BIL's 2012 S550 Mercedes Repair Bill

[Andrew1972]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
If you can afford a German luxury vehicle.... You can afford the repair bill.


Actually not even remotely the case except if you end up purchasing a new one.

Used German luxury vehicles have attainable acquisition pricing especially just out or over manufacturer warranty.

 

[Mr Nice]

My neighbor bought a brand new AMG Benz and installed Borla race mufflers.... this guy can afford the repair bills from constantly tracking the car on the weekends.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by Mr Nice
If you can afford a German luxury vehicle.... You can afford the repair bill.

It's actually more complicated than this.

First, most of these vehicles are leased when new. This means the monthly payment is relatively affordable, and there are no repair bills, so people who normally would not be able to afford one, end up driving one.

Now, as used vehicles, these are fairly low priced (compared to original MSRP) since people ditch them as soon as warranty is up, afraid of high repair bills. Some unsuspecting customers will get attracted to these low priced luxury vehicles, unaware of potential off-warranty repair costs if they can't DIY.

Wife's CPO 2008 C300 4Matic was fairly problematic. The extended warranty has paid for itself many times over. In addition to many electronics systems, it needed a new transmission at 60K miles, and the dealership never put it back together correctly. We dumped it before the extended warranty was up.

 

[ls1mike]

Well everything else aside. The car is fixed and I have the to say the shop did an excellent job, lot of work to get the drivetrain out and back in.
Car was still quiet as a church mouse and now he knows to check for leaks from time to time. I don't know if I have ever seen him lift the hood on anything
he has owned. His father has a 2010 5.7 3/4 ton Ram that he tows his travel trailer with. I have never seen him check anything on that either, even when
we leave for big trip. So and this is complete speculation, I think some of his issue comes from him not really checking stuff from time to time.

 

[Vikas]

Quote
aluminum engines were also great once the original timing chain was replaced with a two-row unit

WHAT? Is this your idea of "great" engine? I know few engines which are great after replacing the cylinder block with a new one

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by ls1mike
Well everything else aside. The car is fixed and I have the to say the shop did an excellent job, lot of work to get the drivetrain out and back in.
Car was still quiet as a church mouse and now he knows to check for leaks from time to time. I don't know if I have ever seen him lift the hood on anything
he has owned. His father has a 2010 5.7 3/4 ton Ram that he tows his travel trailer with. I have never seen him check anything on that either, even when
we leave for big trip. So and this is complete speculation, I think some of his issue comes from him not really checking stuff from time to time.

A lot of expensive repairs on Euro cars are due to neglect. They are packed under the hood because they chase weight distribution etc. So if leak starts somewhere, that might be super cheap to fix, might lead to something much more expensive just because it is in proximity of something very expensive.
A lot of BMW owners on gas engines neglect oil filter housing gasket leak. $35 part, but can lead to leak going over belts and tensioners and create much bigger issue.

 

[ls1mike]

What I meant to say was my brother-in-law uses his farther truck to tow the travel trailer he bought and I never see him open the hood on that either.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted by Vikas
Quote
aluminum engines were also great once the original timing chain was replaced with a two-row unit

WHAT? Is this your idea of "great" engine? I know few engines which are great after replacing the cylinder block with a new one


Where is this written? I can't find it to read the whole reply.

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted by ls1mike
What I meant to say was my brother-in-law uses his farther truck to tow the travel trailer he bought and I never see him open the hood on that either.

Yeah, well I would say trucks are going to be bit more forgiving. But still, everything has its limits.

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted by edyvw
Originally Posted by ls1mike
What I meant to say was my brother-in-law uses his farther truck to tow the travel trailer he bought and I never see him open the hood on that either.

Yeah, well I would say trucks are going to be bit more forgiving. But still, everything has its limits.

I don't know it is just a gas motor like mine. Towing mostly. You have to stay on tops of the maintenance. I mean I have never even seen him check the oil.

 

[JeffKeryk]

No offense, but if someone pays big bucks for any car and then keeps paying more big bucks for basic services and for poor reliability, just because he/she can....
Is that wise?

A Silicon Valley exec (filthy rich) once told me his $100K Mercedes S500 was the worst car he ever owned.
He was known as a man of integrity in a cut-throat business.
I learned a lot from Dr. Hanley.
I think he was a double PHD; Math and Business. Dunno for sure.

 

[jeepman3071]

Always, ALWAYS research a vehicle and it's potential problems before buying, that way you are prepared for any maintenance costs and repairs should they pop up.

FWIW $7000 is not as astronomic in terms of repair costs as it might have been 5-10 years ago. My dad brought his 2013 Grand Cherokee in for a recall and they wanted $3100 for new brakes all around and changing all the fluids/filters/spark plugs. I obviously DIY'ed those. That same dealership had a woman next to us who was paying $8000 for repairs on a fairly new Durango. Not sure what was done, but that's more than I paid for my whole car.

