Am i doing the right thing.

[Deadeye-Detailing]

So many of you know ive been looking for a CL63 AMG of a s63 AMG but hahing always wated the CL thats been my focus. I do run other cars aswell. This would be replacing my Jag XJ. Now ive neen to see every CL on the market with the spec i want and all have had issues. The 2 private ones (one was the purble one in my other post) had been painted down one side, it would drove me potty, the 6.2 vi was so so so quiet though. The other one had the VVTI rattle on cold start. Now a few of you onow ive struck a deal with a car at a very well respected dealer. But it doenst come without issues. It was VERY tappety on tick over and has the VVTI ratfle on cold of warm start. The dealer kindly sent it to a specialist of MY choice to have it checked. He reported back he felt it deffinatly had the wrong oul in it and e en though the dealer has his own workshop the dealer wanted if done right and paid the specailist to do an pil and filter. The specalist reported back it has quiened down alot but the VVTI does need chamnging. He can rebuild st a cost of £1400 or replace at a cost of £3200 but he does also say hes heard them much louder. Now the dealer has not said he will repair them of chamge them but WILL wxtend the warrenty from 3 month to 3 years free of charge. It has a maximum claim limkt of 3k and covers alot more than i actually thought for a car of this age. The plan is to wait to see if they get worse, if they do put in a claim. Now if the warrenty company reje t the claim im up the creek, however regardless if this happens within the 1st 3 months i should be lrotected by law shouldnt i? I know alot of dealers use 3rd party warrantys but within the 1sf 3 months they still have fo sort it regardless if im correct? Could someone confirm that?

Im also hoping on the CL63 6.2 V8 actually going UP in value now its stopped being made and the later being the twin turbo model? Whats your thought on this?

While it IS more than i wanted to spen on a daily driver i have just always wanted this shape and this engine, ive been wat hing prices drop for a number of years but now they seam to of flattened out. Im sure these will go up. But id like to hear your thoughts. I do di alot of miles so want something comfortable and big, yes i know they are rubbish on fule but it is what it is. I knkw service items are expensive but again that doesn't worry me. I just dont want the headbolt or vvti issue right off the bat as to be fair it is right at fhe top of my budget for my daily driver. Ive been looking now for months.

Ill attach the wardenty cover items, interestingly head bolts are also covered.

 

[LostKiwi]

I'd walk.
Warranties are notorious for having loopholes making them near worthless. I can see the argument here being it was a pre-existing fault so not covered

I seriously doubt the CL63 will go up in value any time soon. It usually takes 15 tp 20 years for values to go up. It's also becoming less desirable to own ICE cars so the potential market is shrinking.

 

[Deadeye-Detailing]

I have to ask what does ICE cars mean? And the pre exsitiklng fault loophole was something i was going to discuss with fhe dealer today

 

[SmartAmg]

Internal Combustion Engine (I think)

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

The only warranty worth considering IMO is that offered by the manufacturer, why hand your money over to a third party for them to control and decide when and whether it can be spent - the theory of a third party warranty is appealing the reality less so they are a business after all....

 

[LostKiwi]

ICE - internal combustion engine.

The ever increasing drive towards EVs will see petrol and diesel engines vehicles drop from favour - especially with the extreme performance some electric vehicles have. Whilst EVs can be devoid of character they are becoming more common and more desirable.

From the warranty company's perspective they are being asked to insure (effectively what a warranty is) a vehicle demonstrating signs of an issue which will potentially cost them thousands to rectify.
Why would they accept that risk?

Walk away.

 

[00slk]

I had a warranty on one of the past vehicle's I purchased. I had a claim which was honoured luckily. (first week of ownership) What they don't tell you is that the warranty I had you could only claim once!! Just as well it was a large amount. Never had any further issues with that car for the next 80,000mls

 

[DSK]

If the specialist says it needs doing, then it needs doing! I'd not personally proceed unless the repair is done as its a specialist car. Perhaps there's a negotiation around that between yourself and the dealer, e.g. drops the car by £3200 allowing you to have it repaired and gives you the 3yr warranty as goodwill.

