AlphaMikeGolf

Hi everyone! First time poster, but have been lurking around the forum for a little while. Anyways enough of that...I've got quite the dilemma; I want a car but can't decide which one I want.

At first I wanted a car with excellent gas mileage since I will be driving a good amount to and from work, but I didn't want to sacrifice performance. So a few months ago I went and test drove a BMW 335d. I do have to say WOW...I was not expecting that from a diesel, no matter how many articles I read it didn't prepare me for the neck snapping torque. Yes the car is well and nice but I just wasn't impressed with the interior....I think for that amount of money the consumer should expect something a little nicer.

So, a few months go by still undecided on what car to buy. Then about 2 months ago I start doing some research on a 2010-2011 VW GTI. It's not the performance I was looking for i.e. 200 H.P., about the same amount of torque and front wheel drive BUT it does get good gas mileage, looks nice, comes well equipped and the interior is beautiful. However I have not had the chance to test drive it (I'm deployed in Iraq). Even though I haven't driven it, I've read many articles/lurked around GTI forums and came to the conclusion that this car is right for me. That is, until I found this beauty....dun dun dunnn!

Now I have my sights set on this black C55 with under 11k miles. Although this car meets 2 of my needs, it most def isn't fuel efficient. Which in hindsight isn't a make it or break it deal. My current car has about half the power and gets the same gas mileage, so it wouldn't be such a difference for me. Unfortunately, as stated before, I'm out of country and won't be back in the states for another month or so and hopefully it won't sell in between now and then. Since I can't see it in person can you guys think of any specific questions I should ask the owner? btw it is a private seller and here are some specifics about the car: 2006 C55 black on black, all stock, premium pkg, $29,000. The price is a little steep but I'm fine with him advertising that price in hopes that it doesn't sell and I'm able to negotiate the price once I get back state side. Also, from what I can tell in pics, the interior and paint are perfect.

badblackbenz550

BUY IT!

thtguy

Just know that the advertised Fuel Economy is not what you will be getting! I average about 18.7 MPG in mixed driving about 55% city 45% highway. I average about 248 Miles before the reserve light comes on. and then at current fuel prices costs about $44 to fill up. I do know the 235s up front and the 265s out back aren't helping with fuel mileage. I could probably get a little better mileage if it just wasn't such a fun car to drive

AlphaMikeGolf

LOL...I tend to have a heavy foot so thanks for the heads up. The thing that could save me is that most my driving will be highway and I'll probably only get to drive it about 4-5 months out of the year.

MRAMG1

Price is WAY too high.

That's E55 and S600 money my friend. Not to mention a host of other cars.

Ultra Stone

I average under thtguy's MPG, but I sit in traffic a lot and have a really heavy right foot. Sounds like this ride has pretty low miles. Good luck with whatever you decide to buy.

moosejaw

I get 14 city and 20 highway with the big 20s and I have a pulley+tune
I got my E55 for well under that with 32K miles

MIKESV8

i think with the mileage it has, it should be sold for about 25k given todays market, but like moosejaw said there are tons of other options at that price. to the OP, there is another member on here with the last name walker who is also deployed in Iraq right now who has a kleemann c55. probably not a good chance seeing him there though of course.

Quicktwinturbo

Price is fairly high for 06 C55...
It's a great car overall though.. Love it

Viper98912

Wasn't this car with super low miles for sale before? I would be weary of super low mile cars. Was it garage queen or was it wrecked? Also, there's lots of issues that can happen in the first 50k miles. I'd rather the previous owner deal with those costs than me.

MIKESV8

very good valid point..i never thought about that.

mrobinso

I disagree with this post and kuzni's post regarding the price being too high. You will be hard pressed to find more than 1-3 C55s on the used market at any given time with that low mileage. Sure, perhaps he could spend the same amount on an E55 or S600 with substantially higher mileage (E55 25K to 35K miles, S600 50K to 60K miles), but that's not exactly a 14,000 mile car, is it? I think on average, prices for C55s with high twenty thousand to low thirty thousand miles on the odometer should fall somewhere around $24,000 - $26,000 (this is based on my experience and my fairly frequent review of national C55 prices).

Now, I am not saying you can't try to negotiate the price. But I will say that if a dealership had a C55 with 14,000 miles, I would bet money they would list it for $29,000 to $32,000 depending on location.

mrobinso

http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchr...ce&sf2Dir=DESC

To substantiate my claim. I believe the first listing (at the dealership in Las Vegas) is an anomaly and is priced suspiciously low.

AlphaMikeGolf

Thanks for the replies but I do understand the advertised price is high, a little negotiating can solve that. As for why the car has low miles it is still unknown. I e-mailed the person selling it but I've yet to get a reply back. No where in the advertisement did it say salvage title so I'm assuming it was a garage queen....I'll soon find out. It is a good point about picking up a car with more miles on it so that the original malfunctions of the car should be fixed, but either end of the spectrum is just as bad. Low mileage car might still have the original 'bugs' while a high mileage car might have those 'bugs' fixed but now you have more wear and tear on the car.

