julie benz

well, i want to trade in my 2003 clk 500 for a 2004 clk 500. i cannnot find any reference as to what to expect for trade in value. no listings in kbb or edmunds. any help would be appreciated.
jules

(btw: pewter. stone k3,k4, 3000 miles)

LAMAY123

Selling it so soon!!! That car is almost brand new w/ 3k miles! You'll lose alot of money if you trade it in to the dealer. I would try to sell it myself and get a couple thousand more meanwhile waiting for the 04 model.

BTW, I saw a used 03 CLK500 at my dealer, widnow red tag sticker says 56k. Not sure about the milage, but it has K3 and K4 as well.

SJT03CLK

Well,

I would say with those options, color, and miles, $50-$53k might be in the right asking range. I mean, it's such a new car to begin with, I wouldn't part with it so soon. The Pewter color is just sweet on MB, I saw a SLK with it, but never a CLK so far.

Anyway, hope this helps. I'm sure someone will want to take it off your hands pretty quickly, being such a new car. Just don't trade it into the dealer, they'll kill you.

Sean

calboy

Hmm, I was thinking of trading up my clk320 for a 500 with 3,000 miles on it and my dealer was willing to negotiate somewhere around 2000 below what I paid for trade in. So maybe with the market and teh ridiculous markups they put on used cars, you might be able to get a good deal.

RJC

1st negotiate a nice discount on a new 04, then get a price from another dealer for your current car. You'll probably be told by the dealer that your car is worth $7,000 less than what you paid...just my opinion from past experience. I beleive you live in S Fl as do I, I was at the dealer in West Palm Beach this weekend and they had 3 new clk 500s on the lot so be carefull where you get a quote for your car. The guys that have alot of 209 on the lot should give you the best purchase price as it's hard for them to give you the limited availablility story with 3 on the lot, so then get a price on your car from the dealer that has a bona fide waiting list for 03's.

Why do you want on 04? because of all the first year stuff or a color change or both?

VstyleZ

I received 3k less than what I paid for my 03 CLK 320 when I recently sold my car back to a local dealership. Car was driven for approx 7 months and had around 8k miles. To my surprise they were willing to buy it back without me having to purchase another vehicle. Hope my little experience helps you out,

Good luck with your trade in

LAMAY123

What's wrong...why so many people are giving up their almost brand new CLKs!!! It's like throwing money away considering that sales tax and gas guzzler tax are not refundable....

VstyleZ, you said 3k less than MSRP on widow sticker right, not 3k less than final purchase price 'cause that makes a big difference!...?

playaplaya

<<What's wrong...why so many people are giving up their almost brand new CLKs!!! >>

Lamay, I was wondering the same thing...

julie benz

i know it seems silly with only 3k, but i have a love for the mineral green, and it will be available on the 04. i really only drive 4-5k per year. i only hand wash the car and really baby it. whoever gets it next will be lucky. i love the car...thats why im getting another, just in a color i like.
jules

RJC

One of the cars at the West Palm dealer was a dark metallic green.

lucycat

Sorry for being so ignorant, but is the 2004 CLK500 available now?
What are the differences, if any, between it and the 2003?
The 500s on the dealers' lots now are the 2003, aren't they?
(I understand that the CLK500 Cabriolets coming out in a few months are designated "2004", but this is the first I have heard of the availability of a 2004 CLK500 coupe)
Please help this uninformed soul understand!

RJC

I think the first 04's are July build Aug delivery

calboy

i think if you trade in the car, you would only pay sales tax on the difference so you only end up losing a few thousand which is pretty good I think. Correct me if I'm wrong.

LAMAY123

REALLY...that never happen to me. I had traded my past cars in for new ones and dealers never gave me any "tax credits" to apply on my new purchases. I just sign the pink slips and they apply the car's appraised value to the new car! Nothing about tax, 'cause they said it goes straight to Uncle Sam.....Now I am confused!

VstyleZ

I leased the vehicle so I did not have to pay the sales tax upfront and there isn't a gas guzzler tax on the CLK320. At most I might have been in another 1k due to the the upfront fees but not more than that.

I actually like the look of the vehicle very much but for the monthly payment (approx $710 after tax) I could not justify how unsatisfied I was with the cars performance. The CLK320 is quite slow when you put 19" on the car. Plus I was getting raped on the money factor, .00427 impulsive purchase due to high demand when the car was initial launched and that alone was reason enough to get out of my lease.

ima55r2

That's what happens in Florida. I add 6.5 percent to an offer on a car to determine if its better to sell it or trade it in.

Damian L

sale price $60,000
trade-in - $54,000
-----------
$6,000 is taxable at your local rate.

you're not paying tax on $54,000

Ebrigham

You don't really get a "credit" per se. All that you will see is the tax you paid for the new car (as usual), but if you calculate it, it will be based on the difference (like Damian showed). You just may not have noticed it, or perhaps the trade in value they gave you was very low. Anyway, the larger the trade in value of your car, the better it is. And when trading one expensive, high re-sale car for another (like one MB for another), this can actually make a lot of sense, even if the dealer gives you a lower price than what you would get on the open market. This is one of the often-overlooked benefits of dealer trade in.

AMG4life

I've heard that 7 speed auto will be available on the V8 models in fall 2003