1991 Mercedes-Benz S-Class 560 SEL review from North America

The auxiliary fan switch had to be replaced. ($55.00 part & labor)

The button that is used to set the clock no longer works properly.

One window switch did not work when I bought the car. ($16.00 part & labor)

I purchased this car on Ebay, sight unseen. I planed to have it delivered, but the seller could not arrange that. I live in the very top corner of east Tennessee, and the car was in Malibu, California. After two weeks of listening to the sellers lies, I bought a plane ticket and went after my car. I did not realize that I just got on a plane to go get a car that I knew nothing about, other than it was a Mercedes, until the plane was landing. I took a taxi to the dealership, got in the car and started home. To make a very long story short, I drove at 90mph for 18 hours per day for three days. I went through the desert, the national forest, and tornado season in Oklahoma City. (nightmare - don't ask) The car never faltered.

The car runs perfectly, with out any audible noise from the motor in the passenger compartment.

The seats are very comfortable, even on long trips. With other cars I have always been stiff and sore after driving for a long period of time, but not with this car. The leather is buttery soft and still show no signs of wear at all.

The trunk is massive. It would be a wonderful gangster car, you could fit an entire family in the trunk. (just kidding)

It is definitely an open road car, and not intended for country back roads. It is not exactly a car that you can zip around curves in.

The power is unbelievable. If you press the gas down, you don't really feel the car speeding up, but you can feel your head go back against the head rest. I do enjoy being able to out run teenagers in there little sport cars that they have spent more money modifying than they did on the car itself. This car will do it with out even having to push the engine.

Maintenance is not cheap. While I have had no problems to report, Mercedes are all about preventative maintenance. These cars require a major service around 125,000 miles. This major service ran me around $6,000. As for all the other required services, they need to be done as recommended by the maintenance book. If you should come across a Mercedes with a lot of problems, more than likely it has not been maintained properly. If you own a Mercedes and it has some problems, get out the maintenance book, have you done everything as the book recommends? Those do come with the car for a reason you know. Most people would be surprised at how often the service intervals are. (I am making reference to everything other than the oil changes.)

Mercedes do not have any actual problems very often, but when they do get out the smelling salts and be sitting down.

Mercedes are not cheap, but, think about this. The old Mercedes diesels have gone a million miles, and with the modern higher end Mercedes it is not uncommon to go seven or eight hundred thousand miles. How many cheaper cars that you see everyday would it take to last as long as one Mercedes? -you get what you pay for.