedes.com


Compared with MB Factor Warranty from date of 1st service--
5 Year / 75k Miles - $2635.300
5 Year / 100k Miles - $3295.00
6 Year / 75k Miles - $2910.00
6 Year / 100k Miles - $3735.00
7 Year / 75k Miles - $3240.00
7 Year / 100k Miles - $4285.00 (3yr/50k mi)****

LukasBMW

Thanks! I got a quote of $4,500 for 3 years 36k miles. $100 deductible and Platinum coverage. I'm gonna roll with it.

InTheBenz0

Where are you guys calling/emailing for quotes?

Becks Imports

If you guys need quotes, shoot me an email at brucem105@comcast.net

Thanks.

Bruce

jwrichter

What do you mean Chrysler was "sketchy"? When I did my research they had the best coverage, reputation and lowest price hands down.

LukasBMW

Chrysler did indeed have the lowest price, but the price was so low that I don't see how they could possibly be making money off of the warranty. There were a few threads online where Benz owners bragged about buying the warranty for $3k and having $10-$15k worth of repairs done in a year. This is probably not far from the norm...especially for AMG cars. There is no way Chrysler can sustain this business model. Chrysler also made you front the bill and then reimburse you. Most other warranty companies pay up right away. This is why I call it sketchy.

Sure enough, there have been reports of Chrysler canceling warranties on some owners.

I'd rather pay $4-$5k to a company like Fidelity and ensure I get top notch coverage with no hassles then $2-$3k to Chrysler and have to deal with concerns about getting my warranty canceled.

jwrichter

Your information regarding Chrysler's warranty having to be paid up front by the policy holder is absolutely UNTRUE. After you bring your car into a Mercedes dealership and the warranty work is confirmed and completed, you pay ONLY the amount of deductable on your policy. You don't pay upfront and wait for a refund.
If you have some self assurance that by paying more for coverage that you really get more than have at it. I would recommend that READING the sevice contract would be more beneficial. Fidelity and Chrysler both offer good service contracts and they should both be explored, you apparantly never bothered to contact Chrysler. All companies will cancel warranties for what they consider abuse/fradulant claims, if your not a scammer than for the most part you won't have a problem.
I can't comment on your business savvy regarding these warranties, All I know is that for the last 20 months without a claim, Chrysler is as of now ahead of the game.

LukasBMW

I had a Chrysler Warranty in 2009-2010 on my 2006 SL55. At that time they made you pay upfront for all repairs. I had a pulley break on me and I had to pay out of pocket. I got a check from Chrysler 5 weeks later for the repair amount (minus the deductible). Perhaps they have changed now that they are more financially stable as a company (in 2009 they had issues if you recall).

If you don't feel like a scammer paying $3,000.00 for a bumper to bumper Chrysler warranty on an AMG car, then something is wrong with you. These cars are great, but they love to break. Chrysler may have had good luck with your car so far, but I'd bet that before the end of your warranty, you will have hosed them with repairs. One visit to the repair shop with an SL55 can easily exceed whatever you paid for the warranty.

My argument is that their business model is just not sustainable. Sooner or later they will realize this and stop insuring AMG cars. When this happens and the music stops...I don't want to get caught without a chair.

A few months ago I read a thread (it was on this board or another Benz board) that was filled with owners getting cancellation notices. The tusanmi may already be underway.

jwrichter

I am responding back on this thread because I just had some after market warranty work done through Chrysler and thought an update might be helpful to those who are looking for accurate warranty info. After the check engine light went on I took the car to Mercedes who later confirmed my suspicion that the problem was the air injector pump. Mercedes contacted Chrysler Warranty and within hours the pump, relay and the weak air struts holding up the trunk lid were approved for repair. No problem period, just paid the deductable.
Another positive was that the service advisor tells me that the Dealership just started a new policy August 1 that all repairs made at the dealership are covered for future failure for life as long as I own the car. Thats Parts and Labor. WOW!
So, check out the Chrysler after market warranty if your looking for one, I believe they DO still write new policies for our cars as I called and asked. Now if I get a call that my policy has been cancelled I'll post that as well. As of this posting all is well.

Wagz

Hey,
Just wanted to chip in on this a little.
Before landing my 07 SL55, which has a year left on the original MB warranty, I was seriously researching and looking into extended warranties.
I was not sure what car I was going to land (year, mileage, etc), but what I was sure about is the fact that I was going to get an extended warranty for sure. My last SL55 (2004) ran me 30K in repairs and maintenance in a little under three years, and there was no way I was going through that again.

I'm sure you will do your own research but here is what I found.
Chrysler extended warranty was considered the best for repairs and payouts without any hassle to the customer. This was verified by my mercedes mechanic who specializes in these cars (Kraftgermanauto.com). Unfortunately Chrysler discountinued warranty coverage on MB vehicles last year. From the info i got.

That left me with options such as Fidelity, Paragon, National Warranty Administration Network or NWAN for short, and several others.
I read all over these forums that Fidelity is pretty good, but after doing my own research, I found just the opposity. Tons and tons of complaints and horror stories from owners with Fidelity. Google "fidelity extended warranty complaints", etc to see what i'm talking about.