As for what mrobinso said, the ad does say 'private seller' but when looking at the pics there are a bunch of different cars in the background. Now I'm not sure if these were pics taken by the owner on the day he picked it up from the dealer or if its a dealer selling it. I'm more keen to think it is a dealer trying to sell it as a private seller.

MRAMG1

Then I suggest you look at autotrader or ebay.

03 S600 33,000miles, for 23k
04, S600 32K miles, for 28K
03, S600, 21 K miles, for 28K

05 E55, 45K miles, for 28K
05, E55, 36k miles, for 29K

Etc, etc.

Keep in mind these are asking prices.

I am just saying that for 28K, there are other, better equipped, faster, MB's out there. Unfortunately that is the hard cold truth for MB's these days, believe it or not my friend.

Hey, if you really love the C55 then go for it. But IMHO, it IS over priced.


And here is a C55 for lower:

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...standard=false

AlphaMikeGolf

I hunt autotrader and ebay on a daily basis, however that silver one in houston somehow slipped by me. Thanks for the info MRAMG1.
I know there are faster/nicer/better equiped/etc. cars out there but there is just something about the C55 that makes me smile.

thtguy

I agree about the C55. great fun at a relatively inexpensive operating cost. And as awesome as the S55, S600 and E55's are... there are more possibilities of expensive things breaking. not that they will break just that they could break.

MRAMG1

No sweat my friend

All is good, and yeah I do miss the lightness of the C class, aka handling

mrobinso

I am not arguing with you here, but with the above listed cars/prices/mileage, you have validated my point. With the exception of 03, S600, 21K miles for $28,000, none of those cars have close to 14,000 miles. In fact, all of them have double that mileage or more. It is hard to find a C55 AMG with 14,000 miles. That being said, buyer beware as Viper mentioned previously. Make sure everything checks out with the vehicle and that it truly was a "garage queen" versus a salvage.

Additionally, I am also of the line of thought that the simpler the vehicle (engine, electronics, suspension) the lower the operating expenses. I am very happy I bought the C55 over a larger car with complex (and costly) mechanics - not to say that parts for the C55 are cheap, but it is all relative.

To put it in context for the OP, I purchased my very clean C55 with full service history, two owners, for $25,000 out the door with 33,000 miles on the odo. I thought I got a pretty good, if not better than average deal.

BrandonS

I bought mine 7 months ago with 29k on the clock for $24,500. I see them still going on EBAY and other sites for $20-24 with 40-50k miles, so to me $29k seems reasonable.

In addition to asking price, I would definately recommend a warranty on a car like this as they are pretty expensive to fix. I got an third party extended warranty to cover 5 years/100,000 miles for $2k; pretty much covers everything except wear items. So far the warranty has paid out around $3500. It would be close to $400 if I had my seat heater fixed, but they won't cover the actual seat cover so I'd be out of pocket $300 some and them $500 some. I just don't see my butt being warm worth $300. The seat heaters are a common problem by the way.

In 11k miles I've had the car here's a list of what has needed replacing:

Visit 1-$1900 (Completed at Indie Shop)
Passenger Seat Control Module (under seat, not switches)
Passenger Seat Motor/Track Assembly (when module when the motors burned out)

Visit 2-$1700 (Work done at Mercedes Dealership)
Power Steering Pump (small leak where the resevoir fed into pump)
Valve Cover Gaskets (common problem, had small leaks)
Plastic Dogbone in Steering Column (semi common problem, DIY is pretty cheap)
Price also includes Service A which was $170 and is normal maintenance.

As mentioned above, these problems may just be bad parts that went out early and hopefully I won't see very many problems from here out. I feel the need to say though, despite those problems, I really do like this car a lot and plan to keep it for many years.

Newzchspy

+1 one, way way too high...................

Mileage is awesome BUT begs the question, why so LOW???

mrobinso

I agree the price can be negotiated down, but I don't understand these claims that the price is way too high. Can anyone substantiate this claim with some used listings showing that given the mileage, the price is above average? If so, I will certainly be the first to say I am wrong. I just don't see any low mileage (mid-teen thousands on the odometer) C55s out there (period), but let alone any cheaper.

Ultra Stone

I got $25 out the door with a 3 year warranty. car had 31K on it. I agree with you mrobinso, if you can negotiate it down a bit and it isnt a salvage then it sounds ok to me.

Newzchspy

This is a 185,000 car originally??? I know its not a C55 BUT it should give some idea of how these drop like a rock

http://www.autotrader.com/dealers/dd...B&cardist=6112

austinholloman

S600 and S65- Just look up what monthly full coverage is for a guy around 25 years of age! HA its another car payment. Next!