2006 Mercedes Benz S430 4matic

That is definitely a good and comfortable car. But if there is something wrong with the car, never bring it to Mercedes' workshop. It will cost you a fortune there. And if you insist to do the maintenance with them, never ok for anything the service advisor offers you.
Few examples :
- During maintenance of ML320 Bluetec : Offered a cabin spray to eliminate dust and odour while cabin had no odour at all. Price : $400 before tax.
- Engine light turns on, being checked and found out : bluetec heating tank needs to be replaced. Price to fix : $1,200 before tax. HERE'S THE FUN PART : PRICE TO CHECK AND FIND THE PROBLEM : $400 BEFORE TAX. TOTAL $1,600. So just checking the error will cost you more than fixing some other cars.
- ML320 major maintenance 60,000 kms with nothing broken, paid $3,500 (after tax). Then 75,000 kms should be minor maintenance, but paid $1,800 (after tax) because I ok everything the advisor offered.

 

I've had one for about 4 years, tho not the 4-Matic. I have about 50K miles on it. It's a comfortable, roomy and feels as solid as a tank. I agree about MBZ dealers for service: find a good independent.

 

I would recommend getting a 3rd party warranty - when that air suspension goes, you will not be a happy camper.

 

3 brand new Benz's in my life.

1994 c220- wife's
1999 s420 or s430 ( can't remember )mine
2001 c280 - wife's

All three couldn't make up one good car ...GARBAGE.

Will never go back to Benz.

Service is expensive, brake pads wear out as fast as I have a morning cup of coffee.

The brake dust on rims especially in the front is always caked in the cars , that's not leather in the car, it's rubber in the s class

The dealer is beyond expensive for what you get, and the cars are electrical night mares.

The only reason people buy this car is to feel like a shooter, there are better cars out there that won't disappoint you like these cars.

Good luck if you buy it, hope it's a better used car than the 3 new ones I got.

I will never go back to this brand ....BMW is better.

 

My wife purchased a new Benz four years ago and has not had any issues with it at all, great car, and the 3.5L engine runs really smooth. Now that's it out of warranty I do take it to an independent for the routine service.....good luck.

Not to sure if BMW would be any better.

 

When it comes time to replace brakes, what is a "cleaner" alternative that has at least OEM capabilities in performance and life?


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Since it's no longer on warranty, you better sell it, or else you can buy an extended warranty. Wait until something small happened, like mine : the keyless of one door didn't work, but if you used the ignition key to lock the car, then there's no problem. It's just when you touched that door, the car won't unlock. But other 3 doors were ok. Feeling itchy and wanted to be mr. perfect, I went to check. Result :
Price ONLY TO CHECK : $100
Problem : New keyless reader on that door to be replaced : $400.
I was not surprised with the $400, but I was shocked with the $100 for just telling me what's wrong.

 

Pretty much sums up my Benz experience.

As a DD, I'll stick to Chrysler. (flame me all you want... ) Cheap to own, I don't expect much from them, and I don't lose sleep if the car gets damaged. Great winter beaters.

 

Reality check Folks, any high end automobile will be costly to repair, it goes with the territory, enough said.

 

This is very true, but the 2 bmws I had and one was used were much better than benz.

I had just under 10,000kms on my S class on the 401 and passing through york dale .....I was in a winter coat, in a suit and tie, and I had hair ;

All of a sudden, no radio, all 4 of windows rolled down, the pwr moon roof opened , and it was pouring rain and about -1 on a brisk November day in 2000.

I soaked and drove straight to yonge steeles to the dealer , they looked at me all wet , and nobody cared to even talk to me, which made it all the more frustrating until I had to raise my voice to go pick up there sh*t box .... Suffice to say the car always had electrical problems, and all I can say ...thank god I leased all 3 of them.

 

My DD is a humble '98 C230. Neither high end or high performance by any stretch, and it doesn't have fried eggs for headlights, but mechanically and electrically, the most dependable car I've ever owned. Save for the traditional brake dust storm dirtying the cream puff, Benz got it right for that platform at that moment in time, and going in, I knew that by doing due diligence.

Sure beats the hell out of burning Benjamins raked into a pile, just for the sake of maintaining something with four wheels and a nice rake. Been there, done that, right? As evidenced by annotations within this thread, I think we can all attest to that. Bleeah.

But the OP's query or due diligence is about a particular year and model, specs, specks and all. With it, by default, is he doomed to relatively high expense for 3-$tarred gremlin$, or, oh my, blessed with a cream puff?


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Even a broken clock tells the time perfectly twice a day

You were blessed.

