Savage c-300

go for the manual!

Derspeed

Yes, he has the current 335i coupe with the twin turbo. I should clarify...he would opt for the C350 with the auto tranny. He likes the styling and the practicality of the C better than his car.

The Volvo is good daily. The 850s have a rough ride, even with stcok suspension. My '03 Passat with H&Rs and Bils had a better ride.

Went a bit off topic. Sorry.

webada

Regarding the resale, I thought about getting a 6spd too but I really want a 4matic in my area, and it isn't available with it. All the dealers I've talked to have said the manual would be a tougher resale.... but when you do find that one person who is searching for a manual, be sure he'll pay a premium for the only one in 500mile radius....

Brad G

Go with what you like the best and what best fits your needs.

New automobile purchases are rarely a good financial investment.

The manual will be more difficult to sell on your own and many dealers may not want it at trade in.

Most likely however, they will be "forced" to take it in from you on a trade if they want you to take their new car but they will not give you what it would be worth if it was an auto. Most people want an auto, period.

Yes, the right used car buyer will pay a fair price for it . Not sure they'll pay a premium for it. I recently sold my Dad's 89 944 Porsche on Craigslist and would recommend it to anyone trying to sell a used car on their own. Especially since it is free!

If you don't drive allot of miles, go with the manual and consider leasing it. Then you can just turn it in with no surprises (like I did).

If you need the all wheel drive (for the snow), I would go with that.

Stick Girl

Well, being that the auto is $1440 more than the manual, would anyone expect to get the same trade in value as the auto? Are you saying that the value spread would be greater than that?

Brad G

Actually, when I was shopping for my 08, I had asked my local MB Dealer to have their used can Manager give me a quote to buy my 04 C230 manual.

This was a car that was in impeccable condition with only 22k miles!

Good point, he was actually willing to pay me about $1,200 less, just because it was a manual.

Unfortunately though, even if it was an auto and fetched $1,200 more from them, this still wouldn't have been enough to make it worth my while to have him buy me out of the end of the lease so I just turned it in and started over fresh.

I say never trade in a vehicle on a new purchase or lease. The money just seems to fall into some black hole.

Also, I think I mentioned this in one of my previous posts here in this thread.

Go with what you like! What's $1,200 or $1,500 over 5 or 6 years when your paying $35k + for a car and getting what you really want?

Stick Girl

As did I. On this we definitely agree!

I used to buy a car with the next car in mind (already trying to 3/4 year valuate it before I even drive off of the lot). Go figure...

guptard

If you want to look at your car as an investment, which you plan to sell after 3+ years, and minimize loss, you'd still be better off with the manual.

I looked up 2007 (since 2008 numbers weren't available) C Class approx used car prices on various websites (ie: kbb.com, edmunds.com, etc), and noticed that a C Class with Manual was only valued at $500-$1000 less than a C Class with Auto (of course with all other options constant, ie: mileage, color, packages, etc.) But even if the real difference between a trade in for a manual was as much as $1500, you'd still be losing out. Remember, you paid an extra $1440 for the auto... Thus your additional $1440 purchase only saves/earns you 60 after 3+ years in the best case scenario, and a loss of 940 in the worst case scenario. (and all of this is without considering the additional tax charged on $1440).

If you go with the manual though, you could put the $1440 in the bank, lets say at a low rate of only 3%, and you'd make $130+ in 3+ years.
And of course, more importantly (and the whole point of this rambling) is that you would end up with the car you wanted!

Monatuga

Man, the C300 is worth it! I have had it for a few months, and I am really happy with it, it is a great success here in Dallas, everybody loves it! Coming from Europe, I have always driven Manual cars, and the C300 is a bit different than the Bmw's and Audi, the stick gives a little kick back sometimes, But it is not bad at all! I would not change it to an automatic... I had the option between the C350 and the C300, and only the C300 was manual, so that s what i choose, and I don t regret it! it a great car! I am about now to lower it and add some brabus features, I cant wait! Just go for it, unless you wanna buy the 3 series 335i! lol If there is anything that I would add to the car is an extra 20hp...

Monatuga

cians

I have one and I love it! For the price can't do much better. Looks great and drives great. If money wasn't important I'd go with the 335i BMW, but I paid less than $30K for my C300 and it's perfect.

JamesB C300

I just traded out of my 325Ci 5 speed stick for a C300 6 spd and I like it. The clutch is very similar as is the throw. Definitely worth getting over the automatic. That being said, I would never get an automatic.
The 328i is a very nice option, but the looks of the new 3 series don't match those of the C.

mb_horseshoe

One thing you should consider is that the MB 6MT's come with what's called "start-assist". Basically when you're on a hill, and you let go of the brake for that split second before engaging the clutch and gas, the car doesn't move for 1-2 seconds. Personally, I didn't like it - seems like you have less overall control of the car and it takes away from the raw feeling of a manual transmission, but others may disagree.

Just a heads up so you're not caught off guard if you do decide to get one.

skillz1318

I don't mind it...it does feel like you have less control but it only catches the brakes for .5 seconds (i dont think it's 1-2 seconds).

If i really want to roll back i just wait a split second.

I would say there are far fewer times i need to roll backwards down a hill...i would rather it apply brakes for a split second.