60nomad

No one could agree more about overpaying here but the one I mentioned was a white car (which bring more $$) with every option except pano and I agree that it was too high but it sold on craigslist..not even nationally advertised! Just going with retail numbers which is what insurance pays.

DLLHG: You mentioned about buying an 05 with 60k mi for $17k and saw another for similar money...they sell for more than that or right around that at Manheim (wholesale dealer auction) and 'they' need something or they are blue or some weirdo color! I thought my car was cheap, an 04 with 78k for $16500 and it needed a few things but came with the idler pulley. You seem to find the least expensive cars in the country. Maybe you should quit your day job!

forcefed4door

i thought there were other odds n ends the car had over regular 55 like double stiching and illuminated door sills. def. buy it back and part the car.

CcAMG

Yes double stitching illuminated door sills distronic and nav which both wernt options in 03, I think a few other small things I will have to check the original window sticker.


Last year I attempted to purchase part of the carbon trim from Mercedes because the part around the shifter was peeling up, it took them over a month to source it and ending up you could only purchase the ENTIRE carbon trim kit which there is 1 of in Germany and list price was $17k haha needless to say I did not get it.

djrabbi

They might be giving you $21k based on other E55s. You should show them the window sticker maybe.

novae500

Buy back and part out the car on year. Many parts will be bought up from members on here

dllhg

LOL, yeah I do pretty good at shopping. We got our 04 Cayenne Turbo for $16,500 and it even had brand new $1500 tires, new brakes, $3000 repair to the intake manifold (common problem with the early gens) I flew up to Washington the same day and drove it back down 890 miles. Was worth it to save about $4K on booked value alone let alone all the things that were done to it.

Got my 06 GTO with 13K in mods done to it for $17K and the car with no mods sells for 17-18K I had the nerve to haggle with the guy and got him down a few more thousand. Cash is king !

SMB123

wanna sell the front bumper? with fogs and center grill

BBBSS

My 03 came with distronic. Maybe it was just really rare? I looked online and couldnt find another 03 with distronic currently for sale though. Maybe I havs a vice presidential edition? Lol

BBBSS

Nevermind found 2 on autotrader currently for sale.

WPOZZZ

I'm with the other guys that say take the money and run. Mercedes, especially an AMG depreciated rapidly and the insurance adjuster uses the cash value of the car to get your payout amount. We all think our car are worth a mint because we love them, but when you are dealing with an insurer with millions of cars on policy, they don't/won't try too hard. Next time, if you want to avoid the hassles on a rare car, get a collector car stated value policy. That is what I do for my collector cars.

Carterhkrs

If u buy cars cash no wonder why u get em so cheap, i got mine 05 for 20k with tax but still need to put couple of grand to make it run flawless and couple grand to make it look as i wish

Lawrence1

i briefly remember reading some of your previous posts.

Your E55 is a SALVAGE title. that's why you got it for less than what other comparable clear title cars are selling for. you might want to mention that when you share how much you paid for the car in the future.

You can't exactly compare salvage title prices with cars being discussed in this thread.

60nomad

DLLHG: SALVAGE TITLE! YOU GOT ROBBED! Salvage title cars are worth 50-65% of clean title cars! Mine is a clean carfax and title!

to you LAWRENCE1

moosejaw

+1

novae500

Damn

dllhg

LOL, win for the clueless..... First of all it depends on the reason for salvage that determines the value. Oh and also the value is exactly what someone is willing to pay which was $16.5K . KBB and Carfax both put my purchase exactly where it should have been or a little higher. Mine was not in an accident nor was it in a flood. It was vandalized by some pissed off girlfriend who took a knife to the interior and the exterior which was all repaired. I saw the before pics and it was listed as $22K in damage. I'll take that any day over the same model year car with 70-90K miles for a few thousand more ,but thanks for your comments. An 05 with my options and miles books out closer to 24K. Like I said I saw a local sell a 2003 with 60K miles for $19K even thought it only booked out at $13K. Good deals and bad deals out here like anything else. I grabbed by far the best deal out there for the time period I searched and believe me I searched. Guys like you just sound butt hurt because you over paid on your ride. Otherwise it doesnt make sense.

FYI my Cayenne and GTO have perfect titles on them and both were as good or better deals. Nice try though.

BBBSS

So what state is the easiest to "wash" a title through now a days?

sloanbj

Car fax make title washing much harder than it used to be.

forcefed4door

only problem is resale for the car is gonna be really bad. and most people will not buy a car with salvage title regardless. I would never buy a car with aftermarket paint . it may look good now but one chip in it can cause domino effect with surrounding paint. good luck with the car regardless

60nomad

[QUOTE=forcefed4door;5592432]only problem is resale for the car is gonna be really bad. and most people will not buy a car with salvage title regardless. I would never buy a car with aftermarket paint.

100% correct!!!

I am sure your car is great for you with a slavage title but when you sell it you will get pennies on the dollar! It's as simple as that! I go to auctions, I have many, many cars and know the market as good as anyone. For what you posted earlier in this thread about your 'deal' on your car was only a curveball that threw me and anyone else reading it without disclosing that it was a salvage car! Me and others are only telling you the cold hard truth about values of salvage cars...especially mercedes cars! So, I am sure that you disagree with us so let's start a poll...

Who here would buy a slavage titled E55 or E63? This will show you how many buyers that you will have when you would like to get rid of your car! The car is an 05 with 60k miles and it was $17k (I don't know color, options, condition or if anything was needed) so let's assume that it was decent color and in decent shape. Let the poll begin with me...

I'm out!

...but I am in for $12k.

radride

^^I would never buy a salvaged car no matter what brand it was and how good it was fixed.

R.K.

kompressede

I wouldn't, and haven't bought any salvage title cars.
*Unless it was dirt cheap and I needed parts.
Resale sucks!

Back to OP - What ever happend with the insurance $ for your car?

3BNick

Best of luck to the OP on settling with the insurance company and getting a fair amount for a car that is super rare among its breed.

As far as salvage title cars go...The car is worth exactly what the buyer wants to pay. Nothing more. It may be a nice E55 but it can in no way be compared to an equally nice car with a clean title. That being said, I bought my 06 E55 from Manheim as I have a dealer license. The car is a salvage title due to prior vandalism which was fully repaired prior to purchase and is fully loaded with pano, keyless, sat nav, dynamic xenons and seats with 71k miles. The only thing I really had to do to the car to get it up to snuff was replace a worn oil pump. What did I pay for the car? $12,900. Why did I pay so little for such a nice car? Because with the title that was all it was worth to ME. Being in the automotive business, I know resale on the car is garbage and no one will be able to finance it so i'm stuck with it and I couldn't be happier. Best performance bargain for the dollar bar none. Salvage title cars work for some. For those who only wish to have clean title cars? That is entirely their choice and is a perfectly fine choice.

stockC43

Jut thought I would post this. This is why people are afraid or stay away from salvage cars. This poor sucker bought a cls55 as a repaired salvage car. Brought it to my dealer to figure out why the airmatic light was on. Could it be that exhaust pipe welded in place of a air spring. . FYI the outside looked somewhat decent. At least to the average person.

60nomad

As far as salvage title cars go... What did I pay for the car? $12,900. Why did I pay so little for such a nice car? Because with the title that was all it was worth to ME. Being in the automotive business, I know resale on the car is garbage and no one will be able to finance it so i'm stuck with it and I couldn't be happier. [/QUOTE]

As I mentioned Nick: You are right on the money...as I mentioned, I would pay $12.9k in a second for an '06 and mod the sh*t out of it and be thrilled to death!