ocpun

I'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me how much a 2006 cls55 amg costs atm. I am planning to buy one certified preowned with less than 36k mileage. Also I will be paying it with all cash or finance 30k down payment. Do I get a big discount paying cash? If so roughly how much?

thanks

allen.crick

I just bought a 2006 CLS55 AMG with 10k miles for $49k.

This range that I saw was between $40k and $60k.

Hope this helps.

ocpun

Do you mind me asking, how much did you put as down payment or did you pay it all cash? Did you pay $49k walking out of the door or is this the cost before tax and everything? Hopefully I can find one for $40-45k with as low mileage as yours. What do you think?

france2112

I do not understand your question? Why would you get a discount paying cash? The only money you will save paying cash is the interest you would have paid over the duration of the loan. Good luck.

Larry

Full Throttle

I paid cash for my CLS55 as well. The only benefit of paying cash is the points on the loan. Black book for a 38,000 mile CLS55 is around $38,000-40,000 depending on condition and options.

jandak

I purchased mine at a wholesale auction last month, with all the fees I paid $44k for a nicely equipped car with 26k miles under full factory warranty. No prior paint, one owner, mint condition, 20" 3 piece Asanti wheels with tires in a very good condition.

ocpun

That's a sick deal for $44k..congrats. But I am only interested in certified preowned cls55 amg prices simply because I do not trust car auctions and you do not know who the car comes from...there could of been unreported accidents. The safest and better route would be buying it from a dealership certified preowned. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Full Throttle

90% of all used certified or otherwise pre owned CLS55 and Mercedes Benz's in general come from private dealers auction. The idea that some little old lady turned in her Benz that she purchased at the dealer that now has it on the lot for sale is a myth. All used cars and even some brand new cars come from manheim auto auction. However if paying a 6-10K mark up on a auction vehicle because the dealer tells you its *certified preowned* then thats your choice. Regarding unreported accidents, all your buying agent has to do is put his paint meter on the car and have it PSI'ed at the time of purchase. Dealers have to announce each cars condidtion at the time of sale. I hope this help good luck in your search.

erifly

Yeah majority of used cars come from auctions. The difference comes down to the inspection/verification of the condition of the car and warranty offered on the vehicle afterward. Which make a CPO that much better.

The discount when paying cash only is attractive to the dealer when they are offering finance directly(they get cash quicker). Of course most large used car lots now a days outsource their financing to a third party company so they get paid quick anyway. I don't have a 55 but a 500 but bought it cash. I was going to finance it at first and invest the extra money on the stock(would make the interest i would have to pay for the financing and then some pretty easily in the 3 year period) but my friend, a car dealer, got a super cheap deal that I couldn't pass up and had two days to decide on.

ocpun

If you were to pay that extra 6-10k for certified preowned, wouldn't it be the smarter choice because certified preowned inspections are suppose to be a lot more thorough by mercedes benz manufacturer and comes with 100k warranty? Before buying a certified preowned MB, aren't you allowed to look at the carfax or car history report. Therefore you can see if there are any previous accidents and how many previous car owners there were. The dealership cannot lie to you and hide previous car accidents...right? I'm afraid that the first owner could of had an unrecorded car accident and sold it back to the dealer. Therefore the dealer honestly doesn't know if there has been a car accident. Is that poss? Another question, when it turns 2010 will there be a price drop for the 06 cls55 amg?

Thanks everyone for replying, I greatly appreciate it! This is my first time buying a used certified preowned MB so I'm new to this and I'm very paranoid about dealers lying about the car history, if there were any accidents. I want my cls55 to really have a clean title with no hidden accidents and only 1 previous owner.

jandak

You have to realize that majority of the vehicles older than 2 years old are offered at the same auctions to all of the dealers including the ones from mercedes. As far as accidents, you get to run carfax or autocheck whatever your prefrence is, before you start bidding. On top of it we use what's called a paint meter, that measures the thickness of the paint all around the vehicle. Another important thing to know is that a lot of accidents never get reported to either one of the websites.
My vehicle came with full factory warranty valid until 04/10 and it only had one owner and 26k miles. I also believe that I can purchase mercedese benz extended warranty for like $3,5k-$4k that will be almost as good or practicly the same as the certified one. Just a thought

jandak

Actually in a lot of occasions delears make better profit when you finance than when you pay cash. They do so by what is called bumping a rate of the loan. For example, a dealer receives credit for x length of time for let's say 3% that he bumps up by a .5% and sells it to you at total of 3.5%. The .5% is the dealer's profit. That's why a lot of times financing will get you as good of a deal as would paying cash.

