Quote:
Originally Posted by 97 SL320
I have never seen an auto maker warranty anything for 25 years / unlimited miles. Regular braking systems are not warranted this long making this insanity.
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I've had a few interesting conversations about this... I've discussed this a few times with friends who work at MB and a few local MB enthusiasts.
To us, it looks like MB has put a service life expectancy on their cars of 25 years. That's saying quite a bit - their newer cars aren't the disposable soda cans most thought they were; and that they're willing to support them for longer than some other car manufacturers have been around.
My friends at the dealer think it's an interesting tactic to maybe draw more folks into dealers for service, which I can see their viewpoint. SBC car comes in for warranty service, and a laundry list of other items need service - they might be enticed to spend $1500 on services if they're getting the SBC covered by warranty. Heck, I'd probably drop $1k on service at the dealer if I were getting $2k covered.. And I hate using the dealer for service!
A friend made the comment that he feels of all the recent model MBs, the W211 has had the highest number of issues that were customer visible for things that should have been non-wear items. Things like leaky fuel tanks, SBC units, and faulty balance shafts shouldn't have really failed in such a short time. The oldest W211 is now only 15 years old, and in that time may have needed both a fuel tank and SBC pump at what...? ~$2k each? He thinks MB might be trying to do right after the leaky fuel fiasco and showing you should expect a lifetime of service from your MB.
Anyways, I digress. Good news for many W211 owners, especially those looking to drive their CDI to half a million miles. A friend is working with MB to get some sort of compensation for having his SBC pump replaced just under a year ago, not sure if they're going to help him out, but will be interesting to see what happens.