I've finally found a very nice CPO car, and bought it yesterday.
I traded in my 2000 GS400
The car looks just like new with 17k miles, and looks like previous driver never had any passengers.
The price was a littel higher than I was expecting to pay at $37,400, but there are all these news about price of CPO cars going up.
Two other E550 I was looking at got sold within a week, and there aren't that many E550 available around here, DC metro.
This one has P2, panoramic roof, sport package. I really like the staggered setup with 265 in the rear and the airmatic. The fender gap is about 2 fingers in the rear and 3 in the front which is very nice.

Before the purchase I test drove LS460, E55, 550i, 535i, M45, and E550 was the best; fast, comfortable, quiet, and build quality.
By comparison , all 3 certificed bimmer had somewhat major issues even being certified, and interior of 550i looked very cheap.

The car still has 1 and 1/2 original warranty + 1 yr CPO + 2 yr extension which I got for a good deal. I'm still trying to learn all the electronic gadgets in the car.

 

Welcome. You are gonna LOVE that car. I do.

 

Dittoes from Barry's comments. The car is amazing (550 engine is killer) and it will be interesting to add your perspective to the group having come from a Lexus. Please keep us updated on your further developing initial impressions. Good Luck and welcome.

 

congrats on the car, but i'm curious what news about CPO cars going up?
PL

 

I thoroughly enjoy my E550 (non-sport) that I picked up in June of last year. It's a wonderful road car for long trips.

 

In this poor economy with tight credit & consumers afraid to spend big money needlessly more people are buying a used car to save money which might be needed down the road to pay the mortgage. (For the first time in our generation's lives' losing a job is a real possibility, and its not the opportunity to simply get another one. Jobs are harder to come by or are simply not available.) Increased demand on the used inventory increases what dealers can charge for them. That's why new car prices are in the toilet... Dealers are willing to make a sale with little or no real profit, sometimes just to get the car off floor plan. Simple supply and demand economics.

 

I had a chance to drive some more today with a friend who has x5 4.4, and he was very impressed with the power and suspension.

I think one of the weakest area of Lexus vehicles is the suspension. They are usually too soft or too harsh for some sport versions like gs460.

I have changed the suspension on my GS400 with l-tuned made by TRD and added strut tower brace, lower chasis brace and higher ratio steering ECU for tigher handling. It really firmed up the car, but it feels kind of bouncy over bumps. One of the main reason I sold the car was because the various electronics started acting out like door lock, air vent motor, etc.

Around here E550 get sold very quickly and there aren't that many to be found.
This is one of the articles I mentioned.
http://www.autoblog.com/2009/03/08/a...-prices-go-up/

 

Hi MBE550,

I just bought a 2007 CPO E550 too. I wonder if we looked at the same car! I picked mine up from ASC in Arlington then drove it up to CT. The car was very hard to find. There are less than 15 of them nationwide (according to MBUSA's site). I picked up the extended warranty too. Love the car....

Good luck with yours!

 

Thanks.
I was comparing 3 differnent e550 at ASC for about weeks or so and the other 2 cars got sold. One was sold on the same day I was there. Maybe yours is one of those 2. They were black and granite?(blue tone). They probably don't have any more E550 for the moment.

 

I bought the black one with black int..... 4-Matic, P2, Sport Pkg. with about 26,400 mi.

I "think" I got an ok deal.... paid $38K....plus kicked in the extra $2K for the 2 yr extension on the CPO warranty.

They were nice to deal with so no complaints there.

 

Yup, I saw that one when I was checking out mine about 2 weeks ago.
I think you got exactly same deal as me.
Mine is same year with about 5K less miles but RWD with same options, and I was offered $38K. Then some more negotiating saved me $500.
I was initially targeting $36k, but I realized that was not possible.

 

Congrats, you will both be very happy with the 550.

I've had mine since new, contemplated upgrading to an E63, but have decided to keep it. It is a very nicely balanced car, and I have become quite attached to it.

For what it's worth, I think the current CPO prices you got are a steal, you both got a lot of car for your money.

Oh, and post some pics when you can.

 

I dropped off my car today at the dealer for them to change tires which was a part of the deal. I had the car for one day and the amount of electronic control available in this car is unbelievable.

Here are some of the thing I've been trying to figure out and couln't find anwers anywhere. Hopefully, someone has answers.

1. Is there a way to change the climate control temperature globally instead each of 4 zones separately. I'm mostly driving alone and changing driver's zone only didn't make sense.

2. Is there way to stop headrest from going up when you move the seat backward?

3. This only applies to sport model. I was checking the rear of the car earlier today after driving for about 30 min., and I noticed exhaust tips seem to be sticking out. I looked down from above the bumper to measure how much it was sticking out. Left side about 0.5 inch and right side about 1.5 inch. An hour later, I happened to check it again before going to the dealer, and shockingly, left was out about .25 inch and right .75 inch.

