Ormond2004

Does the new S600 have lower residual values than the S550? I trade often, so I need to think of resale. My dealer has a Black/Black S600 will all of the options that are hard to get on the S550.

Thanks for the input!

silberrosa

Typically RVs are lower on the higher-end models. However, it depends on when you trade the car. The 600s are pretty hot now and if you are planning to keep it a relatively short time, you would be ok.

shoes

The S600 is a dog on residuals, at least 1500 basis points worse than the S550. Couple that with the 50% higher price and you are looking at a lease that costs double for the S600 versus the S550.

///MB

The 3 year residual on the 600 is 55%. The 550 is low 60s or so...I think 550 numbers are posted in the leasing forum.

SL65amg

The all-new S 600's now come with every option, and many of these options won't now be available on any S 550's till 2008.

Regardless, the sheer superiority of the new S-class over all others plus the fact that the 600 now has every option standard as it should always have been done (it was done like that with the 140 body 600's in the 1990's) should make the car hold it's value far better than the 220 body 600's, many of which came bare with no parktronic, distronic, keyless, etc.. which is absolutely ridiculous ... when getting a car with the heritage and history that goes into the name "600" you should get everything standard, and rightfully so.

That's just one of the reasons I changed my order over to a 600, why should I get a 550 with no night vision, no distronic plus, no premium leather or heated steering wheel or back up camera or shades? I suppose benz did not anticipate properly how badly people would want to order the 550's so fully loaded with all the optional equipment.

Ormond2004

I saw the S600 today, and of course, it is awesome. The seats are very plush and supportive. I am sure that I would enjoy it, but do I need it....

If I get it, I will post pix!

FC Corp

Every dealer will tell you MB holds their value very well. Having 3 S600's under my belt, my experience is that I have paid around $145k for these cars and when ready to trade in a year or two later, I am offered around 85-90K. These were sport packaged along with everything available (as options were sold at that time). That's a pretty serious hit. All in all it costs me around 30k+ a year to drive these things.

Go on to Kelly and see what the trade and private sale values for the cars in question and compare those prices with their new car prices of the past.

Why I keep buying, who knows, I just love the car.