First of all "THANKS" for the quick response.

What are the 2004 - 2005 S55 going for?

I've had 1998, 2001, & 2003 CL6 the 2003 was a joy, but that 2001 was promblem filled.

I never considered the S55's I give them a look.

Thanks again.

 

I wont post anymore until 1 or 2 AM Im going out for drinks with some friends right now, im leaivng in 10 minutes, any questions pm and Ill reply tonight or tomorrow morning.


2004 S55

07/12/07 MANHEIM Regular $46,800 40,752 Avg SILVER 8G Yes
07/06/07 W PALM Lease $52,200 31,956 Above ALB WHT 8G A Yes
07/06/07 W PALM Lease $42,600 49,100 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes
06/28/07 MANHEIM Regular $42,750 48,975 Avg BLK OPAL 8G A Yes
06/21/07 RIVRSIDE Lease $47,000 37,681 Avg SILVER 8G A Yes
06/21/07 RIVRSIDE Lease $43,000 47,688 Avg BLK 040 8G A Yes

2005 S55

05/24/07 RIVRSIDE Regular $61,000 21,654 Avg MCH BLK 8G A Yes
06/01/07 ST LOUIS Lease $57,000 25,621 Avg BLK 8G A Yes
06/06/07 W PALM Factory $58,000 18,320 Avg BRI SIL 8G A Yes
06/14/07 MANHEIM Regular $50,000 46,188 Avg BLACK 8G A No
06/20/07 ST LOUIS Lease $55,500 36,168 Avg BRI SIL 8G A Yes
06/20/07 ST LOUIS Lease $54,000 39,327 Avg BLK 8G A Yes

 

thank you for offering so much info so freely!

if it's not a terrible bother, then would you mind very posting auction prices for G500s and G55s for 2005 to 2007?

a dealer offered me a brand new MY7.5 G55, with all the new goodies, for 105k or 3,275 off MSRP. i could take that black/black MY7.5 or wait for a MY2008, silver/black, which should be precisely the same as the MY7.5, but would be approximately 110k. (although i expect i could get 1,500 to 2,000 off.)

your thoughts?

thanks,
dave

 

Hey Danny,

Thanks again for your quick and valueable responses. Your are the kind of helpful people that makes this forum GREAT. You are a real asset to our community. Thanks again.

 

sorry it took awhile to respond, I was out for drinks with some buddies of mine, anyways here are the recenbt G55 transactions. As for the G, it tends to hold its value percentagewise better than any other car in the MB lineup...look at '02 G500 vs '02 S500 for examples, but I def would not recommend paying anywhere near 100K for one. I mean we can all afford to lose money obviously we own these MB cars, but we're all smart people here and cutting your losses is vital. Again I recommend personally an '05 bc its got the same engine as the '07 unless your one of those people that must have that "new car smell" which on an MB can easily cost you at least 20K first year. The only car I've ever bought "brand new" in my life was the '07 S550 and thats bc I had a chance to get the 1st one in houston, it was a spaceship, nobody had one and everywhere it went people gawked, that was fun for a whole month or two until they were everywhere.The '05 have 1+ yr of warranty left and if you contact your local MB service dept they can usually help you find an independent full coverage warranty for a very low price ie. 3 yrs for my '04 sl55 was $2800 for id imagine the extended for the G55 would be less. Good luck and here are the numbers

2004

06/06/07 SEATTLE Lease $56,250 24,215 Above BRI SIL 8G A Yes
04/05/07 MANHEIM Regular $56,250 23,265 Above BLUE 8G A Yes
04/05/07 MANHEIM Regular $51,250 50,481 Above BLACK 8G A Yes
03/29/07 RIVRSIDE Regular $56,250 39,554 Above SILVER 8G A Yes
03/13/07 ST LOUIS Lease $40,750 84,571 Above BLK 8G A No


2005

04/19/07 MANHEIM Regular $66,500 25,221 Avg BLUE 8G A Yes
05/30/07 ATLANTA Lease $65,250 45,883 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes
06/21/07 RIVRSIDE Lease $69,500 16,917 Avg BLK OPL 8G A Yes
07/05/07 RIVRSIDE Lease $65,000 26,529 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes
07/12/07 MANHEIM Regular $68,000 31,862 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes
07/12/07 MANHEIM Regular $52,000 60,368 Below SILVER 8G A No

