Fast42

Dear members,

I am currently 21 years old and studying Human Resources. One of my dream cars is a W205 (facelift) C63S Sedan.

Should I be afraid that they will go up in value because of the hybrid W206 C63S AMG and I won't be able to afford one in a few years?

Might be a silly question but just want your opinion as fellow MB fans.

Kind regards.

superswiss

I left my crystal ball at Hogwarts. Nobody can answer that. It'll be all speculation. Some believe that as we move to electric cars and bans come into effect that these kinds of ICE cars will the sought after. Others question whether people can still afford to run them as governments potentially establish carbon taxes and oil supplies might dwindle because of lack of investment. There are some articles floating around at the moment that predict oil supply issues and the lack of investments in recent years is starting to show its effects. Fuel may become harder and more expensive to get. So many things in flux at the moment and it can go one way or the other. The best advise I can give you is focus on your studies and don't think about what car you might or not might be able to afford in the future.

AMG82

New W206 C63s will probably be better than current generation C63s in every category except the exhaust sound.
I would not worry about W205 price going up. This is not limited model. There are a lot of C63s out there.

SJGetsome

I'd say it's highly unlikely. They made a lot of these cars and the newer one will be an upgrade in most respects. Barring gas becoming unobtanium there will always be ICE vehicles. Electrical grids can't support everyone driving only electric vehicles, and I don't think they can produce enough electricity cleanly to really call it "green."

George_1992

Only the C63 S Coupe will really go up in price

The sedan.......... not so much to be honest as it's not appealing & lacks the widebody that really makes the 205 special

GordonGEICO

If it's anything like the previous generation C63, it won't "go up" meaning it won't ever be worth more than it was new, but it will probably level out higher than an average vehicle from the same year. A low-mileage 2010-2014 C63 ($60k+ new) in really good shape is still like $40-50k. Compare to something like a CLS550 ($75k+ new) from the same year/mileage range and you can easily find those in the $30s.

As for coupe vs sedan, I don't know. I know what I like better, but I would say of the people I've met, it's almost 50/50 that prefer the sedan or coupe.

djprov431

I believe the value will not depreciate as quickly since it's the last C63 with the V8 engine --- there's always someone who has to have it, so price is quite variable. I'm hanging onto mine

superswiss

The only modern AMGs that have really gone up in price are the Black Series cars, including the C63 Black Series, because they are limited. The C205 has the potential to go that way, because the coupe was made in much fewer numbers. The sedan is kinda the Camry of AMG. Just too many were produced, which is also why AMG had to go the 4-cylinder route, but is keeping the V8 in the lower volume models. The coupe may also benefit from the fact that it was actually produced in Germany, whereas the sedans were produced in the USA and later in South Africa.

W205C43PFL

I wonder when it comes to the European model, if the estate model also had way fewer units. What about the shooting brake but that's CLA. Curious.

superswiss

In Europe the estates are far more popular than sedans and coupes, so not sure. Just something else to add in terms of the coupe. Now that it's getting another limited model run for 2023 people are jumping on them and they are pretty much already sold out. There was no final edition of the sedan. Production just stopped w/o much fanfare. There's definitely a different level of appeal for the coupe. I've always felt it's the real C63 harking back to the Hammer. The sedans and wagons are the practical volume sellers for the family dad whose wife didn't allow them to buy a sport cars.

W205C43PFL

I see.

What about the cabriolets?

superswiss

Cabriolets are popular in the UK out of all places, but not so much in most of Europe. Overall, cabs are a very small niche. You really have to favor the open top driving over all else to be willing to give up the chassis rigidity that you lose with a cab, unless it was designed from the ground up with a carbon monocoque like the McLaren Spyders for example. Most cabs unfortunately are just coupes with the roof chopped off and a bunch of weight added to somewhat make up for the lost rigidity.

W205C43PFL

Thank you.

True, that reminds me, last but not least roadsters, thoughts on those?

superswiss

Largely the same, except roadsters tend to be more often designed as a roadster from the ground up and don't have a coupe counterpart or the coupe comes later based on the roadster, so it's the other way around. The coupes in those cases still have higher torsional strength, but the lack of roof was initially factored into the design of the roadster. There are some exceptions, where the roadster was an afterthought and based on the coupe such as the AMG GT Roadsters for example. Personally, I'm more favorable towards roadsters, though. 4 seater cabs never made much sense to me. I could see owning a roadster some day, but so far a cab/roadster/spyder for me has been more something that I rent occasionally, but never aspired to own.

W205C43PFL

Appreciate the explanation and the subsequent replies as always and for sharing your knowledge : )

munis

I will share my personal story cause I think you will find similarities. In 2020, I only had around 3.5 years of work experience in my field after graduation and compensation package reflected that. At the beginning of lockdowns, the housing market crashed for a month or two, so I used up pretty much all of my savings to buy my first house back then. Buying a brand new car right after buying my first property was probably not the brightest idea. I had around 30k of savings that I was going to use for renovations for the newly bought house.

Back then one of my favorite hobbies was going to Mercedes website and build a C63s to a spec exactly to my liking everyday. Also lurking in the C63s forum was regular lunch time entertainment for me even though I did not have the car. And one day around May or June in 2020, I read the news about the W206 C63s getting the 4 Cylinder Hybrid. So even though it made little to no financial sense, I took all of that 30k, and dumped it into a new 2021 C63s Coupe. A lot of my financially educated friends and me even at the back of my head thought that was a stupid thing to do at the time.

