Extended Warranty - Opinions/Experiences

[NEMESIS CLS]

Hi Guys
I collect my CLS63 AMG-S tomorrow. I've taken out a merc service plan over 4 years to cover the servicing aspects of the car, but am also considering the merc extended warranty Tier 1 option. Cost is £1639 per year, with a £250 excess. Has anyone taken out the extended warranty, used it and can comment on the experience they had. I know that the car is pretty much bomb proof, but I intend to keep this car for a number of years. Comments, thoughts, opinions good or bad are welcomed

Cheers
Nem

 

[GeeJayW]

Not taken out extended warranty on our car (not an AMG of course), but are considering it as we will most likely keep it for the long term. As per RussJ's post below, costs can quickly rack up if something crops up. Even minor stuff is expensive on Mercs it seems, especially if it's less than straightforward to fix.

 

[Jatboy]

I have bought extended warranties in the past, chances are if anything goes wrong with the car, then it will pay for itself on the 1st claim. You have gone with the XS option,.. just double check that you do not have to pay that amount for each issue rather than each claim ! Eg, you have 3 things that need looking at when you book the car in, make sure your excess is not £750.

I heard Audi is going down the per issue route with their extended warranties.

 

[NEMESIS CLS]

I have bought extended warranties in the past, chances are if anything goes wrong with the car, then it will pay for itself on the 1st claim. You have gone with the XS option,.. just double check that you do not have to pay that amount for each issue rather than each claim ! Eg, you have 3 things that need looking at when you book the car in, make sure your excess is not £750.

I heard Audi is going down the per issue route with their extended warranties.

Hi buddy
That's great advice and I will check that out re the excess. Thanks for the heads up

 

[markjay]

Difficult to say...

Over the past 20 years (and 7 cars, two of which were Mercs), I had only purchased an extended warranty once.

Looking back at the repairs costs over all these cars, a warranty would have been considerably more expensive.

But (a) the sample is too small to generalise, (b) I may have just chosen my cars well, and/or (c) I may have been lucky.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

There’s a lower excess option too, which costs a little more, or at least there used to be that option.

I’ve had Tier 1 warranties several times, and years ago it was as good as the new car warranty, but in recent years it has surprised me how many things haven’t been covered in recent years.

However given that your car will be new to you, then I would make sure there is a good warranty, to protect you whilst you find out whether the car is a peach or a lemon, and the Mercedes Tier 1 is as good as they come.

 

[JDL60]

Got Tier 1 on my 63 but touch wood haven’t used it
I also have the service plan...

 

[Psilonaught]

I have a two year free warranty as I bought from Mercedes official used programme.

So far they have replaced an active mount that was causing the car to squeek as I turned the wheel with no issues. Still squeeking so they will do the left side at the next service. Very hassle free service and they collected and dropped back the car. Can't really fault the cover so far.

 

[AlexM]

I bought my MY2013 E63 privately, and took out the tier 1 warranty once the balance of the manufacturers warranty expired. I had to have the steering rack replaced to deal with a front suspension knock and with parts and labour, the bill would have been about £3500. Given that the premium is around £1100, that claim alone paid for the insurance three times over. The dealer (MB Epsom) was excellent, and there was no hassle with the warranty claim. Interestingly, the insurance company apparently got 50% of the cost of the rack back from Mercedes, so the underwriter is quite independent and recovers costs from the manufacturer where it can.

For me, it's quite simple. Almost any non-trivial mechanical or electronic issue is going to exceed the cost of premium and excess and I'd have to brave to risk the cost of, say, a gearbox issue or an ECU failure. If it is something minor, then I'd fix it at an indie. It is a question of risk, risk being likelihood x impact (financial). The likelihood of a significant failure might be low for the major mechanical assemblies, but almost any failure is going to cost huge amounts in labour at a dealer so it only needs to happen once or twice for the premium to be justified. Maybe if the car was a few years older and had dropped out of the dealer network then a warranty might be less appropriate (or even available from Mercedes).

Cheers,
Alex

 

[aquanaut]

I have had t1 on my c55 and c63...always around 1k with £250 excess. C55 paid for itself initially and had a few things to sort, mainly electric. Debating to do another year on the 63 from sept. 1st

 

[S2000Paul]

I have a two year free warranty as I bought from Mercedes official used programme.

So far they have replaced an active mount that was causing the car to squeek as I turned the wheel with no issues. Still squeeking so they will do the left side at the next service. Very hassle free service and they collected and dropped back the car. Can't really fault the cover so far.

Did this sound like it is coming from the steering column, got the same issue if it is and I'm off to see the dealer with this and other issues (GEARBOX not as smoothe as it used to be)..still under Original warranty..

 

[Psilonaught]

Did this sound like it is coming from the steering column, got the same issue if it is and I'm off to see the dealer with this and other issues (GEARBOX not as smoothe as it used to be)..still under Original warranty..

