m7ich7ael7

Looking at pulling the trigger on a 2003 e55 with 28k miles. I've been getting a lot of comments about 03 e55 issues. specially with electrical problems. Is this true? For you 03 owners what problems have you had. Also whats a good price for an 03 e55, 28k miles, pano roof, no nav, 100k mile warranty

III II I I AMG

well if u got the warranty to 100k.. whats there to worry about? my 03 e55 with 52k mileage now, no sense of any electrical problems, only thing i had to do was ic pump, pulley belt, and some brackets by the radiator from hitting something, but for that car.. 50k sounds fair to me, such low mileage

Hazy1

53,000 miles and not one electrical issue. Replaced IC pump, supercharger due to squeal, and the struts were replaced under warranty, but I never knew of any issues with them. The car still runs like new and everything functions flawlessly.

The only issue with these cars is that you'll get to know your local tire dealer much better than you care to. I'm pretty sure I've put 2 of his kids through college already.

CWW

Not sure about the electrical issues, but I have looked at a lot of '03s with between 20k and 40k miles over the last two or three weeks, and I can tell you flat out that $50k would be an exorbitant price, CPO warranty or not.

'03s are currently booking out at $39k+/- on trade-in and $41-$42k private party, and those figures are going to fall significantly when the books update for '08 in January. Remember, BlueBook, BlackBook, Edmunds, NADA, etc. are all several months behind by the time you get the figures, and the 55s have now been phased out in favor of the 63s for 2007. Despite the common sentiments that the 55 may be a better car, the financial reality is that the worst thing you can have for resale value is a model change. This impact is not yet reflected in the book values...but it will be soon.

Everyone is already expecting this...look at Ebay as an example. 99% of E55s listed there are going unsold, and if you view all the different auctions and check where the bidding stops on the '03s, they seem to be worth mid/high 30s max. '04s can be high 30s to low 40s, depending on warranty situation and mileage.

Granted the CPO adds some resale value, but not that much. I had an authorized benz dealer down to $39k for a CPO '03 E55 two weeks ago, and there is an '04 with every option and 28k miles for sale right down the street from my house for $45k. I passed on the first one for lack of options, and the second one because I thought the price was too high.

Based on what I've seen, if you paid $50k for any '03, you'd be overpaying by around $10k. I think $40k/$41k max is a fair price for that car with the CPO coverage. Without it, it would be down in the $30k's.

Jakpro1

03 here with bout 34k on her and not a single problem. She runs great!!

I would say only minor tick I have is the occasional restart due to computer system acting strange. Radio may not come on or car acts a little funky.....I just restart and she is back to normal. Again, I am modded out the wazoo so don't judge from me.

III II I I AMG

i rlly rlly overpaid for my 03.. bought it jan this year.. sticker was at 49k, since it was a trade in, they didnt want to go lower on the price. for some reason, after tax, papers and extended warranty, its just a hundred bucks over 60k.. and i paid for it in full so which could of been cheaper than that, but i didnt know how much this car is worth cause i was in such a rush and didnt have time to do research..

NickyBlack

I just bought my 07 E63 for 73K. 60k for an 2003, ouch.

DarkStar

I have more problems with my 04 E500 than my 03 E55. But make sure it has a warranty.

derrick_lui

I havent had any big problems with my 03.
Had the pump replaced, shocks replaced and tranny.
Also you will prob hear the supercharger chirp, but my dealer fixed that under warranty.

III II I I AMG

well.. i didnt know anything about the car when i bought it..i was just was looking for a 4dr with comfort and a lil bit of speed, so i saw the v8 supercharged under the hood, its a mercedes, and also a amg.. and price tag was at 49k.. so i was just like wow thats a good deal, didnt think twice.. just told them ill take it.. but now that i looked into it, and actually became a mbz guy now.. i blame myself for it everyday

CWW

Jesus Christ.

You overpaid by around $19k. For an '03, you should have been out the door including T.T. & T. at $42k or so.

How many miles did your car have when you bought it?

III II I I AMG

35k mileage when i bought it.. i came from a acura, so 35k is brand new to me lol.. and sticker was 49k, and i also bought extended warranty which is like 6k for the highest package, and they got the tag for me, blah blah, and also months ago, i got into a accident with it and insurance company didnt want to cover it(lets not get into that) and im paying 16k out of my own pocket to get it fixed, so yea, a 03 76k e55 lol

TopGun32

ditto.

trans/torque converter replace for the jerking

pump

new clutch for the kompressor

no electrical issues at all..

U sure it was 03 E55 you heard with problems? I have a C32 and its plagued with electrical issues.

The E class is pretty solid.