2006

there were none for some reason

2007

06/14/07 MANHEIM Regular $90,250 2,523 Above BLACK 8G A Yes

****note to everybody***** I've been getting pm's about buying from me. I am a wholesaler but when your ready to purchase I can source you what you need contact me, I deal with all brands, we can work off a purchase agreement and small deposit. I do this only for cars under warranty bc god forbid anything is wrong with the car when I ship it to you, you can have it all repaired at a dealer for free, so we dont have to waste shipping money back and forth. Cars bought at wholesale are bought w/out PPI(pre-purchase inspections) being performed so from time to time there are lemons out there.

 

I know I am not Zoink, but as he didn't answer yet I am so kind to hop in.
Its an Alfa Romeo 159.

 

thank you for the G55 auction info.

looks like 16.7% off year 1, then approximately 14% off yearly thereafter.

MY2007 Gs have all the air bags and xenon lights.

the MY2007.5 Gs have have back-up camera, tire pressure sensors, SOS and phone controls (again), and the new instrumentation cluster. the MY2008 should be just the same as the MY2007.5.

if you come across a MY2007.5, preferably silver, then please let me know.

thanks again!
dave

 

FYI most of the high end mercedes (x65 models, rare AMG models) will end up likely on the west coast (Riverside) or Manheim (Pennsylvania). I'm in Los Angeles, so I see the X65 models go through pretty regularly, twice a month.

I never really pursued this model because it often times requires the prospective buyer to put a deposit on a car site unseen. And if you're looking for a very-niche car with specific options (ie I want a Mars red SL65 with 8k miles, black interior, all options except panorama roof)... yea, that'll take a while, most likely never.

So this is where general business practice clashes with enthusiast-mentality. Enthusiasts know exactly what they want, problem is that Manheim auctions don't always have your ideal car. You have to be flexible with the options and mileage.

With the current slump in the used car market, you're better off looking for a private party seller. Trust me, there are not many "bargains" to be found at auctions lately. Either that or buy a new car. New car dealers have plenty of room to offer you maximum dollar for the trade-in due to manufacturers incentive, dealer holdback, etc etc. Used car dealers are screwed: we buy a depreciating asset and hope to sell it before we lose money.

And last but not least, to advertise any kind of business without being a sponsor will likely get you banned!

 

jesus,you know what between all these rules im sick of this forum im leaving. I tried posting helpful price info and i get this crap from someone. People were asking me for help and I did what I could. I didnt know I had to pay to use this website, I guess ill just go back to my life here in houston. Then in the S class forum I defend a 19 yr old who said he had an e63 and all these people start bashing for saying its not that big a deal for a dad to buy his kid that kind of car, when in reality if any of those people actually had an S class and actually paid 100K for a car, they would know that they actually probably could afford to buy another e63 for the kid, but no this forum is full of people who make all these silly rules and others who make all these accusations without knowing anything about a person. As for the kid with the e63 more power to him, if all these wise people would concede that some people in life are actually richer than them, this forum would altogether be a better place. Say this kids father is an executive making 800K a yr....70K a month...you think he cant call capital one and get a blank check and finance an e63 for $1500/ month w/ no money down....or even better pay cash. People on this forum u need to get over yourselves, I posted all my knowledge on here, with pictures to prove my authenticity but people sitll give me crap. Well Im leaving the forum, your losing 1 guy who actually knew what he was talking about, so I guess you can go learn about the SL55 from a guy who takes a pic of it at the dealer and says its his...theres about 20 people on this board who actually own an sl55/65 and you can tell from their posts/pms and to those i hope i did all i could

 

amgplayer, I tried to answer your question below:
"There is never a really good deal with a dealer. I looked at the Ebay car and noticed the Buy-Back feature. If they are the same then that explains the price, but not the "above" rating."

So the "above" rating in MMR was given due to the high price, not the actual condition. So if there is a stupid dealer bought a lemon car higher than the average auction price in the nation, then the car will have "ABOVE" condition in MMR report down the road.