Full Throttle

No the Mercedes Benz certification process is just a sales gimmick to justify selling cars at inflated prices. Good luck in your search. An off lease Benz is a off lease Benz. A clean history car is a clean history car. There is no such thing as a hidden accident if your buying agent has the proper tools at the time of purchase. You can tell if a car has had prior accidents in 30 seconds regardless of whats on the carfax/auto check report.

Full Throttle

Bingo

m_berman

Great car, great price. I bought mine new and paid a whole lot more than you,

Enjoy and welcome to the Forum.

jagata

Agreed, have a friend that works for a very large mercedes dealer here in the west. He told me CPO is free money for the dealer, you get the same car as any other dealer and they market it saying they give you 156 point inspection that the justification for the higher price (horse hockey) backed by a longer warranty, guess what you can buy the car from else where and still pay for a extended warranty from Mercedes and still save more money. All these people buying into the marketing ploy hurts me to see them throwing their money away to them for the same piece of mind and car you can get any where else. All dealers get majority of their cars at auctions even CPO cars.

ocpun

I've learned a lot from just this post and I greatly appreciate everyones support and response.

I use to believe COP would be the best route but after everything being said I'm not sure what to do now... Where do I go from here? Everyone that has purchased a used or COP MB CLS 55 AMG, I'd like to take this time to ask you guys what's the best/safest way to purchase a 2nd hand CLS 55 AMG. I want my CLS to actually have a clean history, one previous owner, and in brand new condition meaning no problems and if any, very few. I'm not worried about warranty because as you guys said I can always buy warranty if not extend it. I have a maximum budget of 50k, prefer to spend 40-45k, if not less and I'm also looking for no more than 25k mileage the lower the better. There are only three ways to buy a used MB... Auction, COP, or Private deals right?

m_berman

It's not all 'horse hockey". The CPO buys you:
1. Additional year of warranty
2. New brakes (at least the front pads and rotors)
3. New tires (balance and alignment)
4. Oil change
5. Repainted bumpers
6. Peace of mind that it is the best of the best in terms of lease returns (some lease returns need to be auctioned)

Full Throttle

+1 you know what they say fool and their money is soon parted. I have watched countless E55 and CLS55's move across the auction block and then find their home at MB dealers listed as CPO cars for top dollar

Full Throttle

You can buy an under 10,000 miles CLS55 loaded up at auction for well under $45,000

ocpun

How do I find where and when these auctions are held to buy a CLS 55 AMG? I live in Orange County, Costa Mesa.

jagata

You need to know some one with a dealer license and then search for the car you want (sometimes the car you want will not be for sale the time you want, be patient; to die for deals do not come up every week. Also if I was marking up $15-20K I'd repaint and throw in some new tires too. And yes the mark up is that big. Another marketing myth which I believe is relevant to this thread, is CARFAX it is not the bible of car history, lots of unreported accidents and repairs will fail to show on Carfax. GL hope this helps you out on your search.

jandak

PM me. I might be able to help you with locating the right one.

ocpun

That sucks I dont know anyone with a dealer license... could anyone help me out on that so I could buy a CLS 55 from an auction? And what do you mean by mark up. So there is no way to tell if there has been an accident or repair? What about the paint meter? So what do you say is the best way for me to buy a CLS 55

jagata

I was referring to the above statement, well before the days of knowing people with license and going to the auction. The best way is find a car the regular route ie. autotrader, craislist, cars.com whatever than hire a professional mechanic that specialze in mercedes to do an inspection before purchase.