unclebenz

After reading all these threads im actually selling my 2003 E500 for a really good price, im asking $33,000 and it only has 21K miles on it has every option except pano roof and navi. mint condition in and out, it still has the new car smell, im in new york what do you think about my price?

DesiBaba

Ok folks, another sad story. I went to motor werks in chicago to trade in my E for an X5. The guy blew me off again with 20k offer for trade when he had the same exact vehicle sitting in his lot for $32500. I told him if he can find this car for 20k i'll buy another one right now. The happy ending was i bought the X5 without the trade. X is beautiful with the sport package. I luv the strong sturdy feeling. On the drive back from the dealer i never hated my MB as passionately as i did for any other car ever before. My left front headlight burned out on the way from dealer probably started to feel my wrath coming. urgh!

ProV1

so are you going to keep the 03 E500 then?

DesiBaba

Yeah definitely. Because i still need to buy a commuter car for myself(X is for the wifey) and E is just a bit too rich for that. Looking to spend $15-20k max for the commuter vehicle.

SEC1939

Traded my 05 X3 that stckered for 47k at Motor Werks in Barrington. It was a highly optioned x3 with aero kit & 20" x5 wheels

They really do not do well on trade in values. Traded for a E 320 CDI. Wanted a new 530 but just can not warm to the new body style. I'll wait till next body change. perhaps diesel bythen too

LIONHEAD

Well....went to Carmax this morning and they offer to give me $29,000 for my car and $28,500 if I put on my stock wheels. Looks like the $37,000 offer from a private party is looking very good. I'm probably going to purchase my BMW 650i Coupe also at Motorwerks in Barrington. Went to Fields BMW, Patrick BMW, Perillo BMW, Bill Jacobs BMW and Laurel BMW and Motorwekrs and Fields were giving me the best discount.

stevenW211

Pls show us some scan if you buy BMW 650i.....

ProV1

hey guys, I found a local private seller with 2002 S430 in mint condition, 56k miles. I checked both carfax & VMI, and they are clean.

He was asking $29k but after haggling, we might reach a deal at $23k. Is that a good price?

How much do you think this car will fetch if traded in at a dealer? 20k? btw i'm in MI.

Flash Gordon

Guys, after reading the sad state of affair including my own status, I would suggest that before you buy ANY luxury cars, you should make a serious comparison between lease and purchase. I have never leased before but I would definitely do a comparison before making my decision of my next purchase. The reason is that currently the residual value in leasing luxury cars seems to be considerably better than resale value. When the residual value is higher, you lose less in depreciation. In addition, you don't have to haggle with potential buyers, private or dealer.
Take a good look in your next purchase of any make of luxury cars

my06clk

Flash,
Don;t be mistaken about how leasing works... Residual value is just a number that is placed on your car when you lease it to determine how much YOU will have to buy it for when your lease expires. Residual value has nothing to do with the actual value of your car when your lease expires. So, the only benefit you have with residual value is that you have the freedom to walk away clear. Very few folks actually buy their cars when the lease is up because
1. Residual values being higher, makes the leasee have to pay more for the market price of their leased car!!!! So,
2. Normally it's better to lease anouther car, or purchase one.

In short, trading is still trading so you can't compare that, and use it as an argument for leasing because they are not the same.

In fact, if you purchased you car after leasing it, and THen tried to trade it, you would be far worse off than if you had purchased it in the first place and traded it at the same time. Simply because residual value and market value are completely different.
So unless you KNOW you are going to hand the car back at the end of the term, Trying to rationalize leasing over purchase/trade in would be a big mistake.

BTW. I agree with you whole heartedly...IT's a very very sad state of affairs with ALL cars not just foreign luxury... I'm going to grit my teeth and keep this car till I retire if I can..LOL I am not taking a loss on another trade.for what?? just to do it again in a few years.. it's a sick cycle to get caught up in.. unless my CLK gets totaled or stolen.. or turns out to make better lemonaid, I have to see this one out to the end. I'm getting kind of done with cars.....

Rock72

i got my lease for my bmw 750i somewhat finalized. part of the negotiation had the guy tell me what he can offer for my car. it was sad...he basically said somewhere between $22k-$23k. he said he might be able to give me $24k for it when he sees the car if it's in excellent condition, etc. but it won't be higher than that.

this is for a 2003 E320 with pano roof, navigation, keyless go, etc. sticker was around $55k when i got it less than 3 years ago. only has 24,100 miles on it.

i think a lease is a much better way to go. i don't care if the residual if high (in fact i want it high) because i'm not planning to buy it.

i probably would have come out ahead if i leased this car instead of buying it. i'm pretty sure that a 3 year lease residual on these cars are much higher than the 45% i was offered. with the 750i, it's 60%.

