7364tgm

I have a local friend in NWPA who is moving back to Chile this month after her husbands death and she has her car to part with as it is very cost prohibitive to take a used car back to Chile.
She was only in the States for the summer and fall and then they wintered in Chile.
The car she has to sell is a 2003 C Class 320, loaded, silver exterior and black interior. The car only has 9000 miles! That is correct, 9K. She only used the car for local driving as they flew everywhere else. The car is showroom perfect as it has never seen inclement weather and has been garaged when not in use.
I can get pictures and any other relevant info if anyone is interested or knows of an interested party. I have nothing to do with the car, she is only a good friend.
Can anyone tell me the actual worth of the car?? The local dealer wants the car back as soon as he got wind of the sale potential but she refuses to deal with him as he wants to steal the car.
Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks guys,

Tom in PA

vdemon311

15,000 to 18,000 would be a reasonable price. You can check the private party sale price yourself on kbb.com (kelly blue book). In excellent condition, a standard c320 sedan with 9000 miles(with no sports package or navigation)is worth 15,270. The car is almost 8 years old. Dealers will most likely offer you alot less. If the car is in the condition you say it is, I would hold on to it and sell it privately to a worthy buyer. Good luck!

OneOfaKindTrini

Pictures.

Glyn M Ruck

This has to be a private sale to someone that really values what they are getting. It is obviously worth more than full book value. No dealer will give you what the car is worth. Hold out for the right private buyer to come along.

LILBENZ230

I'm sorry but how is this worth any more than one with 90,000? To me it would be worth even less than one that had been driven every day. A car that is rarely driven and even then is only driven short distances is a poor choice. They're not made to sit and they will deteriorate even in a garage. Biggest piece of garbage I ever bought was a 2002 Acura TL that had very low miles and had sat around for two years.

Glyn M Ruck

That's nonesense. A garaged car will suffer very little deterioration. Some rubber components MIGHT end up needing replacement but it will be mechanically as new. The tyres MIGHT be shot.

All I will agree with you on is that cars that run mileage quickly & mainly fully warmed up can still be a reasonable buy with fairly high miles. I'd rather have a camshaft with 9K on it than 90K thank you & that goes for all mechanicals. I would not mind replacing the odd rubber but with modern anti oxidants even rubbers last a very long time unused. You might be surprised how old some spare parts you buy are.

My car spent the first 3 years of it's life doing no mileage & it's one of the most reliable cars on the forum.

LILBENZ230

As is mine, only with 3x the amount and much harder use than yours. I have the expectation of issues with mine at this point with 91,200 miles - 66,000 of them mine doing stuff few other W203s likely ever do. My car would no longer be with me had it had problems at less than 40,000 miles.

I wouldn't buy a car that was rarely driven ever again. Common W203 issues would not be worked out (we don't know the location of build or the date), the car may have been driven exclusively short trips, etc.

Then again if someone wants a car to look at I guess to each his own. I prefer to use the hell out of mine.

Glyn M Ruck

In the hopelessly devalued US car market I would pay a good 4 or $5000 over the top for a well kept 9K car - It makes basic fiscal sense. Look at the mileage potential the thing has. 2003 was a good year & it's a tough as nails V6. Good buy for the right buyer if condition is good as stated.

LILBENZ230

According to a post up above the car is book valued here at $15,000ish. You'd pay $20k? for an 03? $20k buys too many other, better things.

TemjinX2

lilbenz and glyn both bring up good points. The market price is set by the general car buying public and mileage that low would be viewed as a positive.

I would start at $16k and settle for $14k. Cars are never sold at book value even private sale unless your selling some rare exotic, not a relatively mass produced luxury car.

LILBENZ230

I'll give it $14k if you find the right buyer. Above $16k is optimistic when you consider that $18k can buy you a very low mileage 07 W203.. which is better in a lot of ways.

FrankW

it's gotta be someone who REALLY want that car to pay that much for a 2003. low mileage or not.

Glyn M Ruck

Sorry - I thought it would have a typical market value at about 11 or 12K based on what I know of the US market from my recent 2 months spent there & I would certainly pay 16K if clean. What would a dealer offer??

