Hey guys,

Anyone want to speculate on the demand for a mint w202 amg in the future. I am a 36 owner myself, my uncle a 43, and we both were discussing this topic at length the other day.

The 36's and 43's right now are in a weird era, as we all know, they arn't really exotics or collectors (despite the biest(sp) that we all have). But what do you all think will happen with these cars in the next ten years and further? Taking into consideration the rarity, performance, class etc. On top of this a good amount of these cars have been modded or trashed, making one of these cars with a perfect history and all documents even more unique (I think). Any thoughts on where these cars are headed? And has anyone considered taking theirs back to factory original, keeping miles off it, and of course like the rest of us here, babying it... in other words a MINT w202 amg...

Feel free to speak at peace about this, I am just curious to hear what others have to say on this topic...

 

I love my car for what it is...but honestly doubt it's going to pick up any value in the collectible car world. Look at the big auction houses (Barret Jackson, Mecum, etc) and they sell muscle cars, exotics, barn find bugattis, and cars made in extremely limited runs. Can't particularly see the general car collecting public willing to pay serious money for a four door Mercedes with no history other than "the first official AMG." Not to mention it was made in a run of about 2,000 worldwide. Certainly rarer, faster, sexier, and more desirable cars out there.

190E 2.3-16's will probably command more money due to their racing pedigree. 500E's will bring more due to the Porsche connection and the unusual history behind that particular car.

I think the trick to having a collectible car is having a vehicle with a good story. The Porsche 930 (911 turbo) is collectible not for its rarity but for being one of the first turbo cars on the street, the 300E 6.0 AMG was the first 4 door saloon to hit 300km/h, the old Mercedes 300SL had those gorgeous gullwing doors, was wildly expensive, and was the equivalent of a Bugatti Veyron during its day capable of hitting 160mph when most other road cars struggled to do 70. The C36 is a highly modified C280, the C43 is a C class with an E class V8 in it. Neither are particularly rare, neither were "the first" to do anything, and, despite being respectably quick, neither were knock your socks off fast. Not much story going on there.

Plus there's the issue of it being a Mercedes. Just look at the BMW E30 M3-basically the same car as the 190E 2.3-16, similar production runs, racing history, power outputs, and handling. Hell, the 2.3-16 came out almost 3 years before the M3. Yet while you can buy a clean, lower mileage 190E 2.3-16 for 12k (probably less these days) try finding an E30 M3 for that price. You'll need to spend about twice that much to buy the BMW in similar condition and mileage.

I guess Benz drivers get the shaft when it comes to collectible status

I say enjoy the car for what it is, take great care of it, maybe even tastefully mod it if that's your thing. When you get right down to it, it's just a car, and like all cars it was meant to be driven. What's the point of owning a great car (like ours) if you can't even drive it?

 

I was hoping for more myself. I love my C43, but need to get a family hauler. The car is in great shape and I wanted to trade it in. The lot offered me $5000 for it. I was less than impressed as these cars are truly way better than that.

Saw a 2000 C230K out on a lot for over 10K a few months ago. It is either a bad time to sell cars or we just don't get the respect we used it.

 

Being a week old owner of a 43 I'd say its a hot item. I pulled up to a Dunkin Donuts and had a middle eastern man ask me if it was for sale First time I ever had something like that occur out of the blue.

I found mine on a Toyota lot. The manager said they'd normally take an older car to auction and would not offer it there but this one was very marketable- he was right.

 

I also beleive very much that the price for our W202 AMG's are lower for what they really are worth because most of the population don't even know what a C36 or C43 AMG IS! Hence "rare car" Thats why I believe people who own these cars truly know what they have,, because you dont see or hear about them every dam day like an "average" all-around car.

 

yeah- I do think that's a big part of it.

All the fanboys who want M3s don't know what these cars are- I think I used to be one of them to be honest.

Either way- our cars aren't desirable/collectable and won't be (or so I've gambled by cutting mine up a bit, eh?)

 

For those that know about them.....C36's and C43's are probably the most understated, practical and enjoyable cars for sensible money anywhere.

For those that don't...... well, they might catch on.

Paul is right though - enjoy your car and drive it!

Mike

 

I think the recent ression really stuck a fork in the present and future values of ALL current model AMG cars.Look at the CLK63BS - $135,000.00 sticker/out the door - $88,000.00 (there abouts) now, in 2 years.There are too many newer models with more horsepower that are available at ridiculous prices.I think some C55's are approaching the low 20's.Unless you are a teenager buying this car (good luck with the maintenance costs) or you are buying to track it,I think the demand will continue to decrease.

 

You are correct. Also don't forget that some people will desire certain models,, no matter the price of a newer/faster one, especially those of the same class of cars.

 

Well the Benz Gullwig is worth alot of $ now.

 

That was my point...the gullwing is worth money for multiple reasons:

That car had story-(from wiki) "Max Hoffman, Daimler-Benz's official importer in the USA, suggested to DBAG management in Stuttgart that a street version of the 300SL would be a commercial success." So it has that cool story behind it, it has racing pedigree, and it was the first car to inject fuel directly into the combustion chamber. Not to mention it was incredibly fast for its day, was miles ahead of other cars available at the time, it was astronomically expensive, and had those whacky doors that are totally unmistakable.

Unfortunately our cars don't have quite so much going for them.

They're great cars, there will always be a higher demand for an AMG, and they will always bring more money than a normal benz. But record setting auction sales figures? Not from a W202 AMG unfortunately.

 

I just purchased a mint 98 C43, imperial red, fully loaded, every option factory offered. I paid a pretty penny, but the appeal of the driving experience and rarity made it worth it to me. Does anyone know how many imperial red c43's there are? I hear very few. Thanks!

 

The only reason I could ever see for our cars to really rise in value would be if they stopped making small European sports sedans (which I don't see happening) and there was some kind of cultural rebound later on where people wanted to drive boxy European sports sedans. I don't know whether it is this way now, but a few years ago a Civic hatch back drove quite the premium over any other Civic no matter the trim level because a Civic hatch was trendy. I bet you no one bought a Civic CX in the late 90's thinking that it would hold value incredibly well. On a more grand scale, we all saw what happened to muscle car values in the late 90's and earlier this decade. Obviously everyone wanted a Hemi Cuda but almost every muscle car went up in value. Maybe we can ride an E30 or E36 M3 wave some day in the future. Who knows, but I'm not counting on it. I'm just enjoying the car right now (when the climate control doesn't have a mind of its own).

 

I dont think the C36 or the C43 will ever bring any serious cash. The only truely rare one is C43 - 2000 model, only because there were only around 22 of them produced. http://c43amg.com/

The car means more to us than the general public...who are not familiar with its performace. I think we should just drive it like we stole it: and wait for some un-suspecting victim to try and pass us and get their doors tourched I LOVE THIS THING!!! To me; its worth more than I could ever get for it.

 

Agreed- lets keep these cards close to our chest. Never know when you may want more