I purchased a very well equipped E350C from my local Mercedes Benz dealership and took delivery of the car on March 27, 2010. That means three days from now the car will be five months old and only has 960 miles on it to date. As I am sure, you can tell from the mileage this is a secondary vehicle and not used for everyday transportation. It is my play car and I keep it in mint condition. It actually is cleaner now than the day I took delivery. It has never been driven in rain nor has anyone ever sat in the back seat. When not being used it is kept under cover in the garage. I make such strong statements regarding the condition of the car to justify my distain for the following event that happened yesterday (8/23/10).

Now the situation at hand is this. Since I purchased the car, I have since been laid off from my job and it was anticipated to be a short time off. I was to be reinstated in only a couple of months. This has not happened and it looks like finding new employment will take a while. I am not going to be able to keep the E350C for much longer. I called the dealership where I purchased the car to see if they would consider buying the car back. They said yes and after giving them some details and the payoff figure, they would email back to me a purchase number.

This is where it really gets interesting. I paid approx. $61,500.00 total for the vehicle, tax, and fees included and I put a substantial amount down. Oh and by the way, I paid a fair price for the car with the options it has. When I received the dealers email back, my jaw dropped and I was astonished. They said the car was only worth $42,000.00 to them.
They stated they only had about three or four 2010 E coupes left in their inventory and that they had already taken delivery of several new 2011 models. Bear in mind there has been absolutely no changes made between the 2010 and 2011 model year.

They suggested I try to sell the car through other means. I wonder if I was trading this car in, would their offer still be the same.

This means that in the eyes of the dealership my car has depreciated by almost $20,000.00 or approx. 33% in just five month. This is ridicules. According to this, I am already upside down between what is owed, and the stated value, by nearly $9000.00.

The dealer made a point of telling me that there wasn’t even a Blue Book pricing available yet. This I found not to be true as I checked for myself and found that Blue Book list the value of this car with the options it has as $57,520.00, which I find to be very reasonable considering the fact that as soon as you drive any new car off the lot it depreciates by 1 or 2K. Blue Book also indicated that the expected five-year value would be approx. $24,000.00.

This is my first MB and I did a lot of research prior to purchasing this car. I actual looked at, and test drove a verity of different cars and researched what I wanted to buy for six months before making this purchase. From that research, the dealers, and other sources such as this forum I was under the impression that a Mercedes had a better than average value retention. Now I’m not so sure of that.

I am in my early fifties and have owned twenty-five cars, mostly new since I was sixteen and I still have a few car-buying years left in me. Therefore, if I do or don’t sell this car I doubt I will ever purchase another Mercedes! Now when I look at the car sitting in my garage, it some how just doesn’t look the same. It’s a tainted feeling; the pride is gone. Is it really just another average car with no real value? Makes me sick just thinking about it.

First, the economy stinks and I feel for your predicament. Our country didn't get into this hole overnight and it is going to take awhile to get out. It was just 10 years ago that we had a budget surplus for three years in a row, but I digress.

A quick online search reveals several cars like yours for sale, brand new (zero miles) for $47K to $52K at dealerships. Seems like $1K to $2K for driving it off the lot is kinda light, but even with that math, you are looking at $45K to $49K. Now add in a 960 miles of wear and the dealership's offer is not that out of whack, especially considering that you can't expect top dollar from a dealer compared to a private seller, who doesn't have overhead.

Plus, given the type of purchaser this car attracts, most are not so price sensitive that saving a few thousand is going to overcome the stigma of having a "used" car (no mater how lightly used) versus a new car. Four years from now the MB may hold its value better versus other makes because purchasers who want the quality -- but can't afford it new -- will buy the car used. In their station, a used quality car is better than a new average car. But right now, your car is competing against new unless there is a dramatic price difference.

I feel your pain. Your situation really stinks. I'm not sure if approaching it logically will help make things better, but it is in that spirit that I write this reply. Good luck to you and I hope things turn around.

Sucks, but its true. First of all, taxes, up front fees, etc, are all sunk costs. You cannot factor them into what you consider to be the value of the car.

