superchet

I was one of the first to order the W220 body style when it first came out. I must say that I felt like a chump with the fast depreciation I suffered. I decided if I still wanted to own an MB, and not feel like a chump, the "smart" way to buy is to wait for ~3 years and search for a pristine vehicle with low milage. My most recent purchase was an '03 S600 Sport with HRE 841 package. The guy had ~$145K into the car, and I picked it up for ~$57K (27K miles and not a mark on the car).

I have no issue with those who want to be the first on the block with the W221 S65--kudos to you. However, I will not be that guy and I am perfectly willing to wait a couple of years to miss the majority of the depreciation. Assuming the W221 S65 is about $195K new, what is the anticipated resale value after 1,2,3 or 4 years?

I was at the dealer a week ago, and I'm pretty sure they had a W220 S65 with 10k miles for $113K.

Anyone have a good lease strategy even though it probably won't work for me as I only drive about 7K / year.

Ferri

I followed the same strategy with the car I currently own. It helps to properly rationalize what you want to get out of a car ownership, and not think with your ego. Let us remember that you are the "first on the block" for a very short time, because immediately after, you become "the first guy with the old S65, when a new model year with updates comes out. It is too hard and to expensive to keep up to date and to have the best at all times in today's luxury car market.

love2skiutah

No way, do what I did and pay sticker for a brand new one!!! 2007 S65 RENNTECH!!!

DFW01E55

Save $15k+ :
Ebay S65

medici78

I don't believe the 2007+ S65 will suffer depreciation the same way. Apparently, the production is very limited and, being the new body style, it will not depreciate nearly as rapidly as the 2006. The W221 S65 has already been out nearly a year already and the value is still holding STRONG.

love2skiutah

I agree, most people don't want the old w220 body style.

I paid sticker for mine and last month I was entertaining the thought of selling my car and put it on a few websites. I had an offer for 175,000 and 172,000 ... Not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I paid close to 190 for mine.

6,000 miles on it.

ST31

Great looking and driving cars. A friend of mine picked one up in Houston recently.

jl88

The w221 will depreciate like any other high dollar low production Mercedes. Check my other post below; it's already taken a 50k depreciation hit in one year not including sales tax and registration.

Offers don't really hold much value unless the transaction is complete. It could be people just fishing for a deal. Trust me, this happens all the time and i'm (unfortunately) in the car business.

The "newness" of the car is what's holding it's value for now.

Stop worrying about the damn resale value of the car. Unlike 99.9% of the members of this board, you guys are the select few that can purchase/lease/finance this car without worrying too much about the financial consequences of it. Live it up and enjoy it.

For the OP, if you want a deal on a S65 or S63, I recommend waiting another 6 to 12 months for the S65 and 12 to 18 months for the S63 to hit the secondary market. There will be plenty of great bargains.

absent

Should have taken it...
http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=1&cardist=963

http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.js...=&cardist=1744

Wholesale is currently between $140-150k,depending on mileage.

Fikse

they'll get killed like all the other 65's.... there are new S65's sitting at a lot of dealers down here in south florida.... I wish they had done the E65 or CLS65.....

medici78

EBay is usually a good indicator of the cars market and I've yet to see more than 2-3 2007's listed at the same time, which means the supply simply isn't there. Also, its typical to see a car lose roughly 10% of it's value once its been titled and driven. The examples you guys are listing for 2007's are nothing compared to the tank in value of the 2006.

Autobahn-Maniac

The last year of any generation body style of MB takes a huge hit. The 2006 S65 is no exception. The 221 will be around for 6 years before another body style change happens. Look at the 230. They can't give them away with the new 08' coming this year.

My dealer (Beshoff Motors) has called me several times to see if I want to sell my 07 S65 back to them. Due to this whole global market thing we live in today I travel constantly and this year has been especially heavy.

I took delivery of my S65 in early January and it just passed 2000 miles on the odometer yesterday. Just never around to drive it. Anyways...

In the Silicon Valley big money is pouring out on the streets. IPO’s are hot again, Google...well what I can say about them that isn't already biblical and the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been for 15 years. High end cars like high end homes ($3M-$5M) are getting gobbled up. However, on the other side of the food chain cars like Toyotas, Nissans, Volvos, Fords, GMs etc. are hurting. People who buy those cars have run out equity in their homes and can no longer vicariously live through borrowed money. As a result, like the lower end car market, homes in the $650K-800K market (which around here is a 1600 square ft home on the East Side of San Jose) are not selling. Most of the people that were buying those homes 1-2 years ago can't get those 1% loans anymore to qualify. Bottom line...the high end luxury market regardless of end product is being bought by the people that don't borrow... they write checks from their stock broker accounts. The new S65 at least for now should hold its value pretty well. It's the old supply/demand story. People with real money will always get what they want. Just my 2 cents.

You all have a great Memorial Day and let's not forget our troops this weekend.

