Mercedes S550 AMG

[icemann427]

I've been on Craigslist looking for a cheap car for my daughter and noticed a couple of used S550's advertised, locally, with give or take 80k-100k miles that look in simply beautiful condition inside and out for $13k-$18k asking (no, I'm not interested in buying her a Mercedes lol)(pictures, below). I was just wondering. Would these cars be maintenance nightmares waiting to happen or would they offer good value for someone wanting a nice used SAFE car? I remember back in the day when I was interested in F1 racing, all the big time drivers drove Mercedes for their safety. Just wondering...Thanks!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Potential maintenance nightmare, there's a reason they are cheap.

[Yorkie]

I had the E550 and it eventually suffered from stretched timing chains throwing codes. Its not a cheap fix as the whole of the front of the car had to be removed to gain access. The chains can be a $5K fix. At the time my car had 135K under its wheels. Talking of wheels they bend easily.

One of our guys here at work has the E63 and the heads needed work. I recall him saying it was a $10K job and his mileage was around 80K. The front brakes were a $2K job.

Bottom line, as Onewhippedpuppy stated, they are cheap for a reason and that reason is maintenance. They are not unreliable and unlike Range Rovers, you rarely see them on the side of the road but the maintenance costs should not be underestimated. They are a vehicle you buy once but pay for many times over.

[VincentVega]

I had a similar car in recently. I really couldnt work on it w/o the right software. Well, sort of. I could troubleshoot and find the issue but to fix I needed to configure the new parts. Not specific to mercedes but they've been doing it for a while. This was simple stuff like airbag light, seat belt latches, door locks...

[wilnj]

The way I look at it, the maintenance is commensurate with the original purchase price. If I couldn’t afford the original purchase price, I likely can’t afford the maintenance.

Wheeler Dealers had an episode with a Mini Cooper and the take away there was that often times owners will look to unload car when the big ticket maintenance items come due.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[VincentVega]

true, just like a 944 and so many other cars over the years. Great deals out there on 740s, Maseratis....

[jwasbury]

The photo posted is a W221 S class which seems to get better marks than the W220 it replaced. While its true that these things are cheap because people bail out on them in fear of maintenance costs, you can also get a huge amount of car for the money with the older MBs. I now have three of them clustered around the year 2000 vintage. So far have enjoyed them and found them mostly DIY friendly. I invested in software/hardware to interface with all the electronics, which is a must for certain tasks.

Basic maintenance parts prices have been pretty reasonable. I got a complete brake kit (front and rear rotors, all pads and wear sensors) for about $250...OEM german branded parts for my W210 E300 Turbodiesel.

[greglepore]

I agree with Jake- mine are older (96's) and lotsa car for the $. Yes, they have a lot of systems and require vigilant upkeep. But they are "mostly" diy friendly IN THE PRIOR ERAS. Do your research, 221's and forward have increasingly complex electronics and some of it is vehicle coded. However, you can buy a 221 S65 in the high twenties- its performance specs are ridiculous.
Yeah, you need the diagnostic software, same as with VAG cars or BMW's. No more failure prone than other luxury makes, and they seem to depreciate quicker. My only real complaint has been that MB has started to phase out parts for the mid 90's cars; a shame as they've always supported old product.

[strupgolf]

If you like a great car, look into BMW e38. The 95-01 740 models. A really great car found cheap these days. Make sure the timing chain guides are done and has maintenance records. You can't go wrong on these and can be had between 3000-6000 all day long. Check out bimmerformums.com for some great deals. Click on the 7 forum then lookup " craigslist, eba y finds" . An equal to MB of the day.

[HHI944]

AMGs are maintenance hogs. That is not an AMG, that's an AMG package.
I daily an 07 ML350 these days with 180k on it. It definitely requires maintenance, but nothing ridiculous.
Transmission control is the worst and will run ~$2k at a dealer. The S550 AMG also probably has something fancy for suspension, airmatic or DSC, neither of which are the nightmares people make them out to be, but be prepared to drop $700/shock.
That's also in the year range where moisture collects along the rear brake lines and eventually corrodes them out. Dealer cost on that job is ridiculous, but a good Indy can graft new lines in with a different routing for under $1k.

[speeder]

Those S-class AMGs are amazing from a performance/luxury/safety POV but they are complex and not designed to be affordable to own. The purchase price of an old one is simply the admission price to a short life of writing large checks until the joyful day when you unload it to the next fool....I mean enthusiast.

[icemann427]

Thanks for your input, guys! The silver one is a 2008. The white one is a 2011. As HHI said, they are not AMG's but have the package. They are both such lovely cars inside and out. I would love to drive a nice car like that but am too involved with stuff where I need a truck (I have an 2005 Escalade EXT [generally, enough of a truck for me] with 330k miles on it), that for all intents and purposes, looks brand new.

I do most of the maintenance on that and a few others, but heck, my rear air shocks are over $700/ea, too. As I get older, I'm getting less and less interested in doing the maintenance/fix it work, but just those two cars were such a beautiful bargain, to begin with, anyway.

Thanks!

[onewhippedpuppy]

I will say that having owned a 2009 C63, it's one of my all time favorite cars. But the C class is also a lot simpler than the S class. Look at every gizmo on the S class, then consider the cost and time to fix it. Self closing doors? All things considered post warranty, maybe I'll shut my own doors.....

[slow&rusty]

I am huge Benz fan and fly the company flag high.

Currently there are four (4) MBs in my garage from a 1991 560SEC to my wife's 2012 C250 Coupe, so certainly know my way around the marque.

I find the normal maintenance items to be very reasonable and ownership to be very rewarding.

Those W221 or even the 222 S-Class are great cars, many of those cars get a bad rap because many owners can be surprisingly negligent and the internet does a great job at sensationalizing how unreliable the most coveted car companies. Find one that has been well cared for (easy) and enjoy and spoil yourself.

Nothing further to say.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

That white car looks brand new, simply gorgeous!

[jwasbury]

If anyone is looking, I have my '01 CLK55AMG (W208) up for sale. Naturally aspirated beast with back seats adults can fit in and a real trunk. 41k miles and cheaper than a W221 or beyond S class. No real need to sell, but also have a few too many cars, and would like to thin the herd.

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-RgGx3W

[masraum]

Originally Posted by jwasbury

If anyone is looking, I have my '01 CLK55AMG (W208) up for sale. Naturally aspirated beast with back seats adults can fit in and a real trunk. 41k miles and cheaper than a W221 or beyond S class. No real need to sell, but also have a few too many cars, and would like to thin the herd.

https://www.smugmug.com/gallery/n-RgGx3W

That's pretty tempting!

[RSBob]

Was talking to a buddy who works on German cars with a 5 YO AMG sitting out front. We started talking about how insainly expensive they are to repair. He said that car had a front suspension air bag failure which resulted in a busted shock. The parts and labor for that one corner, new bag and sport shock was $3,300, including air freight from Germany for the bag. He said the owner owns a software company so money is no object. Must be nice.

[WPOZZZ]

Originally Posted by RSBob

Was talking to a buddy who works on German cars with a 5 YO AMG sitting out front. We started talking about how insainly expensive they are to repair. He said that car had a front suspension air bag failure which resulted in a busted shock. The parts and labor for that one corner, new bag and sport shock was $3,300, including air freight from Germany for the bag. He said the owner owns a software company so money is no object. Must be nice.

You could probably get an Arnott shock for about $500. Factory Merc part that they rebuild when you send in the core.

[sc_rufctr]