Yuille36

An AMG is supposed to have exclusivity, right? What can Mercedes-AMG due to combat the crumbling depreciation of their cars, well I have a suggestion.

The short answer to my own question, is that most dealerships don’t know how to sell a new AMG and they have little interest in selling them pre-owned. I proposed using the AMG Performance Centers to assist with increasing the residual values. As you know the typical AMG customer is different from the typical Mercedes Benz customer, so my thought is Mercedes-AMG should funnel off lease vehicles through the AMG Performance Centers thus ensuring that they are sold by dealers who know the product and have an interest in selling the product.

The other benefit would be that customers would know where to go to purchase a quality pre-owned AMG. I surmise that one of the issues with residual values is the spotty supply of used AMG cars. Consumers are fickle they want what they want when they want it or they'll want something else, so if they can’t find an AMG they will buy something else. Do you agree with my observation? I want to hear what the AMG owners think?

JamE55

This is nothing new.

Although your idea is great i doubt this will ever change. But thanks for the idea! lol

Speedriven1

Great idea, but remember that Mercedes doesn't own all (most? any?) of its dealerships - they're owned by individuals who are competing with other nearby MB dealers for market share. It might be in the best interest of AMG clients for something like this to go in effect, and it might preserve their resale value, but unless the "AMG center" is willing to pay the dealer who accepts the AMG car on trade (or buys it at auction, etc.) more than he can sell it for to a retail client, it doesn't make financial sense for the dealer to "set the AMG free".

Yuille36

I understood your comment. This is good we have debate going.

RBYCC

Depreciation has been a bit more severe due to the economy.
The average AMG is not as exclusive as you would think as it has become a production vehicle.
The lower the production on the particular AMG model the higher the value.

Disagree.
I have purchased four CPO'd AMG's, three of which I still own.

2003 G55 MB of West Chester PA traded for:
2005 G55K MB of White Plains NY
1999 C43 MB of South Atlanta GA
2008 CLK63 Black Series MB of South Charlotte NC

All were purchased at a distance without my personal inspection.
In fact the dealer on my 2005 G55K took my 2003 G55 in trade with seeing it.

I find that MB dealers are capable of selling the AMG only because it is a production vehicle much unlike the ala carte approach of the pre merger cars.


Best place to buy a "quality" pre owned AMG is under the MB dealer CPO program.
Buy at a discount get the remainder of the factory warrany plus an additional year.

What you must plug into the equation is "who is the current AMG buyer"
Typically they are those who want the latest and the fastest and trade in and out of vehicles with no marque loyalty and oft times taking a huge hit in depreciation when they sell / trade a financed car that is "upside-down"

Great for those like me that will not buy new, patiently wait for the right CPO'd AMG to hit the market, then purchase at a deep discount.
Use this strategy and keep the car long term and you may even see a value above what you paid.

For instance I purchased a 2008 CLK63 BS with 5800 miles CPO'd delivered to my door for $80K last year. A $60K discount from MSRP.
Has it bottomed..maybe, maybe not but it's depreciation has just about slowed.
Same for my 2005 G55K could get just about what I paid for it in 2008

118E63

I think what really hurts their value is the ridiculously low prices that they fetch at the dealer auctions...remember;the market value is tremendously impacted by Manheim numbers.
Bought my first new AMG in '05,a C55. Traded it in for a E55..traded that for a CLS55...
Then I paid $90k for my new E63 in '07,sold it this past December&took a $55k hit in depreciation&the car was mint.
I will NEVER buy another new AMG,lease or CPO only from here on

Yuille36

I most certainly do not have all the answer. But this is a good debate we have going right now.

rory breaker

Totally true. Its unreal to see what these cars for for at auction.

Combine that with the general population not wanting to touch an AMG out of warranty and you have a long cycle to eventually get beat up on price...no thanks.

C43AMG

I think the easiest way to fight depreciation is to make a more reliable product.No one wants to own one of these vehicles without a warranty or extended warranty due to maintenance costs.If some of the most basic functions on these cars ( ex- airmatic suspension ) were designed to last longer the re-sale on these vehicles would be way higher.All you have to do is look at the Japanese vehicles.

SebringSilver

AMGs have a small market. It's not easy to find a buyer for a new one. It's even harder to find a buyer for a used one.

CELLryuu

Preach on brothers....I was devastated when I found out that AMG's depreciate so much. One of the reasons I bought my C63 was because I thought it was an exclusive product that would hold its value. Thats what I get for thinking. Luckily I got a huge deal on my C63 because they had to get rid off it before the end of the year. Not sure why they needed to get rid of a specialty vehicle by the end of the year but I bet I could have gotten it for less if I would of been a little more stingy.

anyway, the lower price I got on mine thwarted the depreciation a bit but I was always wondering, what is the % loss on AMG's when they leave the dealership and the % loss after one year with lets say 15,000 miles.

I looked on autotrader and it didnt seem like the C63 was effected as much as some of the other vehicles, but of course, just because you are asking that price doesnt mean you are selling it for that.

