My Maserati is about to arrive and the dealer seems to be giving me an extremely low trade-in value (50K for 2001 w/17K). I have told them to up the number or I will walk. What are others seeing in the used market? I know the market is depressed but DAMN!!

 

I would use the Kelley Blue Book or Edmunds numbers for trade value and be willing to walk if they will not deal. I bought a 1999 E55 with 13k miles from a dealer two months ago and based my offer price on the trade value of the car since I knew that was teh most they paid to get the car. As I recall, a fully loaded 99 E55 with 13k miles had a trade value of about $42k, so $50k for your car might not be that far off. You can go to kbb.com and check the Kelly value for your trade. Good luck. Remember if the market is depressed enough to lower your trade value, it is also depressed enough to keep Maserati from selling cars, so if Maserati/Ferrari wants to sell a car they should be willing to give a little on trade. Just be willing to walk out on them nmerous times. That is what I did with my E55 - I walked out twice untill they became reasonable.

 

The only way to get a good value on your car is to sell it yourself. However, finding the right buyer is the 'hat-trick' you have to perform. You get more money from selling it out right and trading in is for people that don't want to go throught the hassle and headaches and time to sell in privately. Used E55 do not move well. That is the sad fact but the truth. Most dealers are only willing to give you what they can buy the car for at a auction and the auction prices are usually less than trade-in value.

I traded my 98 E430 in March 2002 and the dealer still has it on his lot. Used car lookers are less interested in gas guzzling V8's, unfortunately.

You can also use www.nada.com to get pricing information. All three KBB, NADA and Edmunds give very different values and KBB is always the lowest.

Just keep walking out on them and put the 'for sale' signs in the window. They will probably start to up the ante was that Maserati hits their showroom.

 

there is no market for E55 cars right now
i have a 99 triple black with 20,000, no scrtaches, perfect, with the plastic still on it, and i cant sell it for $45000 if my life depended on it!
i cant get more than $40,000 from any dealer trade in.
hey if anyone want an E55 i'll practically give mine away!

 

The marketplace is nowhere on these cars right now.
Good news is that if you want one, you can get a great buy; bad news is that if you have to sell one, it's gotta be agressively priced. 99's are especially hurt, and people who paid big money for 02's are in shock. Frankly, I think a 50ish wholesale offer on an 01 with 17k is quite generous. Anyway, hope this clarifies for you a little.

 

New Dealer showrooms still have brand new 2002 E55 sitting around. Euro Motorcars in Bethesda Maryland still has 2.

This information about the low market for E55's and AMG cars goes to help support some of my other posting that if they are having a hard time selling E55's at $71k. They will not sell with base prices over $80k.

If only we could sell our cars to blokes in Australia or New Zealand we could make a lot of money because they pay out the *** for AMG cars and justify 30% taxes on car sales because of nice social programs!

 

Atlanta Classic yesterday and they had 3 (!). Two with miles but MSO, one titled with about 1800 miles (tectite--beautiful). In case you're not aware, dealers have $2k in trunk money on the E55 ( probably not enough in this marketplace).....

 

Everyone on this board has hit the nail on the head, so to speak. The market on the E55 and the CLK55 coupe has took a complete nose dive. I even know of a dealer who has a couple of new '02 E55's still in inventory that they can't give away!! This is very suprising, if you take into consideration that both cars are fantactic & when new would bring a premium!!! Go Figure!@! And to put this into perspective, I had a client last night trying to sell his '02 CLK55 coupe to our dealership and the Pre-Owned Manager hit him at $55k, this is after he has only had the car for 6-8 months and paid about $67k plus fees. The only good thing about this is if your looking for one of these cars you can get a steal, especially if they have a new body on order and are trying to dump the car before the new one arrives!!! Bargain hunters, be on the look out!!!!

 

What is causing the market drop in the E-55 prices? As a limited production car (aprox 2,000 imported to the U.S. since 99) I would think the value would hold up much better. Is it the new style change that is causing this, the general depression, or do potential buyers think the car has just been raced?

 

IMHO, I think it is due to the V8 Kompressor in the W211 body. The people who can normally afford a car of this nature, generally like to have the latest and greatest thing & buying a car with roughly 130 less horses under the hood would not improve thier neighborhood reputation. I hold the new E55K to be the major reason behind the stead decline in the W210 E55. This is just my 2 cents worth!!!! LOL!

