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Harman/Kardon Amplifier

Well already the warranty I purchased for my new (used) car has damn near paid for itself..  I was driving into work in the CLK, listening to my tunes when I noticed I needed gas..  I pulled into the gas station and shut off the car to fill it up..

Upon restart, my sound system wasn’t working.  It acted like it was working but for whatever reason no sound was coming out of the speakers..   Something had gone wrong..

I mentioned previously that I didn’t like used cars… this is why.  You never know how badly the car was abused by the previous owner..  With that thought firmly in mind I went ahead and paid an extra $2k to get the additional 4 year bumper to bumper warranty on the car when buying it.

Everything on the car appears to be in perfect shape — like new.  And it could well be that this was just one of those things..  Electronics fail eventually.. but seriously, this is a high quality audio system and it failed after only 2 years?   I have never had a car audio system stop working.. And none of my previous cars had anywhere near the price tag on their systems..

Makes me wonder how loudly the previous guy used to run it.. I did notice that he had the bass and treble sliders pushed all the way to maximum, which in my mind made it sound terrible.. but that’s an aside..

I took the car to the dealership and they sent me away with a little Honda CRV as a loaner car, that I can only describe to you as a good entry level POS with the most grabby brake system I have ever used.   (This car would stop on a dime… at 60mph..)   Apparently if you want the Mercedes loaners you have to setup an appointment.. Walk-ins get a Honda..  I guess it makes a certain amount of sense when you consider you could get 4 or 5 of those CRV’s for the price of one of the Mercedes..

Apparently the Harman Kardon speaker system that comes with my Mercedes as a nice big amplifier in the trunk that goes for a cool $1200..  What?!  Really?!  That’s nuts..   I’m no where near enough of an audiophile to really appreciate that sound system..  I mean it sounds good.. I wont complain.. but $1200 for just the amplifier?  Damn..

Lets hope anything else that wants to break will do so within the next couple of years while it’s still under warranty.. cause I dunno if I could afford replacing a $1200 part without the warranty..   Not often anyway..

Either way, this is the first screw up for the car.. I’m hoping there wont be many more.. I still don’t like used cars for this reason, and this sort of thing only goes to confirm my fears..  Lets hope I didn’t get a lemon..

It sure doesn’t seem like one though..