PeteyV

I've been really considering buying a C55. I've been looking on autotrader the last few days and cant find what I want. Basically I want it to be Pewter, have Bi-Xenon's, and COMAND. I would prefer it to be under 60,000 miles and under $20,000. Does anyone know anywhere else I can look or are my expectations unrealistic?

Viper98912

Pewter is a color that wasn't made much (I believe) and comand and bix's are sought after. Remember they didn't make many of these cars to begin with. So good luck, you're better off finding the color and then doing swaps for the res of the stuff

xxaarraa

Under $20k will probably kill it for you also.

PeteyV

I just love the color. I found a black one on auto trader which had good mileage (~61000) for 17,000 but he said there was an SRS light problem that the dealer said would cost $1000 to fix. I wouldn't mind this car the only thing is my brother has a black e class and even though it looks good when its clean I would just rather not deal with that color (no offense to anyone that has a black car).

Let me find the link...

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...e&rdpage=thumb

Sorry for the huge hyperlink.

francoisisp

most of these srs lights on w203 are either the seat posision sensor or the steering wheel airbag sensor which are at the most 250 dollars DIY you wont even need a star diag to clear the code since the srs system selfchecks everytime you turn the key on beside you can vinyl wrap the car whichever color your wildest immagination can think of

xxaarraa

Also, as Viper mentioned, these cars were sold in such few numbers that it will usually take a while to find the exact one you want in the used market. I searched for 2 months before I got what I was looking for.

sm00thguy88

Ebay is your friend.

Here's a C55 in the color and with all the options that you want and more.

The only rub is that it's a bit over your mileage requirement. It's a little closer than the one you originally posted though.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...fCarsQ5fTrucks

mrobinso

Honestly, that is a pretty awesome find by smoothguy - has the total package except for miles. As xxaarraa and others mentioned, finding all of the specs you want AND a price under $20,000 will be impossible at this point in time. Not to mention, if you are being that picky about options/color/price, you invariably will have to travel to pick-up your car unless you get lucky. For that price range, you either need to relax your mileage limit, your req for COMAND/bix/color, or perhaps look into C32s!

Do I wish my car had bix? Yes, they totally improve the look of the car. Do I wish I had COMAND? Not so much. I am happy with Iridium Silver, even though I would have loved to have had an Alabaster White C55. I was the opposite of you. I knew I wanted a C55 with low miles and was willing to forego being choosy about the options/color to get a good price. I drove 450 miles to get a very clean, garage-queen, Iridium Silver C55 with 32,000 miles (no bix or COMAND) for $24,500 one year ago from the end of this month. I am still very happy with car.

Even if you bump you price range up by $2000-$3000, I think your options will greatly improve.

PeteyV

That is a great find smoothguy. I'm surprised I didn't find this one when I was looking on eBay last night. It isn't too far from me either. I'm definitely going to try and check this one out. Any reason this guy is selling it for that low of a price or do you this he's just trying to get rid of it? Thanks alot smoothguy!

sm00thguy88

Glad to be of help.

Regarding your question, it's one that can only be best answered by the seller himself. But according to his ad, they're having a baby.

A few items that I have noted that you might want to clarify with the seller:

1. Ad states it has 19" wheels - Pictures definitely just show stock 18 inchers. (I have a feeling though he copy-pasted the description from some other ad. The format looks very familiar).

2. "Rust free Florida car" - Not entirely true. If you look at the AutoCheck the first owner was from Illinois and owned the car for a good 3 years. So question is if the first owner has driven it in snow. Anyway, you can just inspect for rusts when you check out the car.

Goodluck buddy!

xxaarraa

Good catch. It also says "loaded with every option" which is not true. Interior wood trim was an option which that car doesn't have.

Zeebrock

Contact the guy and find out exactly where the car is. The small Airport the pics where taken at looks familiar.

sm00thguy88

Yeah, Palwaukee?

Zeebrock

or Lake in the Hills.

F1Bobby

Good luck in your search!

kjb55

http://www.allofcraigs.com/

C55 AMG nets a lot of results.

PTE

I know where there is a is a Low mileage ( < 20,000 ) CLK 5.5 garage queen. Pewter , Full Klee . But he wants $30,000. this one is flawless. Florida car too.
Cheers _PTEngineering

PeteyV

Ok guys I messaged him one time before when smoothguy originally pointed out the eBay add. This was before you guys let me know about the discrepancies in the description about the wheels, fully loaded, no rust, etc. I basically first messaged him about the condition of the car cosmetically then if any services need to be done. This is what I got back.

door dings or scratches that the car has either on the exterior or scratches or dents on the interior.
-- no dings, some minor scratches front bumper, one scratch right front fender that isn't noticeable(was there when I purchased)Interior perfect except drivers door aluminum trip has some minor scratching (again there when I purchased car)

Was the car a smokers?
NO
Are the service history records available?
I do my own maintenance, keep receipts for parts.