And Jesus Christ, a CLK63 BS new was 125,000 in 2009 and now you can by one with 12,000 miles on it for 75,000 OMG. That sucks. and there were like less than 500 of them sent to america.

why the hell is this?

c32AMG-DTM

AMG's depreciate like the proverbial lead balloon - and, typically, the higher they start, the harder they fall, percentage-wise. Buy a new S65 for $200k, and three years later you will probably get $60k for it. Eye-watering.

chief63

Again. This issue varies from model and country. The higher the value, the bigger the depreciation % for AMG it seems. Also the overall used vehicle value in the US has gone down big time.

One would think that the US C63 value affects the canadian value, but its not exactly that important since US imported vehicles do have a lesser resale value here.

Example: a 2009 C63 with premium package and about 10 000 miles sells on average for 60K, from a 68K purchase price. That's about 12% less. Not so bad at all (actually impressive).

MB_SalesNY

IM A CERTIFIED SALES CONSULTANT HERE IN QUEENS NYC. IVE SOLD ALL MAKES AND MODELS INCLUDING AMG VEHICLES.
THE RESIDUAL VALUE IS HOW MUCH THE CAR IS WORTH OVER A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME RIGHT ? SO THE RESIDUAL VALUE HAS NOTHING TO DO WHERE CLIENTS GET THE CAR OR CAPACITY OF PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE WITHIN THE SALES PERSONAL. THE REASON THE CAR DEPRICIATES SO QUICKLY IS SIMPLY THE EXCLUSIVITY. THE DEPRICIATION HOLDS THE VALUE. A CLIENT PURCHASING A 2011 E-AMG WANTS TO BE "MORE" EXCLUSIVE THAN SOMEONE WHO HAS A 2008 E-AMG. IF THAT VALUE WAS HELD HIGH THEN WE WOULD NOT SELL AS MUCH AMG VEHICLES SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE ARE NO VALUE CHANGES IN THE YEARS. -
ANOTHER REASON AMG MODELS DEPRCIATE QUICKER IS BECAUSE ITS BUILT DIFFERENT UNDER THE HOOD- PARTS COME FROM A DIFFERENT MANUFACTURER IN WHICH QUANTITY IS LIMITED AND MORE EXPENSIVE.
HOPEFULLY THIS MAKES SENSE TO SOME

OrientBlue3

I get your first point but your bolded second point should help it hold the value no? Unless you mean simply from a repair point of view.

melmanc55

+1

+100

Bad news:

I bought my C55 new (in 06). Paid $64,000. It was MINT when I sold it with only 16,000 miles. Sold it for $45,000.

Good news:

I learned my lesson and paid $45,000 for my 09 C63 with 13k miles on it! Fully loaded with P30 option! Yeah baby!


One thought....I was going to buy one out of FL but after the owner told me he was on his third set of tires with only 19k miles on it and the car handled great at 176 mph.....I decided to keep looking. I think pre-owned buyers know what AMG owners like to do with their cars. This makes for very picky pre-owned customers.

MB_SalesNY

WELL YEA - REPAIRS AND PARTS - YOU CANT GO TO A REGULAR SHOP OR PEP BOYS TO GET PARTS FOR AMG - THAT KILLS THE VALUE OF A CAR

MB_SalesNY

PRICE SHOULDNT BE AN ISSUE WHEN IT COMES TO PURCHASHING EXCLUSIVE HIGH PERFORMANCE VEHICLES - ITS A TOY - YOU GOTTA PAY TO PLAY ! LOL ITS NOT AN INVESTMENT AT THIS POINT ( SOME CARS ARE BUT NOT AMG ) IT SUCKS BUT THATS THE HARD REALITY

C43AMG

MB SalesNY - drop the CAPS

rory breaker

Who gets $60k for a 2+yr old $68k sticker'd AMG with 10k on it? No way. Some pipe-hitter may be asking that, but they will never get it. EDIT - I see you're talking about Canada vs US - I definitely have no experience with the Canadian market.

The real ball will drop when the facelifted model comes out, and then again when the new model comes out. Like a lead balloon.

I bought my '06 C55 in August 2007, 11 months after original purchase as I recall for $37k. Sticker was $61k or something. 11 months old with like 17k on the clock!

I sold that same C55 in August 2009, 2 years later, for $24k with 38k on the clock.

3 year old car, went from $61k to $24k. I saw that happen and said fuhgetaboutit with the C63

GBlansten

In addition to typing in all caps can you also use multiple fonts.

badu

how does C63 depreciate compared to M3 and RS4? M3 seems to retain their value a lot better than the AMGs

chief63

Yes I was talking about Canada and how different it is.

I guess the devaluation is bad for a lot of luxury companies. A year old Porsche GT3 loses 20% + of its value the first year. Jaguar must be the champ in devaluation!

betrezra

I've thought about this as well:
If AMG pumped out the same platform for 10 years like for example the fox mustang from 1979 - 1993 then perhaps the model would stay relevent..... however, they keep upping the ante in performance, looks, quality, features every year so not only does the new model have an updated look but it has better hardware/tech/performance.... so there is a reason for the depreciation....

Plus the avg AMG buyer is buying the exclusivity.... this e-factor drops very fast in 1 year.... after all his golfing buddies have the same model.... it's time to get the next best thing......

Agreed on getting my next amg's with <20k miles for 40-60cents on the dollar

bezita

maybe take it up a notch, and USE MULTIPLE COLORS?