ZephyrAMG

Wanted to ask engineers and mechanics out there and people who have done extensive exhaust work or interior work:

In your opinion and aside from the Engines, are these cars put together well or not? Have you made observations to make a judgement as to the build quality and materials in comparison to other German cars, ie M3, Audi, Brit Jag, etc...?

Thoughts...

SebringSilver

I think most people are indeed buying this car simply because of the engine. It's the most affordable way to get the biggest AMG motor, and I suspect the car's relative shortcomings are generally overlooked.

Mind you, most of the things that lend themselves to the additional look and feel of "quality" in the interior (especially) of the car, do tend to add weight, which I'm sure lots of folks here are happy to do without for the sake of performance. It's a difficult compromise for any car-maker to manage, the axis where luxury, performance, practicality, and price all meet.

CRAZY

If you only could see what type of High Strength steel (HSS) is used and where, not to mention adhesion in addition to welding, and the rigidity of the pillars, you wouldn't think twice about the structure being any less quality than the bigger s class. Structural integrity is definetly superb.

propain

The interior is meh.

You can spend the same amount and get a much more refined E class. Same amount and get a really nice CPO S550.


The biggest downside to this car is the depreciation. I feel really sorry for people who paid sticker on an 09 C63. An 09 68K car with 10K miles on it is now worth about 49K. Almost 20K in depreciation in 1 year.

At the end of 2010 the C63 will be worth about 35K.

BMW on the other hand holds it value quite well im comparison.


Now I wish someone could figure out why that is... Maybe its because of build quality. Its not just the C class either. A 200K S65 can be had for under 60K. A 3 year old 200K car for 60K. Try that with a Porsche. Not gonna happen.


This is my first MB and its the only thing im not happy about on the positive side.

_AMG_

The C63 is built like a tank. Its purpose is to be abused and be driven hard. So i think its really well built, aside from its engine.

Sathinas

Are they well built? I don't know.

Bring one out to my property, we'll stuff it with 19Kilos of RDX and set it off. THEN, we'll know if it's built well or not.

YYZ-E55

It has to do with sales volume/incentives. Porsche sells a fraction of the cars annually and demand remains strong thus they don't need to incentivize their cars at year-end to move them. Pull versus push sales strategy.

I disagree that BMW isn't plagued by the same issue - the reality is that an AMG or M car is not exclusive. There are plenty of cars available used, and the incentives on new cars (subvented lease rates, trunk money, etc. to drive volume) cause the used cars to depreciate more steeply.

Even with your Porsche example - take a look at how resale values on the last generation Cayenne is doing. Even the P-car isn't immune.

AMG_G

If you put a dollar amount to everything you will not be leaving your house much. Why pay x amount for a sandwich when you can make the same sandwich at 10% of the cost. I don't really care that my one month old C63 already lost 15-20k because I am enjoying the car for what it is and not for what its worth.

patboyy

i cant really agree with this comment, at least not in Australia.

M3 and other BMW lose its value much quicker than MB, C63 holds its value very well, consider you need to pay around 160k for the car brand new with all needed options, an late 2008 C63 now selling around 135+k now, you only lose considerably small amount, compares to E92 M3, full price 180+, a same year similar km with c63, now is about 140+k, not to mention all the E46 and E36, C55 still holds its value strong.

anyway, MB can satisfy all my need with its build quality, no complains. Its like you going to a restaurant with 3 Micheline stars , can you guarantee it will be the best meal you ever have in your life? not really, the most expensive one will be sure. Will you have the feeling of good ROI compares to going to a local fish and chips shops? hardly. sometimes a simple dish can satisfy me.

Djovovic63

I would simpl go crazy if my c63 was worth only 35k by the end of 2010 not gonna happen here in europe. U wont get a nice c63 with optioals(pp multimedia leather) under 50.000 euros( 62.000$)

ATL_MB

To get back to the OP's question about build quality --I will say that after almost 9k miles, I have not had one single problem with my car. That is a big improvement over my two previous W203's, both of which had minor and not-so-minor problems crop up soon after delivery (thrust arm bushings, electronics, etc.).

