cstrong3240

Those aren't the numbers right now. On a '12, it's more like eat $35K in depreciation over 5 years and 75k miles.

Bobbybigbucks

I got my 08 S550 4matic about 7 months ago I payed 33000 for but I got mine with 65000km I also have the Amg package a pano roof pretty much fully loaded. And when put it for sale A few weeks ago for 36000 I had two people who where willing to pay as much as 35 but it wasn't worth it for me because I put to much into the car so decided to keep her lol

Quadcammer

fine.

your 08 will cost less than 35k in depreciation and repairs in that same time frame...by a fairly large margin.

again, if you like the 2012, buy it because you like it, not for cost reasons.

Mike5215

Yeah, that's what I want. A steady stream of mid-priced repairs on a car that's value has depreciated by 75%. Sounds dreamy.

Mike5215

So you bought it in February of this year for $33k. Didn't you also put a lot of money into it for cosmetic mods? 22's, a drop that I know of. How much did those total?

Mike5215

How do you possibly know how much the future repairs on someone else's car will be. Or even your own car for that matter? walk me through that process, because that's some really valuable information.

Bobbybigbucks

Cosmetic I put roughly 5000$ so far

Quadcammer

Does a steady stream of massive depreciation each month sound better? Either way you're going to take a pounding.

If we were looking at this from a purely financial standpoint, we'd be leasing honda civics with nothing down.

Well, again, law of averages. Lets say the car will lose another $10k in 5 years.

that leaves $25k for repairs. Thats $5k in repairs each year. For a RWD S550, that is highly unlikely. Again, thats the equivalent of needing to replace your airmatic suspension entirely, doing motor mounts, and putting on tires each year, plus another $500 in miscellaneous repairs.

On average, I'd say he's looking at about $2,000 per year. Thats $10k over 5 years. total cost $20k vs $35k.

Mike5215

Do you now or have you in the past owned a high mileage (80k+) S Class? I've owned two, and that number is close to becoming three. I'm just wondering if maybe your celebration is premature. It's interesting that this has been amongst the top 5 threads for quite awhile, but for some reason all of the owners of older 221's with 150,000 trouble-free miles have been conspicuously silent. They're probably too busy rolling around in all their extra cash.

Mike5215

So you paid $33,000 a few months ago and immediately put $5000 into it for a rough total of $38,000 and you're jazzed somebody offered $36,000. I would have taken that money and ran. Trade value (wholesale) on the car, presuming you can put it back to stock, is still mid to high 20's.

Quadcammer

no, my 05 only has 55k miles on it, but i drive it short distances, which has a tendency to hurt reliability.

Again, $2k a year, maybe $3k a year, seems like its sufficient for the five year time frame.

Perhaps I should say that this assumes you aren't using the dealer for everything.

cstrong3240

I may have gone to the fringe with this line of logic, but decided to pay $60k for a black/cashmere '12 that stickered at $110k with 9k miles and a sale date of June 2012. AMG, P2, driver assist, pano, rear shades. I looked at some in the $55k range with 20k miles, a little less bling and sale dates in summer of '11, but decided the extra $5k was worth it. My outgoing S550 did not have AMG or pano and driver assist wasn't available back then. I doubt I'll use much of driver assist, but like the blindspot monitoring. Another 'minor' item on the '08, the passenger mirror stuck in the closed position yesterday, pushed me over the edge. Probably just a bad contact somewhere, but who knows.

On the other hand, I have no plans to sell our '07 black/white CLK550 cab. It has 27k miles and is a seasonal, local car. I haven't done the trans flush, but should probably look into it due to age rather than miles.

Mike5215

You have an 05 220? I was under the assumption you had a 221. Reliability on the 220s is notoriously worse. I wouldn't expect many surprises until you got to the mid 60's though. 4 matic adds another expensive system. Dealer or indie, parts prices aren't going to vary much. Neither one is getting their stuff from Pep Boys...they're generally going to be buying and marking up the same OEM MB parts. I also haven't found big difference in labor rates dealer vs indie. The one advantage to a dealer is the loaner car. Most indie's don't do that anymore.

Mike5215

We're all on the fringe. Normal people don't pay north of $50k for a used car. You'll love that 2012 twin turbo. So it's got around two years original factory warranty left based on age (obviously not miles). At any time before it expires you can buy up to an additional 36 months of warranty. How about pics?

Quadcammer

disagree.

indies can use original equipment supplier parts like those from hella, bosch, denso, pierburg, Draxler, etc whereas the dealers is using branded parts. The difference there can be substantial (to the tune of 100% mark up or more). In my area, dealers charge $150 to $160, indies about $90 to $110. That does add up on bigger jobs.

cstrong3240

No personal pics. It's still incoming off the auction. A couple pics and build sheet on Texas cars direct site. They've got about 30 S550's either on floor or incoming right now. Some incoming I was looking at went to hold before I got my checkbook out. You put up $1k, if you don't like the car or the deal, you can use it on something else or in a year they send you your money back. Stock# is 470238. I drove the white '12 with the B&O, but white's not my thing in an S550. Engine with 32% more low RPM torque and better MPG was great though. Warranty through June '16 was a plus as well and then buy 3 more years, gets me to almost 5 years. 2008 S63 has 465 lbs of torque at 5200. EPA 11/17 mpg. 2012 S550 has 516 at 1800. EPA 15/25mpg. Not quite as fast in the quarter mile, but plenty of grunt.

Mike5215

I really would like to hear one of those B&O cars. Regular white is a no go for me as well, but the Diamond White (pearl) is one of my favorite colors on a 221.

Bobbybigbucks

To be honest I was not ready to part with my car, I gonna keep her for at least 2 years. It wasn't about the money, I guess I just wanted to see how much I could get.

cstrong3240

You know, there are so many things I like. The body style, aluminum doors, hood, trunk lid, front fenders. Big, reliable car that handles and goes fast. Interior fit and finish. The seats with the drive dynamic bladders that inflate on either side as you turn, armrest space, toggle wheel and comfortable palmrest. Then, the engine, rear seat room, interior lighting, rear mirrors in the ceiling for the girls to check their makeup when you drive with another couple and valet. The airmatic suspension that adjusts the ride height when you go fast. Night vision is cool but not fully developed.

Nuru

Congrats on the new unit and welcome to the 2012 W221 club!

wilassasin

Hey Mike, will he be able to extend the warranty with MB if it is an auction car?

Nuru

One rule I know of is that a dealer can offer an extended warranty to the second owner, but not to the 3rd. If the dealer buys a warranty car it will be one with only a single previous owner, if they plan to offer a CPO vehicle warranty.

Mike5215

I believe you can buy the extended warranty at any point when the original warranty is active. Not 100% sure on the rules though.

natcahd

Wil...Warranty can be extended, but not CPO'd.

Hd

matnath

CSTRONG3240


Congratulations on your new benz! You seem like a fairly analytical type. Have you come across a depreciation chart for the S class. I am trying to locate a sweet spot for buying a used 2010 facelift S series. Someone, somewhere.. .must have constructed one...