Yuille36

An AMG is supposed to have exclusivity, right? What can Mercedes-AMG due to combat the crumbling depreciation of their cars, well I have a suggestion.

The short answer to my own question, is that most dealerships don’t know how to sell a new AMG and they have little interest in selling them pre-owned. I proposed using the AMG Performance Centers to assist with increasing the residual values. As you know the typical AMG customer is different from the typical Mercedes Benz customer, so my thought is Mercedes-AMG should funnel off lease vehicles through the AMG Performance Centers thus ensuring that they are sold by dealers who know the product and have an interest in selling the product.

The other benefit would be that customers would know where to go to purchase a quality pre-owned AMG. I surmise that one of the issues with residual values is the spotty supply of used AMG cars. Consumers are fickle they want what they want when they want it or they'll want something else, so if they can’t find an AMG they will buy something else. Do you agree with my observation? I want to hear what the AMG owners think?

rondocap

It's really hard to pinpoint exactly why AMG's, and Mercedes in general, depreciate so quickly. Look at a 2006 S55/E55 vs a Porsche or even M5 of the same year, they do not depreciate nearly as fast. I would not pinpoint only the AMG's, I think the other regular cars from the MB lineup depreciate quickly too, look at the S500/S600, etc. Some niche cars seem to do a little bit better, like the SL.

Who knows - but the market speaks for itself. S65 AMG is the poster child for big depreciation. A 2006 is now in the 30's, and 40's. That's a huge hit. And the car is fantastic, it's not like they made a flop - perhaps the W221 helped this case to reduce the price, but even the W221 S65's go down fairly quickly vs a similar Bentley.

randallaguirre

Interesting you would say this. Last weekend my wife and I were shopping for a newer C350 for our "errands car". With gas spiking, the H2 is simply killing us. So, as we're cruising the parking lot with the sales guy he tells us he's got a low mileage "AMG" that we might be interested in...

In my mind I was thinking how he was belittling the value and most of all the prestige of real AMG ownership by lumping them in with any MB with AMG stamped in the wheels.

This sales guy had been there for 10 years.

bzliteyear

I suppose this is GOOD NEWS for those of us who like to find good gems, though I'm not sure about the new AMG center and logistics.

My sweet spot has been buying AMGs that are 4-5 yrs old for 20-25% of MSRP.
By then, most of the big depreciation has been taken...and I get 99% of the fun for a fraction of the price. Although my S600 is not an AMG, I think the depreciation was even worse than AMG, LOL. Heck, the S600 often goes for same or less than S55, and the sticker price was $25k more.

P.S. Funny story, I knew a guy who bought a new Ferrari F40 at the peak of the hysteria...he had 1200 miles on it after 10 yrs. I asked what he liked best about the F40, and he responded: The most exciting thing thing about the Ferrari was BUYING it...it's too uncomfortable for him to drive, thus it mainly sits...but he'll always have the memory.

Patrick

Jakpro1

100%, I am waiting a year or so to snag the TTE63 when it comes out for the massive 1st year depreciation savings.

Yuille36

This is good, we now have a debate!

NCE500

Agree that year 1 and 2 depreciation are pretty awful, but it's really not so bad after that.

+1, I'm going to get a lease turn-in CLS63 TT in 18 - 24 months.

emoving

Keep up the good work AMG! It allows me to buy cars like my CLS at half the cost with only 19000 miles! Love it! Best kept secret!

baldmike73

funny - i am thinking the same thing - until then i will continue to love the experience in my E55

badm

I totally agree "Emoving" ,, let them depreciate from 100 g's , their the BEST CAR values in High performance . I'm paying half value for a $100,000 dollar or so car. Also cars always depreciate to what You can sell them at. Not a Crowd of people buying or leasing $100,00 automobile.. Badm

emoving

Hey Badm,,,,,off topic but do you daily drive your CLS55?

buckeyewalt

I think that the past reliability issues are still around. If you look at all of the MB cars that are for sale most are under 50,000 miles, most AMG's are even less. The fact that AMG's are also a lot more costly maintain, I don't that helps the matter out. People tend to think reading everything that MB cars are not reliable, and for the most part, at one point they were not.

