Was looking pretty seriously at the S430's for a bit and after reading all the issues with Airmatic decided to concentrate on a E350.What I am finding is unless you want vinyl ("MB Tex") the ones with leather seats option are not that common.I have seen a few in the E500's but they have that airmatic.
My question is which would be more reliable,a E350(06-07) or S430 (06)?
I am looking at both CPO and non MB dealer cars in the low 30's to upper 30's with 20-30k miles.
Appreciate the input ,thanks
Was looking pretty seriously at the S430's for a bit and after reading all the issues with Airmatic decided to concentrate on a E350.What I am finding is unless you want vinyl ("MB Tex") the ones with leather seats option are not that common.I have seen a few in the E500's but they have that airmatic.
My question is which would be more reliable,a E350(06-07) or S430 (06)?
I am looking at both CPO and non MB dealer cars in the low 30's to upper 30's with 20-30k miles.
Appreciate the input ,thanks
Honestly, You can;t really compare those cars.. That letter before the number is there for a reason. No one can say truthfully if either would be mre reliable than the other. They are both mercedes after all. The luxury and options, size, handling, performance, etc. are vastly different between those two cars.
E350 is a nice agile car compared to others in its class. The S, well is no E for sure.
like I said you can't compare the two apples to apples. I would not be so concerned with airmatics on an 06 as I would on a 2000. thats a whole different car all together.
Go for the S if you have the $.. Go for the E if you want a smaller yet still very luxurious vehicle. Either way You'll be happy i'm sure.
The price is seems to be about 5-7K more for the S's,I guess my concern is the overall cost to maintain would be significantly more for the S due to the airmatic.
Get yourself an extended warranty from Automobile Association of America. Well worth the money and you have peace of mind. They will cover 4 years or 100,000 miles. I had it on my E320 and as soon as the MB warranty expires on the current car I'll get another one.
I am not a big fan of extended warranties as most just enrich the salesman (typically a 30-40% commission) but agree with a S they may be something to consider.
Where is the AAA warranty accepted? If not at the MB dealer it may not be worth it for me as I live in central NH and the non dealer repair shops are not MB friendly (don't see enough to invest in diag required)
Also would a airmatic issue be covered?
You seem stuck on the idea that you are going to have airmatic issues.. Let me tell you this..
As no one can predict the future of course, if you do more research, you will find that the airmatic issues on newer W220's are very minimal in comparison. And its probably even less than that. I would say 8 or 9 of 10 cases that are reported on here ( keyphrase; reported on here ) involve MY2000 - MY2002.
MY2003 saw the first improvement but still some issues, but My2004- MY2006 had many many improvements all around including Airmatic. I can say that I have been bouncing around on my 2004 for the past 42 or 43K miles and I have not had a single issue with my Airmatic except a small leveling adjustment.
That's not to say all cars are worry free, but again, you will notice a major difference in cases reported fr the year you are looking at compared to previous years.
BTW: I am not a fan of EW's either. I just find them to be a big joke and tend to be nothing more than "Sleep well" policy's.
Anyhow, it seems that the 2006 should still have warranty left on it. This could be a good thing for you if you decide to purchase. You can really scrutinize your systems and get any little thing you find addressed while its still covered by the factory. This is what I did and I managed to get a lot of things done in my last 8 or 9 thousand miles of my warranty period and most of them were just precautionary complaints that I turned into service.. None of them BtW were airmatic related except as I stated earlier a small leveling issue.
Go ahead pull the trigger... You'll be glad you did.
I have 2000 S430 , I must admit that it is not my everyday car cose i drove company Benz to work and back so I dot put many miles on it . As of right now I have 60K miles on it and not even one single problem with airmatic ( knock on wood ) .Airmatic is what give a S class that quality of drive that springs will never do . Lots of people only post comments only if they expirience some problems , dot get turn off by these posts ...
Thank you all for the posts,
It is good to hear that airmatic seem to have improved,at leats for some and hopefully for most.I now have to decide if I want to take a chance with a non MB dealer one (I see them $33-36k for 30-35 mile ones) or go for the dealer CPO ones (about 7-9k more).The CPO does not give discount finance rates like it does with the E's (which I still like and wish they hade them without the vinyl!)
There are two out there now in New England,
a CPO 06S430 w/32000 for $38995
and a MB dealer has a 06 S500 with only 20,200 miles but wants $42 w/o cpo and I think $44 with
If it helps your decision, I purchased a CPO version with 16,000 miles in late 2007. I commute thirty miles to NYC in utter serenity and enjoyment. It is one of my favorite vehicles.
thanks, I am sure there are some good oens out there.I did look at the carfax on that 06 CPO w/3200 its a "dog wth fleas" accident, in for electrical issues,new seat, and water entering cabin.No wonder he first owner dumped it !
Still looking to see if a 06-07 E350 pops up as well with leather but they are very few and far between,still don't get that.
Linear Mode
