hionbusa

Hello Fellows,
I've been on this board a while back with a clk55amg . Few cars later I'm back on the market for a benz.

03-05 e55. my budget is 25k tops.


there is a one for sale with all options (which is important to me ) in my area but somewhat high miles 90k. (motor mounts & brakes replaced ,decent shape ).
Asking $21k .

Do you guys consider that a fair price?

I was hoping to save on the price to be able to get a warranty for it . its an 04+ i only drive 12k miles per year and keep cars no more than 18 months.

Any input appreciate including what to look for .

BenJ

With the higher mileage it will be difficult to find a warranty for it. That being said, you can look into the Chrysler factory plan (not sure if they have a mileage limit, but they will require the car to be fully inspected at a certified Mercedes dealership), or an aftermarket company such as AA Automotive (AA will probably cover you but they have a payout limit of $3k per incident so roll the dice on that one). Other warranty companies such as easy care and fidelity will not warranty the E55 because it is an AMG and Direct Buy warranty will want something ridiculous like 10k for their warranty plan, just a heads up.

hionbusa

would you go for
an 05 e55 with 44kmiles for $28k or

an 04 e55 with 90kmiles $19k and get warranty.

same options on both cars....
thanks

Blacksport350

I would NEVER buy an E55 with high-miles as you are asking for trouble and will pay out more than you save in maintenance. You are better off looking harder, upping your budget, or buying something else altogether different with much lower miles.

As a data point, I just sold my '03 with 28K miles, 6 months of CPO Warranty, Exhaust, E63 front end conversion, MP Wheel, all the right options, etc, for $26,500. There are great cars out there around your price range, you just have to be patient!!!!!!

Blacksport350

Neither...if you can't afford to get the warranty on the 44K '05, I would wait until you find an '03 or '04 with 40K or less that is in a price rang where you can afford to add a warranty to it.

If you put a gun to my head and made my choose, I would take the '05 with 28K and no warranty. I would no that it would cost me $$$$ to maintain but I would also feel better knowing that I wasn't buying a car that was getting close to the end of its life cycle. There are plenty of E55s that have gone well in excess of 100K miles but so much stuff is simply wearing out at this milage that it is not even funny. Cars don't last for ever and within reason, miles will kill long before time!

SANDOVAL

I am surprised but you can get a warranty from Chrysler for a 90K 04E55. 1Yr $2400 or $3600 for 2Yr.

Personally I would set my budget and find the newest car, most options, car with under 50K miles and get a warranty for the number of years you think you will keep it. You can get 0% financing for 12 months on the www.chryslerfactoryplans.com. That $9K saving is the cost of a transmission.

Example in the last 18 months I had a strut go out, fuel tank leak, pulley tensioner, SC Flange and supercharger clutch pack replaced. $6100 in repairs.

Last point which really has significant impact on a decision. If both cars were taken care of equally.... Comparing a 44K mi car Vs. a 90K mi car.... You have more than 2X the wear and tear from a miles perspective. I would expect all aspects of the car to be worn (Paint, Leather, carpet, rubber bushings, suspension, anything mechanical, etc.)

hionbusa

Make sense... Ii'm leaning towards the lower mileage car.
My whole thing was to find the best value for the price. I dont mind throwing in an extra $5k for the right car .

I just spotted an 06 55kmiles for 29k. What are some of the little differences between 05 and 06?
Thanks.

BelaMeca

Why are you guys so affraid of getting a higher mileage E55.You are giving it a bad rep.
Seems like our cars are S*** and not worth anything after a while.That is hard to believe.Especially after hearing how the engines are bullet proof and the transmission also.
I look at some of them in Europe and they are well over 200k miles and still running fine.Maintenance is key word here,for any car.Let's say,we all know the Air Suspension is problematic.Well the first thing i would do is make sure that was taken care of,then what else?Check the SC,the IE,engine mounts and then also regular maintenance records,like oil changes,brakes,etc.I think you should be fine.It never hurts to have a warranty,but makes sure first you are buying a GOOD CAR!You can buy a car with low miles which was never driven properly ann nothing was EVER done to it,just for that reason,because it's low miles.A Car with higher miles has most likley encountered all of the usual problems and hick up's and it was delt with.

hionbusa

The 04 with 90k miles had motor mounts changed, new brake job and was a starmark car. The selling dealer specializes in amg cars. After checking the chrysler warranty, this is giving a second thought at things.

As belameca mentioned, a lower mileage car doesn't guarantee a better car.

Sometimes a low mile car stays in the garage a second or third driver and no maintenance gets done on it.Or , it's in the shop so much that it doesn't get driven as much .

The main thing that hurts here is the marketability of the car when you want to sell it . Obviously, 140k mile car is at the bottom of a shoppers list for the same reasons..