I would agree that some of the materials used in the interior (esp. the dash) are not of the quality that I would expect in a nearly $70,000 car, but absolutely nothing has broken and I have no squeaks, no rattles, no vibrations. Aside from the tire wear issue, it has been an excellent car (and I beat it whenever I drive it).

If I totaled mine today, I would not hesitate to buy another.

chief63

I think the devaluation issue is US specific in this case.

In Canada, where the Canadian dollar is similar to the US, here are the 3 prices I found at a popular site hebdo.net (options not mentionned on each car, still...):

2009 MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG 12,360Kms 64,995 $

2009 MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG Sedan 9,250Kms 60,000 $

2009 MERCEDES-BENZ C63 AMG Sedan 47,022Kms 56,995 $

The retail for a 2010 is 63,500$ + gas guzzler tax (2000$) and 1500$ prep

You can see the devaluation is slim to none. One could argue that a Canadian citizen could just go to the US and get the car to save money (bringing all the used prices down), but the truth is that the resale value of that American car here will be very low, in accordance to the lower price paid. People will pay a higher price for a car they have a track record of.

Just my 2¢

propain

Right, and you paid 120K USD for it probably.

propain

Selling for and fetching is two different things. I can show you many sales in NY and the USA that have the 2009 C63 listing for 55K used. They are not gonna sell them at that price.

So your telling me in Canada, You can buy a C63 for 67K, drive is for 12km and sell it for only a 2k loss? Sounds like a wet dream to me.

ZephyrAMG

Jeez Propain, a little blunt today? You have your coffee this morning?

propain

Having it now..

everyone so sensitive on these forums.

I was kidding. It just people on different planets commenting about price depreciation does really make sense.


The price of a C63 in the UK is about 70K USD. Thats the cost of the car, I really don't know about other UK fees and taxes if any. Id like to know what it costs out the door. They didn't have trunk money we had in the US so the depreciation is different.

To deny that MB has horrible, downright dismal depreciate is deluding yourself. I was just stating it as a downside. I guess its off track from the OP thread subject though.

So ill finish with.. The build quality of the C63's DT is excellent. The interior is on par with a GM car of similar price. Maybe a little better in some areas.

ZephyrAMG

Haha....No no I know, just busting your chops. Wanted to see what your smart reply would be... I am sitting here in my office having my Foldgers and coffeemate and reading all these crazy numbers and just relating it back to my purchase and where I see myself with this beast in about 2-3 years. I love the thing, I think its put together eh-eh, but I think we have a good company backing it up.

Your right about some US incentives, some of which are truly ONLY available right time and place. With people posting that you can get a c63 for 54K OUT THE FREEKIN DOOR (like I think you did) could be far fetched in a lot of circumstances. But I went trolling around last night looking at 2010 Irridium silvers (but after seeing them they are gorgeous but I still love my obsidian!) and they could NOT go more than 5k FOR THAT ONE dealership because they have not met their AMG quota. So it really all depends.

I really dont think they spent a lot of money (like they did with the black series 63) on build components and interior. We all posted our wish list on how they could of made them better, but I think we just compromise when we feel that engine.

I truly wish they spent another 4-5 grand to build a better more advances interior, tacked it onto the price and I would of paid and not cared...

propain

Bring out the foldgers and bring out the best....


I priced out another C63. Getting out of my Irridium and getting into a black. 56K best price so far. The end of Aug should bring some more money. Yes, I paid 52K for my 09.

I agree about the quality, but all things considered we pay a really cheap price for the performance we get. Its gotta give somewhere. If you want a C63 with more luxury then a E63 would be nice. IMO to much money though.

