My First 24 Hour Test Drive – To The Brink (Again) with an S65 Coupe

Finally took advantage of the CarMax 24 hour test drive after returning from the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona. How fitting. I had transferred this 2015 Mercedes S65 AMG unicorn up from Sanford, Florida, where coincidentally my S600 and I left Florida from on the Amtrak auto train last week after the race. Surely these are omens I should buy the car? I also lucked out – this is the car I considered last fall when it was on the west coast. Transfer was a back breaking $2,000 to the east coast. Someone moved it from California to Florida over the holidays without buying, and my transfer from Florida to Virginia was only $149. I had originally planned to test drive the car before the race, but when I showed up at my CarMax to complete the paperwork to drive, they ran the S65 through their car wash to prep the car for me – and promptly slashed two tires. Because they were on the same side of the car it meant all four tires would need to be replaced, and these performance tires are special order. Yes, I started to become suspicious that something was up.

A week later though I picked up the car with minimal fuss at the dealership and put it in my driveway. There was a brief hiccup when CarMax wanted my insurance “binder” indicating my coverage limits, and not just my proof of insurance card. Believe this was due to the high cost of the car – $84,998. That’s a helluva lot of money – what was I thinking? Well, as with my V-12 mania last fall, I was working on a plan to sell all my cars and try to live with one stupid expensive wundercar. Driving to CarMax to pick up the S65 for the test I thought this is a dumb idea. When I saw them polishing it up for me I wavered. Driving it home and seeing it in my driveway I had to have it. YOLO. So what were my experiences over the 24 hours? My CarMax rep had told me of customers borrowing cars for 24 hour test drives and recording themselves drifting and doing burnouts, so I thought I should drive the car the way I would if I owned it. Some quick shots.

Should I buy or not? Yeah, I was all over the place during my 24 hour test drive. Not literally, CarMax limits travel to 150 miles. I started with “that’s a lotta money” and struggled with the idea of spending $84,998 on a car – with tax and MaxCare looking at $95,000. (By the way – the MaxCare choices below cost LESS than they did for my S600!) This would be a once in a lifetime buy. However, the 24 hour drive had me thinking more and more that this was not a practical plan. The S65 would be an awkward car to have as a daily driver. It can handle a suitcase and a half, and yet what about my guitars and amp when I play at a brewery? Can I throw a couple of boxes in the back seat every now and then? I loved Etta, my 911, because I also have the S600 as my utility vehicle. I could not imagine persuading my wife this S65 would be my sole daily driver, my dream car, and having to tell her a month later I need a Macan to go with it. I’ve also enjoyed putting miles on my cars. My 911 cost less than $40,000 out the door and I recovered $30,000 three years later when I sold. The S600 also cost less than $40,000 two years ago and I hope to sell it for about the same as the 911. This 2015 sold new for $237,000 I think and is now $84,998 with 39,000 miles on it. How much more depreciation in three years, when it’s nine years old and has maybe 75,000 miles? I could see a $30-40,000 loss. I got into this unicorn game to bag deeply depreciated cars, limit my exposure with MaxCare, and not lose my shirt. Not feeling it.

I turned the car in with nothing more than a toss of the keys to the friendly CarMax rep and a pleasant “sorry the car’s not for me.” The 24 hour test drive is a big hit with me. So much more learned over a ten minute loop around the dealership. I’m fairly convinced I need to pick up a small SUV (Macan Turbo, GLC43 AMG, X3 M40i, SQ5) and scratch the functional itch, and then pursue the successor to the 911 I just sold. I became infatuated with this S65 because I dig V-12’s and the car became available, not because it makes sense for me. And I can probably nail a small, loaded enthusiast SUV AND a daily driver 911 (991) for a little more than the price of this S65 alone. Finally, the day after I turned in the S65 we got hit fairly hard with a snow storm on the east coast and I needed to drive to New Jersey to see my son and watch the Super Bowl. Didn’t think twice about loading the “old” S600 and cruising up I-95, with a couple of end tables in the back seat for him. The 10 year old V-12 is still a bargain and still fits my lifestyle. But maybe the 2015 S65 fits yours?