s clss 35

Hey guys,does any one know why the resale value of the S600 is so low? Do they have Mechanical problems?

Musikmann

From what I've read, the 12-bangers are prone to oil leaks and just about everything is pretty expensive to have fixed. I would not own one of those without a new car or CPO MB warranty. I'll bet if you look, any aftermarket warranties are horrendously expensive too.

retardedmunk

why r they so cheap? gas and more power then u need i assume

trumpet1

It's really ridiculous why they take such a beating. I simply refuse to sell mine for current values. I would wait till the cows come home before I'd give mine away at ridiculously low prices.


The dealerships are mostly to blame for this. They are the ones that slap their current customers in the face with low ball values on trade ins. If they knew how much more business they would be doing if they were fair on both ends of the deal , they wouldn't be holding their hands out for bailout money (Domestic companies of course).
There would be more car sales if they would give people fair value for their trade ins.

bigben320e

1. Market is crap
2. Market is crap
3. Again, market is crap

Everything is dropping in price. Cars, houses, clothes, gas, everything. Especially with high-end cars, you will see cheap nutty prices for a while.

hdtv22

Wait

Where the hell did you find an 07 S600 w/21K miles at $61K? If I found one even remotely near that id jump on it in a heartbeat, with deals like that I might aswell get an S65.

jl88

It's like the chicken and the egg. Resale prices are driven by historical values and the v12 engines have always had bad resale values, even going back to the W140 (and probably back further than that).

While all the notorious problems of the V12s have mostly been fixed, resale prices don't match.

the X600 is probably the worst purchase you can make. Better off downgrading to a regular 500/550 or upgrading to an AMG.

IMO, of course

check the AMG forums for the s63/s65 prices

2007 S600 (you're going to cry)
10/22/08 W PALM Lease $71,500 28,662 Avg OBS BLK 12G A Yes
10/22/08 W PALM Lease $70,000 23,070 Avg BLACK 12G A Yes
10/22/08 W PALM Factory $65,000 23,409 Avg ARC WHT 12G A Yes
10/30/08 MANHEIM Regular $78,000 15,419 Above BLACK 12G A Yes
10/30/08 MANHEIM Regular $64,000 38,910 Avg SILVER 12G A Yes
11/12/08 ATLANTA Lease $60,000 42,256 Below IRI SIL 12G A Yes

2008 S600
07/02/08 NEWBRGH Factory $108,500 4,660 Avg BLACK 12C A No
09/24/08 W PALM Lease $105,500 4,503 Avg BLACK 12G A No
10/31/08 MANHEIM Lease $78,000 16,481 Avg BROWN 12G T No

W220 2006 S600
07/31/08 RIVRSIDE Lease $48,000 21,735 Above BLACK 12G A Yes
08/01/08 MANHEIM Regular $28,000 81,320 Below BLACK 12G A No
10/15/08 ATLANTA Lease $48,000 29,975 Above ALB WHT 12G A Yes
10/22/08 DALLAS Lease $32,000 46,885 Below BLACK 12G A Yes
11/05/08 MILWAUKE Lease $47,000 13,537 Avg BLACK 12G A Yes
11/13/08 ATLANTA Lease $32,500 44,102 Avg SILVER 12G A Yes

hdtv22

Wow -- these prices are phenomenal -- Im planning on buying the S600 used, to take advantage of this miscalculated resale value the market has and saving my money from buying it new and taking a $80K hit in the 1st year -- Therefore, I believe while it does represent the worst new-car deal, it represents a phenomenal used-car purchase. Where would it be able to purchase a car at these prices? Manheim? If you can PM me, thatd be great -- Thanks so much!

whoover

The leaking oil cooler was fixed in like 2003. While a warranty is always a good idea for an S-class, most people have found late model V-12's to be trouble-free. My 2006 S65 has had very few problems (IR sensor on door handle for summer-window feature is about it) and absolutely nothing with the engine.

These take hits because the market is bad and because many people who buy them new want the absolute latest.

bigben320e

Honestly, for any Benz and even the AMG's resale is shot to H E L L. Let's face it, the market is shot. Everyone should know this already, and it won't return anytime soon.

For the next few years, this is a buyers market. Not a sellers, I feel for anyone selling right now. If you have to sell, just assume the position. If you can buy one, get it used and save a bundle.

vonbeeler

YES "Assume the position" LOL
The great news is guys there is absolutely NO reason we should be selling!
I will drive this till the replacement comes out and do it all over again.

