Thinking of upgrading
Here's the breakdown.
My car is in the sig. 31k miles, took delivery in Jan '08 and I owe just under $16K still. They offered $26K (KBB/Edmund's say 26-28K trade-in), so I got about $10K in equity.
2009 C63 w/ 28K miles, P2, MM, Premium Leather, iPod. It's a CPO so it has almost 4yrs of warranty left or 100K miles. They're asking $53K for it so there's room to negotiate. Single owner and it was sold by and serviced at my dealer. It's only the 2nd C63 they've taken in. Original MSRP was $66,710. link to car
Essentially I'm looking at 22-25K to upgrade the motor, brakes and leather, plus extra warranty (1 more year & more miles than my '08). Options wise it's nearly identical to my C350 (except the C63 has leather & memory seats but no pwr folding mirrors)
Pros: The car I really wanted (just not the paint). Engine, brakes, badge, leather interior. It's newer, and has longer warranty. It's an AMG, nuff said.

Cons: Typical rock chips (touch-up paint galore - not nearly as clean as mine w/ my clear bra), outer side bolster of driver seat is a little worn (they say they can dye it black again), non-metallic 040 black paint and I loose my power folding mirrors... Plus I would need to buy snow tires this fall.
My concerns: I could be stuck with this car for several years, possibly including a year or two out of warranty (but it should be paid off by the time the warranty is up). And if I'm going to upgrade my DD, the sensible part of me says I should get something a little bigger and with a more luxurious interior because except for the steering wheel and seats, it looks identical to my current car. BUT, it's an AMG. And honestly I'm more than happy with my C350, I just want more power.
So...does 49K sound like a fair price for an '09 (I'm thinking of offering 47K)? Anything else I should be considering about this car? When I called the service dept, they said the A & B services are only $10 more for the AMG models, and overall the service shouldn't be much more than my C350. Could that be true?
Anyone else here w/ a C63 as their DD that lives in a snowy climate? I'm thinking it can't be much worse than my C350.
Thanks in advance!




1. Rock chips are common. If you add clear bra, most disappear anyway
2. Side bolsters are a pain to keep perfect, no matter what. If it looks just discolored and not ripped or separated, not a biggie.
3. Miles are a bit high, but I would come in at 42K, go from there.
4. Lot of torque, very difficult in snow no matter what anyone says. Never the less still a blast
5. What color?
6. Sounds like it has all the basic medium level features.
I would say it would be a nice move. You will have lots of fun and its not always snowing!
1. Rock chips are common. If you add clear bra, most disappear anyway
2. Side bolsters are a pain to keep perfect, no matter what. If it looks just discolored and not ripped or separated, not a biggie.
3. Miles are a bit high, but I would come in at 42K, go from there.
4. Lot of torque, very difficult in snow no matter what anyone says. Never the less still a blast
5. What color?
6. Sounds like it has all the basic medium level features.
I would say it would be a nice move. You will have lots of fun and its not always snowing!

I called the only MB approved collision center here in MN and they quoted me about $2500 to prep and re-spray the front of the car to fix all the rock chips. Bummer is, I'd have to let the paint cure for a few weeks before I could install a clear bra.
Also, I just forgot to mention the car has some mild hail damage from a storm last week. I guess all their cars outside got some damage, but claim they are certain all the dimples (12-18 of them) will come out easily with PDR. Must not be bad because I didn't even notice it when I saw the car the other day, but it was dirty so who knows. Going to go back up and look at it again before they fix it.
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It sounds like the seat is going to be fixed.
Losing the power folding mirrors would be a deal breaker for me as I live in a city. You might be able to replace them with another set of mirrors on this board on maybe on ebay.
It sounds like the seat is going to be fixed.
Losing the power folding mirrors would be a deal breaker for me as I live in a city. You might be able to replace them with another set of mirrors on this board on maybe on ebay.


