> ....What's the consensus on reliability of these things? Stay away and > get a W221 instead, or had M-B fixed the early problems with the model > by 2003? I can't imagine there are too many other ways to get 493 HP > (according to Wikipedia) for $16K... > My friend SJB bought an S430 in the first or second year of these cars (Sindelfingen delivery) and it was a typical new MB of those years, very dependent on the warranty until most components had been replaced. A friend who is the parts and service manager at a local dealer (not my dealer) said to me that owning one of these things after warranty expiration could be compared to having several young children with no health insurance.
He traded the car when the depreciation reached $1K monthly. The V-12 is to be avoided like the plague, keeping in mind that you are still saddled with maintaining a 100K plus car, regardless of what you pay for it used. The W221 is vastly better in every category and much more reliable. RLE _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
