SL/R230: 2003 SL500 values.....
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2003 SL500 values.....
Im in the market for a 03 SL500 and its been hell. No one is willing to negociate for crap. Ive been doing alot of research as well so thats the good part of it, but damn just last week I was looking at one and did a trade in value search on Kbb and just from last month till now it dropped like $5000. I was working out a deal for one last month it was at $56000 around and this week looked into again and it dropped down to around $51000. Whats the deal? Are they dropping in value that much? Just curious but going to get one no matter what. Does KBB even give out true values on cars in general?
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From: San Diego, CA
2003 Sl500
Value is what someone is willing to pay. And books (kelly blue book) dont buy cars 
The blue book is more of a guide, and where you are located at also matters. Im in southern california where what you drive is image based and important to most.
On more of a serious note, I goto the dealer auto auction every week, and they are going for 50-53k with around 25k miles... base models, not AMG or anything.
The blue book is more of a guide, and where you are located at also matters. Im in southern california where what you drive is image based and important to most. On more of a serious note, I goto the dealer auto auction every week, and they are going for 50-53k with around 25k miles... base models, not AMG or anything.
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You sound like your pretty knowledgable with this car and pricing so let me ask you this....The car I found had a few flaws but overall is not a bad choice in my eyes but Im debating because of the mileage. It has a panarama roof, keyless go, and sport package. There trying to off it to me out the door taxes/registration for around $57k. It has about 55k miles on it. Is that a good deal? I was told I can probably get one with way less miles and maybe some if not all for cheaper than that. So thats one of the reasons why I am in such debate in buying it or not. Also its not a dealer or I would be all over it considering it would be certified or at least checked out throughly. Its from an Auto Broker. What do you think?
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From: Texas
M6 Gran Coupe
KBB means nothing when you buy....means nothing when you sell. I would discard use of KBB totally.
That is too much for an SL with that many miles.
I paid $61,900 for my Sport with Pano roof in July with 33k miles. I had to have the sports package, pano roof and wood steering wheel/shifter.....I could have got the same car (sport package) w/o pano roof and exact same mileage for $57k at that very time from another dealer who had one for sale. I figured I needed the pano roof....but in all reality if I could redo it again I would have taken the one for $57K. The Pano was only a $2k option. It was either get one with pano or pay to have pano installed on a non-pano car (which would have run $5k-6k). It all depends on personal preference. I could have waited a couple weeks and gotten a SL with sport package with probably 15k miles for the same price I ended up paying....but likely would not have been a color I wanted and I probably would have had to travel to buy it. In other words, I overpaid a little just to get the options I want and because I wanted the car then and there. The 2 I mentioned above were within 50 miles of me.
I say wait and find one with lower miles...I have seen ones with 55k miles going for $50-51. IMHO, you have to have the sports package. It's a must have. In comparison...I bought my CL back in 2004 that was 3 years old for about the same price as I paid for my SL....but it had 11k miles on it.
That is too much for an SL with that many miles.
I paid $61,900 for my Sport with Pano roof in July with 33k miles. I had to have the sports package, pano roof and wood steering wheel/shifter.....I could have got the same car (sport package) w/o pano roof and exact same mileage for $57k at that very time from another dealer who had one for sale. I figured I needed the pano roof....but in all reality if I could redo it again I would have taken the one for $57K. The Pano was only a $2k option. It was either get one with pano or pay to have pano installed on a non-pano car (which would have run $5k-6k). It all depends on personal preference. I could have waited a couple weeks and gotten a SL with sport package with probably 15k miles for the same price I ended up paying....but likely would not have been a color I wanted and I probably would have had to travel to buy it. In other words, I overpaid a little just to get the options I want and because I wanted the car then and there. The 2 I mentioned above were within 50 miles of me.
I say wait and find one with lower miles...I have seen ones with 55k miles going for $50-51. IMHO, you have to have the sports package. It's a must have. In comparison...I bought my CL back in 2004 that was 3 years old for about the same price as I paid for my SL....but it had 11k miles on it.
