No secret here, I’m a big fan of big Mercedes with big motors. Every time Jared tells me how much fun he’s having with the 2010 Mercedes S600 he bought from me in September it feels like he’s dating my ex-girlfriend. I miss that car. And once again I’ve gotten close to the altar with another Mercedes V12 unicorn and again I’m getting cold feet. It’s not you, Mercedes, it’s me. It really is. More on that later.
This 2017 Mercedes S600 showed up in Brandywine, Maryland and I immediately requested transfer to my Dulles, Virginia CarMax, where it still sits. Today I took it a short 20 minute date….well it went long, so long the salesman called to ask when I was coming back. I just couldn’t stop playing with the seats.
This S600 is really about the quite special rear passenger compartment, starting with the rear single seats above (Code 224) and the chauffeur package (Code P07 and Code 452) below. Yes, it took a full minute holding the switch down to move the front seat forward, fold its headrest so it could move forward even more, then unfold the ottoman and foot rest for me. Crude. Unlike the 2015 S65 I drove a few weeks ago, with my legs slightly splayed I was actually comfortable.
But wait, there’s more! Not only do the rear passengers get their own DVD screens and Bluetooth headphones (Codes 864 and P46), they also get tray tables for laptops or boxes of KFC chicken (Code 449)! I don’t want to drive this car, I want to live in the back seat.
I also saw on the data card I downloaded something called “Seat With Bunk Function” (Code 453). Couldn’t find anything about it on the web and even asked some Mercedes experts on a forum. There were hunches but they all turned out to be the chauffeur settings. I sat in the parking lot after my drive and searched the onboard manual (that’s when the sales guy called to harass me) and actually found the feature below…..nothing more than fully reclining the front passenger seat. I was SO disappointed. I expected something more magical from Mercedes. Sigh.
Enough about the back seats. How did it drive? Even more silky smooth than my 2010 S600, and far more refined than the 2015 S65 I drove. It was morgue-quiet cruising and also with the pedal mashed. The most racket I could produce was Queen on the Burmester audio system. The car has pretty much every feature available in 2017 – adaptive cruise control (Distronic Plus Cross Assist), and lots of activist stuff – active blind spot assist, active park assist, active lane keeping assist, and even “active belt buckle in rear” (Code 305) – the seat belt buckle actually rises from the seat crease for you! I so wish I had gotten a video of that.
In addition to the luxurious interior, the other reason to buy the car is the 6.0 liter M277 turbocharged V12 motor, good for 523 horsepower and 612 lb-ft or torque. With all this power and all this technology, MaxCare is absolutely mandatory. Surprisingly, it’s only $4,500 for five years and up to 125,000 miles. This car has 29,600 miles on it at the moment. Hardly broken in. Imagine the road trips you could take!
There were a few subtle disappointments, though. The Driving Assistance Package Plus and the Active Lane Keeping Assist were I’m sure state of the art for 2017, and yet the “hands free” driving experience was not as good as the 2018 Cadillac CT6 I briefly owned, or the 2019 Mercedes E53 or 2019 BMW X5 I test drove. No active lane change assist, some unexpected drifting, and too many urgent reminders to grip the wheel with both hands. If I’m going to break the bank and go tens of thousands over my old unicorn budget I want it all. Also, and this may sound petty as hell, the seat massagers only work the back – no butt. The reason I returned the Cadillac was because it gave me blood clots on my very first road trip with it, and I want (need!) seat massagers. It’s possible there are additional settings buried in the manual, but again the sales rep was pestering me to return.
This is an absolutely gorgeous car, and someone spent over $200,000 on it just five years ago. And the main reason I’m going to sadly, and reluctantly walk away is because so much of the outrageous luxury is there for back seat passengers I’ll rarely have. Yeah, it would be a hoot at Cars and Coffee to show off those tray tables, but even I’m not that vain to spend this much money for the occasional show. The front seat area is not all that different from a 2017 S550 for $15,000 less, although that V12 engine is so, so much sweeter! Unless I lose my mind, this two-owner car should be back on the market here at the Dulles, Virginia dealership for $73,998. Enjoy.
Stock # 23628298 VIN # WDDUG7GBXHA294158
Buy it and blog another trip.
They only allow a 20 minute drive?
Yeah CarMax no longer offers 24 hour drives for cars over $60k and most muscle cars. Too many YouTubers racing them.
What a gorgeous beast! I’m glad to see that V-12 engines have not completely disappeared from CarMax yet.
If it’s any consolation though, I think you made the right call. Other than getting to mash the GO pedal, all the fun seems to be happening in seat 2B.