Anyway, the car on my sig as Dr. Ferry Porsche said is Alfa Romeo 159. It was my rental car during my last trip to Germany, Austria & Italy. I just put it there because I like the contrast between the car & the background

 

Hey Danny, I just read your post above and I wanted to thank you for providing me with all the info. I don't know what happened, but I for one never doubted your claims of what cars you own or your info about them. It seems to be like "pulling teeth" to obtain factual info on these Mercedes Benz autos. If you go into a dealership, I get the impression they will tell you that the moon is made of green cheese in order to get you to purchase a car from them. It is unusual to find someone who will give you the straight scoop on a planned purchase, and I hope you will reconsider leaving the forum. Thank you again, Rodbuster.

 

Ditto from me too.

Thanks for the information and I hope you reconsider!!!

 

I want to thank you again Danny for the information you provided. I never felt like you were trying to sell me anything. I've also taken a beating for comments made in the past and it made me come back for more good reading. Knowledge is king and interpretation is religon.

And thanks Zoink for your insight. I ve been reading that we may be having a Alfa revival over here soon.

 

Danny,
Ditto. Bolt if you must but personally, I think people like you are what these forums should be all about.
Thanks again.

 

hey danny,
no good deed goes unpunished.
i firmly believe that because my own experiences have taught and confirmed it.
unfortunately, though, i still haven't learned my lesson and quit trying.
why should you be any different, eh?
please stick around.
dave

 

Looks like the "dealers" in here may have contributed to running off another valued poster. I guess they don't like the general population knowing what they are paying for these cars. Knowledge is power and dealers (typically) want to restrict the public's access to such knowledge. I am not accusing any specific dealer and I do realize that we do have some dealers here at would not mind these facts being shared but someone got wind of danny re-posting manhiem stuff and now appears to be trying to stop him. I actually thought that might happen so I saved this thread into a soft copy so that I would still have the info if the "forum Police" decided to shut down the party.

 

I think Danny should hang around. If the dealers are pissed that the price they paid for a particular car is now known too friggen bad. The dealers don't need to be making 20k a car in the first damn place, especially on a car that is still under warranty and there is very limited risk involved in the transaction for the dealer.

 

There are more than a few people on this board with Manheim MMR access. In addition, there are plenty of dealers on this board, including myself. I have posted MMR prices, post sale prices, etc. Information is everything and the more the consumer has, the better off we all are.

Used car dealers are not new car dealers. We do not have factory incentives. We do not have dealer holdback. We do not have favorable floor-plan financing rates. We buy a depreciating asset in hopes that we can sell it before the interest costs catch up to our cost basis. Used car dealers, just like the used car division of any franchise dealer, makes their bulk of their profit from customer trade-ins.

 

I was always under the impression that auto dealers made more on the sale of used cars than on the sale of new cars. I have been told this by more than one dealer I have known.

 

I had a dealer buy a 2004 SL600 for me at a Mannheim auction in Florida in March 2006. For something like $109, Mannheim offered a post-sale inspection that went through the entire car, spotlighted any problems, and then warranteed the whole thing for 7 days. If Mannheim found something in the inspection that didn't jive with the seller's generic description of the car's condition ("green light," "yellow light," "red light"), they held the proceeds until something was worked out that could have included undoing the sale. I have not bought anything else at any Mannheim auction but would figure that the inspection service they offered in FL would be a standard practice at their auctions around the country.

 

It's just a big numbers game. If you go into a dealership and inform them of your trade-in, they will typically tell you they have many customers that are interested in your car and will offer you a high dollar amount. However, they will then turn around and sell you the new car for MSRP, even though there are dealer incentives, factory rebates, etc etc.

I encourage people that want to trade in their car to the dealer to make it 2 separate transactions. Work out the best possible price on the new car, then drop the bomb that you want a trade in.

 

Yep, that's a service offered by the auction houses. They offer a frame inspection and also a full mechanical inspection. The issue is that these guys are not the most impartial people, since they do work for the auction. And oftentimes, most new cars do not have any immediate problems. The issue, like with all used cars, is what will happen 6 months later down the road.

Buying a car that's in warranty or out of warranty is definitely a critical issue, but this critical issue is easily a 10% price difference. Why would anyone pay 10% more when the warranty on a 2004 car will probably be another 6-12 months?

At the end of the day, it comes down to the inspection of the used car dealer and his resources at-hand to fix such problems. Confidence and providing a solution when a problem does arise is what makes running a dealership very difficult.

 

Thanks for that honest commentary jl.