No coming from corners of car.

 

[Gbrowncls55]

I had tier 1 on my E500 right up to 100k. It was about £1200 a year for six years and I think I had about £2000 of work done over that period so I was about 5k down, but slept well. Even on tier 1 a !it of things are not covered. Anything with a hint of corrosion is out and most seals. I believe the excess is per repair but could be wrong.
when it came to the cls I chose not to take it and all had been well.....

 

[bluestreak]

I bought my MY2013 E63 privately, and took out the tier 1 warranty once the balance of the manufacturers warranty expired. I had to have the steering rack replaced to deal with a front suspension knock and with parts and labour, the bill would have been about £3500. Given that the premium is around £1100, that claim alone paid for the insurance three times over. The dealer (MB Epsom) was excellent, and there was no hassle with the warranty claim. Interestingly, the insurance company apparently got 50% of the cost of the rack back from Mercedes, so the underwriter is quite independent and recovers costs from the manufacturer where it can.

For me, it's quite simple. Almost any non-trivial mechanical or electronic issue is going to exceed the cost of premium and excess and I'd have to brave to risk the cost of, say, a gearbox issue or an ECU failure. If it is something minor, then I'd fix it at an indie. It is a question of risk, risk being likelihood x impact (financial). The likelihood of a significant failure might be low for the major mechanical assemblies, but almost any failure is going to cost huge amounts in labour at a dealer so it only needs to happen once or twice for the premium to be justified. Maybe if the car was a few years older and had dropped out of the dealer network then a warranty might be less appropriate (or even available from Mercedes).

Cheers,
Alex

I agree with Alex. For me Tier 1 insurance was also about £1100 and it already paid for itself in a single visit. Not even a major failure - seat adjustment pneumatic valve, pump and labour to cover fault finding expedition.

Tier 1 is pretty good deal insofar as it covers almost all items you care about, gives you MOT failure insurance and general peace of mind against engine and gearbox issues. Speaking of which, there is a gentleman on this forum, who's E63 suffers from persistently intermittent and still unsolved misfire. I would hate to be left with the problem like that all by myself with no dealer support.

 

[paul73mt]

I had the MB extended warranty for around 5 years (only just cancelled it due to my mileage) Had the Tier 1 and think it stated off at around £50 a month with a £100 excess . over the course of the time i had it, Glow plug module , 1 injector (that was a bill for £750 on it's own) I have cancelled it now as at close to £80 a month would now only cover mechanical failure. You could say if the gearbox went bang or engine pop then it would be covered but i think MB would try to get out of it just coming upto 123,000miles So now just put the money away and hope

 

[NEMESIS CLS]

I bought my MY2013 E63 privately, and took out the tier 1 warranty once the balance of the manufacturers warranty expired. I had to have the steering rack replaced to deal with a front suspension knock and with parts and labour, the bill would have been about £3500. Given that the premium is around £1100, that claim alone paid for the insurance three times over. The dealer (MB Epsom) was excellent, and there was no hassle with the warranty claim. Interestingly, the insurance company apparently got 50% of the cost of the rack back from Mercedes, so the underwriter is quite independent and recovers costs from the manufacturer where it can.

For me, it's quite simple. Almost any non-trivial mechanical or electronic issue is going to exceed the cost of premium and excess and I'd have to brave to risk the cost of, say, a gearbox issue or an ECU failure. If it is something minor, then I'd fix it at an indie. It is a question of risk, risk being likelihood x impact (financial). The likelihood of a significant failure might be low for the major mechanical assemblies, but almost any failure is going to cost huge amounts in labour at a dealer so it only needs to happen once or twice for the premium to be justified. Maybe if the car was a few years older and had dropped out of the dealer network then a warranty might be less appropriate (or even available from Mercedes).

Cheers,
Alex

Tanks Alex, a very wise and candid overview. I will be getting the warranty set up today

 

[NEMESIS CLS]

Thanks to all who have given their opinions and experiences. Much appreciated and I'll be sorting this today. is the premium payable upfront or, like the service plan can be done on monthly direct debits? Thanks again guys

 

[C43AMG]

Did you buy your car from a main dealer ?

 

[NEMESIS CLS]

Did you buy your car from the main dealer?

Hi Peter
No, I didn't. it was purchased yesterday from www.furnesspark.co.uk

April 2015 registered 1 previous owner, 2 Merc services in 2016 & 2017

 

[JDL60]

Thanks to all who have given their opinions and experiences. Much appreciated and I'll be sorting this today. is the premium payable upfront or, like the service plan can be done on monthly direct debits? Thanks again guys

You can do it on a monthly rolling but they charge you interest unlike the service plan which does not- and it’s exorbitant by todays standards....
E.g. Tier 1 with £250 excess annual premium = £1006
Or £106.85 per month rolling
That’s 21.5% by my calculation