FrankW

for $16k there are far better choices than a low mileage C320. personally I would not mind higher mileage for a overall better car like this one http://www.cars.com/go/search/detail...5&aff=national

LILBENZ230

I agree and this was my point all along. Price it high like that (regardless of what the book says) and you may wait FOREVER to find the buyer. Low mileage or not the car is really not that desirable in contrast with what you can get for $16-17k now. For $11k, sure. But once you get into the mid and high teens there are a lot of arguably better options out there.

Glyn M Ruck

17K seems a good price for the C350 if it's as described. I suffer from a South African perception problem. It's hard to find buyers for decent cars here that are over 100,000Km. Most decent cars over 100K leave the country for the North because that's when they come out of their maintenance plan & we buy a new one or run the thing into the ground at enormous mileage. This creates a huge distortion in our market. Lot's of decent cars under 100K & plently of trash very high in the miles/Kms & not a lot in between

Here, most of us would grab the 9K car for sound economic reasons & Benz would still honor the maintenance plan. But then you could not get a 350 for R112,000 either. Only in the US could a 9K car not be considered a good buy.

So I guess I would still prefer a 9K pristine car.

FrankW

there's no maintenance plan here in US. it's 4/50k miles and you are done with, so having a low mile 2003 car doesn't really do much. unless we're talking about a car like a 911 or similar grade.

if it's an SL then yea...i would probably want the low mileage one say a comparison between SL500 and SL550 maybe.

WSC230

maybe theres a reason why the TL sat for 2 years. did u bother to check what was wrong with it? its funny because i have never heard of a car with low mileage refer to as pointless. so your telling me u would rather buy a car with over 100k compare to a car with 20k just because the higher mileage car is a couple thousands cheaper?

LILBENZ230

Nothing was wrong with the TL at purchase. The carfax was clean, it was still under the original warranty. Things went wrong almost immediately and in the two years I owned it I spent my weekends making trips to and from multiple Acura dealers.

What I am telling anyone who reads that post is that a car is made to be driven and if you're not going to drive it then what is the point? It's common knowledge that easy driving 100% of the time and short trips only is not good for an engine.

As for price - it's an 03 C320. It's not a collector, not an exotic, not something sought after or even desirable. High teens will buy a facelifted W203 with a few more miles but the trade-off being that it will be improved in a lot of other ways. Time deteriorates stuff as well, not just miles.

Low miles = good.
Hardly ever driven = bad.

IMO.

samaritrey

i would honestly rather have my 01 c320 with 150,125 miles on it then the one with 9k. and i would bet everything that my car will run longer without issues then it.

Glyn M Ruck

You bunch are gullible to every urban myth around & thus completely illogical.

A 9K car maintained is - all things remaining equal - always going to be a car with a lot more life in it than a 90K car or a 67K car.

You are talking about huge mileage differences & thus wear. You need to join an institute of tribology & have some hard facts knocked into your thick heads.

Short trips are less desireable for a car than long ones, fully warmed are, but nowhere near as deleterious as 81K miles or whatever - catch a wakeup & stop putting crap on the forum.

samaritrey

If the car was only driven 9k i bet it was very short trips which is why i would bet mine would go longer from lets say today till one breaks first. I would still love to have the one with 9k if it was younger and was a highway cruiser.

Glyn M Ruck

Even if it was only driven short trips 9K vs 150K no contest.

W203E35

No offense and I'm not trying to come off as a jerk but are you serious? Your car has significantly more wear. Worst case scenario you change all the fluids and I think you should be good to go with the 9k C320 for a long time?

samaritrey

i would because 155k first high mileage award think about if you were at 9k you would have years of driving to get to it lol
i would say tires, fluids, belts check bushings since they always seem to go bad in early cars (mine were replaced with a a204 pn guess that is the new one) and you should have a nice car for a long time. you might also have some kinks to work out since the car never got driven enough to get them worked out. I would hope the oil has been changed a few times since age would come way before the 10k that it has not even reached lol.

btw i was trying to stir up an argument lol that is one of my favorite things to do to my friends stir them up till all hell breaks loose lol