Wish4_e55Wagon

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/265232-2005-e55-amg-sale.html

If you were considering 40K give this member a shout in case his deal with the Dealership falls through. The car looks pretty sweet and well cared for. I don't know any other details. Good Luck.

mchapparone

The term "You get what you pay for" is something a lot of people these days have completely forgotten about.

It's a shame that the value of these cars are being driven down by people who think that EVERY '03 is worth $26,000, EVERY '04 is worth $29,000 and EVERY '05 is worth $32,000.

EVERY car is different...if you find one that is in pristine shape PAY FOR IT because most of these cars that you see for sale at used car lots (yes, MB lots are included) are beat up lease turn-ins.

I could go on for paragraphs here, but I'm sure you all catch my drift.

Wish4_e55Wagon

I'm in the market for a Wagon. I think the chances of getting a beat up Wagon is rare, but I could be wrong. Most aren't modded and are leased to old Granny's or Soccer Moms who have now idea what they are driving (so I'd like to think). Problem is, there aren't that many around so pricing is not all over the place like the sedans. The past 9 mos I have seen less than 10 wagons for sale and pricing variance for 05/06 is $38K - $49K. Small dealers will price towards the lower and MBZ CPO are priced at the higher end. I figure wholesale pricing is around mid 30s +/-

Blacksport350

So true...buyers just don't get it! A perfect 25K mile '03 is worth more than an average condition '05 with 40K miles in my book.

CWW

I agree with you, but only to an extent.

For me, the car's condition really becomes more of an instant deal-breaker rather than a negotiating point. If I see a bunch of stuff wrong with the car, especially stuff like the paint that I can't fix, then I don't care what price they offer me I'm still not going to buy it.

Once the condition checks out, then the price ALSO needs to be reasonable on top of that. It's kind of like step #1 and then step #2, and the two are separate.

If the car is in good condition then sure I will go higher on price, sure, but it will still need to track bluebook or edmunds "excellent" condition valuation. A lot of the private sellers I ran into when I was shopping, their cars were like $10k+ overpriced, even taking into account the condition. That's ridiculous. They're also never going to sell it, since you gotta figure most people probably will want to finance the car, and because of the price you're in a situation where even with a 20%+ down payment, the bank will laugh because the balance is still higher than the book loan value. Most of these guys are just wasting time, both the prospective buyer's and their own.

isellpower

No need to think it, it's true. Not hard to find examples in that range.

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/269415-sale-real-2003-e55-amg-28k-53k-miles-cpo.html

Improviz

Just curious: is your intention here to drive down prices, or what? Of the twelve posts you've made since joining, 3/4 (nine) have been either telling people they're asking too much, or that the deals they've found are too high, etc. etc...

The point is, as someone else said, condition has a lot to do with it. And to hold up the lowest-priced car you can find on ebay as The Gold Standard is patently ridiculous.

Busta Riles

As an MB salesman, i also believe every car is different. I was thinking of buying an 09 E350 4Matic, until i came across an absolute pin E55. I wanted all the extra equipment that came with the new 350, but one drive of the 55 changed my mind.

I now own the only E55 within at least 300 miles of my city, and it's a 2004 Black with Blue/Black interior and only 17000miles...the guy who owned it before me was a freak about his car. It is literally brand new.

I paid 7K over xcln book value without even blinking.

Would i pay that much for a different one? Not likely. (i would've bought the new 350) There were 2 others that aren't too far away from me that i could have looked at, and they were asking less than i paid, BUT...i have a car that i KNOW the history of. No accidents or paintwork of any kind, no warranty issues aside from recalls & TSBs.

People come in to our dealership every day or phone in to ask for prices on cars. Their reaction is generally the same, regardless if the price is actually reasonable or not...."That seems a little high" or "That's wayyyy too much. I can get one of those elsewhere for 3K less"

1. Nobody ever pays asking price
2. Every car has a different history

I recently had a guy dealing on an SL55 that we have in stock that has 13,000miles on it. We were selling it for $100k (CDN). He looooved the car, but couldn't see the value in it....."I can get one of those for way less"....So, he went and found one "similar" to ours and paid 30k less...except it was 2 years older and has 120,000miles on it!!!!!

This guy has spent 15K in repairs on it since he bought it a month ago.

Who, in their right mind would want to own an SL55 with 120,000 miles on the clock?

I apologize for the long-winded response...it's a slow night.