Xeon

Guys..please tell me my fear is not true...

i went to kelly blue book and enter my car info....with 9000 miles and excellent condition...guess what..they gave me a value of 21,XXX

damm..is that true?

what's the true value of our car?

KWiK

sounds about right, maybe even a bit high. The best way to find out is go to a dealer and see what they will give you for it.

revstriker

I think w/o many options, you're looking at around 19,XXX, so your number seems right. Don't know how they would price out all of those modifications though...

CRB

Someone around here said the C coupe was the "red-head stepchild" of the Benz family. I recken' that's about right.

trench

It's true that the C230 Coupe doesn't seem to be holding its price as well as its Mercedes brethren. While the Coupe depreicates about the same as two other cars in it's general class, such as the Lexus IS300 and Acura CL. See my post in the coupe depreciation thread, which shows the IS300 has slightly more depreciation while the CL has less - but only by a couple of percentage points. Applying the same type of comparison to the C320 and an S430 shows that the Coupe doesn't hold its price as well as the two sedans; however, the difference is only about 3.5% for the car it's most similar to, the C320 (which ends up being about $850).

2003 MB C230K: $24,189 (now lower than it was in the other thread - probably reflects current incentives)
2002 trade-in: $17,307 (-28.5%)
2002 private party: $18,277 (-24.4%)
2002 dealer: $19,893 (-17.8%)

2003 C320 Sedan $34,150
2002 C320 Sedan Trade-In: $25,474 (-25.4%)
2002 C320 Sedan Private Party: $26,902 (-21.2%)
2002 C320 Sedan Dealer Retail: $29,281 (-14.3%)

2003 S430 Sedan $72,413
2002 S430 Sedan Trade-In: $56,135 (-22.5%)
2002 S430 Sedan Private Party: $58,474 (-19.2%)
2002 S430 Sedan Dealer Retail: $62,372 (-13.9%)

- BT

Matt230K

Yeah, this seems right, and those mods are only going to make it worth less.

dswildfire

kbb also doesn't take into account some options, like there is no value difference for an auto or manual tranny, no sunroof in calcualting value, or power seats. so i think some of there pricing is iffy. if you wanna feel good about trade-in value, goto www.nadaguides.com and get the value there. you'll feel much better

RandyG

Don't knock the coupe. The sedans aren't a heck of a lot better!

You can buy a new one for $1,500 less then invoice. I can't recall a car that has "tanked" so quickly. You certainly can't get that type of deal on any BMW....maybe a leftover Z3 or something.

mctwin2kman

The coupe is also a new car and has not had enough time to be more or less valuable. It is only in its second year, so no one really knows what it is worth on the used market. And without that it info, you will be given less money so the dealer does not lose anymore money on your trade.

trench

Do you mean MSRP (not invoice)?

I've followed the monthly sales numbers for the Coupe off and on for the last few months. The numbers were about 2/3 the monthly sales of BMW 3-coupes (which correlated well with C sedan vs 3-sedan, which is also about 2/3). However, in the last few months the Coupe sales have dropped a fair amount. My guess is that all of the incentives are the result of dealers stocking too many Coupes (basing their orders on the previous high demand).

I feel that it is cars like the new Z and G35 that are hurting the Coupes sales. They're the next "hot" thing in the same price range, but with quite a bit more power - power that is more appealing to the younger crowd to which the Coupe was targeted. The C-sedans sales have remained steady as they are mostly sold to people over 45, who probably care more about the value and prestige of the MB marque, as opposed to winning the next stoplight Grand Prix.

- BT

Jerry MB230K

Checked NADA $23,550 average trade-in ; my car has 13,000 miles and pano roof.

Benzer

WOW - if this value, 26,350, from NADA is correct. I may trade in for the C230K sedan ????

I paid 27,300 back in AUgust. Has Auto, Silver, C7 & C5 package with Audio10 later on. The car has less than 6K miles in Northern Virginia.


Definite interested now

Benzer

speedfrk

NADA is meaningless. Black book is what most all dealers use to set trade-in values. Ask your dealer, and you will be shocked when you find out what they will really give you.

dswildfire

oh, i made no statements on the validity of NADA, i just said it makes you feel good. but if it's meaningless, why does it even exist? and why do dealers pride themselves on being a part of NADA?

Jerry MB230K

with the MB orriginal warranty tranferrable, seems like a good selling incentive to me (and a good buying incentive) to sell to a private party ( rather than to trade-in ). 4yrs/50000

speedfrk

I wasn't referring to your statement, I was referring to Benzer's overly optimistic quote on his car.
The NADA is a trade group that does a lot of other things besides publish guides. Mostly lobbying. They get their numbers from dealers who are members, so I question the integrity of the system. Black Book gets its numbers from auctions. They have reps that actually go to auctions and grade cars and see what the cars really sell for. A much more realistic way of determining true value.

KWiK

I believe the dealers use Manhiem Market Report . It tells them what cars are actually selling for at auctions and is updated daily(live). They don't wait for a book to be published.

mctwin2kman

Yes the dealers now use Manheim as there guide. I work for an auction that uses Manheim Software but is not owned by them. My dealer used Manheims market report to give me the value of my trade. I live less than 20 miles from Manheims biggest auction of the 88 they own. And they run 10,000 cars a week through, that is the one my dealer used, so I would say they have a bead on what the used car dealers are going to pay for a car. My dealer gave me exactly what they would get at auction for my car. I knew before I went in what they would get as I work for an Auction and also have access to Manheim and the Black Book pricing. Black Book was way high. I have yet to see a C-Coupe go through our Auction so I can not tell you what they go for yet. When I do I will let everyone know.

KWiK

So we should all Email you for current auction values for any cars we want to sell

mctwin2kman

I only check high end vehicles I would be interested in. But if I was to get one or two e-mails I would look into it. I mostly check 2-3 year old SUV's to plan for my next vehicle. I have to replace my wife's car in a year and a few months. I have been seeing 2000 Jeep Gr. Cherokees with between 45K and 60K miles on them going for around 11-12 grand in the last 3-4 weeks at our sale.

fred pettee

so guys how will this effect my 02 c230 basic with 6 spd that i lease? does it mean at the end of the lease (48 mos) i can then buy it for less??

Matt230K

Nope, you still have to pay the residual amount that is on your lease contract. Just because the car is worth less than you expected does not mean the bank is willing to take a loss by you buying it. They may end up taking a loss if they take it to the auction, but they can deal with that. But they are very inflexible to you the customer.

nellee

The C Sedans are in fact selling for over $1000 under INVOICE, not MSRP.

Check Carsdirect.com and it should show as under invoice. That is the case here in San Francisco, so it may be diffferent wherever you live. The fact is the ML is priced a lot below invoice as well.

In the case of trade-in value, it does hit you hard when you see how low your trade-in value is. I checked the value of my 2002 CLK320 with only 700 miles on it and it was giving roughly $39K. Ouch! And I was seriously considering trading it in for a used 2002 C32 that my dealer had too.

KBB as well as Edmunds also prices in the pain we are going through right now with the bad economy. People are unwilling to pay so much for a car nowadays that the value is lower than most expect.