YOgun27

It is finally time to part with my 2005 C55 with 155K miles on it. I've heard that prices are going up on this car recently, however I haven't really seen that. The standard companies, CarMax, Autotrader, etc. are offering me around $3,000 (or less) for the car. Does that sound right? The car is in fair (not great) condition, but hasn't been driven in months (new battery though). What is a reasonable price that I should be looking to take, without fixing much on the car?

rwolak

First of all you never go to any dealer and expect a fair price. They offer wholesale, or less, in 99.9% of the cases. Not seeing your car, I couldn’t tell you what the value is; however, since the C55 is a relatively rare car, if yours runs well, and in decent condition, I would think double what you were offered would not be out of the question. Advertise it on Facebook, Craigslist, or this forums Marketplace.

YOgun27

Thanks, I thought dealers and the like had improved a bit with resale prices due to the pandemic and chip shortage. I just had the car diagnosed, and it pulled like 23 codes (18 of which won't clear). That sounds like quite the repair bill potentially. So it may be better to go the dealer route, unless I find someone who wants a project.

Robjr

YOgun27.....

I've owned my '05 C55 since September 2006 (2nd owner) and, over the years, the prices have fluctuated predicated upon the car's mileage and condition. However, starting in mid-2019, the prices began to rise for low-mileage cars in good condition. Lately, I've seen '05 and '06 C55's sell in the low-to mid $20's on BaT (Bring a Trailer) and Auto Trader has 5 to 6 listed in the mid to high $20's. Here's the url (https://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-...&numRecords=25).

Post some pictures of your car (exterior, interior and engine bay) in this forum and you'll get members' comments as well as some that might be interested in buying your car. rwolak is absolutely correct in "never go to any dealer" to sell your car or fix it for that matter....EVER!!! At $180/hour, it sounds like you'll spend a small fortune to fix it!

Also, post the DTC (Diagnostic Trouble Codes) for further member responses for any possible help. There are active MB techs on this forum (ZAYED and others) who may own a C55 and well-informed C55 owners/DIYers' who will also contribute some help regarding your specific dtc's. Doing your own research in the forums can also improve your diagnostic percentages, too.

After correcting the DTC's, and you still want to sell, get a good detailer then list the car simultaneously in the Marketplace in MB World, BaT and Auto Trader.

Good luck......

Rob

YOgun27

Thanks for the advice. I may end up making this a project to get it in working order to sell it. I would love to get more than $8k for it if possible. I only recently started having problems with it (ABS error, etc.) I’ll try and get the exact codes.

Spooky55

I've noticed the prices for nearly ALL the *55 AMG models nearly doubling in the last year or so EXCEPT for the CLK55 and C55...

I was looking at CL55s last year and they were were nearly all in the $12-18k range. Now you can't touch one for less than $25k.

The cherry, low mileage C55/CLK55s are starting to go up and are bringing $20-30k on collector sites like BAT, but they are more the exception than the rule.

Average cars are still in the $8-12k range. Should be worth more, but...

Having said that, unless it has a bunch of stuff actually wrong with it (affecting smog, drivability, obvious lights on the dash) $8k should be your minimum price in a normal market. A bunch of codes stored in various subsystems may not really affect the value that much unless a bunch of stuff doesn't work, body damage, etc.

With the shortage of used cars on the market right now, I'd say strike quickly and you might get more like $12,000 depending on what needs to be done.