bucktown

Hey guys,

I'm currently looking at moving from my 335i into a c63, and could use a little help;

I live in Canada, and the simple fact is that there just aren't that many used options up here as far as finding the right car. (<30 to >300) I've done my due diligence researching the process of bringing a car up from the states, and it doesn't seem so bad.

however, the prices of comparable US vehicles (from one US car to another) have a huge swing, sometimes up to $10k, and I'm trying to pin down what fair market value would be so as to make reasonable offers on acceptable vehicles. I dont want to low-ball, but I certainly don't want to start too high either.

using this car as an example, and all things being equal (year, options, mileage, condition, clean accident history etc) what do you guys think of the asking price vs market value, and probable sale price?

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...e&rdpage=thumb


***if this is a members FS ad, I hope you don't mind me using it, please message me and ill be happy to remove it. thanks for the input guys.

Yuille36

Well considering this car is relatively new, you could probably ask 53k for it. And I think that you would get it, since the new 2012 will start appearing soon.

bucktown

heres an example of what i mean, this first one is asking just under 58 with <4000 miles

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...25&cardist=103

where as this one is 70k

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

and this one (a little more mileage) for 52??

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

I understand that with more cars to draw from im going to find more discrepancies in prices, but a 17k difference is pretty excessive, no?

Dr_jitsu

The 53k one is a good value as is the 58K w/ under 4k miles.

The 70K seller is on the pipe!

I have a very nice 2010 for sale in the classifieds section of this forum.

lakbum

I've test driven the one for 52k from Carmax. It was a pretty clean car from my visual inspection. It didn't have the options I wanted so I passed on it.

I would suggest if you were looking in that price range to go with Dr_jitsu's.

bucktown

thanks you for your input!

I have looked at your car a # of times, and have used it as a reference for my price-point against a # of other cars. I always trust the enthusiast community far more than the dealerships as far as reasonable prices for used cars. The only things stopping me from putting an offer in on your car are the tune and the distance.

With all the hoops I have to jump through to get the car inspected, registered, insured, and have MB honor their warranty in Canada, I have a feeling that any sniff of aftermarket on the car I bring in will shoot me in the foot, especially a tune. I have a couple connections at MB dealerships and im looking into it, but i think a bone stocker is my best bet. Also, to cross the border, I have to add 6.1% duty, and 5% provincial sales tax. plus the MB inspection and any applicable changes to the vehicle (mph to kph in the cluster, daytime running lights, immobilizer etc) so with shipping from tex factored in, I would have to low-ball your asking price just to make it come in at par with a comparable Canadian car after all is said and done.

bucktown

im assuming lighting package and multimedia?

lakbum

Yep.

bucktown

both are necessities for me too, thanks for the heads up

rjeezy

There is a list that you may want to inquire that specifies all vehicles that are able to be moved from the U.S. to Canada. I would do a little more research as the mods needed to be completed in order to make it compliant with Ontario standards and registered with MTO can be quite expensive. Also I am pretty sure that because of the emissions standards on the vehicle it does not qualify as a vehicle that can be brought over. Do your due dilligence before buying, you dont want to get stuck with a car you cant even bring over.

lakbum

Wait, it does have those options if I recall. I thought you were asking me if those were the only options it had.

I believe it had the premium package and the multimedia (it had navigation).

chowmich

Bucktown: I have a 2011 C63 located in Calgary 700 miles (using the bus :-))). I would be willing to sell for $60K Premium package, multimedia. No border hassles.

Dr_jitsu

The distance, I can understand...but the tune?

The motor in these cars is pretty much the same as the motor in the E, S, and BS. The main difference (except bolt ons like a full 3 inch exhaust) is that the the throttle bodies on the C's are 50% closed.

MB does this because, how could they sell their higher priced E's, S's, and BS's if the C made the same power?

All the tune does is open them up to the 80% point.

Dr_jitsu

Having said that, I do believe that there are some very significant taxes you would have to pay, along w/ shipping to get my car to Canada.

What Octane gas do you have there? We have 93 here.

DuaneC63

Only as a point of reference I bought my 2009 18 months ago with 8k on the clock for $52K. All options except P30 package and keyless. Dealer CPO car.

bucktown

the list of qualifications you are referring to is at http://www.riv.ca

more specifically for mb http://www.tc.gc.ca/roadsafety/safev...see_notes_.htm

ive been researching, and the c63 is an allowable vehicle, (as are most mb) the import procedure is actually fairly straightforward. the tricky part comes when trying to get mb Canada to honour a warranty sold on a us car.

here is some basic info from mb canada http://www.mercedes-benz.ca/content/...ew_cars/0.html

bucktown

while i completely agree with you on all fronts, the short answer from mb canada as far as honouring an extended warranty on a us vehicle is a flat "no". Remaining factory warranty will be activated in Canada once the required certification work is completed and the compliance letter has been issued. I have a connection at a dealership in town and im confident that i can work around the factory warranty issue, but if the car is found to have aftermarket work done, especially engine management related, my warranty that is already hanging by a thread would disappear. and that would be after you've cashed your cheque lol. as i stated before, im looking into it and if the us warranty is no good up here my importing dreams may be dead in the water.

car companies up here love voiding the warranties for the smallest aftermarket changes, regardless of a consumers relationship with a dealership. at my bmw dealer, when the key is scanned a report is directly send to bmw canada and if any codes relating to a tune are detected, the entire warranty is void on the spot. common sense goes right out the window. we both know that my cat-back couldn't have had anything to do with, say, a wheel bearing failure. or a tune had nothing to do with my navi malfunction. but up here the dealership has no onus to prove that one thing affected the other and instead of removing warranty on the modified part they just blanket the whole warranty and the consumer is left in the dark. the moss magnuson act (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuso...s_Warranty_Act) doesn't apply. neither do lemon laws. we really get the short end of the stick as far as automotive comparisons to the US.

bucktown

the taxes are dependant on which province you are registering/insuring the car in. for me its alberta and sales tax is 5% of sale price. the only other major fee involved is duty, @ 6.1 percent because the car was assembled outside of north america. so ~11% on ~50 k. shipping (as with most services in the states) is actually fairly reasonable. aside from that, the cost at the border is a few hundred for paperwork, and there is the inspection (around 1000, free for me) at a certified mb dealer in canada and any applicable modifications (daytime running lights, kph display etc depending on the car)

as you can see, there are only 5 2010+ c63 listed on this site in all of canada, all located across the country from me (so id be looking at travel/shipping anyways), and the most comparable car to yours has 32000 kms, and asking price is 62k. http://www.autotrader.ca/a/pv/Used/a...=2010%2c&st=11

so using your car (and pending sale price to the dealer, if you dont mind)

49.5 + 11.1% = $54945
+ 1000 (shipping, doc fees at border)
+ 1000 (inspection, modifications)
=56945

even add 1000 for travel expenses, unforeseen charges etc, and im still coming in under canadian market value (if just) and more importantly getting the car with the mileage/options/condition i want, instead of taking what i can get. a little hassle and some leg work, but im a car guy, i like this kind of stuff

and for the most part we get 91 as premium. but there's a few places around town where you can find 93.

bucktown

thank you very much, exactly the type of info im looking for

bucktown

pm'd