@MBDevotee will be able to give some further insight into the warranty and loop holes.

I read a case online (911 related) where the owner had to pay the labour for an engine strip down (and then independent engineer's reports IIRC in detail), only then did the warranty company pay for an engine repair. Absolute ball ache if you ask me and my personal experience of aftermarket warranty's was hopeless, it was just a ping pong between the dealer and the warranty company until, I got fed up and fixed the thing at a local garage.

As for it going up in value, there's still a number of years to go before that happens! Even more importantly that the repair is done as any potential owner down the line will have done their homework and be aware of all these issues, so being able to prove the remedial repairs have been done will make your example stand out.

 

[peterws1957]

As I said before John, I wouldn't touch it, because there are just too many issues, and you're on the back foot already. If you're patient one will come up to suit you. I also wouldn't bank on the CL gaining value. The best you might hope for is that if you get a good deal on one, it might retain it's value or not depreciate more than slightly if you don't put a vast mileage on it.

 

[AMGeed]

I would walk as well. An aftermarket warranty is pretty much worthless once you drill down into the fine print. The MB warranty is the only worthwhile one having IMO although I have read good things about Warranty Wise. (Warranty Direct went belly up in 2019)
It certainly wouldn't cover the infamous head bolt issue that a 2007 car falls into despite little chance of it occurring.

 

[Deadeye-Detailing]

Well guys sorry to dissapoint you all but icwent ti see the car, the dealer gave ne the keys and said take as much time as you need. I started it and it was like a differnt car. Zero noise. I looked over it fir arround 1 hour. We rhen went over the warrenty and its a 3k limit and can make as many claims as you want in the 2 years. It states it. I still chise ti drive to the specialist who looked at it and he showed me about 5 stripped down m156 engines and showed where the noise was comjng from at first but also WHY it was making it. He said it was slightly low on oil and also defdinatly had the wrong grade oil in it. He changed the oil and filter fir genuine mercades parts and said it made a instant difference. He explained that the new oil would if needed time ti get round the engine so but tge time it got back to the dealer (about an hour) it should if lubed everything good and propper and that orobably why i couldnt hear the VVTI any more. .


Back at the dealer i asked him if he was willing to stand on if the warrenty comany denied a claim against the VVTI plates and he said yes hes hapoy to put it in wrighting.

So i gave him my money! Its by far the best example ive seen in terms of interior condition etc

The dealer really is good, the CL looked well out if place in his stock. 30yrs trading and only 2 or 2m3 bad revews on google make me feel confident. Only time will tell

 

[MBDevotee]

As long as the warranty co don’t KNOW it was potentially a pre-existing fault.... well you should be ok.

On the plus side, RAC warranties aren’t too bad, but on the negative, you are being given the older car warranty, I.e. one that tells you what IS covered, not what is excluded (so if ANYTHING breaks that isn’t specifically listed it won’t be covered, and if it takes out a covered part as “consequential damage” that won’t be covered either...)

The way to look at it is that you have a lot more cover than no warranty at all, and some of that cover looks pretty good. As long as you don’t expect manufacturer type cover, I reckon it’s ok. Most important is find a good garage that if a part let’s go, they will read the warranty for you and describe the fault to the warranty company in the correct way so that it is covered......

Well done, and I hope you really love the car.

My advice would be run for 1 month and change the oil and filter again - using the highest quality oil and filter. If any wear has occurred with the low oil, then any swarf will then be hopefully got rid of on this oil change and not sit in the car too long with the potential to do harm.

Do you have a good local indie?

 

[Deadeye-Detailing]

No local indi id be happy with. But i have a very good guy for (none) specialist for oil amd filters etc

 

[DSK]

Congratulations! sounds like you have got a deal you are happy with covering the VVTI regardless.

Happy motoring!