Speaking of buyers market 2 moths ago I bought a beautiful 05 Range Rover HSE (the big one) for $27k!!! Has only option of luxury interior pkg and ORIGINAL $80k sticker, 35k miles. I feel like I stole it. For the price I can throw my surfboard in and no worries. Couldn't really justify a rack on the S.

sako97

LMAO!

vonbeeler

Speaking of downward spiral the only thing that depreciates as fast as an S class is my residence. Check out this graph:

http://piggington.com/commentary/housing_market


I'm not a seller.........I'm not a seller...... I'm not a seller.....
Are you OK??? I'm not a seller.... I'll be OK.

Fraser

In the UK the S Class has never had a good resale value. My father's S500 LWB was over £90,000 sticker and he got £18,000 for it as a trade in four years later with around 80,000 miles on it. One dealer offered him £10,000 as a trade in!

There are some silly bargains to be had not just on the S Class but the luxury cars in general. I was looking around the other day and found in my city at dealers across the road from eachother were an '04 Mini Cooper and an '04 VW Phaeton with similar mileage....for the SAME PRICE! ($15,000)

I've even been considering trading up to a two or three year old S or CL. I've seen a tidy '05 CL500 with 40,000 miles listed for $29,000. wow.

jl88

My funnestststs memory about the W220 S600 pre-facelift was that cylinder shut-off mechanism that was "suppose" to improve mileage. Cadillac tried the same thing and surprise surprise, it never worked as intended and caused more problems. Ingenuity isn't always a good thing.

Ever since then, I think the turbo V12's have been pretty solid. I think my only concern is that they pack so much stuff in the front end of the car that a minor collision would result in hefty repair bills.

Either way, modern MB v12s have a notorious reputation, probably undeservingly. I would be more worried about the ABC/Airmatic and the lifetime-fluid fill transmission.

s600ed

Auction prices at Riverside are mostly driven by exporters. Most of the luxury cars there are either going over to China or Russia (just by looking at the on-site bidders) if you take out those buyers the S600 should actually be selling low to mid 70's for 07's and high 70's for 08. Also, asia/moscow loves them black mercs.

cjf_moraga

Well said - my strategy also. I do not lose one wink of sleep over this aggressive early depreciation. I do not expect to get anything back on my car after 7 years of (worry free extended warranty) ownership - and if I do that will be purely a bonus. These are not financial investments.. (though my S600 is doing better than my stocks) Their true value is the pleasure, safety, and comfort provided to you.. When I am eventually out of warranty I will likely have an ECU upgrade to a zillion horsepower and run it into the ground... In the meanwhile there ain't and won't be anything better to buy in this class.

Chris

trumpet1

That is amazing. I once had a 2004 VW Phaeton W12. Hard to believe a car with a $101,000 sticker 4 years ago is now down to $15000. Of course the one you mentioned may have only been a V8.

avb777

Even though the market is down, lease prices are going up. I was quoated $1450 to lease S550 5 months ago and now they want $2K a month. What is up with that?

jl88

Residuals.

Finance companies like MB Financial are finding out that when they try to sell the car at auction, they are getting horrible prices.

So, they lower the residual (remaining value of the car after xxxx years) which increases the lease price of the car.

You're going to see a lot more finance deals (0.9 to 1.9% APR) on new car sales since bank rates are down across the board. However, it shifts the eventual resale risk of the car to you instead of the bank.

They may keep lease rates artificially high to make finance deals more attractive.

avb777

Then they will be losing a lot of customers. I only lease cars so I do not have to worry about selling them later and I write off some of my lease. But I am not going to pay over $2000 for an S550. I've been a loyal mb customer for 14 years and if nothing changes until Dec 15th (my lease end), I am going somewhere else.

jl88

I'm sure a lot of people are in the same boat. Good times.

avb777

Maybe I will get something temp for now and see if lease deals get any better.

vonbeeler

Unfortunately thats across the board and not just MB. All luxury car resale/residual will be in the tank. So pay cash or finance. Or you could lease a Golf/Prius/or any other fuel sipper that might maintain better residual. But if you own an S that will be tougher to swallow than missing out on tax advantage of lease.

vonbeeler

Bottom line...Leases are dead...At least for a while.
6mos?years?or forever?