Second, a typical car depreciates 10-20% when you drive it off the lot. The variable being the demand (in this case, low according to your dealer) and the type of car (sedan vs coupe, sport vs luxury, exotic vs domestic, etc). As Johnny mentioned, you're well beyond $1-2k depreciation, as no new car buyer would take a used car for a mere $2k discount.

In your case, you've got a low demand car that is relatively niche (impractical) and you're trying to unload it at the start of a new model year - truly a "perfect storm" of unfortunate elements. At 15% off original MSRP, you'd be at around $48k, which is probably reasonable for your car - knowing the dealer needs to make $2-3k to make it worth his while, $42k is definitely a lowball offer but $45k is probably in the ballpark. If you can sell it privately for $46-47k, you're doing very well.

Sorry about your situation... I hope you are able to resolve things quickly.

Like YYZ said. Tax and fees are throw away. You are not going to get that back unless your state has a refund (partial only) setup. Next, the invoice on your car is ~ 7% + hold backs, etc. Driving it of the lot adds at least 10% on top of that. Next is the fact that while these value places give a figure for excellent; in reality nobody will pay that. And just because "blue book" tells you a worth you don't state whether this is dealer (CPO) or private party.

Wow, that's an unfortunate situation. The 10-11 E Class is suppose to be one of Mercedes best in Value Retention....What a shame

I paid less for my E550 Coupe. Perhaps you didn't get a deal on the front end?

Very well said .

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...fCarsQ5fTrucks

Here is one to compare... I agree they are alittle low but you got to understand they dont need your car.. If you trade in they are selling a car so they will work with you but just buying it back its diffrent.

Your not looking at real figures if you look at private party sales.... Its not just benz its every brand.

Just sell it yourself and that will dictate the real value of the car. If the dealer buys it he wants to make a profit for his time, risk and money. Many dealers make more on a used car than a new car. A new car is a commodity where every dealer has exactly or can get exactly the same car, so it's a price dependant. No two used cars are exactly the same so it's harder to comparison shop giving the dealer less pressure to meet another dealers price.

Yeah, sorry to hear about the situation O/P. My heart goes out to you. I hope, and am sure, it will resolve in a positive way.

Regarding the depreciation. The the Sedan will retain value actually better than the Coupe (for a few reasons, popularity/practicality/demand being in there).

Also, one thing I surprisingly noticed about the Coupe's, is that very shortly after the '10 E-Classes launched, I was able to find E350 Coupes in the Autotrader, with little to no Mileage, for low $40's, to even high $30's. It was a bit shocking.

Either way, DO NOT, and I repeat DO NOT (!!!!) sell it to the Dealer. You will make a lot more money selling it Private Party. Do yourself and your wallet that favor.

I can confirm that no manheim numbers exist for E coupes yet, online at least.

Kelly blue book is not a blue book. It is a worthless piece of trash that needs to die.

You want the real dollar value you should get for your car? Go to galves.com.

This is one of the reasons I have and always will, buy CPO. Got my '06 cab in Sept'08 with 21k mi on it. We went over the car from top to bottom and could not find a single thing on it to complain about. The paint was flawlwess and everything worked. Paid $32k out the door. Fast forward 2 years and it now has 86,000mi. KBB trade-in value shows as $19,900. I've had the benefits of the greatly reduced price to buy, plus the CPO warranty, which still has 8 months or 14,000mi to go. I did get significant use out of the warranty, but for a lot of minor issues and no major repairs.

I guess buying used appeals to some, but I much prefer to have the cars from day one, zero miles. I believe that if you cannot afford to pay cash, you likely can't really afford to buy. Mercedes Benz cars do depreciate significantly, as do most all expensive cars, just the nature of it. They are NOT "investments", merely luxury indulgences. By the way, we paid $54k for our new E550C last month. Premium II, etc. "Sticker" price was right around $65k...

IT comes down to this: Why would the dealer buy your used car for such a high price when they can order one from Germany and pay 52-53 000$ for it brand new.