When I went to the dealer I checked some other E class in the lot, and they all have different ranges between 0 inch to about 0.5 inch. Most cars had a variance between left and right of about 0.25, not as much as mine at 0.5 inch. It's possible when my car cools off completely it will go in more, but I don't have my car now to check.

Can someone please just check it in the morning and after drving it to work to see same result, and if there is any variance between left and right?

4. One the first night, I was testing all the settings inside the car without engine running. It was for about 15 min, and I had radio on, and had heated seat on for about 3 min., and possibly headlamps on.
All of a surden, I see msg popup in the screen, saying the battery is low and power will shut down in 1 min (I think). I was trying to finish off loading CDs then the power shut off in about 30 sec.

After that I tried to start the car, and battery was too weak to start.
I tried to jump start the car, didn't find the battery in the front, and well, it's in the trunk. But the trunk would not open from remote as well as from inside the car. I turned off the headlamp at this point, and waited for about 5 min then tried to start the car again, and this time it barely started. I didn't want to stop the car so drove around for 10 min. Since then the car starts fine.

First of all, I'm not sure if the battery should run out that soon, and anyone has this kind of experience. Secondly, how do you get to the battery when battery dies? I don't have folding rear seat. I tried the mechnical key but it didn't seem to turn, and didn't want to put too much force.

Thanks in advance.

 

I read the article you posted a link to, and then scrolled down to the comments section of that post, and read all of those. They were very amusing, and it's amazing on how out of touch with reality a lot of people are.
T.

 

I was just wondering how much off the price did the two of you got from American Service Center? I am eyeing an '06 E500 Wagon from them. It seems their price is a little high especially in this economy. Did you have a trade-in? Thanks

 

I think it was a little more than $5k. I don't remember what the sticker price was now. Yes, I did have a trade in, and I got an average deal on that.

 

Battery experience not surprising. Keep in mind that the car was sitting on the dealer's lot for who knows how long, and possibly at an auction site before that (source of many dealer's pre-owned cars). Dealers rarely charge the battteries unless the car doesn't start. (mine was 85% discharged when I bought it)

I suggest getting a Ctek electronic charger (~$79.00) and charge the batteriies fully. Attached to the batterry in the trunk, the aux battery under the hood will also get charged.

It does take more force than you would think to use the mech key to open the trunk, but if you use a little WD40 on the key (spray on a rag and just wipe the key) it will make it easier.

And, oh yea :

 

They were asking $42,995 or something close to that and I got it for $38,000 so they took off just about $5K for me. I did not have a trade.

 

starbrite,

That picture is so cool! I didn't know it was my userid until later on.
Based on your input, I did some googling and decided it's time to buy a charger.
I ended up ordering deltran charger which also has very good reviews.
The price on Amazon was like 1/2 of retail at $42.
My battery is probably discharged pretty bad being at the dealer about 3 months.

 

Thanks guys for the informative head-ups. I will be heading down to ASC around noon to check out the wagon. Will let you guys know if I got the deal.

 

Starbrite...
THAT was so eff-ing cool to do that for our new member. Good work!

 

This is taken care of by my dealer, ASC in VA. The exhuast tip is adjustable apparently. I had about 7 things to be taken care of by the dealer, and everything is done very well in 2 days. I'm so happy to get the car back.

Tonight, I changed the door lock setting to open just the driver's door with keyless entry. I never had to study this much to learn about a car, but that's good. I think I'm through the owner's manual, and still have the command system manual to study.

 

That's the whole fun of it... learning about the car. Congrats my friend. And enjoy.

 

I am totally in the same boat as you MBE550! This is like doing reasearch! I'm learning stuff that this car does that I had no idea about going into it.

I'm coming up with a list of the features that I'm planning on posting so I can poll where everyone keeps their custom settings. One of them was going to be your keyless entry setting...drivers door only or all...

Here were a couple others off the top of my head: (with the setting I've been using in () )

1. C or S for regular driving on the transmission? (S)
2. Comfort, Sport 1 or Sport 2 on the suspension? (Comfort)
3. What info do you regularly keep on your dash? (MPH but I switch around often)
4. Daytime running lamps on or off (on)
5. Keyless Go - driverside or all doors (all doors)
6. Headlamps - auto or manual? (auto)
7. Nav volume - min fade, max fade, etc? (I think I have mine on medium fade - also set it to German one night - I thought it fit...lol)
8. Ambient lighting - min - max? (Set to max)
9. Convenience entry - tilt wheel lets you out (on)
10. The ride height feature confuses me a bit. Does anyone ever actually raise their car for specific driving conditions? Snow, bumpy roads, etc.?
11. Anyone with the Keyless Go actually use their key? (never)

I'm sure I'll think of more when I sit in it next....

 

Just to make sure I understood this, aux battery is automatically charged with the main one?

Also, do you leave the trunk open while charging, and is that ok the lights in the trunk are on?