b4mmy

But you dont have a complete car without the hard top... and yep, the designo is nice, its 2000 and its only 19k... I know it hurts man, but you just gotta let go. Pretend she's your wife and sure you had some good times, but now its time to call it a day and you know she is gonna take you to the cleaners. Why hang on when its over. Cut your losses and be realistic.

Or kiss and make up.

Wehrmacht_benz

how much could a hardtop jack the price up? and yes i am willing to let go...but not for less than 20 thousand...

DANSMB

I looked at several without hardtops and they were 3-5K less. Did someone mention that the car was painted? How could a car this new and with low miles need paint? Was it not garaged? What do the books look like? Missing or incomplete books hit the car for as much as the hardtop.

Dan

mebeJOE

You paid 30K two years ago, yes? Selling it for 17K isn't too bad. 24 months for 13,000? $541 per month.

Ask the sucker who paid full sticker price for it and sold it to you for $30,000.

That guy paid $70,000, give or take, to drive it for 4 years.

Or about $1400 per month. OUCH.

Probably the high price of gas has something to do with the soft market for these.

And probably the fact that MBZ just came out with the SL550 Which means that the rich guys who NEED the latest toys will be dumping their 2003's and 2004's.

List it for $19,500 and see what kind of offers you get.

I'll say one more thing: Thank god I'm never selling my baby. By the looks of the market, I bet I'm $10,000 (at least) upside down.

Wehrmacht_benz

the paint had small nicks and what not...it mainly needed paint due to being keyed..this happened to a previous owner and was touched up, but not good enough to a perfectionist like myself. so the only thing to due was re paint the whole car.

Wehrmacht_benz

i still see people on ebay holding out for 26k and 27k...granted their cars have 30k miles or less....but still i just do not think i would go lower than 20k...the game is not over yet...i may even get a bit more than 20k lets wait and see..but since i have to sell this car within a few weeks i will take what comes.

TheV12pwr

If you look at the auction carefully "reserve not met" will remind you that it will take more than 19k to buy the car...
I do not think the reserve is any less than 35k.

b4mmy

Yes thats right cheers. I think blahblah is struggling to sell his car at his price so he could do with dropping it, but if he wants to hang on then its his decision. Personally I wouldn't sell it, he's never going to get his money back... unless he stores the car and tries again in 10 or 15 years...?

crb49

Tough sell in this market. No hard top ( you really don't have the complete car without it), 50+K miles. There are too many full package 500's out there.

I remember seeing this car when i looking the first of the year and the rims, miles and no hard top turned me off. Honestly, I thought it probably belongs to a 30 something guy and has probably been driven to it's full potential, if you know what I mean. No offense intented Blah.

I think the lo milage car has a great advantage in this market. The guy that's going to spend 25-35K at this point in time for a used SL wants something pristine and under 25-30K miles, not just very nice and this one just doesn't fit that buyer.

I was looking at a '99 with 29K miles and ended up with my '01 that wasn't tagged until '03 with 6300 miles and a year of warranty. It's a tight market right now.

b4mmy

no bids, so stuck at 19k.....

Wehrmacht_benz

isint 50k miles still considered low mileage technically consdering mercedes engine will go for 300k miles or more?

crb49

You're absolutely correct. But....

When you're going up against the rest of the low milage market, it's only relative to what other autos that buyer has available to him/her. It really doesn't have much to do with the reality, just the perception. And if you were in that buyer's shoes, which one would be your preference?

One thing I've noticed about the luxury market is the abundance of low milage. These are rarely daily drivers and only one of two, three, or more autos in the stable. Especially when they're bought new. so it's not really difficult to find unusually lo milage luxury autos.

I'm in the process of selling my 380 with 100K miles. Absolutely stunning with a complete personal history since it was new, and I've put $8K in it the last couple of years to keep it that way.

It's a turnkey car good for another 50-75K miles with good care but I'm pretty sure I won't get my money out of it either. I see too many with only 50-75K miles (and I'm sure they haven't been gone through like mine) for not that much more $.

I'm convinced mine is much more sound mechanically but that only makes a difference if the buyer sees it personally and we have the chance to talk about it's history.

So, you can see, I'm at least as much in the same boat as you are and probably a little worse.

I've always ended up looking at the enjoyment factor of driving these beautiful cars and, if I drive them a little longer than I'd intended in order to feel comfortable with the fact that I got out of them what I really wanted, so be it. After all, that's one of the MB "IT" factors...capable of lots of miles and still wonderful cars. The reality is that if you only keep it a couple or three years, you're probably going to get wacked.

Just my personal experience and humble opinion, B. I wish you the best in the marketplace. Keep us posted.

Regards,

Wehrmacht_benz

thank you...so let me ask you this..what kind of mercedes cars keep their value...the gullwings from the 50's? i was even looking at a 190sl from 1958 i believe that i would love to own and it was 60,000....

crb49

Hey B. The short answer is I don't know. I'm no expert, not even in the ball park. I do have a good friend who is the parts manager of the new Benz Restoration Center in Irvine, CA. I'd be happy to ask him. If anyone should know it would be him. Now how about the long answer...

The one thing I do know is it all boils down to supply and demand. The less cars available, the more they'll fetch. I think the 190 only had about a 20,000 unit run as opposed to 50K for my 380, for example. Plus being that much older, more have bitten the dust, and consequently, they're harder to find in good condition....and gaining value.

Your 190 is a good example even though I think $60K was high.It would have to be excellent restoration and low miles or a special production number. I went online and found a couple from nice to very nice for $30-50k.

My personal challenge is, especially driving in SoCal, I like a car that can keep up with modern day freeway traffic. It's just makes it more practical for driving more often as opposed to only 'Sunday drives'.

Being limited to only so many cars because of space, I have to pick and choose more than I'd like. I tend to get attached to each of my cars and would probably keep most of them if I had the resources.

From a little personal experience, I would think the 107's have about found their low mark for those in good condition and will possibly start to go up in the next 5-10 years (mainly because of the attrition mentioned earlier), although the 560's will always be more desirable because of the larger V8.

Well, that's probably more than enough rambling for now. Have you had any new news on your 500?

crb49

By the way, how do you like your CL?