 

Other german car option as a dd: VW Jetta TDI= perfect.
My 2012 is now showing 120,000 km no problem, you could also have the larger Passat with the same power train.
Last fall a friend of mine was stranded with his new S class, his computer went kaputt ???
As for high end I go BMW, just got a new 4cyl supercharged X3 2.8L yesterday to replace my Volvo XC90.
Audi is another option but quite expensive to maintain so I have being told

 

Mercedes has stepped up its game since mid 90s. Same as Audi, any Audi from 90's or early 2000s is worth a crap, but look at them now. They're dominating the luxury market.

and people don't buy C-Classes to feel like a "shooter" B and C class are the base Merc models.
Mercedes has always been the innovating company, coming up with safety and luxury features that all the manufacturers later on followed. ABS and airbags are only two I'm mentioning here.

Don't think so highly of BMWs, I could come up with 100s of problems I've experienced with those cars. From $8000 trannys gone on BMW X5, to random "limp modes" on 2007 5 series wagon costing $2500 to fix.

A Honda Civic is perhaps just as cheap. But it's a Honda. It depends on what you would want from a daily driver. If you're after low costs, sure a Chrysler or Japanese cars do the trick. But some people want to roll in style...

 

Definitively +1, nothing wrong with that!


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Last time I owned 997 turbo, and the maintenance cost of a $70,000 ML320 Bluetec was more than the $180,000 997 turbo (high performance car). I'm just comparing the maintenance, not the electronics features because the 911 didn't have much electronics stuff, so nothing would break.
I'm still buying the new S63AMG though, but this time I will listen to my dad, "If you drive a Mercedes, you have to sell the car before the warranty expires, otherwise the car will drive you".

 

One issue with dumping a high end car after the first three years of ownership is that the depreciation will allways cost you a sh_t more than any ongoing service with the car, provided it wasn't a lemon to begin with....Other than making you feel good there is no financial benifit in owing a high end car.

 

I have a 2012 CLS 63 AMG and I have had nothing but problems with it. The car has a bad dashboard rattle, and I have been stranded twice with transmission problems. Once I could not put the car in park, the other the car could not be put into drive, and I was told the latter was a "software error." Luckily the car was under warranty.

I feel sorry for whoever gets my car when the lease is up, because I think the repair costs will be horrendous. I will not get another Mercedes again. The build quality in the brand is obviously not where it once was.

 

Exactly good reasons not to buy, but lease instead. Thats what I do. After 3 years, I gave up my wife's MB's and get a new one. Would never buy such an expensive car/SUV after hearing about all the issues and depreciation.

Definite rule of thumb.. Always lease Range Rovers, MB, Bentley, AM etc..

 

Are you serious ?

Benz and Audi and BMW were always considered the premium brand even back then, that's why people bought them.

Audi is the new Volvo , nothing has changed , only tastes.

As for Benz, enough people have commented already in this thread of the issues with them, back then and even today.

They are dominating the luxury market because people want to feel like a shooter in a Benz , it's all the b class, and c class cars....and I got news for you, there "s" class cars can have all the innovation they want, it's still a lemon of a car.

Benz was good in the 80s and before , none of the new cars can even touch 500,000 Kms today, with bent rims before 75,000kms, and brake pads every 30,000kms the cars are built no better than their c class, or a ford nowadays.

The purpose to buy a Benz was that when it got to 200,000kms it looked relatively new still, paint, body, interior and drivability was better than a 60,000km 2yr old Cadillac ...that's what the brand was all about ...that was a tank....try doing that today with any of its cars.... You can't without it costing you a FORTUNE !

Therefore, the only reason why people are buying them is because they want to feel like a shooter and say they have a Benz , and whip the key on there key ring. For a 100k car, this car falls way short in my book...... I've owned a few BMW's and they were better cars, they had there own issues, but overall were better lasting cars.

If you are happy with yours, congrats, you earned it because these cars are not cheap, and for our hard earned dollars, I don't see this brand deserving the premium over a ford.

 

I guess we shouldn't remark on all 458's coming off lease now or even the 430 on service costs when the CEL come on.

 

Leasing could be an option, but for a new launched models, the rate is very high, then there is a mileage limit. The other reasonable option is to buy the extended warranty. The new car's warranty extended from 4 to 6 years and engine, transmission for 7 years total. After that 6 years, YOU MUST SELL THE CAR.

 

I meant Audi is dominating the luxury market, not Mercedes. Audi's build quality is far superior over BMW and even Merc. BMW interiors feel cheap and plasticy.

Of course, every model or car could be a lemon. Sometimes people have bad luck with certain models, as we see in this thread, some owners were happy with their Mercs, some not. That's the case with every single cars out there, isn't it... they're machines after all.

The 500K Mercs you are speaking of are the diesel models probably. Yes they do last forever, mostly on European roads I am afraid, not the pothole central of the world. lol

German cars tend to have very short life on brake pads, soft pads, nothing new. Probably more efficient to do the pads on the Benz at 30,000 km than clutch on a Quattroporte every 40,000 km...