MINTY FRESH!

 

Well, if it sells at that price, I guess values are finally going up. Looks a very clean example with very little miles on the clock.

 

Problem is buyers don't want to pay that much for a 22 years old car.
Everyone in the market buying a new or used car is going to try and haggle with asking price.
There's always room for negotiation but I think the owner will have problems selling it?

it's always better to pay a bit more for a good specimen than buying a beater and having it fixed?

 

As much as we'd like to see our cars valued this highly, this is not happening. The seller is dreaming.

 

I've been on the market for a while now looking into several other C43s and W124s including a brief browse at this one https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...nz-c43-amg-19/. IMHO its always better to buy a plug and play car where everything has already been taken care of. I am not a wrench and with business and a small child do not have the time to do even the most basic of things so this could be a candidate. What exactly would be the 'market' price for a car like this when I have seen out there examples with 80-100k miles offered in the high teens? I come from classic Porsche ownership so our thought process is a little bit different. One would push for valuation to protect your investment, seems you folks that already own C43s are going the other way on this one. Any particular reason? I am trying to be as educated as possible in my decision before deciding on an example. My heart really is on a good W124 but that ship has sailed. Thank you.

 

My comment and opinion.

The seller is on pot!

Regards

Joseph~

 

Trying to understand the logic here: I have a whole garage filled with 20+ 25+ and 30+ year old cars, albeit mostly Porsche and other brands not MB. When people look at these cars are they looking at an old used car or a piece of automotive history? Forgive my ignorance but as I mentioned when I first joined this forum last year, I come from the Porsche field and the thought process is completely different so I am still learning. IMHO it is better to buy a good example already sorted. You buy cheap you get cheap and then the repair bills start stacking up. I am tempted by that current BAT example but the miles are way too high. Let's see how that one closes.

 

Porscha is a total different car than an MB.
Even an old Porscha fetch good money (high value) when it sells, it's different with most Mercs.
Value on these cars is no longer what it used to be if you don't have something special like an W124 500E or an E60 with the same body.
Now we talk holding value and an investment.

Most people are cheap skates want to pay very little, you need to find the enthusiast buyer whom appreciate the car they look for and will offer more money for a healthy car which has all issues sorted out.
An enthusiast looking for the right car with the right options will probably pay more but not the full sellers price, they will try to haggle, everybody does it.
As you're in the States, the C43's supplied to NA market are in no way as good as the european or the japanese market cars when it comes to specific factory options.
I have stuff in my car from the factory that many only can dream about having in the north american market C43's, that' sad MBUSA never offered same goodies for NA cars, this is the facts and no bragging.
I call her Special K as in Special Component

 

Couldn't agree more. The Porsche owners are also more enthusiastic as a group, demonstrated by the far greater participation in the PCA than MBCA.

Yeah, you Europeans and others got all the cool colors! I wish I could have got my C43 in Azurite Blue with the black/silver interior.

 

Thanks, special K, I like that. What are some of the options you have that the NA cars lack?

 

It's all in the DNA. I guess I would qualify as an enthusiast looking for a healthy all sorted car and willing to pay the premium. So all further suggestions welcome..

 

I have power rear blind which was never offered for C43 but strangely offered for the NA E55.
I also have these stuff:
Folding mirrors besides stock option for adjustability.
Front and rear park sensors.
Fire extinguisher.
Factory faux carbon fibre interior trim

Besides that it's the same crap as US cars

 

What do you mean by "brief browse at this one" as if it's not your car? I think most of us regulars on this forum know that this is your car, the same one you bought from the Bay Area that had the big McIntosh sound system in it. Do you forget that you even posted about the paint correction you had done to it? Anyway, that car had been listed for sale for a while for $14K before you bought it, so I'm sure you probably paid less for it (although you incurred the cost of having to ship it cross-country to FL). And now you're trying to flip it for $33K?? Wow, that's pretty ambitious.

While you might be able to get that kind of coin on BaT, as there are many people on that auction site with more money than brains, I don't think you'll fool anyone on this forum here. And since you're soliciting feedback, I'd say based on all the cars I've had the chance to buy (in other words, based on real life transaction price experience - not just a wild guess), your car is worth around $15-16K. But anyway, GLWS!