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From: San Diego, CA
2003 Sl500
Check out ebay, there are a lot on there, and you can find pretty good prices there. Just make sure you can go look at the car, as in look at ones in you area.
I think 57k is too much personally, but its up to you.. how does the car make you feel? Is it the cleanest one youve seen? Is it the color you love?
57k isnt waay to much, since your talking out the door.. which its your taxes and licence... But you really could find one with less mileage.. and maybe some warranty.
good luck.
I think 57k is too much personally, but its up to you.. how does the car make you feel? Is it the cleanest one youve seen? Is it the color you love?
57k isnt waay to much, since your talking out the door.. which its your taxes and licence... But you really could find one with less mileage.. and maybe some warranty.
good luck.
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Joined: Aug 2006
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KBB means nothing when you buy....means nothing when you sell. I would discard use of KBB totally.
That is too much for an SL with that many miles.
I paid $61,900 for my Sport with Pano roof in July with 33k miles. I had to have the sports package, pano roof and wood steering wheel/shifter.....I could have got the same car (sport package) w/o pano roof and exact same mileage for $57k at that very time from another dealer who had one for sale. I figured I needed the pano roof....but in all reality if I could redo it again I would have taken the one for $57K. The Pano was only a $2k option. It was either get one with pano or pay to have pano installed on a non-pano car (which would have run $5k-6k). It all depends on personal preference. I could have waited a couple weeks and gotten a SL with sport package with probably 15k miles for the same price I ended up paying....but likely would not have been a color I wanted and I probably would have had to travel to buy it. In other words, I overpaid a little just to get the options I want and because I wanted the car then and there. The 2 I mentioned above were within 50 miles of me.
I say wait and find one with lower miles...I have seen ones with 55k miles going for $50-51. IMHO, you have to have the sports package. It's a must have. In comparison...I bought my CL back in 2004 that was 3 years old for about the same price as I paid for my SL....but it had 11k miles on it.
That is too much for an SL with that many miles.
I paid $61,900 for my Sport with Pano roof in July with 33k miles. I had to have the sports package, pano roof and wood steering wheel/shifter.....I could have got the same car (sport package) w/o pano roof and exact same mileage for $57k at that very time from another dealer who had one for sale. I figured I needed the pano roof....but in all reality if I could redo it again I would have taken the one for $57K. The Pano was only a $2k option. It was either get one with pano or pay to have pano installed on a non-pano car (which would have run $5k-6k). It all depends on personal preference. I could have waited a couple weeks and gotten a SL with sport package with probably 15k miles for the same price I ended up paying....but likely would not have been a color I wanted and I probably would have had to travel to buy it. In other words, I overpaid a little just to get the options I want and because I wanted the car then and there. The 2 I mentioned above were within 50 miles of me.
I say wait and find one with lower miles...I have seen ones with 55k miles going for $50-51. IMHO, you have to have the sports package. It's a must have. In comparison...I bought my CL back in 2004 that was 3 years old for about the same price as I paid for my SL....but it had 11k miles on it.
Well when I did the calculations Im paying about $51k for the car and the reason why its around $57k is because of the damn taxes and registration fee's. So technically isnt it a pretty decent price with all the options on the car? Im still skeptical about the price but Im hearing its decent for that car but others also say wait......
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Check out ebay, there are a lot on there, and you can find pretty good prices there. Just make sure you can go look at the car, as in look at ones in you area.
I think 57k is too much personally, but its up to you.. how does the car make you feel? Is it the cleanest one youve seen? Is it the color you love?
57k isnt waay to much, since your talking out the door.. which its your taxes and licence... But you really could find one with less mileage.. and maybe some warranty.
good luck.
I think 57k is too much personally, but its up to you.. how does the car make you feel? Is it the cleanest one youve seen? Is it the color you love?
57k isnt waay to much, since your talking out the door.. which its your taxes and licence... But you really could find one with less mileage.. and maybe some warranty.
good luck.
I checked out E-bay and the cars that around $50k with lower miles are like in the east coast or close to it. I figured it would be better to just spend more and buy it locally in California where I can see it and test drive it and buy it. Thats why Im really considering but dont want to get F*cked either.