Rock.

Barry45RPM

Doesn't a high residual on a lease mean that the payments will be lower? I am assuming that a high residual for the dealer means that the balance of the purchase price of the car will be divided over 39 months (your monthly payment)... or does it only mean thats the price you will pay for the car if you want to buy it at that time.

I always assumed that the "Purchase price" of the car at the time of the lease inception minus the residual equals the price of the car to you for 39 months... then you devide that by 39 for your monthly payment.

Flash Gordon

High residual value, which includes all the options on the car, translates to lower depreciation, which means less payment on the lease. Most people don't purchase the car after the lease. I wouldn't. So if you walk away after the lease with a higher residual value than the resale value, you are much better off Beside, you can have all the options in the world, they are worth next to nothing in a trade-in. Whereas, in a lease, the options are included when they calculate the residual valut. Leasing, in a simple term, is you pay the depreciation for 2-3 years, plus the interest on the depreciation. That's all there is to it in a nut shell

zam2000

Unless you have a CDI, which have almost no depreciation (saw a used one sold here for mid $40K, $10-12K higher than comparable gasoline version !!!), all luxury sedan take a heavy hit when it comes to trade-in or resale. Even on the W210 line, the diesel models are holding resale value so well.

I saw it all here: Lexus, Infinity, BMW, Benz, Audi, all take at least 50% hit after 2-3 years. Junks like Lincon or Cadillac are much worse.

At least, take comfort knowing that you still doing much better than owner of VW Phaetom.

That's one of the reason I drive all of my car for at least 150K mile. The more mileage you put in it, the more you get your dollar worth.

Rock72

if you really wanted to maximize your dollar worth, you would buy a car about 6 months before the warranty expires. you'll pay around 50% of the cost of the car and still have 6 months to fix whatever. and then you drive it until it hits 150-200k.

but driving a luxury or sports car isn't always about being practical or getting the most out of your dollar.

RVD.

Rock72

i agree. the higher the residual, the happier i am as the customer. heck, if the residual was 100%, i'd be able to drive the car for free + interest...

RVD.

Rock72

i just got back from carmax. they offered $25k.

i'm going to put the car up on ebay with a $28k reserve and see what happens.

Rock.

LIONHEAD

FYI....I was able to sell my car for $37,000 via private party. I did have to give him my two sets of wheels/tires, transfer the extended warranty and all the aftermarket appearance mods stayed with the car. Private party is the way to go but it might be also difficult as there are a several used E Class out there to choose from.

Rock72

here's my update.

bmw dealer offered: $22k
carmax offerered: $25k
ebay auction: $28.8k
private party offered: $30k

sold via private party sale for $30k. car was originally $55k 3 years ago. 1 yr / 25k left on original factory warranty.

looking at your car, i think this deal was ok. mine is a E320, not E500 and doesn't have 2 sets of wheels like yours. mine was also not modded. but i did have a lot of options (keyless, xenon, pano, nav, cd changer, etc.)

i think i could have gotten maybe $31.5 or $32k for it if i held on a little longer and found the right buyer but it's not worth the hassle for me.

Rock

WishforE55

good luck guys i feel your pain.

pity you can;t ship them down under, 03 E500's would be going for approx 90k here which is around 70k US I think.

http://www.carsales.com.au/pls/carsa...&category_id=3

sklasse

rock, thats not that bad at all, a 25K hit for 3 years is only like 7-8K a year, about the same as leasing it.

Rock72

yeah i guess so. when i bought it i was originally thinking that i would keep it for 10+ years. also, i was hoping that in the buying vs. leasing debate, since you don't have to have much money down on a lease, a person buying the car and then selling should come out ahead. after all, i did have to put $30k and pay $900/month every month for 3 years to pay off the car while another guy in a lease would have had to pay about $800 or so for 3 years with very little down.

but yeah it wasn't a total loss or anything like that so i guess it's not too bad.

i don't really have much of a reason to hang around in here anymore since i don't own a w211 anymore but some habits are hard to break. i pick up my new 750i next week. maybe in 3 years when that lease is up and i'm sick of bmw problems i'll be back and pick up an s class or something.

Rock.

ChicagoG

Would you trade you e500 for my S4? Check it out and let me know....

http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k98/2002audis4/

Its has 40k
warranty
and extras

danamg493@yahoo.com

DesiBaba

has anybody tried selling it on EBAY, and how was their experience selling the E.

Flash Gordon

What do you mean I can't ship it to Australia! If you can help me to sell it at 70K( heck, 60K is fine with me ), I will pay you 10K and I will pay the shipping to Australia. I am serious!