rich644

Gentlemen,

My 2007 E63 Wagon lease is up in 45 days, It has 30K on the odo, and the buy out is $39,500. it is lightly optioned, (no parktronic, keyless start or back up camera) but has Nav. Sticker was in the mid $90s

I know these things drop like a rock and I am nervous about owning this out of warranty, but I have been informed that the E63 wagon is no more (at least in the USA) likely never to return. (I like 500hp wagons for some odd reason)

What would you do?

Thanks in advance.

Mantooth

I would keep it. That seems like a pretty decent price. You could even opt for an aftermarket warranty if you wanted.

mikey33

Depending on your financial situation and how much you love the car, but the wagon is rare indeed

MB_Forever

If you like the car and it hasn't given you too many problems, I would say keep it. Make sure you invest in a good extended warranty and you should be good to go

If not keeping it, what other cars were you considering?

FASN8N

That sounds like a pretty good deal? Can you extend the factory warranty through MBZ?
Worse case scenario, you could probably sell the car for more than $39.5k

Nstar

Great price. A keeper for sure.

rich644

I appreciate the replys, I wasn't sure what the going rate was for one of these wagons as there isn't much price data since they only seemed to bring in about 70 or so a year. (probably why they are no longer offering it) I was hoping to roll it into a 2011 AMG but:
A, they no longer offer a wagon, and
B, the AMG lease programs aren't nearly as attractive as they were 3 years ago.

It's a company car , and its hard to depreciate a purchase on a highline passenger car (you can expense a lease, though) but as long as there is positive equity in it , I might as well buy it out, even if it means a tax hit.

Since I can't have another wagon, The only other car I want is a Mercedes CL (Much more than we should be spending) or a heavily discounted leftover 2010 Aston Martin V8 vantage. (similar purchase price but no leasing option which makes it hard to run through the company)

chawkins2001

Turn it loose man. There are so many good performance cars out there now and not enough time to experience them all. I say go fo it and don't look back.

fromthebeginnin

I haven't leased a MB for the last two cars, but the cars before I worked this trick and worked out for me, they were bank leases vs MB. I extended month to month (they kept the same rate), after three months I called back and asked them what they would take for it and both times it was around 25% less than the residual. I tried to get it out of the normal return process, then all they wanted to do was move it out. The last car I did this with was about 6 years ago, a 2000S. Might be worth a try but I didn't work the sale price until was into the month to month. Good luck you have a desirable car.

220S

The MBUSA AMG product managers say that the wagon has the green light to arrive here. They did write up a business proposal a while ago and sent it to Daimler.

And my dealer also said that the wagon will be here in 2012 as a 2013 model with the TT motor (although the dealership is a big one, I'm still not sure I'd trust that 100%.)

Can't you extend the warranty since you're the original owner? Or doesn't that work if you're a lessee and not a buyer? Original owners are eligible to buy an extended factory warranty before the first 4/50 one is over.

Tom_Boy

I'd flip it back to your local dealer, let them CPO it and then buy it back with the max warranty possible.. (3 more years on top of the factory warranty), then if you want to sell it, you'll have a great motivational reason to get top dollar, plus the wagon's are always a hot item anyway!

NorseWagon

What color is it......?

220S

Good idea. I forgot about that. I've read that people do that pretty successfully.

tscales

All I know is I won't give up our E55 wagon until I can get a new one (preferably AWD).

Uber Wagon

If you still like it - keep it.

If I HAD TO get a new car right now, I'd go CTS-V wagon and get a stick.

bobbymatthews

Get the new ml63
More room , more kids and wastes more gas.
Whats not to love

NCE500

At that price I'd keep it. I would get an extended warranty, from MB if you can, or from a 3rd party like EasyCare before the original 4/50 warranty expires.

Speedriven1

The E63 isn't likely to return as a naturally aspirated 6.2 because that motor is being phased out - replaced by a biturbo V8. Your financial situation may mean you can spend $40k and just have the car as a toy, but if you plan on tuning it down the road you'd be much better served waiting on the turbo cars.

