Benzer

I took my silver C-coupe to my MB dealer for an appraisal on a trade-in for the C230K Sedan.

the C-Coupe was purchased in AUgust 2002 and is in pristine condition with less than 7K mile. Optioned with C5 & C7 and the Audio10. I paid 27,500 which was a great deal at that time (or so I believed)

MB dealer offered 18.5 for the C-coupe and at invoice for the Sedan. That is a 9,000 lost in value in 7 months. I was told the other local MB dealer is unloading the C-coupe for 19.8 a copy - brand new (advertised in the Washington Post.) Needless to say I had to give up on the sedan. Such a depressing experience !!!

Side note - the sedan looks GOOOOOOOOOD !!! The one I saw was in pewter.

Better love those Coupes, folks - there is no other choice.

BTW - If you need to replace the lense for the fog light - that is 285 cool ones - part (165.00) & labour for the the driver side.

tifosiv122

Quoting myself in an older thread:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...threadid=33477

"The MSRP on mine was $3X,XXX in Dec. When I picked it up. Now with 6,XXX miles I was offered $20,000 on a trade in...nearly $10,000 and 1/3rd of the cost in around 6 months."

I am still happy with the car, I didn't want another sedan.

Erik

Mike T.

Get off the new-car-trade-up-conveyor belt and keep yours for 10+ years. It makes good financial sense, and depreciation is but a bad memory.

vyse

Don't fret over depreciation; you didn't buy the car just to sell it right? Just enjoy it and worry about it later. Maybe by the time you want to sell it, the C-coupe has been discontinued and is in high demand like the Corrado is now! That thing still sells for $10k+ in good condition! (but then again, maybe it'll go the route of the 318ti which I've seen go for cheaper than a Civic).

dswildfire

i'd recommend keeping it for 15 years or more, even if you dont drive it later on. once a car passes the zero blue book mark (15 years), it starts gaining value. and mercedes coupes typically do quite well. they are the most likely to become collector's items. add on that 2002 is the only year for the car with the 2.3L motor, and you have yourself a collectible 10-15 years from now.

cliffybabe

I bought my coupe as a x demo car from MB dealer and it saved me £8000, result, it is top of the range in the UK.

It was 3 months old and had done 3000miles.

truelove

of course i love my coupe. why do you think i bought it? if i would have wanted a sedan, i would have bought one. i plan on keeping my baby for a long time.

Iceman's C230

I got my c230 just over a year now. Paid 42K canadian for it, just last week got offered by the dealer for 31K. Not selling anyways. I am very happy with it.

mctwin2kman

Vehicles are the worst financial investment one can make. Yet we will make this poor decision many times in our lives. It does not matter if it is a Benz or a BMW or a Ford, they all depreciate as soon as you sign your name and drive it off the lot. The best part is that in 3 years or 5 years your Benz will deppriciate less than a Ford of the same age will be. It is financially stupid to get trade a vehicle with a loan on it within the first two years of ownership, especially if you did not put a lot of money down or have a paid off trade. Myself, I traded a paid off vehicle plus put $5000 cash down. Does that mean I can get rid of it now without being upside down on the loan. Hell no it does not but if I want to trade in 2 years I will be looking better than most and will not have to carry over as much as the next guy with the new loan. But I will have still lost my cash and trade value I had with the vehicle. It is always best to pay the loan off first, but many of us do not keep the vehicle that long. Hence why leasing is so popular.

jlm

Anyone who buys a car with the expectation of turning it over in a few years is going to get railed. I have a neighbor who barely pays his bills each month, can't afford to send his daughter to college, and hasn't saved a dime for retirement, but he's bought five new vehicles in the time I've known him (nine years). All the car dealers love him, though, so I guess it's all worthwhile.

We're in the middle of an economic slowdown (nearly a recession). Dealers of all stripes are offering great prices for new cars or special financing (a lot of which is a fool's deal). Even Porsche has slowed production (to keep supplies low) rather than offer lower prices to move cars. Obviously the value of used cars will be depressed while this is going on.

It's possible that used car prices will recover some when the economy picks up. More likely, the long-range depreciation will even out (they won't drop as much in future years). It's all the same to me. I bought the car 'cause I like it and intend to keep it (if it doesn't keep getting whacked!). I'm sure there will be lots of newer, shinier, fancier cars coming along in the next 10 years or so, but no car payments, money in the bank, and not a care in the world about lay-offs, etc. is more than compensation enough for me.

jlm

AudiDude

I like the slant this thread has taken.

From what I've seen, just about every make and model is undergoing accelerated depreciation. I think it's supply and demand coupled with 'cheap' financing on new cars and relatively recent new releases / model makeovers of a lot of popular cars that make 'outdated' used cars less appealing (Audi, Honda, C-class, Saab, Volvo, Ford Explorer, the list goes on).

Did you know that you can pick-up a loaded 2002 S60 T5 at auction for $24k? Crazy! This knowledge is what is keeping me from pulling the trigger on a new 230K - which would be my first ever NEW car purchase!

I respect the fact that many see new cars as a hobby and an expression of their identity - that's cool. But I prefer to buy a car I love, drive it for at least 7 years and then fall in love with a new car. By that time, depreciation should come back in-line or at least be more amortized...

02Impressor

I don't understand why people don't just lease cars? It seems that many of you are not into modding and are always drooling over the latest MB models so why not just lease a specific model for a few years then turn it in and get a new one?

revstriker

Yes, cars depreciate rapidly in the first year. It's been this way for awhile. Most likely if you finance a car for 5 years, you will be upside down if you trade it in after a year. It gets better the longer you have it of course.

There is another option though, and that is a private sale. You should be able to get more than the trade in value for it this way, but you will still take a bath if the car is only one year old.

Dr. Plastic

I hear ya! I was offered $23k for my 2002 VW Passat W8 with 11500 miles on the clock, on trade for a C230k. I paid $38450, nine months ago! Thats a $15450 loss in NINE months!

Matt230K

That is a lot of depreciation, but what I more curious about, is why did you pay almost 40 grand for a Passat. They start in the low 20's, I think, and that W8 takes it up to almost 40K. I'm sure there's more standard features, but is there anything real significant besides the extra horsepower that would justify VW doubling the price?

Mercedes101

"We're in the middle of an economic slowdown (nearly a recession)."

Uh......Thats putting it mildly.

Dr. Plastic

Visually the W8 is identical to a standard GLX V6 4Motion. Except for the Bi-xenon head lamps and the quad exhaust tips and different (although crappy looking) wheels and exclusive paint colors, they look the same. The car has been substantially reinforced and has more sound deadening added in strategic places to stiffen and quiet the ride over the V6 models.

The 275 hp W8 engine is smooth and fast. It is great as this car will just about give you whiplash coming off the line! There is a lot more standard features in the W8 than a standard GLX V6 too. The engine cost about $18000 over the counter in a crate so that adds alot to the price.

I am currently entering into arbitration with VWoA over repurchasing my W8 as it has been in the shop about 12-14 times since I have owned it! That is why I am getting a 2002 C230K. I have had enough VW's and Audi's.

Outland

Well said.

I had my last car for nearly 10 years. Loved every minute of it. Got my money out of that car for sure. I expect to keep the Coupe for a similar period. Its not just YOUR car that's loosing value, they ALL ARE. Too many cars, not enough buyers.

session

For me it's mileage. I can deal with not owning the car, and I would love to have a lower monthly payment... However, having to pay for mileage over 15k per year is simply not appealing to me.

Lynn

The average car in the US depreciates 27% seven days after the purchase date.