GrnLantern

+1

Indeed. I've been keeping an eye on almost all of those, and wow. No kidding. Some have just been sitting around forever.

choi

Yeah especially for dealers, they are losing a lot of money to keep the inventory for that long. Besides weak economy, why the hell does CLK63 BS sales suck? Maybe because of new C63 BS?

GuppyC63

I am going to man up to my wife that I am getting a new toy without selling my lovely Black!

GrnLantern

I honestly don't think it has anything to do with the C63 BS. When the CLK63 BS came to the US, it was around the time the economy was suffering badly. On top of that, 350 CLK63 BS's came to the US. That was, apparently, too much for the US market to handle, at the time (especially given that it carried a steep premium, as do all BS cars). They've recovered a little bit, and prices have been fairly stable over the past year+.

AMG learned from this mistake, to my dismay (given how much pain I went through to get my C63 BS), and only sent 100 C63 BS's to the US this time.

I highly approve of this plan.

mellowyellow

Good plan - I personally love your color. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I am sure there is someone out there looking for your exact setup.

Funny how people get all worked up about color. "It will hurt your resale - limited audience". These are supercars people. Grandma is not shopping for a Camry. If I was buying a SLS, Aventador, Gallardo, R8, GT3RS, Viper, etc it would definitely NOT be Silver, and most likely be something awesome. The world needs more car color.

rage2

I've been following prices since it's release, and it's been all over the map. When it came out in 2008, dealers were asking for 10, 20, 30k over, and the cars weren't moving. By 2009, new cars were being blown out at 90k. That's when the Porsche guys found out what the car was about and were buying them left and right as their daily drivers.

2010, I bought my car, and they were selling in the low 80's on average used. At that time (spring 2010), there were only about 7 or 8 cars available on the used market. I picked my car up at 83k with 7000 miles if I remember right.

2011, the C63 BS was announced, and I don't think there was correlation, but the CLK BS used market started to get flooded. Prices dipped slightly, and cars were selling on average in the high 70's. At the time when I sold my car (12k miles), I had several offers in the low 80's, but it was tough logistically as I was in Canada. I ended up trading my car in for 75k trade in value. At the time, there were about 10 cars on the market, but by years end that jumped to 18 or 19.

2012, the supply continued to increase and prices tanked. Cars were moving in the low 70's.

Today, there's about 40 cars on the market, and average prices are in the high 60's. Higher mileage cars are moving in the low to mid 60's.

I originally thought that the C63 BS had a lot to do with it, but other than myself, I didn't see a lot of CLK BS owners selling to get a CBS (other than myself). If anything, a lot of CLK BS owners kept their cars and added the CBS. So I think the recent dip in prices is purely because there are a lot more cars on the market, pushing the prices down.

That's my theory anyways.

choi

Great post! I'm actually on the market for CLK BS(well not until spring time) and did a little bit of homework. There are some good deals out there. Should I get one now? or wait until spring and see what happens?

rage2

Now's the best time to pick one up IMO. There are definately way more sellers than buyers at the moment. Who knows what would happen come spring, could go either way.

sprins

Best thing I heard in a long time.

Keep the CLKBS, buy a second hand GL550 and there is only win

GrnLantern

Indeed. I subscribe to that theory.

I'd snag one now, honestly. There will come a point (if we haven't hit it already) where the CLK63 BS won't drop any further in price (except due to higher mileage). In the end, there's still no more than 350 of them in the US (and maybe less due to accidents, etc).

+1

+1. Or a new ML63, unless you really really need the size of the GL.

sloanbj

If there are only 350 in the US, why doesn't anyone want to buy one? Normally rare cars hold their value exceptionally well. Porsche 993, GTR and NSX all retain their value. Look at Z8.

GrnLantern

That's quite a blanket statement. The CLK63 BS lost a decent chunk of its value in the first year or so of its existence (see rage2's post earlier in this thread). Since then, it's been relatively steady.

badbenzz

I got to believe that the number of blacks for sale have to do with the fact that the majority are now off warranty

sprins

From my experience there isn't much that can go wrong on a CLKBS that needs to be covered by warranty. It's not like an SL55 with ABC lottery or something.

GrnLantern

Yeah, I could see this as being partly the reason as a lot of people do dump their cars as they run out of warranty, regardless of whether or not they are collectibles (in this case, non-exotic / hypercar collectibles, so folks do think about warranty a bit more).

The only thing I could see going wrong is the head bolts issue. But yes, agreed.

e500slr

Definitely a striking color GLWS

protosport

Hey guys, been reading the posts and just wanted to add that I LOVE my CLKBS and its an awesome machine,even just starring at it in my garage through the winter gives me pleasure. Im not in a position to keep it and pick up another toy at same time and Im looking to get a PORSCHE for the track. Please ck out my car and pass it on to others,Id love for it to find another GOOD home. GUPPY, Hope you're able to hold on to yours,I'm pretty sure I'll regret selling mine... Thanks!

http://www.autotrader.com/cars-for-s...41699549&Log=0