While I'm very aware that packages (premium, sport, etc) mean nothing at auction. I was FLORED to find out the current value of our 2008 E350 (which is 13 months old).

Sticker: $60,000
Current Auction: $42,000 (30% drop)
Carmax: $35,000 (41% drop)

I think I'm gonna go look for other "fun" things to do on weekends! LOL!

Jose

 

If you care about resale value then buy Honda. When you buy Benz, you buy it for life.

 

A stripper 08 E350 from Enterprise with 20K miles has a MMR (Manheim Market Report) average of $33K, probably went for $55K new. That is why I never buy new, I bought my wife a 07 G35 with 22K miles for $22K 5 months ago, new would have been $33K+, Carmax had them for $27K. I look for a year old car at auction and save a bunch.

 

Also... when MB quality fell into the toilet around 2003-2006, all but the most arrogant dealers and MB were selling them at "fire sale" prices with low interest loans/leases. That is what's reflected in the wholesale price now.

If you slap an extended warranty on your car & keep it a couple of extra years (say, 5-6, and you are not making payments) you'll be ahead of the depreciation curve. Nothing drives like these cars, and I've basically had no unscheduled repairs (wheel theft doesn't count). This is the first car I have owned in many years that has pleased me this much. (Since my 1970 W31 Olds Rallye 350 was my prized posession way back then.) These 211's will continue to please for a few years longer than that New Honda mentioned above.

Onl the other hand... ony time and consumers will solve the current economy mess, so it looks like many people will be holding onto their current vehicles a bit longer than expected, which unfortunately means when people are able to get into something else, it will be a seller's (Dealers) market. Right now you can buy any car you want at the lowest prices no matter what the loss, just so dealers can cut floor plan payments to the Banks. Man oh man...What a Buyers market right now!

BTW my Brother-In Law just picked up (Wed Nite) a NEW '08 Accord, at a fire sale price & now (as of Yesterday) Honda is running zero% for Tier 1 people in the NY area. (I got my Daughter 22 YO Grad Student) an 08 Altima Coupe loaded, $11.00 Below invoice in Late August, co-signed her loan so she qualified for 1.9% Nissan Recent Grad Finance Offer, so the deals are out there. All this affects resale, so if you get in on the cheap, expect to get out on the cheap also... There's no free lunch... smaller portions maybe, but no free lunch.

 

Well, I don't think you're drawing a fair comparison: retail sticker (which no one pays) to your worst-case wholesale. Perhaps you should look at what you really paid vs. what you would sell your car for on the open market as a private seller.

And most consumers do not have access to wholesale auctions.

I agree with Barry above, there's quite a bit of owner-satisfaction with this car. I haven't owned one that I like so much. So from starting things off with my European delivery to the extended warranty in my back pocket, the car represents a lot of value to me.

If anyone looks at a new automobile purchase as an "investment", whatever the marque, I think they'll be disappointed!

 

Nothing unusual here. Not sure why the OP is so alarmed.

All expensive Euro cars experience this sort of phenomenon. BMW, MB, Audi, Volvo. We don't buy cars to sell them, we buy them to drive and enjoy. They are not investments, and we all know they depreciate dramatically. Only real classics are investments and even then can be somewhat of a risk.

We all know to either:

1) lease and dump
2) buy used
3) buy new and keep for the long run

(And, as has already been pointed out, the OP is comparing MSRP with auction prices which inflates the true difference.)

 

Carmax is selling '08's for $35K??

That doesn't sound right, I see '07's averaging that price (listed price, before negotion of course) around here more realistically....

 

Hey guys, I'm glad to see all the different points of view!

K-A, Carmax is not selling them for $35k. That is what I was offered for the car.

By the way, this whole thing came about when we were at home bored on Saturday and thought: hey, let's go look at cars at Carmax and just for kicks see what they appraise the E at. We were wondering how close to auction they would be. Interestingly enough, they had just offered my assistant $2k more than what her SUV is doing at auction.

I few interesting things (or at least interesting to me)...