CWW

Good GOD.

If you just bought it from a real Benz dealer, a CPO '03 with those miles should go for around $39k. If you bought the highest CPO warranty extension that mercedes offers, it would only be an additional $3900 and then the car would be covered for 36 months or 100k mi.

Add your taxes, title fees, and registration fees and you should still have been out the door for $45k-$46k, even including the warranty.

What happened with your accident that insurance wouldn't cover you? Insurance companies are absolute snakes....take my advice on this one, what they tell you doesn't matter...the truth may be totally different.

You need to get a lawyer. Odds are, your insurance company is just dicking you around and hoping that you'll go away. Once you have representation, they will promptly change their tune.

III II I I AMG

oh na, i hate trouble, i already paid the 16k for the repair, car should be done next week or so.. but i also switched insurance companies since the insurance company raised my rate and they didnt even pay for it, they said it just because i filed the claim, i really dont want to get into details about the incident and why they didnt want to pay for it.. but yea, i got ripped off on the sale of the car and got dicked by the insurance company

CWW

Lol....if you hate trouble, you shoulda gone for an E320

rahulanand1130

I payed 55k for my 03 e55 it wasnt so bad though because i traded in my truck for it which took a significant amount out of it. It had about 25k on the clock maybe less

charl1exbr0wn

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
so u paid 60,100 JANUARY OF 2007 for an 03 e55?
that much would have gotten you a nice 04 maybe 05

TopGun32

I paid $53k last August.

14k miles, CPO and Extended Warranty

all options except Navi and Pano.

Trust me.. I search the country.. found my car in Florida.

1 year ago 03's were low 50 and 04's were high 50's/low 60's.

The owner of my E55 took 3K loss on it.

Look at the new E63's.. From mid 90k to low 70's in 1 year. All luxury cars depreciate around the same %.

But the higher you pay.. more it appears.

IE:

25K Camry. 20% loss in 1 year. You loose around $6k
100k AMG 20% loss in 1 year. You loose $20k

casawhites4

so how much should i be able to find an 03 e55 for?? im lookin at two of them both around 45,000 and one comes with warranty and 68,000 miles and the other ones is 24,000 miles without warranty....is that crazy or what? just decided to sell my audi for an e55...so im a new guy here

TopGun32

that not bad..

low to mid 40's... private party

auction.. cheaper.. but you need access.

buy the warranty car. or shop around for one. They are expensive. 4 to 6k

CWW

Hate to disagree but, from what I've seen the last couple weeks, low to mid $40's should snag you an '04 with a decent amount of warranty left...not an '03.

The '03s have really tanked. They're all over autotrader.com and ebay for 30s/low 40s, and the '04s aren't far behind on the slide.

CWW

Also, Daimler-Chrysler Service Contracts quoted me around $3100 for a 3yr/100k mi $0 deductible extended warranty, same price for '03 or '04.

And the Benz dealers charge $3985 to extend the factory warranty up to 7yrs from the in-service date and 100k mi. Either way, the warranty prices really aren't that bad.

Considering that the actual factory CPO program is only $3985, I would never pay $6k for an aftermarket warranty. You also have to remember that aftermarket warranty prices vary from broker to broker and that there is something like a 50% markup on them. Most of what you're paying is dealer/broker profit.

III II I I AMG

well.. supposely the previous owner of my car traded it in, and they gave him 47k for it.. but again.. i didnt know about any mercedes,this car had everything i was looking for, and i had this much to spend, and also in such a rush, thats why i bought it.. oh well.. ill know to do my research next time, they had a maroon m5 the week after i bought mine for 66k, i asked if i could trade it in.. they said i need to pay a 20k difference.. im like whaaaaaat?

CWW

Ya, but what a dealer paid for the car on trade really has nothing to do with the actual value.

As an example, if you're buying a new SL600 at MSRP, then a dealer would be happy to give you $60k for the E55 if that's the only way the deal would get done, cause' he's making a $40k+ spread on the car you're buying. Even if he overpays for the trade by $20k, he's still making $20k profit on the deal, so he doesn't care. That doesn't mean the E55 is worth $60k by any means, though.

You have to know BOTH sides of the deal, not just one, in order for the figures to mean anything. When a dealer tells you some sob story about how much they're "into" the car for, turn around and ask him how much they netted off the sale of the car they traded for. I promise you, the story won't look so sad then.

Conversely, if some old lady brought in her used E55 as a trade and didn't know any better, the dealer would probably offer her $25k and pretend it was a great deal for her. If she was dumb enough to take it, then so be it...the dealer wins, but that certainly doesn't mean the car is really worth $25k.

You get the idea.