jdhbraves1

I finally decided on buying a new cls amg over a cpo S65 and I would like to ask those in the know a few questions. Would I be better off to buy a 2012 car or wait and order when orders begin for the 2013 model? I would imagine that these cars would depreciate quite a bit once they are more plentiful, but looking on autotrader they are all full retail + right now. Will the 2012's drop any in the near future or would I be better served at full retail to order the next years model? Thank you kindly for any advice.

turbotom1

Mercedes financial thinks the residual will be about $60-$65k when a 2012 CLS63 is about 3 years old. Currently a 2009 CLS63 is around this mark.


MB CLS63 2009 with 20,000 miles
See Trade-In/Sell Values
Certified Pre-Owned
Suggested Retail Excellent $65,305


BMW M6 2009 with 20,000 miles
See Trade-In/Sell Values
Certified Pre-Owned
Suggested Retail Excellent $79,245

http://www.kbb.com/

Ali_E55

maybe you sshould wait to see if there is any fualts in the first batch that will be fixed later on.


but on the other hand, it is nice to get a car the first year it appears.

russjr

if you're going to lease, your residual will be much better on first year of a new model. just something to consider.

dakrisht

No point in waiting to save $1,000 if that. You're already spending $100k - what's $1k give or take? Dinner?

These cars will never be "plentiful" like the E63s, etc.

SHartin70

Hey all,
First post! I actually owned a C63 for a few years, but never registered or posted .. only lurked
Anyways, just leased a 2012 CLS63 a few weeks ago with AMG PP, rear diff, and pretty much every other option.

I think the residual on my lease is around $75k, give or take a few k. Dont remember exactly. The MSRP was $118k.

Should give you a rough idea about depreciation. FYI, here in Orange County CA, I see a lot of C63 ad E63(55) cars, but very few CLS AMG cars, in comparison.

So far, I absolutely LOVE this car. The steering feel is magnificent (annoying slight vibration on certain road surfaces notwithstanding). The power band is amazing. Just all torque all the time. Its really a phenomenal car overall. Very balanced in hard driving.

Ive owned a 997TT, GTR, S4, RS4, Z06 corvette .. many awesome cars over the years ... but with this car Mercedes really knocked it out of the park. Love it.

Xposure

Post pics and congrats! I cant wait till I can pick up a used one!

SHartin70

Sure thing. Ill try to remember to take some tonight in the parking lot at work before I leave.

Its white with carbon fiber lip spoiler, tan interior with the alcantera roof liner.

Funny thing, I would have never ordered one with Distronic Plus, but since this one had everything I wanted (plus everything else) I figured I would just pay the extra to not have to wait. Really .. what is an extra few grand on a $118k car? But man, I *LOVE* the Distronic Plus ... and I think any other car I buy in the future has to have it

dakrisht

Nice! Congrats!

Centurion

Even with this line-up of cars, the '12 CLS63 still impresses you.
Truly amazing and really speaks towards how great this car is.

Congrats!

SHartin70

Yea .. except for the 997TT, I can list something about each car that *really* bugged me ..

GTR: crappy interior build quality .. many many rattles after a few thousand miles. Ridiculously expensive service (differential service cost $1850 @ 18 months). Im actually bummed I sold my 997 to buy this =/ I kept it exactly 18 months and after I paid $1850 for the differential service I traded it in for a C63, lol. Crappy overall warranty.

Z06: crappy crappy interior build quality. Nav system was bad. Not enough lateral support on the seats. Shift action very clunky. Other than that, loved it.

S4: not enough power, transmission (DSG) sometimes had very clunky shifts. Bad gas mileage. My CLS gets better mileage than I got in that car. Was fun to drive though.

RS4: Carbon build up in the valve train =/ Suspension felt a bit weird, but I had to replace at least 1 leaky strut, so maybe more had gone bad when I traded it in? Other than that, loved this car.

C63: A few interior rattles after around 5k miles was slightly annoying. Did not have rear diff on mine. Really made the car difficult to enjoy at times. Pop up nav =/ Honestly, had I bought mine with the rear diff, I might have never wanted to get rid of it, lol. I really loved this car. But, I drove the 2012 CLS ....

SHartin70

I'm actually thinking of picking up a used 997TT. Of all the cars I have owned, I miss that one the most.

Centurion

".....and the rest is history!"

Thanks for the feedback and I know what you mean about the 997TT.
I drove a friend's 2009 997TT and, I swear, he had to pry my hands off of his steering wheel.

hpgn

I understand the feeling about the 997TT. It is faster than any AMG. However I feel that the AMGs are simple more fun to drive. Maybe because of the difference between 4wd and rwd. Also, blame the fact that I'm not a race driver, the 997TT is too fast to play with. Try hitting the gas in a roundabout and there is no dramatic drifts and burnouts... simple there will be an accident. On the CLS63 take the ESP off and its just fun!

Cheers,

H.

SHartin70

The 997 is certainly more viceral than an AMG. One thing I love about an AMG is at the press of a button (or 2) the car is tame, smooth and laid back. Its always quiet inside .. except when you nail the gas The 997 was always noisy .. tire noise, engine noise tucked right behind you, wind noise. Of course, that is part of the appeal.
But I use my AMG as a daily driver, and its just perfect for that. The 997TT is a weekend warrior. Sure, you could use it as a daily driver, but its far from the perfect choice for that. But man are they fun to drive when you are in the mood

Anyways, posting pics in a few of my CLS, just dumped them off my iPhone.

bigben320e

This is from my experience...I would wait. Matter of fact, personally I am waiting. These cars will drop in value, and a considerable amount at that. Then also this is the first year, and you know what they say about first year cars. Not saying that applies to the CLS2012 model, but too early to tell. Just my thoughts..

SHartin70

Pics ...

SHartin70

One could make the argument to wait .. AMG cars depreciate incredibly fast (as do BMW M and Audi S models). Though I don't think Mercedes imports nearly as many of these as they do E63 and C63 models .. I'm sure you wont find a lot of used ones in 1 year, but the ones you do find should be a significant discount from what they were new.

As for being a first year model, I wouldn't worry about it so much. The transmission is not new, its already in the E63 and the SLS. The start / stop system I believe was first used in 2009? Correct me if I'm wrong, I have not thoroughly researched the internets. I think the direct injection system may be all new.

Mercedes has a good warranty anyways so I'm not losing any sleep over it