- The manager I spoke with (not the salesman) said that nothing over 30k is moving at auction. He also said that High-Line (where premium brands are sold) sales are dead.
- He said premium brands are getting creamed at auction.
- I was surprised to see a ton of late model luxury cars on the lot. Don't know if these came from auction (could have picked them up cheap) or if they were buy outs. One car that struck me was an '08 Altima coupe. Loaded for $21k.
- The store was packed with customers. Not sure how much they were selling, but nonetheless there was a ton of people looking.
- Talking to the salesman, I asked (again, just for kicks) how were they doing with financing. He asked how was my credit. I responded tier-1, he said I would have no problem getting financing.
- Carmax cars are ROUGH! Man, maybe their typical customer is not picky. But for us fanatics, most of those cars were far from pristine.
- Most of the premium brand cars on the lot were base models. I thought this was interesting because it plays to their core customer and their aspirational values (I'm in advertising).

Barry. You are completely right buddy. Indeed it's a buyer's market right now. It's crazy. Almost every brand is offering 0% for up to 72 months AND sometimes even on '09 models. And, stores are still emtpy.

j.

 

Wow, for a Saturday in Ft. Lauderdale, you have WAY too much time on your hands!


For God's sake, he's a salesman, what did you expect him to say?

Unless you're on the verge of Ch. 11, stop worrying about the wholesale price of your ride, and enjoy your super vehicle!

 

You should be able to get more from a chop shop then at CarMax.

 

Yeah, that is low. But it's the reality of the world today, and driving premium brand Cars we get hit the hardest $$$$ wise. I've learned to just forget about it and enjoy the Car, because we still are driving "Premium brand" cars, i.e get the perks that these cars do offer, and will offer for some time to come, so might as well enjoy it and forget about all the dough we've pissed away! Haha.

I'm in the market for a beater, I'm trying to buy while the time is still ours to buy. Lots of good cars can be had for cheap.

 

I was looking at ML 63...brand new over 90K...1 year old with 3000 miles on it - 76K...hmmm...Just because you care about your hard earned cash doesn't mean you need to buy a Honda....unless of course the "newness" is worth 14 grand...

 

I agree, however I can't buy used cars. It makes me feel like marry a used woman. So if I can't afford new Benz, then I'd rather to take a new Honda.

 

It's like saying you would take virgin Ugly Betty over Pamela Anderson over the next 4 years, they both do the same, but OH would Pam be a lot better......

 

A good point, everyone has own values. At least you have no break in period with Pamela.

 

Who the hell doesn't marry a used woman??

 

2006 E350s with 40 to 50K miles at anyplace other than a MB Dealer's used car lot have asking prices in the low $20,000 range (about $22,000) here in Dallas - not sure what they are paying for them at auction right now.

 

Agreed. We have two Acura TL's in the family. We use the E350 on the weekends. There's something about the car that makes you feel like you accomplished something. And the fact that a lot of people in the world strive to own a M-B once in they’re lifetime. We got this car from pure hard work. It was not given to us. We love it.

 

I actually prefer to buy used. Same with my women, I like older women (like in their 30's, but I'm 21). The way I see it, I let someone else take the big hit on depreciation in the beginning, I let the other person work out the many early bugs and recalls, I let the other guy take on the bigger payments, and then when he is sick of it after a few years (or had leased it ), I come in and take a bite at them. Besides, nothing wrong with a little experience.

I told my friends once that if I'm gonna marry a woman, I want to test her out really well before I buy into her, just like a car. When I go test drive cars: Let's just say I get pretty aggressive to see how they perform and try many different things out and "push all the buttons".

 

just last week I bought a preowned 2007 e350. It has 18k miles on it and came fully loaded...

option# description opt.price

368 flint grey $700
827 black/cognac brown leather $1540
413 panoramic roof $1000
W60 designo burl walnut $290
287 split folding rear seats $310
289 wood/leater steering wheel $540
P02 dvd nav, sirius, heated seats, rear sunshade, handsfree comm, keyless go, bi-xennon, headlamp washers $4290
333 sport package 18" wheels, sport bumper with dual exhaust, matt chrome surround cluster w/white gauges $0

$38k I'm very happy with the deal and the car is mint. I'll most likely purchase preowned next time too.

 

Excellent deal . . . you did quite well!

 

There are some good deals to be had in the UK too - the credit crunch is biting over here too!

 

Check out the value of Maseratis' after a couple of years.

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/search..._type=priceASC

 

What did these cost new?

 

most are over $100,000.