littles13

Hello,
Please excuse my ignorance in this matter. My husband has left the task of selling our 2000 S500 in my hands. I am trying to collect as much data as possible before listing the car ( Ebay, Dupont Registry, etc.) We are second owners on the car (bought the car from a former colleague, whom we cannot get in touch with). Original owner outfitted the car with Brabus wheels, exhaust, and body kit. (front, rear and sides). We don't have any paperwork on the Brabus work. I called Brabus and asked what the value of the work was and they said around $25,000 of which you could get half of if you sold it privately. We since switched out the wheels to 20" Auto Couture Stimulous.

I wanted to know if the 2000 S500 has any optional equipment available or all equipment is standard on the car...like the navigational equipment, phone, and the like. The car has 38K and we are asking around $50K. Will this be a hard sell? Any suggestions, comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

ScottCLS55

50k, quite hard if not impossible to sell for that. Standard s500's are bringing 25-30k. you might get 35k. Unless it has a brabus engine kit..

littles13

Kelly Blue Book private party states $37,460 on a good condition vehicle. Did I miss something? Car also has new tires and aftermarket 5 yr. or 75K warrtanty...

ScottCLS55

Well I have an 01 s500, I will sell it to you right now for 33k. It is in perfect shape with new headlights and New amg wheels and tires, also have old xenon headlights and wheels. Rare color combo of Glacier white and black interior. And it is a Sport model with woodgrain steeringwheel and shifter know and all that the sport package adds. If I could get 37 I would be **** happy. Extended waranty costs around 2k if you want that. But I found it useless on my last 00 S500 which I sold 6-8 months ago for 28k.

The thing that has hurt these cars, besides the body change due out soon, is the fact that you can buy a new one for a less price then ours cost new, the sticker on mine is 93k. You can buy a s500 with more options for 85k or less with 0 miles and 7 years newer. So why would someone buy a 7 year old car for only 30k less as you suggested with a price of 50k.. Not trying to be an *** just being honest. I have a friend that bought a 00 s500 2 years ago for 48k through me and he is pissed at what the dealer is offering him for trade in. These cars were worth very much but they are dropping like flies. Loan and book values have not caught up with this trend but look on ebay at buy it now prices and you will see many 00 S500s for less than 30k.

Good luck with your sell,
Scott

Skylaw

You can probably determine what was standard equipment by going to the MBUSA site and looking at the 15-year model comparison. In terms of larger items, COMAND (with navigation) was standard; CD changer and phone were optional.

If I were looking at buying a 2000 model year car, I would know that you were arriving at your $50K price by using the $37K private party price and the $12K Brabus figure you got, possibly plus some for new tires. I would want to know if the aftermarket warranty was transferable. And, I would want the maintenance history of the car (which you can request through the MB Owners section of the MBUSA site).

I would also tend to think that your price was high, and that I could buy an '03 or later for similar money - perhaps without the Brabus mods, but with similar mileage and the remainder of a factory warranty plus an option of an extended Starmark warranty.

I would also think that for the money I could buy a very recent Audi A6 quattro, a BMW, or Lexus. You're competing in a tough market. You may find just the right buyer who HAS to have the S500 with the Brabus kit, and has the money to pay the price - but it will be a narrow market.

MBFanatic4Life

littles13- I understand that your car is in good condition by what you are suggesting. It also has low mileage for a 5 year old car(possibly about 5 1/2-6 depending on its build date). Regardless, it has low mileage! Also understanding you have the Brabus kit which will certainly help in the sale process, but don't expect that part of it to boost its value to a sale price of 50K unless it also has the Brabus engine modifications. You must also consider like another member stated that the new model will be out in a short 2 or 3 months, which will also hurt its resale value much more than already. I would start your asking price at around 45K which makes the car more attractive especially with the upgrades it has. That should ensure a selling price of at least 42-43K.

If you look at the cars on traderonline you'll find still a hand fulls of 00'-01' S500's with asking prices around 40-45K. This would make your car a much more worthy competitor with those. If you don't agree with what I or anyone else has said then by all means DO NOT let your asking price start with a 5X,XXX unless of course your S500 has more than just external body modifications!!! Also, if you could list the color combo. and accessories the car has...like the phone kit you mentioned IS a factory option and not standard equipment...we could help you even more. I apologize for my lengthy post, but hope it helps and hopfully all goes well!!!

LetsJet

Your husband left this to you to sell? For $50k? Hummm.......

Well, just quickly did an Ebay search and came across an '02 w/ 38k miles for $36k, and a n '04 for $58k. These are the buy it now prices!!

So, I think you will be pulling your hair out trying to get $50k for the first build yr. of the W220. I wish you luck, but it might be easier to be realistic.

Check Ebay for completed listings that have actually sold. That might give you an idea of value.

Here is one of the ones I mentioned

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Merce...86969633QQrdZ1

littles13

Thank you for all the responses... truly helps. Given the information, I will be happy to get low 40s. Didin't realize about how the value of this car is dropping! Truly a shame for such a beautiful car.

Jayhawk

One important reason prices are dropping is the new S-class/W221. They are likely to take another hit after the new models arrive on the US market around the first of the year. So hurry!