A local dealer offered me $27000 for a '03 E320 Wagon with 31K on it. How is this deal? It is close to the trade-in price on edmunds. The dealer told me this is a personal leased car and he got from an auction. I checked and test drove the car. Everything looks pretty good to me. Carfax is clean as well. I am going to do inspection tomorrow. If it has no big problem, should I take it right away?

BTW, dealer is very firm on the price, any tips to deal with the tough dealer would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

I'm certainly no expert, but I learned from experience that the CarFax reports are not as good as gold. I bought a used Benz with a "clean CarFax report" that had been hit in the front end.

The fallacy to those is that IF the problems have been fixed by some independent garage, it is probable that they will NOT appear.

My advice is to have the dealer CPO this car, it certainly should qualify. As to the price, if it is worth $27k to you, what do our opinions matter? There are numerous sources that place a value (mileage seems to be of paramount importance on MBs) on any used car. Those depend on the options and overall condition of the vehicle, and usually have some subjective components.

Also. what kind of inspection do you mean? You DO NOT need some indy garage to look at this car IF it has gone through the MB multi-step process at the dealership.

That refers back to my opinion on the CPO (certified pre-owned) situation. You get a warranty - 12months/100,000miles, plus you can buy more months in 12 month increments.. You also get 2.9% financing through M-B Financial.

Hope this helps,
M

 

Thanks Musikmann. I am going to take the car to a Mercedes specialized garage to have a look. If there is any suspecious place, I will ask MB certified dealer run an inspection (they charge $280, expensive).

The reason why I am asking whether this is good deal is because I have two options right now. Other than this car, I found another one in NJ (I am in CA). The dealer offered me $22000 for a 2003 E320 wagon with 45K miles on it. That car only has standard features, and it is blk/blk. The local car is $27000 with 31K on it. It has Navigation and premium audio and it is silver/blk. I like silver body better. But the black one's price is appealing. Even including the shipping charges (around $1000) the black one is still much cheaper...

Personally I like silver color than black. Also I was told the blk/blk does not have very good resale value in CA because of the temperature concern. So I am still struggling with myself. Do you guys have any advice? Thanks.

 

I would want to inspect the NJ car very carefully. Northern NJ does get cold in the winter and they use salt on the roads. That may be why the price seems to be much lower.

 

Another data point, FWIW. A year later than the last post here, I paid $17K for my '00 E320 wagon with 35K miles. Brilliant Silver over grey. One CA owner cream puff. Bose, Roof rack (complete with cross bars!) even the $52K window sticker.

Found some '03 Sport Package 17"s on ebay and shorter lugs from a guy I found on this board (thanks!) I'm pretty pleased.

 

Paid 9500bucks for a mint condition one owner ca. e320 wagon with the rack and a yakima space cadet cargo box,new brakes ,tires,white with grey interior.
ohlord
"GOT CODES?"
Very pleased

 

[QUOTE=bzlvr;1657115

Personally I like silver color than black. Also I was told the blk/blk does not have very good resale value in CA because of the temperature concern. Do you guys have any advice? Thanks.[/QUOTE]


Have You Seen How Many Black cars are in SO Cal?....

Yet More From a Sales person.....

Im Sure IF You ONLY wanted a Black car...He Would reply.. They are VERY Hard to locate as the color is VERY Popular

 

lose those ugly W211 rims, get some AMG Monoblocks for that car and she'll look HOT!

 

I think we've got a huge difference of opinion on aesthetics.

Are Monoblocks significantly heavier (in addition to uglier) ?