tifosiv122

Hi everyone, haven't posted in a while, been pretty busy. Long story short, I need a 4wd or AWD car so I decided to see what I can get for a trade in on my coupe...'03 purchased new...$32,000 MSRP, 41,000 miles...

$13,000 trade in...that works to about $750 a month if I actually go through with it.

2 Dealers told me the coupe is not longer being imported and they are nearly impossible to move now.

I am not taking this much of a beating, so...I am looking around for another car and keeping this one. For those that know me and wonder what's new...my girl got a '05 BMW {eww}, it's what she wanted...3 weeks later she passes out (lack of blood sugar) and hits a parked car, then a brick wall. She's ok, the car has ~$14,000 worth of damage and will be fixed.

Here is a pic of my latest mod...tinted windows:





Another thing, if you guys/girls can take a second and sign this petition, that would be great...

http://www.petitiononline.com/logbttrk/petition.html

Thanks,
Erik

slcvr6

You are learning what a lot of us are...the coupes are worth nothing in trade.

My 02 stickered at $34k before the dealer-added CD Changer and the 17" AMG Wheels I added. Mine has 4,800 miles and I've seen offers from $12500 to $17500 frequently on trade.

Keep shopping it, I had a dealer go as high as Edmunds TMV trade-in on mine, had the car pre-sold, but the car I wanted was sold and I had no desire to not get what I wanted.

respdoc

I still dont get the $750 a month..is that on another Merc (E320 4matic) or something along those lines?

tifosiv122

Loss of Value/Months of ownership = $750 a month.

$32,000-13,000 = $19,000 loss
25 months of ownership

19,000/25 = $760

I rounded it down to $750 because i've had it a little over 25 months and 26 months drops it $730.

Erik

respdoc

Kinda depressing to look at it that way then

Not to rub it in but looking at the prices you guys paid for the cars would seem to make it worse..I bought my '02 new, leather, auto, etc for $25.5 out the door...

tifosiv122

Yeah I know...I got one of the first '03s...I had to order so I got no break, I paid MSRP.

Erik

slcvr6

And I ordered, as well, as no dealer in their right mind wanted a COMAND equipped coupe sitting on their lot.

I think a lot of people forget that when the coupes came out, most dealers were not discounting them. My discount was the fact I got to order what I wanted, the local dealers were willing to chip nothing off the sticker as when these cars were new, they were selling quite well.

tifosiv122

Pretty much. He told me his last 2 coupes they sold under invoice just to get them out the door. To be honest, he was surprised at the number too, when the used manager came in with the amount. His face dropped because he knew he just lost the sale.

Erik

amdeutsch

Looks like MB is giving rebates to stealers again just like they did last year. Mine has one with a sticker for $4000 off, MSRP = $31530 CL230. Something about a special MB rebate qualification.

4sfed4

If it makes you feel any better, the tremendous depreciation is probably not limited to only the coupes. I considered trading in our '02 C320 wagon with 18,000 miles last year and was informed it was worth $18-19k tops

I can only imagine what the car will be worth at year's end (when the lease is up). MBUSA will surely take a bath as the residual value according to the lease agreement (after 39 months and 48,500 miles) is in the $23k range.

tifosiv122

At this point I wished I leased...

Erik

4sfed4

Thats why I did it.....I knew they were setting the residual too high. Higher residual = lower payments. And, we leased it only to the limit of the warranty (39 months, 15k miles per year), so that when the warranty is up, the car goes back.

However, until MB gets their quality back up there, we dont plan on getting another one. This has been the most unreliable car I have ever owned (and Ive owned a few rat traps in my day).

But...the best part has been the insurance. Believe it or not, we pay over $400 LESS per year for coverage on this car than we do for my el cheapo 2002 Neon.

tifosiv122

I put most of my 40,000 miles within the first 1 1/2 years of owning the car...I drive a lot less now that I've moved out of the Tri-State. I figured i'd be out of my leased miles within 2 years and still have a third year to drive...I didn't want to take a beating on over miles...now my dealer showed me that it would have only cost another $2,000 or so in over miles, I still would have done better.

Oh well, live and learn.

I guess the good thing about leasing is you can only do certain mods...

Erik

4sfed4

Yes...you do have to watch your miles on the lease for sure. But, as you mentioned, all things considered these cars are depreciating alot faster than the per mile charge on the lease, so you still wont get hit as badly as buying.