The color and options on the car is what I want but the mileage is holding it up. Its not the cleanest Ive ever seen but there willing to pull the dings out and fix little nick nack stuff. They also replaced all the batteries in the car as well.
This car is as is with no warranty left. They did have the car checked out at a Mercedes Dealer....so they say....but I believe he is only making about a $1000 off me maybe a little bit more. But its cheaper than a dealer I think. He bought it from the auction and is being fixed to my liking.
People are saying its decent considering the money they put into it as well as the taxes being paid and the licensing as well. But I know I can find something lower in pricing if I wait longer but having all the options I want is a different story. Also every dealer Im trying to work deals out on are wanting like $60k if not higher out the door with less the options this car has but the good thing is that it does have lower mileage on them. So Im confused as hell on what I want to do so thats why I figured I could get some insight from fellow SL Benz drivers on here.
By the way thanks for the help and suggestions to both who have replied.
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From: Texas
M6 Gran Coupe
My fault, I did not realize it was with taxes paid too....although that also depends on how much you pay for tax there on cars? You are paying almost $6k in taxes and registration!? Here, I paid another $3500 or so besides the price....5.5% or so. Personally....not sure how anxious you are...but I bet when the new year rolls around you will be able to find some darn good deals with the car then being a year older.
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AlabasterWhiteSL ObsidianBlackML
If you can, dealer auction is best bet...my buddy just got an 03 S500 with 40xxx miles for 33k....they also had an 05 S600 with 20k miles go for $50k range...all clear titled....yea i know we're not talkin S but SL's I'm sure you can get one in the high 40s at a dealer auction
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My fault, I did not realize it was with taxes paid too....although that also depends on how much you pay for tax there on cars? You are paying almost $6k in taxes and registration!? Here, I paid another $3500 or so besides the price....5.5% or so. Personally....not sure how anxious you are...but I bet when the new year rolls around you will be able to find some darn good deals with the car then being a year older.
Taxes and registration is a BI*CH here in Cali. We pay about 8.25% and registration who knows how much thats going to be. But there including the auction fee's, a few nick nacks here and there but the part that kills it is the taxes. Its probably about $5k alone. Its not a bad car considering they paid for two new batteries, dent removable, and a little touching up here and there which they are paying for. They got the car for about $51k.
I know Auto Brokers are probably the best to go to for the best pricing and I know they purchase them from Auctions so they just add there fees here and there. But I know that they are not reeming me on the price as dealers would.
Ive done research with dealers and there all full of crap with there over priced cars. Other Auto Brokers are quoting me about the $49-$53 with options I want so technically I figured this may be a pretty decent deal. Im just worried about the mileage and just wanted some feed back with other people on the pricing......Cheap, Reasonable, or Overpriced???
I was also thinking about waiting but Im pretty anxious. I know I can get one a little bit lower towards the end of the year especially with the new ones coming out but that goes back to I might not get one with the options I want but possibly with lower miles. Plus the demand I noticed here in Cali is pretty high on that car particularly so Im sure people will still be selling them at crazy prices.
hmmmm?
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If you can, dealer auction is best bet...my buddy just got an 03 S500 with 40xxx miles for 33k....they also had an 05 S600 with 20k miles go for $50k range...all clear titled....yea i know we're not talkin S but SL's I'm sure you can get one in the high 40s at a dealer auction
Clean SL. Your making me want it even more now.
Anyways, the guy Im using actually purchased it from a Auto Auction. He did all the work for me, researching, color matching, option searching, etc... I sent him a few deals already so he basically told me he's practically getting me the car at what he purchased it for. I was looking into auctions because I was thinking of going myself but you need to be members and have an auto license to attend. The ones where you pay to enter dont sell benz or anything luxury so thats not going to help me much so I just went to the guy I sent some too. He said the other ones he was looking at with lower mileage and some of the options were selling for around $54k-$58k. He was working on a few for me with different auctions but he even said he stopped bidding after a certain point because it wasnt worth what they were bidding for but he got lucky with this one. Im just wondering what you all think if its reasonable in price with that many miles on it?