If you can't DIY, owning and repairing any car will be expensive.

My friend has owned a 2008 Tacoma for under a year. In that time, he has put roughly 10,000 miles on it (has 90k on it now).

So far he has replaced:
-A/C compressor (AC stopped working last summer)
-Brakes
-Brake line (was leaking)
-Spark plugs
-TPMS sensors in each wheel (light came back on a week later)
-Front passenger wheel bearing
-Serpentine belt was cracked
-Idler pulley

Some of those were normal maintenance items, but any shop around here would be $90/hour minimum for just the labor.

I fix power equipment as a side business, and some of the stories customers have told me are insane as far as repair costs even on those tiny machines made mostly of plastic.

 

[clinebarger]

Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by clinebarger
Originally Posted by OVERKILL
Originally Posted by clinebarger
I've seen quite a few Chrysler products have oil wick though the harness from a failed EOP sensor.



Were they Daimler-era ones per chance?


Chrysler, Daimler, Cerberus & FCA era's.

To be fair.....It take some special circumstances for the wicking to occur, The connector seals have to be put together just right to seal the pressure. MOST times they are not & the oil will just leak out of the connector.

It's the EOP sensor supplier (Standard) that has a problem, Though it seems unlikely that Chrysler wouldn't know about 25 years of issues with the sensor.


Sounds like the Ford Cruise Control switch, where the brake fluid would go through it and into the harness

What engine is this on, or is it pretty universal in that respect?



Any engine with a 1-Wire EOP sensor.......All the 3.5L/4.0L, 4.7L/3.7L, Non-MDS 5.7L, Cummins 5.9L/6.7L etc.
The 3.6L & MDS 5.7L require better monitoring of the oil pressure......So they use a 3-wire digital output EOP sensor. I haven't seen these fail with any kind of regularity. The 6.4L SRT & 6.4L HD has the 3-wire as they share the same platforms as the 3.6L & MDS 5.7L.

Of coase GM had their EOP sensor electrical failures from 2003 to 2013; ABS Module relay cold/cracked solder joints on several models. The ignition switch fiasco that has SEVERAL different failure modes & kinda depends on how the ignition circuits are wired (platform specific) to what system will go down when it fails.

Honda has the Main Relay, A/C clutch relay, & A/C clutch coil failures.

Ford has COP & Waste Spark Coil failures, People like to complain about the ejecting spark plug issue but it pales in comparison. And the cruise switch issue you mentioned.

Toyota probably has the least amount of electrical component pattern failures, I guess they keep a tight QC reign on their supplier Denso in which they own shares. But that doesn't stop Denso from designing & building dud electrical components for other makes.
I have noticed a sharp increase in Toyota/Denso Starter failures since they abandoned the Gear Reduction design for the more conventional Planetary Reduction style.

GM, Chrysler, Ford, Honda, & Toyota makes up 90% of what I work on, One make I wouldn't own & really try my best not to work on.....Nissan!!

 

[OVERKILL]

Great post as usual, thanks

 

[Trav]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Weird... None of my German cars have leaked oil. When I get home I'll tell my 174k mile Carrera that some guy on the internet says it's supposed to leak.

Motor oil is not an ideal conductor of electricity, but it is certainly better than the air. Metallic additives and carbon from combustion ARE conductors.


None of mine have ever leaked either except for the 66 Beetle I had years ago, it leaked at the case half but not bad.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Weird... None of my German cars have leaked oil.

My 530i leaks or leaked from every place possible... oil filter housing gasket, rear main seal, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket.

 

[supton]

My VW didn't leak oil. It did get a diesel leak which lead to a coolant loss (which it shrugged off) but that was probably user error (it was as weep not a leak, err for a few years).

My '99 Camry seems to be a real leaker, with the oil pan gasket done I'm expecting the mains to go next.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Weird... None of my German cars have leaked oil.

My 530i leaks or leaked from every place possible... oil filter housing gasket, rear main seal, valve cover gasket, oil pan gasket.


Yeah, my sister's 330i leaked too, as did my wife's 328i. My M5 wept a bit, but that somehow self-rectified

Keeping the oil (and sometimes coolant) in seems to be an issue for BMW.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Not sure about current models, but some 20 years ago, BMW insisted on using the worst possible gasket material that just didn't last. Take it through a few heat cycles and it becomes brittle, crumbles to pieces, and all sorts of leaks commence. And the further south you live, the quicker they fail. For example, the windshield gasket only lasted 4 years in Florida.

There are many aspects for which I like German cars, but then there are others that just puzzle me.

 

[aquariuscsm]

An ex gf of mine thought she'd look so cool and sophisticated driving around in an MB. She stupidly traded in her G37 Coupe on one. It turned out to be a roadside breakdown queen. She called me up one night in tears,on the side of the road,waiting for an Uber it take her to the Infinity dealership to rebuy a proper car,and drove home happy as could be in her new Infinity coupe.