As far as mods......none of those on my car. I learned that lesson a few cars ago! Now, I keep the daily drivers stock. Its cheaper in the long run to satisfy the mod bug with a cheaper second/third car and mod away. Mods for an MB are too expensive for my budget.

Battery!

Does anyone know the residual for a base C230 SS with 12k mi/yr for 48 mo? Reason I ask is because I'm going to buy my C230 when I get it, and I'm curious as to what MB thinks the resale value will be.

Jim Banville

Trade-in value is NOT indicative of TRUE value, especially when you compare it to MSRP. What is the used retail value of you car? Probably about $20K.

Cars with best residual value after 5 years ownership:
1-Mercedes-Benz CLK-Class — 55.2%
2-Mini Cooper — 55%
3-Ford GT — 52%
4-Mercedes-Benz CLK55 AMG — 50%
Toyota Camry Solara
5-Lexus SC 430 — 49.8%
6-Lexus ES 330 — 48.8%
7-Chevrolet Corvette — 48.5%
8-Audi S4 — 48%
9-Nissan Altima — 47.6%
10-Mercedes-Benz C55 AMG — 47.5%

Cars with worst residual value after 5 years ownership:
1-Dodge Neon — 26.1%
2-Chevrolet Cavalier — 26.3%
3-Pontiac Sunfire — 27.4%
4-Mercury Sable — 27.5%
5-Ford Taurus — 28.5%
6-Chevrolet Aveo — 28.6%
7-Dodge Stratus — 30.1%
8-Buick Park Avenue — 30.7%
9-Ford Focus — 31.4%
10-Chevrolet Malibu — 31.7%

tifosiv122

Oh, I completely agree...except my only option is to trade-in. I can count the # of imports I see on a daily basis on my right hand. I live in Domestic-Ville USA where I am surrounded by GM auto plants. Everyone here drives an Oldsmobile.

If I put $10,000 in cash on the front seat I still couldn't sell the coupe here privately.

My only option, unless I bring it to a normal place like NJ, is to trade it in. As it stands it's an 11-12 hour drive each way and I cannot miss more then 6 hours of class per semester or I get kicked out...so I don't have time to go to NJ and wait to sell it. I am litterally stuck with a trade-in or keep it.

Erik

Capt Nemo o2

Ebay it!

4sfed4

Its the same old story no matter what car you drive....Its almost always going to be very painful to get out of a car youve bought new and only had for a short period of time. The smartest thing to do (it took me quite a few years to get this through my thick head) is to buy a 1-2 year old car and let someone else eat the massive hit.

Outland

Any car is going to take a pounding nowdays on resale. EVERYONE is offering incentives, and EVERYONE has too many used cars on the lot. I'll keep trading off every 3 years or so for my wifes car, so she always has a problem free ride, but for me, the Coupe will be my toy for many years to come. Not only the depreciation hit, but I'm disgusted with the direction MB is apparently headed- no manual transmissions, and a return to SQUARE headlights. Yuck. The round lights on the E320 is what got me interested in Benzes again since my days growing up with a 300D.

I picked up a copy of Hemmings today at the grocery store....I'm thinking a nice 190SL or a super clean 968 may be in my future So many cool cars. Not enough garage space!

eljay

$13,000?! Holy smokes! I'll give you $13,005.

Seriously, that's crazy.
Although, I'm hoping to get one for my mom later this year, so I guess it's good for me to know what those wholesale offers are and hopefully, I can get a great deal on a 2003. If you had an auto and it was easy to import one into Canada, I'd consider making you a reasonable offer.

BTW, yours looks great!

tifosiv122

Thanks. It should be easy to import into Canada, I am a little over an hour away from Windsor...which was soooo much fun over Thanksgiving break...

Erik

mbny

not sure based on your terms, but i just ordered my C230k SS about 2 weeks ago. did a 39 month 15k mile a year lease and they were estimating residual at lease end at 56%.

Battery!

Thanks for your response. I'll be buying the car with a loan, not leasing, but wanted to find out what MB thinks the residual will be after 4 yrs. I figure after 4 yrs with no warranty, the car should be worth at least $14k, and your numbers would show that it very well could be.

mbny

sounds about right, maybe alittle more. hopefully