Speedriven1

Good idea, actually. Will your dealer offer you an extended warranty?

Speedriven1

E wagon seats 7. ML seats 5.

E wagon has more cubic feet of interior room.

E weighs several hundred pounds less than ML (faster).

Both cars burn about the same gas on the highway ... and why is wasting gas something to love, anyway?

... am I not getting the joke?

rich644

You all have been very helpful! thanks for the advice. We can afford to buy it, but having the company lease it meant I was paying for it with 50 cent dollars. Buying it will not be a taxable expense and will have to be depreciated over about 15 years. (the IRS hates people who drive anything nicer than a Taurus)

I may just hold on to until it until 2012/13 as other posters have suggested and get the extended warranty, I will check with my dealer on the CPO option as well.

@Bobby Jones, while that is an interesting alternative. I actually had an 2001 ML430 prior to this , and it was the worst lemon I ever owned. I can't tell you how many times I drove to work in my '69 280sl because the stinkin' ML broke down. I understand they are more reliable now, but even so, its higher center of gravity doesn't give me much confedence in the turns.

jmsod

Can you purchase an extended warranty? I agree about owning a high performance car like this outside of the warranty. A major and sometimes even a relatively minor repair can get quite expensive.

Vic55

All lease residuals are a percentage of MSRP- so it really depends on when you leased it. Before the economy turned back in 2008 residuals were sky high and so one's payment was reasonable but the buyout would not be so fruitful.

But after used car values plummeted many banks dropped their residuals due to uncertainty of future value. No bank wants a fleet of cars coming back. I remember back in the late 90's GE Capital had a Camry lease where the residuals were over 80% for a 2 year lease. Well they lease a ton of cars and got all of them back because the car dropped way more than 20 percent of sticker over those 2 years. Needless to say, the creator of that program was let go.

When did you lease the car, what bank, what term? If your sticker was in the mid 90's and I take out the gas guzz tax and your buyout is 39500- Id guess your residual was around 43% (based on a 92k msrp after gas guzz removed). And your term would be 4 years since you wouldnt have got a 2007 E63 in Feb of 2006 (60 months) and you wouldnt have probably leased a new 2007 in Feb of 2008 (36 months). 39500 might be too rich in todays enviro IMHO.

Give it back.

Somewhat apples vs oranges but here are the latest sales at the auction on 2007 E63's:

12/15/10 W PALM Lease $29,000 59,174 Avg C775 8G A Yes
12/21/10 NEVADA Lease $26,500 72,188 Below OBS BLK 8G A Yes
12/21/10 FAAO Lease $31,000 49,632 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes
01/03/11 NASHVILL Lease $34,300 39,236 Above SILVER 8G A Yes
01/04/11 OHIO Regular $30,900 63,217 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes
01/05/11 ATLANTA Lease $34,000 27,265 Above ARC WHT 8G A Yes
01/06/11 MANHEIM Regular $28,750 70,955 Avg BLACK 8G A Yes



©2010 Manheim. All rights reserved

220S

Are those prices all sedans? How much premium is there on a wagon? Or is there no premium in the real world of 'cars as commodities?'

Wagons are rare to enthusiasts but does that mean anything in the market?

rich644

Wow! These auction values are less that I would have thought.

If you are interested

I bought it as a left over 2007, on Jan 1st 2008 with a 39 month lease through mercedes benz financial. with a 12,000 mile/year mileage allowance

The sticker was $88775 + the dealer retrofitted the nav module ($2000?)

The capitalized cost was $71450 + $795 acquisition fee (It was on the lot for over a year had some demo miles and he was anxious to dispose of it)

purchase option is $39,575 (55% residual ?)
If i turn it in, there is a $595 charge


Thanks for the guidance this may effect my descision. although with a $10k spread between the residual and auction prices they may be willing to negotiate the residual.