2013 E550 (w212): buy from dealer or private owner?
I'm not sure what happened in the previous thread, but in the US you could have gotten the extended warranty from MB and they sell a 7 year/100k mile warranty which could be bought from any dealer. I'm guessing it's the same in Canada. That would have avoided all the CPO problems. The US rules is that if you buy it from an MB dealer, it has to be a CPO in order to buy a couple extra years otherwise it won't qualify. If it's not an MB dealer, you can buy the extended warranty. The $3500 CPO is to make sure it qualifies, there's things they have to do like put new tires on if the current ones are below a certain tread depth, brakes, etc.
As for your original questions, in the US we have nadaguide and KBB which are used for pricing. Most sellers and dealers will quote KBB so KBB tends to be on the high side. The car is really only worth what the book says it is, the classifieds are filled with ads from people who are looking for more than book because they always feel their car is pristine. But it won't come with any service or support that you would get from a dealer and there are certain things that even a warranty won't cover, but you can get the dealer to do as part of regular negotiations like getting them to do brakes or tires if needed. A private seller probably won't do those or have the resources to get those done.
What it really boils down to is that these cars have great depreciation and you won't have much luck trying to minimize it when you're trying to sell it. You have to charge less than the dealer or no one will be interested. Because of the sales tax in the US, many owners end up trading the car in instead of selling it privately which is why there are few private sales. For instance if you trade in the car for 30k and buy a new one for 60k, you just pay the sales tax on the 30k difference instead of the entire 60k. So in some states, you'd have to get at least 2k over that as a private seller to match what a dealer offers. Maybe they also can't be bothered trying to make a little extra over what the dealer offers.
After talking to the great staff at MB Laval, they accepted to leave it out of the inventory so that I can take some time to decide if I want to buy it. Otherwise, once it's flagged as returned from lease, it could be transfered to any MB dealer around the country through a bidding process...
CPO works the same way here in Canada that's why I refused it. I will most likely purchase an extended warranty before the manufacturer's ends (in a year or 80,000 KM).
I have sold many cars in my lifetime and hae used the black book monthly market value for my cars. It's a good starting point for selling your car, but you have to keep in mind that the local market you're selling in may want to pay less than black book, this is where good negotiation skills are handy.
I'm starting to believe that private selling for these cars is lenghty, and the seller may have to go fareley lower than market value to sell...
Because of the emotional value I atribute to this car, this forum helps me be more objective... thanks guys!
If I buy a $50,000 car from a dealer I will pay approx. $5,000 in tax. Same car from a private party is a $1,500 tax bill.
tell me if I'm wrong here?
Iguess that's why rich get richer and poor get poorer lol. So, that means if a person buys a Kia they will pay more tax than a rich crook will buy a exotic car. That is just WRONG!! anyone agree?
Last edited by IgorE350; Dec 5, 2015 at 06:15 PM.
tell me if I'm wrong here?The Best of Mercedes & AMG

Some states tax cars no matter where they are bought equally
Some states tax private party and dealer sales differently
Some states tax only the difference in value between the new car and a trade
Some states tax the full amount at the regular sales tax rate
Some states tax cars at a different rate
Some states have no tax
The bottom line is that the tax situation in each state is different and a wise consumer needs to educate themselves.




Some states tax cars no matter where they are bought equally
Some states tax private party and dealer sales differently
Some states tax only the difference in value between the new car and a trade
Some states tax the full amount at the regular sales tax rate
Some states tax cars at a different rate
Some states have no tax
The bottom line is that the tax situation in each state is different and a wise consumer needs to educate themselves.
S.C. also has 2nd lowest gas tax in nation.



