Hey Cali members if your looking for a C55 there is a bunch of them at Fremont Automall Mercedes. I went there last night and I seen about 5 to 6 sitting on the lot. Wondering why they had so many, maybe their not selling well...

Colors to choose from...

Silver
Black
Pewter

 

I am noticing in Australia that the C32s are in much higher demand due to the price drop...they are very hard to come by second hand. Maybe a lot of people think that the upgrade from the C32 to the C55 is not worth the extra money you have to spend...personally I would take the C55 any day!

 

When we were in teh market for one - they were asking WAY too much. Maybe that's why. They wanted 2k over sticker and the lowest I got them to was sticker.

 

Just drive a few hours down to southern california where you can buy for close to invoice, or pay $300 for trucking and have it delivered from SoCal.

 

Unless you are an auto enthusiast, you will barely notice the C55. But then, it's not easy to justify to someone to pay the same money for a much better equipped E500. Of course, the E500 is not for me.

Everyone and their cat knows the M3. I don't know if they are sitting at dealer lots but it seems to be the dream car for a lot of teen's and twenties'. If your dream car is a 50K car, you have LOW expectations and goals in life.

It is true that dealers were asking too much in the beginning. At Autobahn Motors I now see one pewter C55 and 4 CLK55s. Discounts on AMG at NorCal can now be had.

FYI - the CTS-V is also now selling close to invoice here in NorCal.

 

actually, the dealers here in the southeast are have a very hard time moving C55s. One of the biggest dealers on the east coast has 4 or 5 right now and has only sold 1 or 2. They have also had a hard time selling the 65s, they have two on the lot and have had them for the past 4mnths. Plus, MBUSA is subsidizing the dealers to move the C55s and cars like it because they are hard to sell, so, if you know what you are doing, you can get some major discounts (2000+).

 

Many run of the mill Benz buyers have no idea what the C55 is and they can't justify spending $15k more than a loaded C320 sedan or the same amount of $ for an E500 as ultraseven stated above.

For myself, it's the ultimate Q-ship without the racer-boy mentality of the M3. (don't take it personally) I easily received $2k off MSRP here in So. Cal.

 

I "Just" got back from overseas and finally test drove one. The ride was nice, but I still like my C32

 

i know i'm kinda late, but does anyone know if they still have those c55s? if so, i'll have to get down there.. we're looking at buying one as soon as possible (walnut creek/oakland didn't have any and said none were available in the bay area anytime soon- i'm hoping they're wrong)

 

MB of Miami has 4 of em sitting.... they offered a 3k discount..... they are not selling well... I made a couple offers on one with 3k miles on it... they wanted 58k, and wouldn't budge.... they'll be sitting with it for a while....

 

Damn, i paid sticker.

 

I thought because C55 sells so well in your area this is why they have stocked so many. Here in HK, unlike few years back that many importers broguht in the C32 , no importers bring C55 this year. I was only able to order thru MB official dealer directly. I paid a big full price last year and I was lucky because the price gone up 10% in 2005.

And, I thought no C55 owners should be regret, as whatever price you paid, it is cheaper than the CLK55 and it is basically the same performance. And ain't it true that some earlier CLK55 wasn't even with a 2005 facelift interior?

 

i got my c55 at caliber motors (anaheim hills, ca). I leased but the cap cost of the car was $1300 below invoice. Fully Loaded (lighting, premium, navi)

 

wow, 1300 below is great.....

 

The C55 is not flying off the dealer lots because too many people know that it is being replaced for 2006. The C-class is getting a major redesign and will cause the current C55 to depreciate quickly. Those that were considering it have done their homework and are not buying.

 

when will the new C AMG be available tho?
is this redesign coming anytime this year?
if so, i would wait instead of picking up a C55 now, anytime time this year would be alright.

and i have obviously not done enough homework, any links that would point me in the right direction would be appreciated.

 

The AMG's are all low production cars and I have never seen one fair any better in resale than their non AMG counterparts, in fact they seem to be softer the first year or two and then level out around 50%-55% of original value years 3-5 which is pretty good. There are cars right now but when they are gone I would say they are probably done for 05'. I remember the C32's, same story, a couple would show up and then you couldn't find them for a long time unless you ordered one.

 

May be true about getting an AMG.
Always not advised to buy the top-end model before the generation fades out. Over Asia, we always get late new models than Europe and USA., so it will be end of 2006 that we can order a new C. And, I will be glad if I can get a new AMG in early 2007. By hen, that would make my 2.5 years with the W203 C55.

Bear in mind, not sure if this happens in USA; I paid the cheapeat price for my 100% fully loaded W210 E320 9 months before the launch of W211. I sold it after 3 years and I lost only ~42% from the buying value.
And, people looking for 3-6 years old W210 are more than people buying the W211 simply because a fully loaded W211 E320 costs 30% more than my W210 when I got it new. And, a new W211 costs 60-70% more than my 'just' 3-year old 25000km W210.
(The big increase partly because of big increased local vehicle tax for luxury cars and today's high Euro)

Above is a true story, what it means , how much you lost that matter, also depends how long you wanna keep your car for. If you buy a C55 now and want to change to a new C55 in 2006, you will relatively lose 'a lot'.

What it means, you never really lost anything until you sell your car.
Besides, I admire what a senior car journalist said from what I read,
" buy a car is for sake of to drive it , never buy a car for sake of to sell it "

How much above statement is true , varies from individual needs.
Most of the times, it is how long someone can wait and what is the car?
e.g. new designed Porsche is not always better than the old design. And the resell price of Porsche is always not a doubt. So, someone might like to pay less for a older model (new) Porsche instead of waiting for something they never know what it will be.

Besides, who knows whether MB will make a new C55 and not a
much higher price C63?
And, as far as I know, new S-Class will be on sale starting Oct 2005, and the C-class will always be 9mths to 1 year later than the S-Class. I am doubt if a C AMG can be on the road by end 2006, may be early 2007 for USA and much later for Asia RHD countries.

Just my 1 cent.

cnt

 

True. here locally, I still see 2 years old C32 selling
only 25% less than the cheapest buy new price.

 

they can't price the C63 much higher than the C55, especially with the M3 sedan coming out next year... I think it will be tough to sell the C63 for 10K more than a 400HP M3 sedan....

 

They had 5 available this past weekend.