150shot

I'm closing in on a deal for an 04. I really wanted an 05 but would go for either at around $40k.

The 04 I'm looking at is a bit high on miles (over 50k) and maybe price..but is an MB CPO with warranty good for a year, as most of us say here MB warranty is much better of course than 3rd party...

A good friend of mine is a MB tech, and has advised me we can use the CPO warranty to our advantage if anything goes wrong, which we can also do with a 3rd party warranty for any other car which I do plan to get. But much easier with MB CPO.

The 04 is priced almost to the point I can get an 05 for maybe even the same price...now should I "settle" for an 04 that will have maybe 60k miles in 2010- while at the same time have the piece of mind that I can drive this into the ground since it has the MB warranty....or go for an 05 , 3rd party warranty non-certified? My buddy will be doing all the maintenance either on the side or at dealership.

any advice please as the 04 dealer has claimed to have other buyers now..

dietpepsi

ıf ı were you ı would buy 05 because when ıt comes to sellıng ıt you can get more money for 05 than 04

jmf003

The cash value of a one year warranty is a couple of thousand at most. You might ask to see if you can extend the length of the CPO warranty and see what the additional cost is.

It's less likely that the dealer has other interested buyers and more likely that he's telling you that to motivate you. Even if he does, don't sweat it. It's a buyers market and it's not going to end any time soon. If you lose the chance to buy this car, something better will be available in the near future.

Good luck!!

jmf003

On the other hand, the WSJ article referenced in this post suggests the luxury used car market is heating up as people who would normally buy new luxury cars are switching to used CPO cars instead.

https://mbworld.org/forums/r-class-w...car-sales.html

Blk04cobra1

To me it really depends on the mileage difference. How many miles are on the '05? On any MB CPO car, to me it would be more desirable than one with a 3rd party warranty. On the other hand, if the '05 has considerably less miles, then it would be a good option as well. It's hard for me to see an '04 CPO car being the same price as an '05 Non-CPO car.

150shot

THe 04 is right at 51k. I plan to put maybe 5-7k a year which should put this car at 60k by next summer and from there I know prices tank more as it "seems" like high mileage.

A few 05's that I've seen are around 40k miles, even at 45k in the same time frame (summer 2010) I would only be at 50k..The two arent exactly the same price but very close , within $2-3k.

JMF- I did ask on extending the CPO , and they wanted close to $4k for an additional two years. It was a bit much for me.

Blk04cobra1

150shot--The extended warranties can get pretty pricey on the SL55. It really is a tough call, but if the '05 is the same as the '04, then I would go for the '05.