Any big services that need to be done to the car?
NO

Seems okay I guess, minus the use of caps lock when answering no that always makes me uncomfortable with big purchases and the fact that he said Service A was just done on it but he does his own maintenance. I sent him another email asking why it took 3 months to get the car registered in Florida after it was purchased at an auto auction and other miscellaneous questions. That scenario sounds odd just because my friend has a SRT8 that he bought 2nd hand from a dealer that was originally purchased in Hawaii then sent to an auto auction in North Dakota then sent to Flint Michigan to a dealer and he got it a year ago for $21,000. The car had a clean title and car fax but he later found out that the car was in an accident when someone came to buy the car off of him and send it to Russia. He noticed that the screws inside the engine bay were not stock and they were painted with a different red so that you couldn't notice the work. Then the paint on the side door panel started to fish eye in just one area. I'm worried this is going to be the case with this car. The only reason that bothers me is that I would be selling my car now which is in perfect condition and literally baby'd to someone who would be considered lucky and I would be buying a used car which I don't really know anything about its past..... Sounds like some of the girls that I've dated :/

PeteyV

New message from seller: I purchased the car here in Chicago when my job was moved here, I drove it during the summer and when winter came around drove it to FL where my house is. My wife used it as she stays in FL in the winter and I travel home when I can. I just drove it back up because I thought I would drive it more this coming summer but we just found out my wife is expecting our second child so we need a more (yawn) family car. It has stock wheels (typo on the listing) I never knew that there was a wood trim option for this car, I saw another listed once with wood, but thought it must have been aftermarket. So far I am available this weekend ( I am on call) Where are you coming from? The car is currently in my aircraft hangar in Gary IN (just south of Chicago)



Wife drove it

PeteyV

Another Update from Seller: Gary is better for you if coming from detroit, All services have been done by myself plus any extra work like the brakes that were just changed were done by Euro Auto Service in Boynton Beach FL.(known owner for over 10years he is Mercedes master tech that now owns his own business) The known issue with most recent Mercedes the crank position sensor was replaced at 60926 miles when I got a check engine code. We can plan on Sunday if you like. I am on call but should be able to give you plenty of warning if I do get called out so the drive wouldn't be wasted.

PeteyV

Does he have an add up on autotrader or ebay?

xxaarraa

He seems like a straightforward seller. May I suggest you take your discussions with him offline please? It is a little unfair on the seller for you to dissect and discuss his responses to you in a public forum.

Go drive it, if it checks out and you like it, buy it. It's not that hard of a decision.

Newzchspy

OR, the car sat in Florida for a few years and was NOT driven. He says he just drove it back from Florida?? Who knows, BUT that goes to show you the awful depreciation on these cars and the sticker on that had to be near 60-61 K. Mileage is not that bad for a 6 year old car either. Offer, $17 and see if he bites??

Also, don't rely on CarFax as they can and DO miss a LOT!!

Newzchspy

Yes, does he have an add and where's this car?? Full Kleemann is NOT worth $30 K Mike's car (Alumar) went for less than that 6 months ago??

sm00thguy88

Usual problems with "wife driven" cars are beat up exterior and under-maintenance. But if the exterior is in good shape as he claims and as long as he has properly maintained the car on schedule, I wouldn't worry too much about it being "wife driven".

Just make sure you get a PPI prior to sealing the deal. It's around $110 bucks and well worth it. You'll get a print-out of the full history of the car (Vehicle Master Inquiry), plus you get to see the car while it's lifted so you can inspect for leaks, rusts and suspension problems.

So far for me, minus points for being "self-maintained" (no offense to DIYers, but you usually don't know the seller, how capable he is and if he's cutting corners), also for it undergoing auction, and well yeah, being "wife driven" is not really a selling point.

Speaking of auction, it's also good that he had it listed on E-bay because you get to see its AutoCheck for free. Accidents/frame damage are usually disclosed in auctions, but for some reason CarFax doesn't capture them, but AutoCheck does. Here's a scary article:


http://www.cbsatlanta.com/news/19086976/detail.html



Keep us posted and goodluck again!