I’m new around these parts, but hope to have occasion to stop by more frequently! Said differently, I’m looking to purchase an e63 wagon as a daily driver. Daily driver is probably overstating it ... we put 3.5k miles on our daily each year!

50-55% residuals on a ~30-40k mile AMG after 3yrs seems to be the market for leased vehicles. What do you think the resale value of a <15k mile car would be if sold privately? I’m not driven by depreciation but I’m aware of it.

Given my intended useage and hold period, buying new or newish might be the go. Plus, the ‘21 is probably a little better for my wife (MBUX and less ride harshness in comfort).

Cheers,
Tom

 

I have not looked specifically even for my C63, but in my experience, mileage does not make a big difference in resale, unless we are talking collector cars. The few times I've looked, for example my wife's car is very low mileage, age has always been the bigger factor. Especially with modern technology quickly getting outdated. I have to say I'd actually tend to stay away from low mileage cars, because they wasted the factory warranty and there might be issues that haven't yet surfaced which otherwise would have during the factory warranty if the car had been driven more. Something to keep in mind. With pretty much all of my cars, most issues have surfaced within the first 1-2 years when they were driven around 10k miles/year, so about during the first 20k miles. I've always used that as a criteria for whether to keep a car beyond its factory warranty. Basically if I didn't have issues with the car during the second 20k miles then it was generally a keeper. Somebody who is specifically looking for a low mileage car might pay you a premium, but as always your car is only worth what somebody else is willing to pay for it.

 

I believe dealers are evaluating based on model year first, then conditions, options and mileage (if not far off from average mileage usages)

 

Thanks for the steer fellas. Very helpful. I’m trying to get a handle on the market and am a bit surprised by dealer asking prices on MY18 and 19s. Dealer near me is offering a MY19 with 14k miles for 100k. Know true market is probably 10% inside of that but felt a high ask and got me thinking that miles matter more than MY. This is the car FYI.

It’s sage advice buying a driven car. My other hobby is air cooled Porsche and in that world, the garage queens are always the worse for wear. Gaskets, rubber, injection systems are all a mess if not driven regularly up to temp.

 

In Canada, 2019 wagon is currently asking around $110,000 Cdn or $87,500 US (today’s exchange rate). Therefore, asking $100,000US may seem to be on the very high side

 

Do you think it is likely that you would sell the wagon after three years?

 

Interesting price check there from the Commonwealth. Comports with what I’d thought and makes more sense re: some of the residuals that get kicked around (even with mbs terrible leasing program).

No, I really don’t think I’d sell the car in 3 years. Probably have a longer hold on this one and just build around it. Tech advancements seem to be stabilizing and it’s the witching hour for engines like this one too.

Where I was going was if it’s miles and not MY that drives depreciation, I could get around buying new for a longer hold.

 

Have just been through a similar process. One thing to keep in mind when assessing used vehicles is to try and get as much detail as possible on the options spec'ed on the vehicle. The 2018-2020 ranged from ~$108k for a base model up to $135k+. Given that we are only a couple of years into the depreciation curve, I found that variance from options can have an impact on the pre-owned price.

For me I tried to learn as much as possible about the available options because for the money I was spending it was key for me to not really settle for something that wasn't spec'ed the way I wanted. That helped narrow down the pre-owned field significantly and meant I could spend more time to focus on the vehicles that more closely met my criteria.

I did also consider a '21, but again, for the money being invested I would want it the way I wanted it, which invariably would mean a custom order. That path at the moment has some COVID induced delays on some options (multi-contour seats for example) which pushed me back towards a pre-owned option. Also, just personal taste, the steering wheel on the '21 looked a bit weird to me.

For me, the one you linked is a bit high, though not crazy. But if you really want a Blue E63S W213 Wagon, that's the only one I see currently on Autotrader. So in that regard if you are someone that absolutely has to have a blue car, then maybe it would be worth spending the money.

As for your initial question, it seems to me that dealers selling vehicles seem to assign more value to low mileage over MY when comparing vehicles available for purchase over the past few months. However, there's no guarantee that they would have the same opinion if you were trying to trade a vehicle to them I'm sure.

Best of luck.

 

Thanks for the detailed thoughts. Good introduction to the MB Forum here. Looks a helpful community. Im certainly not set on a blue wagon but will test drive this wknd just to get the data point and have a better sense for options etc. Also key for me is that my wife feels comfortable in it.

Cheers,
Tom

 

I have had similar thoughts in my search and when I keep seeing cpo 2019 cars in the 100-105 range for ask, I basically call that 100, given how much in demand these cars are. Given that one can get a decently optioned new one for around 120ish after a small discount, I don't see the market for the 2 year old cars. Yes it's 20k/20% more but it's new and it's how I want it...

 

Interesting you’re seeing the same. Funny looking depreciation curve if it’s 10-20% after 2 years and 40%+ after 3. Suspect dealers have about 5-10k margin at 100k and true value closer to 90k but some cartel behavior going on while supply in secondary is so scant.