I'm looking at this E55 on autotrader and have the following email exchange with the dealership (sorry for the long post). I'm hoping one or some you E55 experts can review the info on this car via the attached link to the dealership description and give me some advice:

http://www.marinmotors.com/newanduse...-CA-94901.aspx

Based on the photos, can you tell what this car has vs is missing so far as options? I see there is no Nav and it has an aftermarket stereo. Price seems reasonable given miles and apparent condition.

Below is the email exchange with the dealer. Any thoughts on good questions to ask?

Thank you!

Jeff,

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, I have been tied up all day with sales. The E55 was not one of them so it is still available. This is a very rare car in beautiful condition. It was originally leased through Mercedes then purchased by Smothers Mercedes in Santa Rosa from Mercedes off lease. They Certified the car with Mercedes and sold it to the 2nd owner. The vehicle was recently traded in to Freeman Lexus in Santa Rosa and not the product they sell, so they accepted our bid and transfered it to us.

We had the vehicle inspected, thoroughly serviced and it comes with a 3 month or 3,000 mile Powertrain Extended Warranty. As I mentioned, this super low mile '01 E55 AMG is in beautiful condition and if you go to my website of www.marinmotors.com, there are additional photos, specs and a FREE Carfax History Report.

Although we've paid for a diagnostic and servicing, you're more than welcome to have a mechanic of your choosing give the car a once over. Email or call me as to when you have an appointment to have it looked at or if you would prefer to come see and drive the car first.. Let me know...

Thanks,

Scott Troxell
888-888-2888 - toll free
415-457-9450 - office

--- On Sun, 9/18/11, dealerleads@autotrader.com <jbaker@mbankonline.com> wrote:

 

Pm'd you.

 

The price is fair to a low miles E55 2001. The car looks clean but i prefer the stock AMG rims. I think you might get it a $14,500
Good luck !

 

Looks great. I do like the aftermarket rims but would prefer the OEM ones. The aftermarket stereo draws attention to the unwanted element...kids trying to break in to steal it. Other then that, the car looks good. Just wonder why it is such low miles....my two cents.

 

Talked with the dealer a bit. He is 10 minutes North of San Fran (his words) in Marin County. Any chance someone is close to that area and would be willing to check it out? He will not take the car to a dealership for an inspection (since it is competition) but would be fine with getting the car to a local mechanic for an inspection. That seems like it would be wise. Any thoughts on resources for inspections in that area? Didn't talk price at this point other than he claims KBB is 18-20k. Way too high. I hope he would take $14.5k if the car is in great shape.

Those wheels would not be my first choice...

 

Mine is year 2000 Black on black with 87K miles. Everything looks like new. I searched it for many months before got it....... the interior and exterior look very new. Just change the oil and air filter 2 weeks ago for $170.... Anyways, if you are interested a great condition E55 let me know..... I can send you few pix.

 

Marin is just across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF so that sounds about right. $14,500 would be a decent price for it. KBB values aren't really that accurate for these cars either. You'll see a lot of them sitting on CL for a long time at $16k+ and they just don't move.

I paid $12k for mine with about 92,000 on it and there was some maintenance stuff that needed to be taken care of (a little over $500 in parts). Mine did come with the Brabus wheels that needed tires. I figure they were worth around $600-$700 at least, so it wasn't that bad of a deal.

 

Wheels look tacky.