 

 

@Siideways: I joined this forum to buy and learn about these cars and somewhere in between share the experience of owning and improving them, which I did in part, I am not here to antagonize with anyone, let alone try to 'fool anyone' so if you must go back to basics and learn how to read properly please do so. My original post says "several other C43s" as in, besides the one that I already have, and is noted on the foot note of my profile handle to the left and on a simple search of my previous posts when I got the car. I now realize that the BAT link for the one that closed earlier this afternoon with 141k miles for $12K did not paste on my earlier edit of the original post above, which is where the brief browse comment meant, now it is corrected. I also realize that the main reason why these cars are undervalued are the owners themselves, some of you selfishly devalue what they are instead of preaching what they could be in the future, a la PCA. Very different culture in here and one I have reservations on, but I am still absorbing. Good luck to you sir finding a low mileage W202 example for $15-$16K when a 141k mileage clean example just brought $12,600 after fees. Other market comparables between 75-90k miles offered between $14K and $18K have been sitting unsold for months. What am I missing?

Separately, anyone who understands the basic business principle of supply and demand paired the concept of influencer marketing will understand why this storage facility posted one of my cars at a well above market value. If you want to call that flipping do as you must. On this side of real world modern business it is called 'directing customer traffic trends'. Case and point someone opened up a thread in here to talk about it. Highly unlikely the car will ever see a bill of sale, other collectibles they have in there most certainly will. Now please let me continue to learn from others here that are willing to positively share their AMG MB wisdom to us 'Rookies on the MB world' as I would gladly share mine on the Pcar world for any of those interested.

Next time just send me a PM and we can discuss your concerns privately like Gentlemen. Same for @joseph~

Thank you @MattCordell, most definitely Special K. Wish those options were available for US market. Could definitely use folding mirrors and parking sensors.

 

Thank you kindly Sir.

I also have the same stock options you have in your car however 1st owner of my car ticked every box so it came with extra toys which makes it Special K.

Some of the options like folding mirrors can easily be retrofitted, other options like bumpers with park sensors are steep and fiddly to retrofit and not worth the hassle.
The other smaller stuff can be found on Ebay in UK and Germany.
I have seen them for sale many times.

If you fancy something for your car I can lead you in the right direction.
You can write seller a message asking politely if they would consider ship to US.
Most sellers are easy and pleasant to deal with, I don't think there would be a problem for you to get what you want.

 

I think @MattCordell is spot-on with his comments on Porsche, PCA, and the importance of options on these cars. While there are more cars popping up for sale with <100k miles and owners asking for $15k+, majority of these all suffer from the same issue - they aren't unique. People can argue that there are limited numbers of these cars in NA so specs shouldn't matter, but if we're talking about these cars as collector/investment examples, then they matter greatly. The generic black/silver/white exteriors on what i would guess is 90% of NA C43s, doesn't get an investor/collector excited or willing to shell out bigger $ (even when they have low mileage). EU or Japanese examples with unusual specs/factory adds tend to get the market more excited, as do unusual interior/exterior colors. I would expect a 100k mile red exterior C43 to bring equal or even higher $ than a 70k mile example in silver. Full disclosure, my C43 is Obsidian Black but i will be driving it until the wheels fall off, so i could give a rats a$$ about where these end up trading.

Additionally, i have to think that the vast majority of the market is buying these cars to actually drive them, not park them and cross their fingers they appreciate a negligible amount of money over 10+ years. Assuming this is true, the asking prices for low mileage examples (lets use the $34k for 40k mile example above) aren't really justified by the fact that well cared for 100k mile examples ($10-$12k) have another ~100k miles left in the life of the car. Also, many lovers of the w202 chassis will simply swap in the 5.5L m113 engine for a few grand, and presto the car continues its long life. Finally, these cars' engines and transmissions like to be driven. Its not unheard of for a buyer (who intends to actually drive the car) to be concerned about an example that hasn't been regularly driven in nearly 10 years.

