E55Freak

I have not been to this forum in a while but I spotted this 04' E55 at this dealer and was wanting to take a look but why the huge difference in price between them and edmunds. I'm not sure how reliable edmunds is but we are talking a pretty significant marking up from "trade in" to their retail.

Here is the car link http://www.mbwestminster.com/used/Me...a64bb677a2.htm
any help would be nice....

Sir-Boost-a-Lot

iTrader: (1)

What's that supposed to mean? Is the KBB and Edmunds listing supposed to be a price sheet for cars? It's a rare car, probably clean as hell, and they don't give a **** what Edmunds says its worth. Those guides are often way off on specialty cars.

BBBSS

Seems these cars are loving the low/mid 20's asking prices. Its a TON of car for the money. They've kinda plateaued a bit price wise it seems. If it doesn't sell the price will go down, I suspect they won't have a lot of trouble moving it though. The word on there cars being a great deal seems to be spreading more and more lately.

1badassbenz

Edmunds lists it anywhere from $9,000 trade in value, $11,000 private party & $13,000 dealer pricing That's ridiculous and a bunch These cars have dropped huge already. Who ever thinks this is the current value of a car like this , is

AgSilver

Nothing accelerates faster than the depreciation of an AMG.

urbamworm

People need to keep the prices up and not give these things away. It is like a Supra for example, the things are much older than ours and still go for over $20k, our cars are fairly rare as well and getting rarer by the day as some are wrecked. Like said above, these cars give you so much car all around, good room for several people, great power and luxury on top.

V12Godspeed

E55's will sit in the low 20's for quite some time. If I was to put my EV12 back to stock I would not sell for anything less than 25-27K. Serious as a heart attack.

efiftyfizzle

That's what I'm saying... these cars' depreciation needs to slow down now because where else can you get a 500hp luxury car for 20k? One thing modders / tuners used to boast about was how much money they'd save by modding their older cars, but nowadays if you want a reliable 500hp, you're going to be spending at least 20k.

KMS11

The real problem I think is that the auto market is simply flooded by the manufacturers. More cars are always coming which inherently pushes prices of older models down.

E55Freak

Thanks for the replies..i am still gonna try to get this for less than 20k...hopefully it works out. I am acutally looking at an 04 and 05 both in the low 20's...

moosejaw

MKIV Supras are pretty much todays next classic car. they have four things going for them.

Nothing looks like it on the road today
Bulletproof Motor
Easy to mod with great #s
Easy to maintain

The E55 is a AMG a name that has been whored out by Mercedes.
Now you can step into a AMG for as little as $50K brand new
The brand has been diluted, idiots sell them with no knowledge of the brand or the history and they are produced in the thousands as opposed to the hundreds.

Worse thing is these cars are now being pursued by people who have owned hondas and toyotas, they see the KBB price and want to haggle. I was lucky to sell my C32 for $13.5K

ArmoE55

Let's not get out of hand here ...

efiftyfizzle

What's so out of hand about that?

ArmoE55

I don't consider a Supra that teens nut over a classic car by any means; no matter the rarity of a pristine condition one. It's a decently fast production with crazy potential with some BPUs.

FWIW, I owned a 97 T for a little over two years.

My .02

Baronet1

yea.......................I agree with ArmoE55 on this one.

Def not a classic

efiftyfizzle

You don't consider it a classic now... but it will be eventually. It was a car that was ahead of its time in technology / styling and even to this day the styling is pretty modern for a car that's 20 years old. If not classic, it will ultimately go down as one of the best tuner cars ever... that in itself is what should qualify it for a classic.

WoodyBang

MKIV Supra's seem to be appreciating at this point. I'd call that a trait of a classic in the making.

sloanbj

Supras are very reliable and easy n cheap to work on. MB tend to be unreliable and expensive to repair. What many around here are quoting for annual repair bills is equal to the lease payments on a new year model of their car. Why own a used one?

WoodyBang

More like why own a used one if you can't work on it yourself.

baldmike73

that must make my super clean 04 with 67k on it worth $25-$26

LOL - love the quote "nothing accelerates faster than the depreciation of an AMG car" - so true but tons of people keep buying them!!!!

moosejaw

Look at this fact.......A Mitsubishi EVO compared to a E55 at less than half the price brand new same model year, same miles. Guess which is worth more?
And both cars are based on less expensive models

Quattrodude

I have no affiliation - but here is a nice 06 white E55...for 26K of course you can neg. a little with the dealer...

http://freemanmotor.com/autos/merced...lass-e13m0677/?

Maybe it is location?

Ah - I wish I had a white one...to late now.

KMS11

I agree with Moosejaw, manufacturers are not interested in the residual value of these cars, only in moving them off the showroom floor when new and getting buyers of new cars into the showroom in the first place. If a niche brand like AMG or M series for BMW gets diluted, then so be it. Their motivation as manufacturer and sellers is simply different from our own.

Go over to Ferrarichat and read up on complaints of depreciation on those cars. These aren't 50's or 60's built cars raced by some legend. They are relatively reliable appliances now, fast as they may be. No more, no less, and like Dorito chips, they keep making more.

forcefed4door

I had 94 supra for a year. 130k miles. paid 31k for it. was single turbo 6spd. stock bottom end and just over 700whp. also had widened oem rear wheels with 315 mt et. streets. was fast for sure. but a long with a 1994 comes creaks,rattles, and oldness. I sold the car after I gave it a whooping with a bad piston ring. still got 29k$ for it!. I'm not gonna lie I don't miss the car one bit. I'm a big fan of my e55. so worth paying low 20's for one.

GregMB

I think MBZ unwittingly helps preserve the resale value of the AMG by charging such high prices for replacement parts. A car like the E55 rides a steep depreciation curve as a result and becomes "desireable" to a bunch of enthusiasts... In their zeal to improve performance, motors are blown, parts fail and cheap sources of "junkyard motors" and parts start to dry up.

The remaining cars on the road continue to pile on the miles and fall into disrepair, get crashed, etc. And the maintenance costs keep increasing. I think we do our part around MBWorld by speaking frankly about those maintenance costs and that helps scare away the kids who would be bankrupted by a car like this.

You ultimately end up with a super low-end $$$ E55s (high miles, lots of deferred maintenance, major issues) and a category of well-maintained, nice examples of the E55 platform.... Those will continue to hold their value well, and I agree that the best examples should still command prices in the $20s.

The only real game changer items of depreciation will be when/if the new E63 TTs get cheap enough that people simply move to that platform and skip over the E55 completely.

That's my take anyway....


-G