rting

I'm not too familiar with buying a used car so I thought I'd see if anyone in this group could help me out.

My girlfriend is looking to buy a c-class and we found a 2002 c320 with 24k miles priced at $26k. This price is pretty much what the KBB private sale value says. Is this really what should be paid? No one pays invoice, so should i not consider kbb as accurate either?

Thx.

Buellwinkle

I think the KBB private party sale price is fair and what I sold my 2002 C230 for. Most people advertise a higher price but when I did I couldn't sell it. Trade-in is closer to what dealers buy cars at auction for but when they buy your car, like if you trade it in, they give $1-3K below that so they can turn it over quickly for a profit at auction. The fact that you even found a car with that low a miles is pretty good and is still under warranty and free maintenance, I would say go for it but check it out on carfax.com first to see if the mileage is correct and if it's been in any accidents. Also, you can check with the dealer they had it serviced at to see what issues they had.

Moviela

I would not consider KBB anything other than a salesmans tool. The values in the KBB are the asking prices the dealers place on the cars. The other prices are just nonsense to make you feel like the prices in the KBB are somehow legitmate. The true price of a car is the price a willing buyer will pay a willing seller, without pressure for either to complete the transaction. Used car prices vary considerably considering condition, quanity in the market, and demand.

Edmunds.com is a better predictor of price than KBB. Their prices are based on actual sales data. It also adjusts for location.

A 2002 C Class is now 4 model years old. Anything more than 50% of MSRP, would make me look for another unit. I would add to my price 40% of the MSRP of a factory extended warranty. If the MSRP of the car was $34,000 and the warranty to 7 years 100K miles was 2,800, I'd offer a bit less than $17,000 for the car, and $1,120 for the warranty. Offering $ 17,500 would allow you to come up a bit if necessary.

neilsam

I found that Edmunds was way off when i wanted to trade in my 2002 C320. KBB was closer. Edmunds says i should be getting $25K and KBB says $21K for a trade in. My dealer wanted to give me $21K

BTW this is for an EXCELLENT condition C320 2002, black/black with only 11900 miles. The dealer saw there was nothign wrong with the car since i always serviced it from them and was still under warranty. They didn't budge. So i'm holding off for now.

Buellwinkle

Unfortunately, the real price people are willing to pay is very often influenced by what's in KBB. Edmunds does favor MB but how do you tell the people buying that please use the higher price in the Edmunds as it's more accurate representation of whyat I'ld like to get. You want to true price a vehicle is worth, go to a Manheim dealer auction. Most dealers actually don't use KBB unless like Edmunds, it portrays a higher price for your product when selling. Most dealers go by the Manheim price of what similar cars sold at the previous auction. Most trade-ins are dumped there and that's what they can expect to get so they give you $1-3K below that to turn a quick buck and cover their risk, time and auction fees. When they sell, yes they'll post the high retail price that KBB has which is rediculous but I feel their private party price is more realistic. Suprisingly, even KBB trade-in price is lower than what Manheim Auctions sell some MB models for, including the C-class.

As for a 4 year old MB worth 50%, I don't think so. Lease residuals, which are very conservative are higher than that. Most used cars really start loosing value at 5 years old because banks won't lend flooring money to dealers/used car lots for cars that old so they don't do as well at auction.

Moviela

Lease residuals for MBZ are higher than other marques because DaimlerChrysler Services has been aggressive in leasing at or below cost to keep the wheels turning at the factory and gobble market share. They have higher residuals because they want to keep the monthy payment competitive. A quick review of several hundred DMV sale records reveals the truth of prices, and 50% is correct.

The reason a C class will go for more than the book value at auction is because a dealer knows he moves so many units per ten day period, and he may be short of inventory at that moment, and will pay a bit more because if he does not, his competitor will get the unit, leaving his customers underserved.

rting

Thanks for the responses guys, but interestingly enough, I think she's going to get a new 3... She doesn't want the baby version of my car - probably a good idea.

Buellwinkle

The new 3 is a much better buy, free maintenance including brakes, a whole new body style that will last for a long while (C will change in '07) and the new 325i has the 330i engine from last year so it's like paying for a C240 and getting a C320. Also she's getting an '06 model vs. the MB '05 model.

Saprissa

wow,
from a 2002 C320 to a 2006 M3

must of found some extra $$$$ stashed away under the mattress !?!?!?!

rting

just a 325i... but yes, this is going to be about 10k more... She was originally planning on getting a new C230 or 325i, which both can price out around 35k after tax (her budget)... but the 02 C320 sounded like a great deal at 25k.. So we were going to take a look at that. She ended up changing her mind and now we're waiting till December and will likely get the 325i.