george1234k

Hi Guys,

Really need your advice on this car, is this a good deal? The buy it now price was $127,000.00 Should I jump on this?

Can anyone do some indepth research on this. The carfax came up clean. I'm very tempted. Right now I'm driving a 2006 E55, it would be a dream come true to have this car added to the garage.

Thanks in advance for your help

Sincerely,

George

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...QQcmdZViewItem

david_101

there's nothing wrong with the price. the question is: who's the seller?

i avoid all private transactions with people i don't know personally or to whom i haven't been referred by someone i trust.

you could get almost exactly the same price from a dealer. i went to see a very similar car at MB miami with a price negotiated down to below 130k. i think it was 128k. and they'd CPO it for you. that'd be my choice every time.

Juice it

Doesn't make a difference who owned it if it checks out fine and is under warranty and all the paperwork is fine. It is nice to buy a car from the dealer because hopefully they will stand behind it but when hunting a car like this usually the deal will be at a far away dealer so they would be of little help down the road anyway and the car is under warranty so either way you should have no trouble having it serviced. Many of these cars are auction cars at the dealer as well so I personally would rather buy from an original owner that I don't know than a dealer feeding me a bunch of BS. Now if I didn't like anything about a particular deal or person I would walk, no big deal. Does the car have the options you want?

david_101

i think it does matter who used the car.

my preowned experience is very limited. i'd always acquired new. for my current SL65, i knew quite enough about the sole driver to feel confident it was treated properly.

an auction car's history might as well be a fiction. there's absolutely no way to know how it was treated, or whether it was serviced or repaired outside the dealer network.

buying privately from an original acquirer might be just a shade better than buying an auction car.

but overall,. buying from a dealer, who has deep pockets and a reputation to defend and a manufacturer relationship to preserve, holds advantages over buying privately or an auction car through most any channel.

Juice it

So what you are saying is whoever buys your car when you are done they are getting a shade better than an auction car? I have bought plenty of cars from private owners and from my experience it is about the individual car, not the seller. Dealers can lie better than a first owner because they just say "we have no prior knowledge of any body work etc." They also buy their used cars from the auctions so I don't see your point. The only thing that may benefit you is if you have a real problem and need to sue someone, then I agree with you or if you are buying from your local dealer for service purposes. Other than that a car under warranty can be serviced anywhere and if you do your homework when purchasing a private owner can be just fine.

david_101

yes jeff, someone buying a car directly from me might be doing a shade better than purchasing it through an auction.

while i know how well i care for my cars, one who buys from me without having had prior experience with me cannot know how i care for my cars. that said, a car i sell privately could die a tragic death the day after title transfers. (do you think i'd want to be on the receiving end of a lawsuit? what if i purchased a demo car directly from a dealer and sold it privately thereafter. the buyer finds later that there'd been frame damage and i've already represented the car had never been in an accident? what then?

at least through an authorized dealer one typically receives warranties and guarantees over and above that which a private seller would typically offer. and should there be problems after the transaction, it's more likely that those problems could be resolved. granted, that could take time. but with an individual that time could stretch into never.

being very familiar with your profile location, and reviewing your car list, i'm fairly certain of this: you got there because you're knowledgeable. you must know how well an individual seller can be protected in such a transaction.

a dealer -- especially an authorized dealer -- has much more at risk than does an individual. while they can prevaricate as well as or better than most, they can't hide as well from their obligations as can individuals.

Juice it

I completely agree that if you need to go after someone that sold you a car you would have an easier time getting resolution from an authorized dealer but I disagree about it being any more beneficial if you do your homework and are talking about a fairly new low mile under warranty car. There is no way to know how your car was actually driven based on what your dealer tells you and I have bought many cars from dealers and private individuals and if you take the proper steps while purchasing you should be fine either way.

david_101

i just backspaced over a private purchase scenario i thought would be acceptable. i could describe a few, but each roughly conformed with the conditions i stated previously.

yes, if one shops cars as the highly-educated shop antiques, then why not consider private transactions.

but if one doesn't have a greasy thumb, then perhaps one should avoid private transactions the same might be said for dealer transactions involving auction cars.

to date, i've purchased only one preowned car: the current SL65. what mattered most in my decision was that there was a single driver, very well known to the dealership, who'd gotten it from and returned it to the dealership, that the service history was clean and it was starmarked. accordingly, it was a non-auction car with a near-auction price. does it get any better?

art@kronen

Congratulations on your car!