I have a disease when it comes to cars. I need to buy a new one every 2-3 years. I also keep all of them! lol (Except my 04 Caddy) I was thinking on getting a 2010 CTS V instead of trading out my C63 for a new one. I don't know... I was also looking at the M.

What I do know is I know my dealer very well. I give him a TON of business. Fleet cars ect... and he will only give me 49500 for my 10K mile C63. He said thats about 3K more than anyone else would fetch on a trade in. If you go private you can do better but you lose the tax savings on your new purchase so it balances out.

Honestly it made me walk back out to my C63 and ponder, what will you be worth in 2 years. I financed her for 3 years so whatever it is, its in my pocket, but still! If a 2009 can be had for 35K with 20K miles on it by the end of 2010, (Dealer prediction) every kid on the planet will have one. That will make me sad.

justthebest

8 months & 7500 miles later, no rattles / breaks / annoyances.

As far as value retention, I'm personally planning on driving this car for as long as it will roll, so $XXk at year X and mileage X doesn't matter too much; however, I am concerned by significant, fast depreciation resulting in a plethora of these running around.

MB_AMG

It is a well built car. Interior wise if you compare with M3 or RS4, C63 AMG interior is probably at the top of all. Power wise, hardly anyone can beat this engine given what the MSRP is. Quality wise, no rattles, breaks, etc, with all the engineering put into the car in terms of safety, it is the best bang for the buck car in the market right now.

One thing though is I wish they have manual tranny available....

Palmball

It's a bit more than that I'm afraid!

The basic cost of a C63 with none of the must-have options such as Comand, P31, HK etc is £53k...thats $80k USD before options. My car which has virtually every option came to £67k before discount - thats $102k USD!

Discounts on any AMG's over here are very hard to get as MB UK can pretty much sell every one that can be made so I worked very hard to get my 7% discount...meaning I ended up paying just over £62k (around $94k USD).

You guys get these so much cheaper in the US but then in the UK, the C63 is in a class of it's own for residual value. The cheapest second-hand C63 for sale in the UK is an '08 model with about 40k miles on the clock, no Performance Pack (P30) and is still retailing for nearly £40k. All in all, that probably depreciated by about £15k in 30 months which is well under a 30% drop.

Compare this to an M3 which in the UK which has a similar list price when new, an '08 model with similar mileage is now down at around £30k - thats a drop of £25k and 45%. The Lexus IS-F is even worse!

So, over here where we drive on the correct side of the road , the C63 is a good 'financial' performer compared to it's main competitors.

Back OT, quality wise I think the C63 is very well made with the exception of the dash plastics that have already been mentioned (and which I have 'corrected' on my car!). The car is extremely rigid, nothing has broken and there are no rattles, creaks or vibrations that shouldn't be there. I'm on my 2nd C63 and both of them have felt like very well engineered cars.

In comparison, I owned an e92 M3 a couple of years ago when they first came out and that had a multitude of rattles and vibrations from the interior and it just didn't feel as 'tight' as the Merc, if you know what I mean.

propain

Ouch.. So my sarcasm was indeed correct then. I went the the MB on the UK site and saw 53K starting price. I went from there.

Your prices seem really good how resale however your paying way more relatively than here in the US. How much is a 2009 C63 with 10K miles selling for in the UK. If you can link me a sale that would be cool.

I found in the US from my research that BMW seemed to hold its value better. I could be wrong of course. I always wanted a 7 series and even the used prices on those car were quite high. MUCH higher than an S class of equal starting price. Maybe I just have bad luck.

chief63

The one selling 65k probably had a few options, but I'm just saying the loss is very minimal. Check out the direct website hebdo.net if you want. There are just 3 in the entire province, and this site is huge.

I had shopped for used ones a while before mine new, just wasn't worth it.

propain

Honestly if thats the case im selling mine right now in Canada for an 8K profit.

Palmball

Your wish...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...ge/1?logcode=p

This is typical price and they sell very quickly over here! This one doesn't even have the Performance Pack (P30)!