Set a new record yesterday at my shop

bracketracer

Active Member
Aug 23, 2016
560
Wilson, NY
Boat Info
2001 380DA
Fully updated Raymarine MFDs, Quantum radar, full LED lighting conversion, and lots more.
Engines
Twin 454 Horizons
2007 MB CLS550 got towed in. Cranks, but no start, check engine light, air suspension won't raise the car. Had to put a pair of fuel pumps in to get it started. Then did an auto-scan of all control modules (41 total). 179 total faults!

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Was there a new battery installed at some point recently?

I've only gotten multiple faults after a battery replacement and once cleared everything was good.
 
There were definitely a lot of low voltage faults in this one, but there were also plenty of what I call death faults:
Engine: cam to crank correlation (P001x physical timing faults)
Transmission: torque converter (P0721)
Suspension: compressor pressure too low (Needs compressor and at least 2 air springs)

Wholesale value of the car: About $5200 in good condition
Amount of work needed: At least $10k

True value of car: its weight in scrap.
 
There were definitely a lot of low voltage faults in this one, but there were also plenty of what I call death faults:
Engine: cam to crank correlation (P001x physical timing faults)
Transmission: torque converter (P0721)
Suspension: compressor pressure too low (Needs compressor and at least 2 air springs)

Wholesale value of the car: About $5200 in good condition
Amount of work needed: At least $10k

True value of car: its weight in scrap.

Wow, an 07 luxury car worth scrap in 11 years.

Do you see this often?

MM
 
Wow, an 07 luxury car worth scrap in 11 years.

Do you see this often?

MM

I have the "vet talk" with customers at least 2x/week. Mercedes are known for cliff-like depreciation "curves".

Perfect example:
In October 2015, I bought a 2003 Mercedes CL600 from a customer because he was moving and was terrified of the potential repair bills from a new shop. These cars are amazing when they're right. Twin Turbo V12, 600 lb/ft torque, stock. But, when something breaks, it's a big deal. Pair of ignition coil cassettes and 24 spark plugs? With labor, retail invoice is about $3400. Oh, have a shock leaking air or hydraulic fluid? About $2200/corner. So this car was in decent shape, about 92k miles, needed a few odds and ends. Original sticker price on it - $138k. I bought the car for $7k. Was going to flip it, but the wife really fell in love with it, so I sold another car I had instead. She used it as a Summer car, and had a blast putting the beat down on various Subes, Mustangs, Camaros and so on. We called it our $7k beater.

Hell, we'd even take it camping

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Even threw some drag radials on it for giggles.

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My wife drives a GLS450 its the only thing she likes because of size, height and 3rd row. She is on her 3rd one, we trade them just before warranty expires.... I would never ever own one or any other mercedes without bumper to bumper warranty.
 
That’s why you never own a Benz out of warranty. Unless you own a repair shop and even then the parts prices are nuts.
 
That’s why you never own a Benz out of warranty. Unless you own a repair shop and even then the parts prices are nuts.

Exactly this. I ended up selling it back in April for $11k.

Still, I'll probably own another V12TT Benz at some point in the future. They're completely bonkers in a straight line.
 
My wife drives a GLS450 its the only thing she likes because of size, height and 3rd row. She is on her 3rd one, we trade them just before warranty expires.... I would never ever own one or any other mercedes without bumper to bumper warranty.

My liftgate stopped working. A friend of mine had the same vehicle, so he showed me where the fuse was. I got the exact same fuse, plugged it in, hit the button and watched smoke appear. I yanked the new fuse out, put the original one in and took it to the dealer. They had it for a week. During that time I googled the issue and found that I was lucky - GL450's had burned down several houses! Warranty covered the repair. It was over $3k. I loved that truck though.
 
Burning down homes??... That's not good...the only thing I like about Mercedes is the coffee at the dealer and the free loaner when it's in for warranty.
 
Whoa. First I've heard of this.

The power trunk in my CL only sort of worked. It was an electric/hydraulic arrangement, and sometimes didn't recognize that the trunk had closed, so the motor would continue to run, and eventually make Chewbacca noises. That was always a bit embarrassing at the grocery store.
 
2 funny/true statements I’ve heard over the years:

1. Just because it’s 11 years old and you bought it for $10K, it is still a $100k car when it comes to maintenance/repairs.

2. If someone gives you a 10 year old German car, it’s because they don’t like you!
 
#1 is so true. I get a LOT of people in here who just "got a great deal" on a first or second year Q7/ML350/Cayenne Turbo/X5, and in so many of these cases, the first 2 repairs effectively total the car.

Wait, I need a transfer case, water pump and thermostat, and a valve cover and eccentric shaft sensor for my 2007 X3? Yes, that will be $5k please.
 
You guys are scaring me, ours goes out of warranty in January.MM
So you know what I am talking about...World Wide Motors is the only dealer in my life that I know everyone's name in the service department and I am awful with names
 
So you know what I am talking about...World Wide Motors is the only dealer in my life that I know everyone's name in the service department and I am awful with names
Nope, Never been back since I went on a recon visit to the service department where they explained the difference between the CPO warranty and the original warranty. We bought our car from the South Bend dealer and I asked them the warranty difference. The difference was WWM sucked and tries not to do warranty service, I take my car to SB for service. I was told by friends WWM is so busy they can pass on warranty work and often do so by telling customers it is not covered. .

MM
 
As a general recommendation, find out who the best service writer is at your dealership and stick with them. I do not even take my Chevy truck in if my service writer of 25 years is not there. They are worth getting to know as friends as they control so much of the service. My service writer will look up competing prices to get me the GM price match and usually finds a better price than I do. He will pull a FB coupon I did not know about and just apply it.

MM
 
The difference was WWM sucked and tries not to do warranty service
I have been down this road so many times... one of the best was a service tech told me that mercedes designs their coolant system to lose a bit of antifreeze each year so you have to add some so it stays fresh...so when the low coolant light comes on... it's normal, just bring it in and we will add some for free.... That's how I met the service manager for the first time :)
 
I had a 1991 F150 with a 302 I bought in 1992 with about 20,000 miles on it. It went through a quart of oil every 800 miles and got 8 MPG. I called the dealer I bought it from and they tried to tell me that was normal. He said they used low friction rings to increase HP. I told him I built race engines and there was no way that was normal. He told me he would show me the documentation showing it...lol. Went to another dealer and they rebuilt the engine. I also had a noise in the rear that they checked and said the rear gears weren't properly set and it was ready to go. By this time the warranty was almost up so got rid of it.
 

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