When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
So because of some rather odd issues on quality control, I have owned 2 C300's and now a C450 in the last 18 months. Is the C450 a great car? Yes, it is. It is almost everything I want in a car. Does it have enough power? Huge difference in power and actually the handling is better in my view (motoman on youtube goes through some of the bits the C450 steals from the AMG). Is it worth the difference in price? For me, I would have a hard time going back to a C300.
ALL OF THAT SAID, would I trade in a C300 at a significant loss like you are suggesting? Financially, this is an awful decision. Take the amount you've spent on your car plus what you will owe post trade-in and divide it by the number of months you've owned that car. I don't have all the details but I'd imagine its something like $1500+/month. At least in the US, I could be leasing an M3 for $950/month. I could be leasing a Porsche Cayman, Jaguar F-Type or a Maserati Ghibli for what you would lose if you traded it in.
For me it just wouldn't be worth it and this is coming from someone who is lucky enough to have a career where I can lose $20K here or there and not sweat the details. In my case, I was given a trade assist to basically "start from new" and so the cost of my last C300 which I had for about 11 months was the cost of a cheap lease (maybe $400/month). If I were you, I would just live with your decision until the car is at least 3 years old and preferably more where the depreciation on the car will continue to fall but not at the accelerated rate it is this early in its life and at that point look into buying a C43 or whatever will be popular at that point in time.
So because of some rather odd issues on quality control, I have owned 2 C300's and now a C450 in the last 18 months. Is the C450 a great car? Yes, it is. It is almost everything I want in a car. Does it have enough power? Huge difference in power and actually the handling is better in my view (motoman on youtube goes through some of the bits the C450 steals from the AMG). Is it worth the difference in price? For me, I would have a hard time going back to a C300.
ALL OF THAT SAID, would I trade in a C300 at a significant loss like you are suggesting? Financially, this is an awful decision. Take the amount you've spent on your car plus what you will owe post trade-in and divide it by the number of months you've owned that car. I don't have all the details but I'd imagine its something like $1500+/month. At least in the US, I could be leasing an M3 for $950/month. I could be leasing a Porsche Cayman, Jaguar F-Type or a Maserati Ghibli for what you would lose if you traded it in.
For me it just wouldn't be worth it and this is coming from someone who is lucky enough to have a career where I can lose $20K here or there and not sweat the details. In my case, I was given a trade assist to basically "start from new" and so the cost of my last C300 which I had for about 11 months was the cost of a cheap lease (maybe $400/month). If I were you, I would just live with your decision until the car is at least 3 years old and preferably more where the depreciation on the car will continue to fall but not at the accelerated rate it is this early in its life and at that point look into buying a C43 or whatever will be popular at that point in time.
Good point but i cant wait that long haha,me and my family decided that i can change my car now
reasons:1 -I didnt buy service maintenance package(my service A was 500$)
2-we wont keep the car anyway,theres still 5 years to pay this car but in 3 years its out of warranty so if something happens after 3 years,its going to be expensive for the repair
3-I can get a new car just for 200(around) more per month and every 3 years I can get a new car and I dont need to worry about the warranty and the maintenance (ill buy the service package)
I know the later i change my car the more I save,but i just cant wait
Sounds to me like your decision is already made, but I'd wait for the C43 to come out in September rather than switching into a C450 that's a dying car.
Honestly, it sounds like money is not a concern. If that's the case and you can lease something for $1000/month, I wouldn't even look at a C450. Why not stretch even more and get an M3 or Cayman? Or it sounds like you're young so why not just get an M2 which is cheaper than a C450 and has been getting rave reviews? If you can afford more, lease a Jag F-Type. Honestly nothing sounds better right now.
I like my C450 as a daily driver to a parking lot. But if the skies the limit, get something else. If sound is your main complaint, the C450 and the C43 isn't the most satisfying sound in the world.
A good portion of the $1000 payment is being used to absorb the negative equity in the trade, so it's not as if he can shop $80k + cars. If he was coming in to a lease straight, with no negative equity, a grand a month would lease him something with an MSRP in that neighborhood.
A lease is sometimes a good way to wash out negative equity on a car you're financing and still drive something as nice or nicer for roughly the same payment.
Good point but i cant wait that long haha,me and my family decided that i can change my car now
reasons:1 -I didnt buy service maintenance package(my service A was 500$)
Then do it. C43 I was told would be late Oct earliest. Order should open soon.
Personally, $500 service vs $10K lost on trade is a bit extreme. But if you can afford it do it.
If you changes often, leasing is usually better way to go. And you are in Montreal, that's a salt bomb city in winter so I now understand why dealer give you such a low ball trade in number. Nobody wants used cars from Montreal/Toronto regions once it's gone thru a winter or 2.
So I don't know if Mercedes uses the same residual numbers out east, but if they do 61% after 45 months on the C43 like they do out west, I would take that deal over owning the car via Finance/Cash. Depreciation in your area is worse that others.
BMW e89 Z4 sDrive 35i & MB S205 C200 AMG Premium Plus
Thing is, you've already lost your money so the decision is only about the extra to move on. If you keep it you keep losing the same money, if you upgrade then you're still paying out but for something you like for just the cost of the upgrade. You can't get the money you've already spent back so you can write that off.
