I am getting tired and annoyed trying to find a clean C55 or C32. I'm so ready to buy one of these cars yet are all in bad shape for my expectations and not a whole lot to chose from the way it is.

I bumped my budget up to $35k and even in that range the cars are in bad shape as far as paint and interior goes. At least do a good paint job to match the original on a $30k+ car

So when you guys see some of these low prices there is a reason and IMO the cars aren't even worth the low prices listed. Maybe nearer to $40k does need to be spent for a clean 2005 model and for near 4 years old I don't see the resale being so bad.

Now this will be my first used car since 1994 but an AMG is out of my price range new and I guess I spoiled myself with meticously maintaining my cars.

Rant Over!

 

Understandable just be patient in your search...

 

Nice ones are out there. I just bought an 06 c55 cpo loaded within your budget

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...spagenameZWDVW

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...spagenameZWDVW

 

You just have to be patient. Depending on what part of the country you are in, sometimes there not quite as many to choose from.

Just keep searching autotrader and craiglist. There a couple of listings on this forum as well.

 

All the cars look great in photos. Go look at them in person and it's a whole different story. Plus I have a 2005 model car I bought new and has 50k miles. Going back in years and higher miles is not what I want to do. Worst case is a 2004 model with low miles but the C55 models are much nicer IMO.

Getting past the *****ing on my end it's more of a mention based on my experience that these cars may not be depreciating as bad as the internet ads appear and I have read on this forum. There is a reason for most of the low prices as the cars aren't in that great of shape when you really inspect them.

Patience wise I am not the right guy for that but yet I have been looking for 2 months now and with the warmer weather now how long does a guy wait to drive the nice car he wants. Who knows maybe one will pop up tomorrow!

 

search autotrader zip code 06460 you'll find my modded 2002 c32 at $19,000. this car will not disappoint you. i have tracked it but it's in great shape.

 

Because of the price dropping of w203 AMG's, i'll be keeping mine for sure. Good luck with your search!

 

it took me about 4-5 months to find my car lol, good luck on your hunt!

 

Took me 5-6 months as well. I bought mine from a forum member here. It was perfect. Just what I was looking for. Keep looking. It's out there. Don't settle for a car that's not ALL you want it to be. If it's not in the best shape or has some imperfections that you can't easily repair, move to the next one. If you buy a car on impulse because you get tired of looking, those small imperfections may drive you crazy for the rest of your ownership.

 

Believe me impulse has almost taken over a few times but yeah buying my cars new for so long and taking very good care of them won't let me settle or downgrade in a sense for cars that are all scratched up and/or dirty inside. Makes me wonder how mechanically sound the car can be if the finish is so abused.

Problem is there are about 78 total C55's "nationwide"(settled on the C55 model instead of possible C32) on autotrader and wanting black or white brings that number down even further. Now figure I need a dealer so I can trade my car in(private sale is a pain, been there & done that), and somewhat reasonsable distance to where I live in Chicagoland as I'm not driving across country.

5-6months to find. I hope not. The snow will be flying again by then and the car would be parked for the winter anyways.

 

It took me three months to find mine
I was on my third one
FIrst one was an Orion Blue out of Boston
Second one was a Merlot Red out of Jersey
and this one I have now

The most expensive but had the fewest miles two years ago.
I guess I'm lucky I found the one I wanted.

 

I understand your frustration believe me. Unfortunately, with performance cars like these, many are abused, modded or just generally not well taken care of. No offense intended here to those who like to mod but generally, I prefer an unmodified car when looking at performance vehicles. For every 1 responsible hot rodder, there seem to be 10 who just beat the living snot out of their vehicles.

Back in 2001, I had a b---- of a time locating a good '97-98 E36 M3 sedan with a manual transmission. Most of them were automatics and the few manuals out there seemed to have spent most of their lives on the track and/or were heavily modified, which I felt was shocking for such a relatively new (at the time) and expensive car. The "CPO" cars I saw were either trashed or ridiculously expensive.

My search took several months until I finally found a 1997 model with 19k miles which was owned by a die hard BMW enthusiast. It was perfect, 100% stock and impeccably maintained. One of the best cars I've ever owned. It was frustrating but I was glad I took my time in the end!

I had a bit easier of a time finding my C32. There wasn't the manual v. automatic factor and I didn't care so much about the color. I located a perfect 29k '02 CPO at a 'Benz dealer after a couple of months, and for a very reasonable price. MB's CPO cars seem to be more competitively priced than BMWs, for whatever reason. I didn't see as many heavily modified C32s as I did with the M3s but I definitely witnessed a lot of vehicles which looked questionably maintained, as you are experiencing. Also, I noted that an oddly high percentage of the C32s had gangsta' style tinted windows. I guess that's a minor thing but for some reason, that's a major turn off for me.

So be patient! Good cars are out there, you just have to expect it will take some time. Best of luck to you.

 

One more thing, as an aside, count yourself lucky you aren't looking for a good used RSX Type-S. My wife and I looked briefly at these and the examples we saw made the sorry crop of M3s I discussed above look like beige Chevy Malibus driven by little old ladies Many had horrifically installed aftermarket stereos and I-Pod thingies, reeked of cigarette smoke, and a few even pulled to one side and rattled like a bucket of bolts. Pretty hard to beat a Honda to that point, but some managed. And those are just the ones we didn't simply laugh at after reading a 3-4 page description of modifications. We gave up in horror and just bought a new one.