@JAB12 to clear up some of your confusion on the $12k selling price of the BaT example with 141k on the clock, that car was sold by arguably one of the most respected MB sellers on BaT (Dean Laumbach). In addition to the car appearing to be in show room quality, with an underside that looks similar to a brand new car, buyers know that the vehicle they purchase from Dean is a quality example with issues sorted and is exactly as advertised. I don't think 150k mile examples will start regularly trading above $10k anytime soon, but when listed by the right seller and meticulously maintained, it helps to quantify the higher selling price. Hope that helps

 

@MattCordell: much appreciated on the tips on how to improve the 202s and option them further with Euro parts offerings. @JK_AMG Very wise words, thank you. When I bought this car, after several PPIs it was clear that it was just a mild cosmetic project to bring up to my standard, mostly new wheels, tires and spray less paint correction with deletion of an abhorrent am rear deck spoiler . Mechanically she was more than proper and all the minor bugs were cleared with the standard 40k mile service. The car had been forgotten indoors for 12 years but as a testament to how well built they were, the young man that sold it to me, a car enthusiast himself, did a great job with the basics to bring a sitting car back to life, all fluids flushing, new plugs, new battery and let's go!. I completed the rest with added detail service and the result is what is being shown today.

Thank you for the clarification on Dean Laumbach, will keep that name in mind for future offerings of interest. I intend on purchasing 2 or 3 more AMG 202s as I believe in them and their potential, however I am more into lower mileage examples that may just need a little bit of love to make perfect. Dean's recent car may have been the exception, but I am very skeptical on buying on BAT. Have heard multiple horror stories, but sounds like this one was one that may have been the high mileage unicorn, aside from any '00 example. If I had listened to those who told me that a Porsche 964 would never gain added value as other 911 variants I would be sitting here in enhanced regret. Some years ago I paid a little over $16K for a 31k mile deviated color combo 964 C4, she now has 38k miles and I just chuckle. I firmly believe these AMG cars will find their tier, it's just a matter of time.

 

@MattCordell: This is a bad scan of the window sticker but that should give you a better idea of the options. After all, this thread has been very educational.

 

I think comparing the C43 to a Porsche is a mistake. The reason the C43 isn't worth a whole lot is because you can buy the same body for practically nothing. Yes the C43 was the best C class money could buy but you could also get in the same looking car in Europe and have it be a taxi. There were no 911 taxis taking you to your hotel. I wish the C43's were worth more, I've spent thousands to keep mine up to snuff. Mercedes did like American car companies where they have the plain jane version of a car that becomes almost worthless after 20 years, but the special version is worth a little bit of money.
Don't get me wrong, the C43 is a very special car and crazy to drive, can't wait to get mine back with the 6 Spd manual gearbox in a couple of weeks, but comparing it to a Porsche isn't a fair comparison.

---Adam

 

Hello Adam,
I wasn't comparing a C43 to a Porsche, I agree with you, they are incomparable vehicles vis a vis. I was comparing the ownership approach of some owners of the C43 vs that of Porsche owners in general as it relates to not pushing the valuation of the cars. However, by your logic a W124 500E/E500 or E60 should not hold any value since you can find any series of W124s in E200/300/400 variants which are currently worth next to nothing. They produced over 2.5 Million W124s throughout all generations and models of the vehicle so I don't get the C43 W202 reasoning based on other variants production numbers and usages.. You converted your gearbox to manual that is interesting?

I guess my point is I believe in these cars and their valuation for a low mileage well cared for example. Everyone is entitled to a different opinion. Only time will tell.

 

Most Benz's dwindle down to low used car pricing, a few rise above, the C43 is one. I own 2 Benz's currently, I love them.
The parts are the same way, people don't pay much for old benz parts, even NOS stuff. I've done lots of buy outs of shops for Porsche stuff, and I never touch the Benz stuff, it just doesn't bring the money Porsche stuff does.
The only good news is that if you have a nice C43 it will be cherished years from now, only because so many have fallen by the wayside with duct taped headliners and the like. But they aren't cheap to keep up to snuff, I think I spent $2000 having a new headliner put in, it was a MB Part, came in one piece, it was pretty amazing, but not cheap. I bought my car from the original owner, a DR in Atlanta, about 13 years ago, all the maintenance done, nice car, but it's for the love of the car, not because of it's value, which is about the same as when I bought it. I think I paid $12,000 when the car was under 10 years old.
I wish I was driving it today, the 993 died on my on the way to work...

---Adam

 

Oh, that sucks!! Such a beautiful car too! I just love 993s! I hope it's not too bad (i.e. "expensive").

 

I don't think it will be bad, my guess is linkage, I heard a clunk and then nothing in the gears.

---Adam

 

Here's your opportunity to help push the value of these cars through the roof! Be the first to bid $50K!

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...nz-c43-amg-13/