Another W210/E420 Story
 

Greetings Forum Members,

I've resisted sharing recent past experiences with my 6 month ownership of a 1997 E420 for I hear ringing in my ears of "I told you so" but here it is.
On August 30 of this year my wife and I decided to take a holiday weekend respit in the Franconia/Conway, NH resort area. The drive up from Boston in the 420 was enjoyable and trouble free. Day 2, Saturday morinig, I noticed a very faint wine comming from the underside of the car that seemed to increase with rpm's.
Later that day we decided to take the Kangamangus highway from Franconia to Conway. I drove the winding highway making several stops to enjoy the scenery.
We had just arrived in Conway off the Kangamangus and joined in the holiday procession of cars through town when the transmission began to slip. Concerned, I drove into the first gas station off of the highway where the car lost all forward gears.
Fast Forward, after AAA towing the car back to Boston, a $200.00 cab ride(tip included) to the nearest car rental with an avaliable car 50+ miles south,
driving back to the motel we were staying in in Franconia to pack our belongings we eventually made it home.
I needed a transmission. The Royal aftermarket warranty with the Cassic Coverage option that I purchased when I brought the car only covered a maximum cost of $2,900 for transmission repairs. The d(st)ealer's charge was $7400. I paid the difference. The warranty cost me $1995 and I had already used it for a $800 AC service of which my out of pocket was $70.
While at the dealership I had them check the spring perches and they checked out fine.
Back at the dealership today, stay tuned, to be continued in a new thread...


Knarf

The only "I told you so's" I can think of are that you could have a had a 94/95 E420 with a nice 722.3 transmission, and you could have avoided the dealer. Was the warranty cap on the transmission cost properly disclosed?

deanyel,

Now you tell me;).
I did eventually find that cap clause in the fine print.
They suggested that I go with a used unit from a junk, I mean scrap, I mean recycle yard and would warranty that unit for 60 days.
I wasn't going for it.
Adsit is selling a rebuilt unit with the same 2 year warranty as the dealer for around 3K including the torque converter, but I wasn't comfortable with an indy reprograming the ecu.
Right now the car is at the dealer for a new alternator.
I'm sure the warranty company will be happy when my contract expires next May.

knarf