 

I was just about to end my search and bump my budget up and to E55 level when I found mine. As clean as they get- 14k miles and absolutely perfect in every way. It was the same price as every other one I had looked at (all of which had 30-45k miles). I found that private party sales were actually higher than dealers in most cases.

 

It took me 5 to 6 months to find my C32, but I didn't mind the wait. I kept checking the newspaper, autotrader.com, cars.com, e-bay, etc.... almost daily until I found the one I wanted with the options that I wanted at the price I wanted . So try to be very patient with your search. The C55 is a much more rare car than the C32, as it was produced for 2 model years only (2005 and 2006) as opposed to 3 years for the C32.

I would wait a few more months until the C63 comes out and becomes more popular. This will of course make the C55 drop even more in price and allow you a bigger selection to choose from.

 

MB_Forever, that was my next question. I'm assuming these cars are low volume and was curious based on veterans experience once the C63 comes out if more C55's will hit the market in a few months. The problem with that thought is there are only 78 or so C32's doing a nationwide search as well so no flood of the market when the C55 came out,

Slater126, one thing I never understood is how someone can spend so much money on something and not take care of it unless it truly was bought as a race car! This isn't a new revelation but still something I never understand.

Yep, just waiting for that clean one owner car to be traded in as they wanted a new model. Not asking too much, is it!

 

I have a very clean c55 I might be interesed in parting with-

 

I also have a very clean, well taken care of Black on Black 2005 C55, with nav, and xenons w/ head light washers. I was going to sell it last year, but I couldn't get what I was asking for back in last October, so I decided not to sell. Anyway, if you are interested in photos, or if you want to see it in person let me know, I am asking 32,500 for it. The car has never been hit, and is in near mint condition.

 

Once the C63 hits the market (and at least give it a year to become more popular and in demand), a lot more C32s and C55s will be available to chose from. This is usually the case with every old/new model swap. Out of those 78 C32s you mentioned or 50 C55s, I garauntee you'll be able to find at least 5 vehicles in really good condition. You just have to be patient and make sure you examine every possiblity.

Most people don't bother in owning such cars, so they resort to leasing. Unfortunately, with a lease, the cars get abused much more because the owners know that the car is not theirs and will be returned to the bank in a couple of years, so many do abuse it (and sometimes abuse it very badly).

Where were you when I was selling my C32 last year . It was professionally detailed once every two weeks, it had no paint chips, no scratches, no swirl marks, no dents, no exterior flaws whatsoever. In addition, the interior looked brand new (not a single wrinkle on the seat's leather), no signs of even the normal wear on the steering wheel or arm-rest, and was spotless..... The car was fully optioned (and I don't just mean it had a lot of options, I actually mean it had every single option available to order at the time). It also had quad-exhaust upgrade, Lorinser roof spoiler, C55 rear spoiler, 18" AMG wheels, Evosport Stage 2 + minor custom setup. I loved to track that car, but never abused it: never did un-necessary super-long burn outs and never abused the differential in the corners. I never drove it in the rain, and would never get closer than 2 car lengths from the car in front of me on the freeway (I was very **** about avoiding rock chips). The car was pushing 410+ hp with low mileage, full Mercedes Starmark warranty until 2012, and was in a remarkably excellent condition. Maaann...... I really miss that car

I'm not even as extreme as others I've seen......... so don't lose hope, there are many true car enthusiasts out there who do take really good care of their cars and keep them in excellent condition. Just be patient and go through all available options until you find the right car.

 

what were the US production numbers for C32? and C55?

 

Here are some of the production numbers as published from AMG....

C 36 AMG

• 1995 401
• 1996 296
• 1997 199

C 43 AMG

• 1998 788
• 1999 546
• 2000 91

C 32 AMG

• 2002 1600
• 2003 878
• 2004 219

C 55 AMG

• 2005 1299
• 2006 451

CL 55 AMG

• 2001 303
• 2002 607
• 2003 1379
• 2004 611
• 2005 486
• 2006 182

CL 65 AMG

• 2006 52

CLK 55 AMG Coupe

• 2001 1343
• 2002 1467
• 2003 761
• 2004 509
• 2005 247

CLK 55 AMG Cabriolet

• 2002 1340
• 2004 782
• 2005 662
• 2006 180

CLS 55 AMG

• 2006 2765

E 55 AMG

• 1999 1104
• 2000 1203
• 2001 653
• 2002 997
• 2003 1318
• 2004 3218
• 2005 2214
• 2006 1187

E 55 AMG Wagon

• 2005 129
• 2006 64

G 55 AMG

• 2003 572
• 2004 294
• 2005 921
• 2006 393

ML 55 AMG

• 2000 2084
• 2001 1105
• 2002 735
• 2003 150

S 55 AMG

• 2001 1042
• 2002 1414
• 2003 1754
• 2004 854
• 2005 908
• 2006 429

S 65 AMG

• 2006 427

SL 55 AMG

• 2004 5217
• 2005 1542
• 2006 748

SL 65 AMG

• 2005 651
• 2006 390

SLK 32 AMG

• 2002 1182
• 2003 562
• 2004 312

SLK 55 AMG

• 2005 832
• 2006 1297

 

I had been thinking of selling mine as well. However, I just took it on a trip and was in the car for almost 4 hours highway driving and I have to say, what a beautiful car drive, I often forget just how powerful this damn thing is. I'm keeping it a little longer. I think the key to ownership of this car is treat it well, keep it clean, and drive it. Its sad to see the values tank on these, its almost not worth parting with at this point.

 

those are US production numbers right?

 

Yes.