Looking at a 2013 Mercedes-Benz S550, update: bought a CLS550

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JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
Anything to watch out for with these cars or are they pretty bullet proof?

This would be my wife's car. She drove one yesterday and really liked it.

Bi-turbo V8 engine making 429hp... what's not to like?

Update: Well, we bought a new-to-us CLS550. I guess we'll see how reliable this beast is over the next few years. It is a 2013 CLS550, white with tan leather interior. We looked at a 2014 E350 sedan but it wasn't nearly as nice as the CLS550.

Holy crap this thing is fast and comfortable. If you haven't driven one and get the chance I highly recommend it. It's a delightful car.

Oh, and we have 2 year unlimited mileage warranty through Mercedes-Benz and we added another 2 years onto that so we have 4 years of Mercedes factory warranty and our next 3 services are also free. So really it shouldn't cost us anything more than gas, tires and brakes.

qpj8z7.jpg
 
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sontakke

Senior member
Aug 8, 2001
895
11
81
Aren't you coming from a Toyota? As long as you understand that maintenance and reliability would be an order of magnitude different between the S550 and a typical Toyota made vehicle and you have the bucks to support the voracious mechanical appetite of S550 , you will be good.

Just for the grins, price one of those airmatic repair first.
 
A

A5

Diamond Member
Jun 9, 2000
4,902
5
81
Isn't the suspension repair on one of these like $8k? I love the idea of this kind of thing, but ehhhhhhhh
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
sontakke said:
Aren't you coming from a Toyota? As long as you understand that maintenance and reliability would be an order of magnitude different between the S550 and a typical Toyota made vehicle and you have the bucks to support the voracious mechanical appetite of S550 , you will be good.

Just for the grins, price one of those airmatic repair first.
Click to expand...

She has a Lexus now.

This is a CPO car with a warranty and the option of extending the warranty another 2 years. We would probably keep it for 4-5 years depending on reliability.

The dealer also has an S350 of the same year but with lower miles. This is a V6 turbo diesel and it is about $10k less for some reason.
 
Midwayman

Midwayman

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
5,723
325
126
I'd check out the mbworld.org forums for a real answer. However its mostly if something does go wrong it'll be big bucks.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
Maybe we'll just lease a new one for 3 years. See how that goes. At least it will be under warranty.
 
S

sontakke

Senior member
Aug 8, 2001
895
11
81
With MB S-class, you want new or CPO so that your maintenance costs are capped. Or buy something which is fully depreciated (aka 10+ year old) and put the 100% of the purchase price in the bank for unscheduled repairs. There is nothing in between.

Personally, I am going to eventually choose the later option. You live only once :)
 
slag

slag

Lifer
Dec 14, 2000
10,473
81
101
JulesMaximus said:
My wife works out of the house and this would be her car.

The E350 we sold was her Mom's car. She passed away last year.
Click to expand...

I was referring mainly to the "I would have taken it but I drive too many miles for a car like that to make sense as a daily driver and we really don't need 3 cars anyway. "

Definitely need to keep the wife happy.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
slag said:
I was referring mainly to the "I would have taken it but I drive too many miles for a car like that to make sense as a daily driver and we really don't need 3 cars anyway. "

Definitely need to keep the wife happy.
Click to expand...

Yeah, she's driving a 2014 Lexus ES350 right now. At the time keeping an older Mercedes E-Class sedan (which is smaller than the Lexus and out of warranty) didn't really make much sense.

I don't know. The more I look into the S-Class the less sense it makes. o_O

This is the car...

http://www.hoehnmercedes.com/certif...-S-Class-0b3aa0dc0a0e0ae73625ab4b8175198f.htm
 
yh125d

yh125d

Diamond Member
Dec 23, 2006
6,886
0
76
A 4.0 A8 would be more my style personally, or hell maybe even find a W12 for that money


That color is truly..... unfortunate
 
Beer4Me

Beer4Me

Senior member
Mar 16, 2011
564
20
76
Gotta love that German resale value. Be aware that after you buy it, it will depreciate even more. After two years and 1 owner, it lost 50% value. 4 years and 2 owners later, it will likely lose another 50% making it a $30k car, haha. Example below,

Edit: it's not liking the long-arse link.

Copy/paste?
autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=77084&endYear=2017&modelCode1=S550&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=0&makeCode1=MB&startYear=2010&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=500&showcaseListingId=0&mmt=[MB[S550[]][]]&listingId=419415309&Log=0
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
Beer4Me said:
Gotta love that German resale value. Be aware that after you buy it, it will depreciate even more. After two years and 1 owner, it lost 50% value. 4 years and 2 owners later, it will likely lose another 50% making it a $30k car, haha. Example below,

Edit: it's not liking the long-arse link.

Copy/paste?
autotrader.com/cars-for-sale/vehicledetails.xhtml?zip=77084&endYear=2017&modelCode1=S550&sortBy=derivedpriceASC&showcaseOwnerId=0&makeCode1=MB&startYear=2010&firstRecord=0&searchRadius=500&showcaseListingId=0&mmt=[MB[S550[]][]]&listingId=419415309&Log=0
Click to expand...

That car has 112k miles on it.

Yes, expensive German cars depreciate rapidly. Everyone knows this.

Cars are not an investment. They are consumable items.
 
Beer4Me

Beer4Me

Senior member
Mar 16, 2011
564
20
76
JulesMaximus said:
That car has 112k miles on it.

Yes, expensive German cars depreciate rapidly. Everyone knows this.

Cars are not an investment. They are consumable items.
Click to expand...

Yep. I've gone through 5 (2 trucks, 3 cars) of 'em myself in 1 year. Anyway, good luck on your S550/S600. :)

10 Tundra > 11 GT500 (weekend) + 08 G35 sedan (dd) > 14 Ram 1500 > 15 GS350

It's a slippery slope too. It started when I bought the GT500. Luckily, I seem to have it under control at the GS as I've been extremely pleased with it thus far.
 
theeedude

theeedude

Lifer
Feb 5, 2006
35,787
6,197
126
I'd look at a brand new with warranty redesigned E class at that price range over a used S-class.
 
Spicedaddy

Spicedaddy

Platinum Member
Apr 18, 2002
2,305
77
91
Does she need that engine? I'd get the diesel for 10K$ less...

Either way, get the CPO warranty and don't keep it past that.
 
JulesMaximus

JulesMaximus

No Lifer
Jul 3, 2003
74,544
924
126
Spicedaddy said:
Does she need that engine? I'd get the diesel for 10K$ less...

Either way, get the CPO warranty and don't keep it past that.
Click to expand...

No, but I want it. :D

We found one in Newport Beach with fewer miles in silver. Might look at that one tomorrow.

I checked and this car is still under factory warranty for another year and the CPO warranty adds another 2 years onto that. Definitely going CPO on this for sure.
 
drbrock

drbrock

Golden Member
Feb 8, 2008
1,333
8
81
I was not ultra impressed with the S550. I think the E Class is a better car. Now if you changed it to a 650 or an AMG that might be different... Good luck shopping.

There are workarounds for some of the car with the airmatic suspension but it doesn't seem like you would want to deal with it.

I did some heavy research on mercedes a year ago. I wanted an SL AMG. There is a reason these are so cheap out of warranty. Unless you start swapping parts for less expensive systems the maintenance will be crushing.
 
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