Thing is, you've already lost your money so the decision is only about the extra to move on. If you keep it you keep losing the same money, if you upgrade then you're still paying out but for something you like for just the cost of the upgrade. You can't get the money you've already spent back so you can write that off.
true but the high intial loss can be amertised over longer period if he were to hang on.. ???
personally i would; tune exhaust springs and some better wheels (half f which can be pulled off at a later date.. run it to just shy of 3 years and them move it on...
In fact i did...also tor eit apart and rebuilt it properly as the factory couldn't be arsed..
Simply amazing how some people are so willing to give piles of cash to a car dealership.
The two most significant and expensive purchases that most people make in their lives are houses and cars. To make either purchase impulsively is foolish at best.
I wish I had piles of other peoples's money to waste Unfortunately, I work for all of mine. Although we do OK in the income department, each dollar earned represents a portion of my time. My time on this planet is finite and all those hours spent at work earning money will never be reclaimed. Let the fools make it rain all they want. I'll be tight fisted with my money now so that I won't have to toil away in my 60's and 70's.
Simply amazing how some people are so willing to give piles of cash to a car dealership.
The two most significant and expensive purchases that most people make in their lives are houses and cars. To make either purchase impulsively is foolish at best.
I wish I had piles of other peoples's money to waste Unfortunately, I work for all of mine. Although we do OK in the income department, each dollar earned represents a portion of my time. My time on this planet is finite and all those hours spent at work earning money will never be reclaimed. Let the fools make it rain all they want. I'll be tight fisted with my money now so that I won't have to toil away in my 60's and 70's.
BMW e89 Z4 sDrive 35i & MB S205 C200 AMG Premium Plus
Originally Posted by Mr. J
Simply amazing how some people are so willing to give piles of cash to a car dealership.
The two most significant and expensive purchases that most people make in their lives are houses and cars. To make either purchase impulsively is foolish at best.
I wish I had piles of other peoples's money to waste Unfortunately, I work for all of mine. Although we do OK in the income department, each dollar earned represents a portion of my time. My time on this planet is finite and all those hours spent at work earning money will never be reclaimed. Let the fools make it rain all they want. I'll be tight fisted with my money now so that I won't have to toil away in my 60's and 70's.
What a bizarre post. Are you suggesting I do not work for my money? Are you suggesting we all drive around in cheap boxes of crap? Why are you here?
Simply amazing how some people are so willing to give piles of cash to a car dealership.
The two most significant and expensive purchases that most people make in their lives are houses and cars. To make either purchase impulsively is foolish at best.
I wish I had piles of other peoples's money to waste Unfortunately, I work for all of mine. Although we do OK in the income department, each dollar earned represents a portion of my time. My time on this planet is finite and all those hours spent at work earning money will never be reclaimed. Let the fools make it rain all they want. I'll be tight fisted with my money now so that I won't have to toil away in my 60's and 70's.
Why presume someone who chooses to, and can afford to, take a hit on a car doesn't work hard for their money, or is spending other people's money? Or for that matter someone who buys a boat, or an extra car for fun, or a vacation home, or chooses to go on cruises? All of those things could be considered a "waste" of discretionary income.
Owning a new Mercedes is a luxury no matter how you slice it. I'd much rather stroke a check for $1,000 a month on a car I loved than $800 on a car I merely tolerated. Am I foolish? Well this particular fool spent his thirties and forties building a business from scratch that at this point doesn't require his presence much, so in my mid 50's I guess I'm already semi-retired. Haven't punched a clock in thirty years.
Had you pissed away capital early on and not make sacrifices in the beginning, it's unlikely your business would be as successful as it is today.
I'll admit reading two different threads where spoiled kids were complaining about their new Mercedes not being good enough for them annoyed me quite a bit more than it should have.
It's possible that I may have had a few beers prior to making that post as well.
Regardless, buying a luxury car and trading it back at a loss less than a year later definitely does not rank as one of the smartest financial decisions one could make.
Regarding the "working hard" part, the OP drops a few clues to indicate the the source of his financing. Not that it really matters though. People that do not have to worry about money operate by a different calculus than the rest of us. However, if money is not an object then it makes no sense to ask the question in the first place.
Had you pissed away capital early on and not make sacrifices in the beginning, it's unlikely your business would be as successful as it is today.
I'll admit reading two different threads where spoiled kids were complaining about their new Mercedes not being good enough for them annoyed me quite a bit more than it should have.
It's possible that I may have had a few beers prior to making that post as well.
Regardless, buying a luxury car and trading it back at a loss less than a year later definitely does not rank as one of the smartest financial decisions one could make.
Regarding the "working hard" part, the OP drops a few clues to indicate the the source of his financing. Not that it really matters though. People that do not have to worry about money operate by a different calculus than the rest of us. However, if money is not an object then it makes no sense to ask the question in the first place.
Cars never make sense financially. The only responsible car ownership is to buy a off lease Honda and drive it to the ground.
So unless someone is skipping child support or some legal obligation to drive a MB, I could really care less how they get a theirs. One's waste is another one's chump change.
Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren
Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.
)
C43 I was told would be late Oct earliest. Order should open soon.
Unfortunately, I work for all of mine. Although we do OK in the income department, each dollar earned represents a portion of my time. My time on this planet is finite and all those hours spent at work earning money will never be reclaimed. Let the fools make it rain all they want. I'll be tight fisted with my money now so that I won't have to toil away in my 60's and 70's.