WSH

Suspect cheapest/most efficient way to drive new, 07 S65 early in its product cycle is to have $0 down leased car @launch in Summ06...for a 2 yr lease....MBCredit offers reasonable 2 yr terms to move the metal....one drives latest-tech car for 2 yrs early in its product cycle and then rolls into another 2 yr lease for a slightly higher-tech, more debugged S65 (perhaps w/new NA, high-tech V12 motor; intelligent headlights (like CL); paddleshifters linked to shiftspeeds/ABC/throttle response ala CL63/65, etc etc)....

Do see a lot of new '07 S65s around SiliconValley these days (my understanding is 90%+ are leased in SF/NYC; concept of buying any high-end car is fairly archaic in US in past 5-10yrs)...

But do know several guys who can afford 65s (and who have previously owned new 65s) who are opting for S/CL63s as they prefer higher-tech, lighter, NA motor and more confidence-inspiring traction of 63....though the plasticky leather interior of 63 is forcing them to consider getting CL65 upon launch .....AMG needs to launch the new, latest-tech, NA V12.....silly to have a $200K, otherwise high-tech flagship w/an ancient motor.....

jl88

That is the oldest dealer trick in the book. They know you are a whale. They know you have good credit and can afford these cars. So to get you into the door, they tell you that they want your car because it's in high demand. Their only intention is to get you to buy another car from them.

You know what? They do this for every brand of car as well. I once had this old Izusu Rodeo and I had a dealership call me asking if I was willing to come in and trade it in.

You can believe that your mercedes or any other fancy "car-of-the-moment" will hold their value, but I can believe in Santa Claus as well.

abalto

New body style releases tend to help keep prices up on the short term, but the prices of these will get massacred like all 65's...

Autobahn-Maniac, money (or something else) has obviously numbed the area above your shoulders.

medici78

Has anyone here actually leased a W221 S65?

Autobahn-Maniac

The offer was to buy my car. No mentions of trying sell me another car. They just have people everyday calling for S65s and they can't get them. What are they going to try selling me... an R350

As far as the wise *** crack about what's between my shoulders. Where did that come from? Just adding a comment on an auto forum. Didn't think a personal attack on someone you don't even know seems appropriate. But I guess we all have to get through the day in whatever state of mind keeps us going. Hope you have a great weekend either way.

Toog4me

saw an 07 s550 w/ 9k at my dealer this weekend for $79k!!!! THIS IS A CAR THAT COSTED $105k in the beginning of the year, talk about horrible depreciation.

medici78

I wouldn't count on the S63 depreciating that badly. It's a much more limited model. Supply and demand...

bcfos

I see it like this. The housing market is going to take a serious hit due to the entire subprime lending mess. Granted it is "The American Dream" but in my opinion it serves these lenders right for taking chances on high credit risk loans. The backlash will be anyone having stock in someone like D.R. Horton, KB Homes and such will feel a slight dip in over all preformance. But this is the mid and lower level home sales end. The high end home sales are still trucking right on along as they should. I don't think anyone who got a subprime loan would be in the market for an S65 in the first place. So besides regular depriciation which happens when you buy any high end vehicle new I don't think the price will see a huge dip in the next 4 years.

And a good point is also most high end homes like high end vehicles are not bought with credit. Some may be but most aren't. My reasoning is why pay anyone interest when I can just have what I want and not help some company pad their bottom line.

Toog4me

You're wrong about the latter. A mortgage is a tax deduction. A five million dollar mortgage on a seven million dollar home means a deduction of $359,730 annualy. Anyone with money sees that as a benefit. People like Britney Spears, P Diddy, 50 Cent, etc. all have mortgages even though they can pay for their home with cash.

Perfect example:

bcfos

To me it isn't worth the trouble in the residential market. Now in the commercial market totally different story. On a 6 million dollar complex you would want to hold at least 2.5 million in finance to see any savings. But then again a 9 million dollar house in Alabama would be around 70k square feet or at least 30k square feet on 1500 acres. Cheap property and low cost of building you can get into 6000 square feet in a gated community under 700k where that 700k in certain areas of California might get you 2000 or so square feet in a questionable neighborhood. This is also a reason NASA workers love getting transfered to MSFC. Their pay scale stays the same as it did in Cali and their money buys a lot more. And property taxes are so low it's funny. On 80 acres with a home, office, barns, and other "improvements" it runs right at $990.00 a year. Plus having horses makes it considered a "farm" which equates to more tax savings.

turtle10250

As many of you know, the mortage deduction is capped at $1mm of underlying mortgage, although for commercial properties, farms etc you can get around those limits

Autobahn-Maniac

HA... just think of the property tax you have to pay on that kind of property. I know people here in the Bay Area that have paid cash for their multi-million dollar homes and have a $50-$60K property tax bill every year. That **** never goes away. It may be a deductible but it doesn't pay down your principle or increase the value of your home.

Don't take me wrong... I love living in N. CA but you better have some coin or else you might as well live in Tibet because you are going to live a life of silent desperation your entire life. They say 40% of Americans are two pay checks away from being on the street with nothing. We are nation of spenders not savers. It is a very sad circumstance a lot of people have put themselves in.

bcfos

Exactly.. And being a very dry year here looks like I will be taking a nice loss this year. (Now watch it frickin rain)