Warranty Wise SL55

[Gouki]

Hello,

I've been offered two warranties from warranty wise for my 2002 SL55. One is approx £3000 for 3 years with a maximum claim limit of £12000 per claim. The second is ~£2400 for the same period but a £5000 claim limit.

Labour rate is £60 per hour (specialist rates) with an excess of £100. The policy states it covers all mechanical and electrical components.

The question I ask my forum brethren is do I even bother with a warranty and if so which one?

Car has done 42k now and I've replaced all TMPS, TMPS module and tandem pump in the last year which probably equates to about £2k. In this year of motoring I've done 15k miles.

There is also potential that I would like to delimit the car or even go far as DMS (which would invalidate any warranty).

Some other questions while I'm posting for a change - rather than lurking.

1. I am due to pick up some SL65 wheels soon, any way to ensure that they are real? They are the 10" wide rear variant.

2. I am trying to investigate getting airscarf fitted, apparently the SL63 airscarf headrests are integrated units. To determine the cost of this I would need an SL63 chassis number (pm please.... )

3. Although it appears that DMS offer the most common and reputable tuning package for the 55k, after perusing mbworld.org it seems that there are a fair few US mods available. Has any one tried any of these?

4. SL65 front bumper, how much to fit and has anyone done it?

Many thanks - and apologies for typos etc - I'm posting from my phone.

Pierre

Edited by Gouki on Wednesday 3rd March 12:31

[ricky s]

Gouki, has your sl a MB history, wondering to weather the MB warrenty would be an option if available at that age car, My own E55 has DMS remap and delimited, and my MB tier 1 warrenty is still in place, although this is not flagged up, and is very nearly up for renewal according to MB letters recently, to which I will be taking them up on. May be worth asking your local MB dealership

[Gouki]

It has not had full mb sh (some from autoclass milton Keynes). A friend of mine who works in insurance advised me that if anything went wrong and there was a big claim involved the modifications could invalidate.

Out of interest, how much was the tier 1? What does it cover?

[ricky s]

Last year it was £1100 no access, the recent renewal reminder is qouting £875 with £100 access. Basically covers everything except wear and tear. Last November had a complete new engine fitted, that alone, god forbid you ever need one, amounted to £23.5K. I would always need a warrenty on the car after that experience.

[yellowxpack.]

Hi guys,

Picking up my SL55 on Saturday (am obviously staring at the clock every hour) & was interested to hear you can get an after market warranty. My car has done 19k miles and apparently the engine is pretty much bombproof (other than the previous post which is quite alarming!) so wondering if other people think is worth getting and which companies they use?

My 10cents would be that they would use every loop-hole possible to not pay out if something big went wrong & they will have written the contracts to allow them to do this?

Cheers

[Gouki]

£23k...... I've never heard of an engine failure on these cars, do tell.

Anyway I have decided to go for the warranty. Peace of mind and I won't bother with DMS.

[lotus160sport]

yellowxpack. said:

Hi guys,

Picking up my SL55 on Saturday (am obviously staring at the clock every hour) & was interested to hear you can get an after market warranty. My car has done 19k miles and apparently the engine is pretty much bombproof (other than the previous post which is quite alarming!) so wondering if other people think is worth getting and which companies they use?

My 10cents would be that they would use every loop-hole possible to not pay out if something big went wrong & they will have written the contracts to allow them to do this?

Cheers

Correct unfortunatly they do use every loop hole possible to not pay, my dad took a warranty out with a certain company and paid extra for the extra care package which basically means that everything should be covered, as told by the sales rep on the phone and as soon as he rings with a problem they find a way of manipulating the words in there booklet to say its not covered. Long story short his jag rear parking sensors went on the blink and they told him these were not covered even though it didnt state this in the booklet he was'nt pleased but ended up getting it done himself, still not happy with what they said he read through the booklet and it stated as one of the items that was covered was alarms so he rang the warranty company back and asked to speak to someone higher up as soon as he explained his story he said instantly yes these arnt covered, but when my dad mentioned that the book says it covers alarms and surely the rear sensors are a form of alarm or warning system he backed down saying actually your quite right and they are now going to pay for the work that has been carried out result!! So the moral of the story is fight back and dont let these scamming b*****ds get away with ripping us off year after year, they are quite happy taking our money but as soon as you have a problem they will find a way to get out.

[ayton 1]

Guys, Bought a SL55 3 weeks ago from franchised dealer & have tier 1 warranty. I have a problem with CD autochanger & am taking it in today. Will see if warranty works !!! Let you know.

[ricky s]

Gouki said:

£23k...... I've never heard of an engine failure on these cars, do tell.

Anyway I have decided to go for the warranty. Peace of mind and I won't bother with DMS.

Not to be a jonna on the subject, I know of 1 other E55 (W211) and an SL55 both had engines replaced, albeit dont know reason for those engines, but mine was excessive oil consumption, at 23K miles. Saw the engine in pieces, it had scratches down two of the barrels, tech guy reckoned it may well have been damage at an early age, anyway whole new engine, everything except the kompressor and the external to engine connection/parts. £31K new engine, less 9K rebate for returning old engine to Germany for investigation by local MB, plus local MB labour costs of £1.5K.

As for the DMS, my own car is a better car to drive with the remap, much more responsive, if fact had to remap it a second time when new engine was fitted, lost the original. DMS assured me that local MB would be unable to trace their remap.

[yellowxpack.]

Can you buy a Merc warranty if you haven't bought the car direct from them or do you need to use a 3rd party who I'm always going to be sceptical of (Lotus, well done for getting them in the end!)?