Mercedes -- Would You?

[svtfocus2cobra]

I have a good buddy who manages an import repair shop. He told me a story of a guy who called and his car needed brakes he thought, gives my buddy his VIN and my buddy sees it's an S65.

Tells the dude to bring it in and they will look over the car. Guy gets there and is bragging up and down that he just bought this car for $12k and it was 10x that new. Tech took the car out, verified it shuddered coming to a stop, measured rotors (they had already been turned) and rec'd rear pads and rotors.

$2900.

The owners face went pale and he paced back and forth for like 10 minutes, my buddy tried to work with him finding aftermarket parts and cutting some of his labor, got the total price down to $2400. The dude still couldn't do it and walked.

I've been warning my brother in law about this stuff too but he is a big fan of expensive German cars that need a little work (or a lot, we did an engine on an E60 M5 a year or two ago). His wife's Cayenne Turbo S needed brakes and the cheapest we could find anywhere was $2500 just in parts.

Also, I hate the amount of effort it takes to do something on German cars. My wife loves Mini's and she keeps trying to get me to buy a newer one as a beater, but her JCW had a bad belt tensioner and from what I can tell, it's an engine out service. I didn't do it.

We don't get a lot of Mercedes S500/600s in for repairs but I get tons and tons of 04/05 745s and 750s because every mid 20s wanna be ballers thinks they are getting a killer deal on a badass car and they bring it in because it has a check engine light on that they think is just one single small issue and we end up writing them up at least a $3k bill to fix a bad module or it's a cooling issue, and they are always upset after that. I just turned one away yesterday as the guy called and said he got a good deal on an 05 745 at auction but that it had some engine problems. I sort of chuckled and eventually said I didn't have the time to figure out that kind of repair right now, especially when he doesn't know the history of the car. I could hear the concern in his voice realizing the mistake he could have made. I've done so many 7 Series that I wouldn't be surprised if he had bought a car we repaired and the owner finally ditched it. I had to have one towed because the owner abandoned it on our lot and then I found out he went to prison. Luckily we got our money up front on that one.

I'm really surprised that I don't see more S600s or MBs in general though around here, but the 7 Series seems to be the one the idiots buy in this area.

 

[kaz109]

Mercedes would I?? Yes , I have a couple times ....the C63 I had was bullet proof. I took it to the strip a few times and the track a bunch of time , did a few 3,000mi rallies all while it being my daily driver. Bought a S63 coupe after that but didn't keep it long ( 5 months) because I wanted a change.

Would I buy that specific Mercedes? No...hell no.

 

[VenomousDSG]

I've actually been looking for a clean SL55 AMG roadster just for the hell of it, they seem like very high quality and powerful vehicles for the money. As all German vehicles though, they are very pricey to maintain.

 

[kwkshift]

I don't think there's anything more expensive to own than a cheap Mercedes/ BMW/ Jaguar/ etc.

F that noise.

 

[coremaster21]

Love my E55, had it for a few months now and no major issues.

 

[IamRacerX]

My buddy had a CL65 that he bought just before the warranty was over. He had a clunk begin to show up in the driveline. Took it in to the dealer.... needed a new dif... $18k... he asked about repair prices once out of warranty...The SA ran threw some things and showed him one that was in getting a new motor under warranty... $70k... he promptly traded it before it was out of warranty. German luxury cars cost big bucks to repair. The are amazing cars, but it’s best to sell them before they are out of warranty.

 

[CobraBob]

IMO, it's likely that the buyer knew the car, knew the potential high-cost expenses going forward, has the money to spend on those repairs, and was happy to get this car because he wanted it. So if that was the case, to the buyer, he was happy with the sale price and felt it was a good deal. Again, JMO.

Would I do it? Heck no! I wouldn't want to have to routinely shell out big bucks on repairs. No matter how well it drove or how much awesome power/torque it had.

 

[CobraBob]

Love my E55, had it for a few months now and no major issues.

View attachment 1655066

THAT is a good looking E55, sir! Well done!

 

[Weather Man]

IMO, it's likely that the buyer knew the car, knew the potential high-cost expenses going forward, has the money to spend on those repairs, and was happy to get this car because he wanted it. So if that was the case, to the buyer, he was happy with the sale price and felt it was a good deal. Again, JMO.

Would I do it? Heck no! I wouldn't want to have to routinely shell out big bucks on repairs. No matter how well it drove or how much awesome power/torque it had.

I agree, he probably already had a budget for expected repairs or any repairs simply wouldn't matter to his checkbook.

 

[Serpent]

My buddy had a CL65 that he bought just before the warranty was over. He had a clunk begin to show up in the driveline. Took it in to the dealer.... needed a new dif... $18k... he asked about repair prices once out of warranty...The SA ran threw some things and showed him one that was in getting a new motor under warranty... $70k... he promptly traded it before it was out of warranty. German luxury cars cost big bucks to repair. The are amazing cars, but it’s best to sell them before they are out of warranty.

One of these tried to race me on my s1000rr, lol it was a ****ing joke. I was looking back several times.