Having acquired my BS a little over 2.5 years ago, I wanted to buy a car that would be something which would hold it's value and I wouldn't lose my a** on it when time came to sell. At the time, I was also considering a 993tt and went with the CLK. Without me having to grab the tissues once again as I re-live my regret, I want to see what the other owners think will happen in the coming years.
Obviously I realize that no one has a crystal ball and can predict the future, but it seems like prices have picked up a tad bit from about a year ago. Porsche prices have gone absolutely bonkers which has me wondering if there is potential for such a car as the CLK to eventually shoot up in price?

 

As someone who also has shed several private tears of regret over passing on a Porsche 993 Twin Turbo and a 997 GT3 (both of which are worth a tone more now than when I was interested in them), I feel your pain.

The Porsche market exploded because Porsche finally opened up full dealership and factory support for their cars to China, and when that happened, the Chinese began gobbling up cars at a ferocious pace, which led the value of the cars to fly through the roof (and in many cases, blowing the roof off completely and decimating everything in its path). But, I digress.

The CLK63 Black Series is a special car, and the great thing is that the values for lower mileage, and well kept cars, is steadily going up. My car is worth more now than when I bought it earlier in the year, and for the first time in my life I could actually make money from selling my car. The irony is, that also for the first time, I do not care to sell this car....EVER!!

That being said, when there are only about 5 - 8 cars for sale at any given time anywhere in the country, the scarcity is helping. When I was originally looking for a car, it seemed like there were always around 14 - 16 cars for sale, so having almost none available for sale has put many sellers in the catbird's seat of literally naming their price when dealing with serious potential buyers. Because they can literally say, "You show me another one for sale. There isn't one like this".

I do hope the values continue to climb. It seems like people are really starting to appreciate what an amazing car this is, and when it dipped to a market low at the end of last year, people starting snapping them up, and now we are seeing the values climb. It will be interesting to see how the values climb, and where they top out. In the meantime, I will just be driving mine with a huge smile on my face.

 

Mitch,

You're absolutely right about the number of cars listed for sale. I remember a little over a year ago, there was a flood of cars for sale! And of course, the higher mileage ones and not such great condition ones were selling for way less than the nicer ones. But yes, I've noticed on average it seems prices have climbed about $10k or so.

I made the thread because I've considered putting my car up for sale and possibly into another car. I think buying into the Porsche market now would be a bit crazy given how high they are now and one wonders if/when there will be a bubble.

 

I think it might get to a point where the miles won't matter, not many cars out there.

Another good example is the e30 m3

5 years ago it was 20k for a pretty nice one now they are selling for 50k

 

Totally agree although a premium will be demanded for better quality ones but the base for any BS will be much higher!

 

I don't doubt that our cars will appreciate, but there is a key difference between our cars and others of past. The CLK63 was superseded by the C63 Black Series, which was an even more rare car. The 993TT and E30 M3 have had amazing appreciation, but they were unique as they were never truly superseded by the later generations. The C63 Black has the same motor, and some say drives better. That may dampen how high our cars appreciate.

 

Negative there buddy, C63BS either has the same, if not, then higher production than CLK63BS, so it isn't more rare.

Value wise, CLK63BS has stopped dropping and some good condition ones are on the rise as there are lesser availability to choose from month-by-month; while C63BS still has a long way to tank before hitting rock bottom, with more and more popping on up in the open market, month-by-month.

 

If I wasn't mistaken there were only about 70 C63BS or so that were brought to the US market. There may have been more worldwide production wise, but I thought there were fewer C63BS for the US market than the US CLK63BS production run.

You are right on the second point. To clarify I meant that the ceiling the CLK63BS will hit appreciation wise will the bottom of the C63BS market. I just can't see the CLK63BS appreciating as great as other cars in the market when they made the C63BS. Trust me I wish this weren't so!

 

Not sure I understand the relevance of the C63BS to the ultimate collectability of the CLKBS. Regardless of the same motor or subjective opinions on which drives better, they are different platforms, they look completely different, the CLKBS was for all intents and purposes the first widely recognized and lauded BS model (yes there was an SLK BS but no one seemed to care), and many people prefer the looks and drive of the CLK. There were 5 years between the models and if newer "improved" models were always deemed to be more desirable, there would not be much of a collector car market these days. Its probably going to be another 10 years before you see values rise significantly in these cars, and ultimately the CLKBS could very well be worth more than the C63BS.

 

I would love for my CLKBS to go to the moon as far as valuation. The point I was trying to make in my original post is that the black series name isn't unique; it has been used over several models so far. As a buyer if I can get what may be considered (subjective) to be a better car (C63BS), I will then pay that market price for that vehicle. That potentially then becomes a ceiling price for this car given the market (again this is all subjective).

The original post was asking for thoughts about where we think prices will be. The C63 BS does factor into the equation as that becomes another option for an economic buyer to chose.

 

You seem to be talking about 2 different issues. Originally you were comparing the values of the 993tt and E90M3 and how unique and special they were (how an M series is unique but a Black Series isn't is another matter). Those are much older vehicles and only recently saw their values skyrocket despite newer better alternatives to drive (but not necessarily to collect). Now you seem to be talking about what an "economic buyer" (whatever that means) would chose currently or in the next couple of years to drive around in, which has nothing to do with long term future values as these cars get much older. Right now the CLKBS and the C63BS are just used cars that will be lumped into a pool of many other performance car choices both new and used that a buyer will chose among based upon a multitude of personal preferences.

 

70 per color maybe? with 750+ made worldwide, doubt there's just 10% or less that made it into the states; try 350, that's how many CLK63BS made it into the states and just the states alone, Canada never got any CLK63BS, while C63BS made its way in and become more available across the globe.

 

If you could have swung a Carrera GT a couple years ago they were in the 300's.....now at LEAST double.