After researching this topic for close to a month, I came to the conclusion that the best extended warranty you can have, if not the OEM one is from a company called Easy Care. They are expensive however, but have the greates customer satisfaction rates, and are actually the only extended warranty company that is recommended by motor trend and several consumer agencies.

There is also a guy on these forums called Bruce Mendal who seems extremly helpful and friendly and appears to have a good reputation here. I think he was favoring Fidelity however so i'm not sure.

Lukas, do your homework on this as it's extremely important on these cars. and saving a couple of hundred dollars may not be worth the pain in the long run. Sometimes the expression you get what you pay for is true.

Best of Luck with this.

LukasBMW

Interesting. I ended up buying my car with a Fidelity Warranty already in place. I got two years left.

Buying a car with a warranty in place was the best thing I think I could have done. I looked at 3 SL55's and 1 SL600 before buying my current car. I did pre-purchase inspections on 3 of those cars and the lowest estimate came back at $4k. (One came back at $8k, another at $11k!!!!)

The price of the car + $4k(at least!) in initial repairs + the cost of the warranty = a lot of money.

Buying a car with a warranty already in place saved me a huge initial service bill and the hassles of getting warranty coverage. The pre-purchase inspection on my current car came back with NOTHING needed...the owner had put the warranty to good use.

What is interesting is that the previous owner bought the Fidelity 4 year 48k mile platinum warranty for $4,200.00 on 6/2009 when he got the car. Nowadays, a 4 year 48k mile platinum warranty for an SL600 would run about $7k. This actually makes me feel more comfortable as it looks like Fidelity realized that $4,200.00 is too low for them to make money. $7,000.00 is more realistic. This gives me the indication that they want to continue to insure these cars, just at a more realistic price. I just lucked out that my warranty was bought before they figured out how expensive it is to maintain these cars.

Becks Imports

Wagz, thanks for the reference. Fidelity is a great company. The thing to watch out for when googling them is that:

1. There are many other companies with the word Fidelity in their name trying to trade off of the reputation of Fidlelity. Fidelity Automotive Services is one outfit like that....they suck, but when people complain, they just say "Fidelity".

2. No warranty company is perfect, including the original new-car warranty. You'll find people complaining about everything. But it's the complaint ratio that's important, not the number of complaints in a vacuum. For example, I can google them and find 50 legitimate complaints about Fidelity. If Fidelity sold 500 warranties a month, that would be horrendous. But they sell over FIFTEEN THOUSAND warranties per month. So that's pretty damned good.

I work with NAC and Fidelity. Both are great, but NAC's prices are a better value for cars with over 25K or so miles. Their claims reputation is also a great fit for Mercedes, similar to Fidelity. EasyCare is good too. If you are still looking, shoot me your VIN# and current odometer reading. I can give you plenty of references, including some here on the board for both Fidelity and NAC.

Thanks!

Bruce


"

Vabene7

+1 on Bruce. He got me my Fidelity warranty and I couldn't be happier. Best money I have spent, besides on the car....

-Chris

ryangambrill

Hello-

I assume you all are referencing FWS that is part of of the JM Family of companies in Florida. If so, that is my warranty company on one of my current vehicles (VW Touareg V10 TDI).

When I picked up my warranty policy on the V10, Fidelity quoted the priced based on model and miles, not year nor trim (v6 same price as V10 TDI). Therefore, I was able to pick up a 6/72k platinum coverage at a very reasonable cost. I was informed by many sources that the cost for the warranty increases dramatically if purchasing after the vehicle has 35k miles on the clock.

I assume that Fidelity uses a similar pricing model on Benz's. Can anyone confirm that it is best to purchase before the 35k threshold? Is pricing different for an S63 vs. S550?

Thanks.

alx

The whole auto aftermarket insurance business boggles my mind. If a drive by night company offers insurance at a price that is less than the average repairs bill for the life of the insurance- the businss loses money and goes out of business. This has happened many times. If a reputable company offers insurance and has offered it for more than a couple of years that means they are making money and generally the insurance is not worth it.

If fidelity for example adjusted their rates recently- dont you think that now they are at the point where it is not worth it for the average-statistics consumer to purchase it?

babyman1737

Insurance is a gamble. The company (Fidelity) is the house. Those who get paid out more than what they paid for their policy: hit the jackpot. Everyone else who paid a ton for their policy and never filed a claim, well they are in the majority. Statistically, you should never get more out of your policy than what you originally paid, as you said.

ryangambrill

Just like most deals in life, you need to recognize a good deal vs. A bad one. For example, many people purchased homes with exotic mortgages. Lots of these were bad deals, but that does not mean all mortgages are bad.

I did not purchase an extended warranty on my 2004 911. For me, the cost of the warranty far exceeded the risk. On the other hand, I did purchase one for my Touareg. The deal on my Touareg was for an additional 6/72k, no deductible, platinum coverage, $2400 out the door. Considering the reputation of the Touareg it was a good bet that I would have $400+ per year in repairs. Now had the cost been 2x-3x more, I probably would have passed.