baldmike73

I am going to be making my E my daily driver!!!!!

Goign to lighten up and get rid of my 202 and start taking advantage of the E just sitting in the garage collecting dust!!!!

rlh23

It's my daily driver. I guess that's why I look forward to my drive daily

MB_Forever

You have got to enjoy these cars everyday to really appreciate them. Don't let them sit in the garage (mostly) unused for years until a new car is out and you get one. They are meant to be driven daily and meant to put a smile on the driver's face with every single drive

220S

Agree. And plus their value drops sitting or not. They aren't collector cars and the only value is their use value. If you aren't using them, it's like money sitting in the bank with no interest but plenty of inflation going on.

Hammer Down

I smile everyday that I see my car whether I drive it or not and when I see the front end of my acura all rock chipped out I smile even more

jdeastbay

Welcome to the club. Have 2 DD-ers for wife and I

MrKool

I guess some ppl just like looking at the car while others actually enjoy driving it. I actually like both so I stare at it for a minute and then roll.

MB_Forever

LOL, that's what wax and clear protective film is for. I drive my car daily and do NOT have ONE single rock chip (and I mean that literally). Rock chips are unavoidable whether you drive your car 1 mile a year or 10,000 miles a year because it could happen on that 1 mile that you drive. All you can do is protect the car as much as possible.

In my opinion, if you spend $90k on a luxury sedan, you should enjoy it by driving it as much as you can (not just look at it ), so that you can at least get the enjoyment value out of it. The $90k car is now worth $30k and in 4 to 5 years will probably be worth less than $20k (yes, less than a brand new camry or honda). Also, all the new models will be out and you'll eventually want to get one. In that case, all you'll have done by garaging the car is take care of it for the next owner . Basically, you'll have spent $70k to look at the car sitting in the garage

Speaking of the new models, I heard the CLS63 TT will be available in April of 2011 which is less than 5 months away

Hammer Down

come up with whatever depreciating numbers you want, since I was 16 I have never driven my cars a great deal. I let my 69 & 70 Mach 1 sit in the garage and drove my dads car to high school. I put 4500 miles in 2.5 years on my vette when I had it and I've put 11k on my E55 in six years I don't care about new models coming out as I'm done with spending $80-100k on cars.

MB_Forever

So did you end-up selling the vette? If so, all your hardwork to keep the car clean is only good for the next owner. By the way, I didn't mean to argue about this, I was only stating my opinion. And I did not come up with these numbers, these are just examples from the current market value pricing. You can even check them out yourself. I don't think I would spend $100k on a car either I would either lease it for a few years or buy a lightly used one for $40k. Loosing $10k during ownership would be better than losing $60k to $70k during ownership At some point, you'll sell the E-Class as well (only a matter of time) but you won't have enjoyed driving it as much as you would've wanted to (I think).

Hammer Down

Yeah I had to sell the vette because I took a position in AZ and I couldn't keep it and two other cars. I enjoyed showing it in concours for two years and I have 14 trophies to show for it!

Jon2007E63P30

So, MB_Forever, how many miles do you have?

I am at 62,000.

220S

fwiw, these are just not collector cars. They don't appreciate in value. Maybe a very low mileage pristine example might be worth something in 25-30 years from now. I don't know of any serious collector who has an E55 or E63 in their collection

I keep the mileage down on my 993 only because it's depreciated very little and holds its value. Low mileage helps quite a lot in the eventual resale. But I would never do that with a modern 997. It makes no sense, imho. The car would be depreciating rapidly as it sits there doing nothing. It becomes nothing more than a big pretty ornament to stare at.

lawguy

My "new" 2007 is at 18,363. I thank the prior owner for not driving it - LOL. However, its my DD and I will put 15k a year, if not more on it, gladly. Love seeing it waiting in the morning, love taking her to lunch, and love the ride home.

In a perfect world, I'd have another DD to drive too, but my mortgage, retirement savings and those 3 pesky kids who expect to go to college definitely crimp my style. LOL. Thus, I opted for the nicest DD I could find.

tscales

To each his own. I've owned my 996TT for 23 months. I've put about 18K miles on it.

I've owned the E55 for 3 years and put over 30K miles on it.

They're cars that I love to drive. Let's face it, I avoid the mini-van if I can (not always easy with three 4 and under.

bzliteyear

Actually, it's more like having the $60k in the bank but the bank let's someone take $10k/yr out of it for 4 yrs - and you can't stop it. Therefore, you might as well go into the bank daily and enjoy the free coffee and donuts.
PL

baldmike73

its not like i don't enjoy driving the **** out of the E but sitting on the 101 in the Bay Area in the morning didn't make sense when I had the 202 at home -

rondocap

The best value you can get out of these is to drive, of course your maintenance also may increase a bit the more you drive - tires, brakes, stuff like that. I drive 40k miles a year on my S55! AMG's are great daily drivers, that's what they are meant for - they are not just sports or track cars, but still comfortable, feature-filled cars.

izzyz28

I've put 37,000 miles on my car in the last 18 months, and it's depreciated maybe $7k or so since I bought it. Not bad at all for any DD.

MB_Forever

I think mine is still in the high 20s but that's because my commute distance is relatively short. Wow, you really drive your car Jon now that's what I call getting your money's worth

B on my Benz

i thought i drove a lot yearly but thanks fellas i feel a lot better noww

MrKool

same here. Thx everybody for makin me feel better...

jpohl402

These cars were meant, designed, and fully intended to be daily drivers.
Anyone that disagrees is wrong. Sorry but they are comfortable, grand touring sedans.

I absolutely love the THREE W211's I have owned,
but in the scheme of things, these cars (even AMGs) are really not that special.
They look pretty much like every other MB on the road, which are a dime a dozens in most large US cities.

When you guys go drive a 360-CS or Murci, you will know why these cars are not driven every day - they are not very comfortable, ride is stiff, 430 Scud for instance has no carpet, some have no radios, GT3RS's can be ordered with NO A/C - etc....
An E-class Mercedes is the Epitome of Grand Touring.
HELL - Even an SLR can be driven EVERY SINGLE DAY FOLKS.
I know a guy with 20k on his.... and a gentleman in Jersey has 60k on his SLR.

As Jim Glickenhaus says (insert MB in place of Ferrari as it makes it MUCH more true) -- "Not driving your Ferrari is like not having sex with your girl-friend, to make her more desirable for her next boy-friend !!!"
Enjoy your cars.

BrianS

Mine's basically a daily driver and it just turned 100K miles a couple of days ago on Monday. It's still running great.

nanayaw6

I love this thread. And here I was feeling guilty about driving the heck out of my car. Got mine basically because I drive a lot and I like to move quickly occasionally and above all take long trips quite often. That said I needed a quick but comfy cruise missile and thats what my E55 is to me. Also I think besides scheduled maintenance, things break less the more these cars are driven.