 

...except that Marcus' line of reasoning wouldn't carry over to the CLK's. If poor E55 resale were due primarily to the W211 effect alone, then CLK55 resale should not be nearly as poor (which is not the case).
If the new 209-CLK were a home run, a major advance over 208, you'd expect the same washout effect on the 208CLK55's. But my impression is that very few people think the 209 is anywhere near as impressive as the W211, relative to their predecessor models.
As such, I believe that the poor resale values cited are mostly due to the economy. Less discretionary money floating around, uncertain futures for many people, etc leading to conservative behavior.
Fortunately I'm in an economically insulated line of work, and when we travel we notice a huge decline in guests at nicer hotels/resorts and destinations. And it seems that the turnaround is not on the immediate horizon.

 

think so. Otherwise everything else would be lively, and it's not. Porsches are dead too, and there's nothing new on the horizon but the Cayenne (and that aint the same customer). Big cars in general are just very soft, unless they are something very special. In every economy, there is always someone with money. Those people are calling the shots right now. They just don't want an E55, a 129 SL (also with the same problem), or an 01 996. I turned down an 01 CL55 yesterday in the mid $70's. I just don't have a home for it and don't want the money tied up. And do you have any idea what's happened to Turbos in the last 30 days? I have a friend who is holding two SL500's , both with around 200 miles, sport, and good options, that he stands to lose about $12k each on. Remember this the next time you bash your dealer for making too much on you. You gotta take the bad with the good. And right now, it ain't good. Just my .02. allen.

 

I agree with that statement that the economy has a hand in the high-line market place and the situation most dealers are facing. On the other hand the people who have the money to really afford a $120k car, will always have money and are usually not directly effected by the economy. I think it boils down to a lot of people are not happy with the stability of the country right now and are looking to hold on to the cash until better times. The average high-line sales rep. is not having a lot of fun right now, if it weren't for the W211 and W209 release most MBZ sales would be the same!!! I apologuise for maybe walking the fence on two different ideology, but I'm sure that more than one factor is effecting everyone.

 

My store is different from yours, and I'm in a different part of the country. But our local MB retailer (that I work with closely) is having very little success with the 209, and the 211 ain't exactly setting the woods on fire. We've had quite a few people with orders who have passed, and nobody's looking at the 209. They're not sure what it is (and frankly, netiher am I at this point) . For me, the stuff has got to be a great inexpensive car or something that is a tremndous value in a big dollar car. What about you? Do you do new only or does your store do pre-owned as well?

 

Given the state of things I may just hold on to my car and pass on the Maserati. It doesnt matter how much money you have, no one wants to feel like their getting 'screwed' even if it is beyond the control of the dealership. I guess Im not willing to accept that my car has depreciated that much that quickly. I appreciate all your opinions.

 

Can't really blame you there, the 210 E55 is a terrific car. But, just FYI, you're not getting "screwed" by anyone, except maybe the marketplace. In this marketplace, I think the dealer made you a very fair offer at $50k. If you don't want to trade, it's your call. Something is worth, financially at least, what someone will pay for it, whether it's a fine car, piece of jewelry or property. If you're emotionally hooked, then just enjoy it and prepare for the ride down. It certainly isn't ever going to be worth any more. If you really want to be mad with someone, try your friends at MBUSA. They are the ones responsible for the number of cars in the marketplace, and it's just too damn many. There are not only too many AMG cars out there, there's just too many of everything. Think you feel bad? how about those guys who recently bought 01 and 02 SL 500's? Terrific cars that are now trading at about 30 to 35 THOUSAND dollars less than their MSRP 18 months ago. Ouch!

 

allenjdmb,


We are not having a hard time at all selling the 211 or the 209. In fact, right now I have no 209's on the ground and have 3 clients looking for car, but can't make them happy due to the short supply. The 211 is just a little different, we have a few 211 V8's on the ground, but only 1 V6 & this car is still here because the MSRP is $57k. I could sell $50k Silver E320's all day long with the inventory. I will agree that the East Coast market is radically different from the West Coast, people just don't seem to be into the "High-Dollar" vanity items like the West Coast folk. And to answer your question, we do sell new and pre-owned MB's here at my store.

 

Interesting thoughts, Allen.
I agree that consumers in the $120,000 and up price range, by and large (recent tech market bubble casualties notwithstanding) don't alter spending habits in a down economy.
But how many MB's are there in that price range?
Not too many.
95% of MB clients are looking below the $110K line, and the majority (maybe 60%, certainly not all) of these people will alter their consumer behavior during times like these.

I thought the W208 was a wonderful marketing move by MB. Accomplished many goals on many levels. W209 almost seems like a half step backward. I'm not sure it has a clear niche.

As for Archi's Maserati question, I looked into buying a Coupe earlier this year. Backed out for several reasons. Service issues (Ferrari dealers), entirely new model with associated gremlins, likely poor resale. It is truly a beautiful car, and rare enough to be special. Very tempting, but in the end I know I made the right decision for my tastes. I'll glady wait for my 211E55.