The best think that MBUSA can do to increase the value of our vehicles is to provide bumper to bumper maintenance like they used too,,,at least for the first 4 years. That would bring the confidence level back to our cars

skratch77

Tell Amg to double there warranty to 10 years 100k and build cars that wont cost a fortune to maintain after.

emoving

These cars are not that much to maintain. Lets face it, its not a Toyota or a Ford. You gotta pay to play. I just had all the fluids flushed (oil, tranny, brakes and coolant) and they charged me $500. Whats a Ford, $300. Front rotors are only $90 a piece now which is in line with any car with Brembros. If something BREAKS on a M, Pcar, Nissan GTR, CTS V, ect, it si gonna cost more then the cheap counter part. If we were that worried about it we would drive CLS550s and E500s.

emoving

Im glad people think the maint. is out of this world and parts are ungodly.....keeps em cheap for me as I already stated.

skratch77

We got lucky with our brakes.the older 55 and 63 use floating rotors and are over 700 a piece.tell me why a supercgarger clutch cost 1300 at the dealer plus 300 for install.

Or the 1600 dollar qoute I got for spark plugs.at 80 k when your air matic fails and you have to spend 5 grand you'll see what I mean

emoving

My AMG guy that does stuff outside the dealer for me at my house said he would do plugs for $150 and the suspension would be less then $2500 with labor IF it ever goes out. I dont know anyone that would pay a dealer to do anything out of warranty. It called resources. If you have them they will save you a ton, if you dont, you need to find them. Trying replacing suspension in a RS4 or try their floating rotors. We wont even talk about the GTR parts.

skratch77

Bottom line that is why our cars plumit.a lexus with 100k is far more reliable than our beasts.

I did shocks on my jeep for 16 bucks a pop at autozone

emoving

Its a ****ing Jeep bro! Is a 100k Lexus more reliable then a 100K E320. You have to compare apples to apples. My moms stupid Lexus Es300 with 100k just needed some stupid ABS,SRS,ESC sensor that Lexus said happens to all of them. It was $800 installed. I just sold my 97 E320 with 112k and it needed nothing since 80K. Its all relevant. But seriously....a Jeep bro.

220S

If you read the auto trade journals and all the lease data and residual data and other sources from the industry, there is one major reason for depreciation:

1) Perceived reliability and very high maintenance costs by consumers across the board.

The data also cites Jaguar, Maserati, and Aston Martin in the same group of high depreciating automobiles. Those cars are also high maintenance and low reliability.

In addition, they mention that AMG and Mercedes are limited in sales on the used market since the majority of buyers are primarily first owners. They claim that the price is driven down by a smaller group of bargain hunters while those who buy new cars will always buy new cars.

Also AMG suffers from an obscure label when compared to Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, etc.. However it was mentioned that Ferrari also suffers high depreciation due to the above fact: that buyers will buy new and buyers of used are a smaller group (i.e., if you can afford the maintenance on a used Ferrari, then you are more likely to be in the group who can afford a new one.)

Nonetheless, it's the high cost of maintenance and the reliability that drives down the resale value. That's the number one issue in car depreciation according to the industry.

AMGs are expensive to own and are not anything special in the eyes of the general auto consumer. Every kid has heard of the Porsche 997 or the BMW M3. Mention AMG and they'll say "old man's car."

Whether the reliability and maintenance costs are real, it's the perceived thing that is the problem. MB has suffered a lot of bad press and if anybody lands on this forum looking to buy a used AMG they get scared fast.....

skratch77

Who cares what about the jeep look up how much used honda accords sell for....there almost worth more than 03 55s.

I blew my diff in my m3 tracking it and had another off the forums in a day for 250 bucks.try and see what a used e55 open diff sells for.

Why do I have to pay over a grand for a stupid clutch that consists of a bearing 3 shims and a clutch pack.it should be 350 tops since the bearing can be found for 90 on eBay

220S

^^^^

Exactly. This is what drives the used prices way down. High repair and parts costs.

And yep, a used Honda is more than a used MB. And look at the used prices now for even the latest W212s. They are dropping in the same way. MBs have major depreciation, and it has nothing to do with salespeople at the dealerships. MB gouges everybody on parts costs.....

AMGfan

...and labor!

Stephen04E55

My W220 2006 S65 was 176K sticker in 2006 and purchased in 2010 as a CPO car for 60K! Love that depreciation. I love the car too.

abiazis

My 2005 SL 65 AMG was $ 193,000 new and I bought in 2009 for $ 66K with 26K miles.......couldn't believe it........great car for the price....