Fast forward two years, two pro promotions and a job change after, I am currently making triple my salary in 2020 and have completely paid my C63s off in less than two years. And on top of that, I managed to buy my dream car for just 92k+tax completely new, whereas even used facelift ones in autotrader are currently selling for nothing below 120k.

I am not telling you what to do. Just sharing what my thought process was.

W205C43PFL

Happy for you especially being able to afford a home in Toronto, right place at the right time when you found a good deal during those two months you mentioned on your house as 2020-2021, the market just sky rocketed and home affordability was never a thing within the whole GTA even prior to everything that is going on. Prices have gone down now but then affordability hasn't subsequently followed.

Some would say your decisions were risky but it seems to have ended up in your favour. That being said though, it probably won't work for everyone though.

hyphen79

@Fast42 - It's really all subjective. I custom ordered my '21 C63S in April 2021 because I knew / thoughts that these would be the last V8s that MB would produce in the C-Class. Early 2022 they announced a limited run of 250 C63S Coupes for the "final edition" of the v8s. Pretty sure the SL / GT cars along with the G-Wagons will be V8s or bigger for as long as they can get away with until the EU cracks down on them.
Anyways, I got off point a little. No more than 6 weeks after taking delivery in September of 2021 I had three individuals contacting me offering to buy my car for $35-45k over what I paid for it after taxes, fees, maintenance, and extended warranty. If this was any of my previous cars I wouldn't have thought twice for that kind of ROI, but this car is special to me. Always wanted one, and I got lucky and found a dealer with an allocation that was somewhat close to home.

So will they go up in price.... I don't think so, but I do think they will hold their value. Especially the low mileage ones like mine. I travel for work so I only really get to drive it during the weeks that I'm home. My opinion and like I stated it's all subjective.

Engadine

The cabriolet insights by Superswiss are more relevant for the cars made before the 1990s than now. Torsional rigidity is improved significantly in every new platform of car, such that a cabrio of a new gen is often more rigid than a coupe of the previous gen. More to the point, in a 1980s cabrio, you could feel and see the scuttle shake in the rear view mirror. It's just not the case now, and you would need to be driving at the limit on a track to feel any difference in handling due to extra torsional bend in a cabrio C63 vs a coupe.

Combined with the fact that the cabrio shares the better handling of the wider track of the coupe, it's the reason I bought my Brabus C63S cabrio. It is true that it is heavier than the coupe by approx one adult male, so I just drive without an adult male accompanying me. Cabrio also has a lower centre of gravity, roof down, than a coupe, which is noticeable plus.

To the OPs value question, all these cars are too common to go up in value. 205 may go down more slowly due to "last of" factors, than other cars of this era. 206 will likely be better objectively but less memorable and lose value faster as a hybrid. Study hard, or get a sideline in crypto or blockchain tech, and enjoy your 205. Get MPS4s tyres and a Brabus or similar engine upgrade to enjoy it properly.

superswiss

Agreed, today's cabriolets are torsionally stronger than their predecessors, but so are today's coupes. It doesn't change what I said, it's just relative. Cabriolets actually have significantly less torsional strength than their equal coupe counterparts if you look at the numbers. Just put your hand on the windscreen frame while cornering and feel it move. Then there's the added weight to already heavy cars. Today's cabriolets and coupes for that matter are also significantly heavier than their predecessors, so adding even more weight just simply goes in the wrong direction. I still pick the coupes over the cabs any day, but perhaps that's because I do take them to the limit. Cabs are still prohibited at many track events, and you don't see them used for drifting, either. I have enjoyed an occasional top down canyon run in the past. I had the pleasure of driving the R8 Spyder in the canyons several times for example, and compare it to both the regular V10 and the V10 performance coupes. The spyder was simply noticeably less dynamic and didn't inspire me to drive as spirited as with the coupes. Just more of a boulevard cruiser. However, hearing that V10 howling behind me with the top down is hard to beat.

Fast42

"Back then one of my favorite hobbies was going to Mercedes website and build a C63s to a spec exactly to my liking everyday. Also lurking in the C63s forum was regular lunch time entertainment for me even though I did not have the car."

I also do this a lot. Searching YouTube for C63S different stages of tuning, comparing a salvage AMG to a clean title AMG,, what it would cost to buy one without many options and fitting them myself, and so on.

Also thank you all members for responding to this thread, I didn't expect as many replies. You've been helpful .

Engadine

I agree that at the limit there will always be compromises in a cabrio compared to an equivalent coupe, objectively. But a car that is stiffer and more efficient isn't always better. Make a list of the greatest drivers' cars in history, to drive now, and a lot of them will be loose, wobbly and weak, objectively, compared to today's cars. 2.7RS, GTO, 205 GTI, E30 M3 EVOII, Integrale, 360 CS - none of them will have the rigidity of a W205 cabrio, let alone a coupe. But that doesn't make them less fun, in fact more perfection can make cars more boring...I have owned coupe and cabrio of two different Ferrari models simultaneously, and kept the cabs and sold the coupes.

That's not to say the W205 coupe is not better at the limits on the bends than the cabrio, it undoubtedly is. But perfection is not always the aspiration in cars and sometimes a cabrio's compromises, very mild these days to previous, can be forgiven for its benefits, like the noise you mention. It;s a subjective thing also, but I like driving very fast and I would generally take a cabrio. Having said that, it works better in some cars than others and having had a few 911s I understand why 911 drivers prefer coupes for hard driving. Ferraris - spider every time. W205 C, cabrio. Just my preference.