Marcus Frost

And unfortunately, I'll be waiting a while longer. I cannot believe how the value on my E55 has gotten hosed. Car was delivered in late 2003 and now 2.5 years later I can't believe how much of a hit it has taken. My old W210 E55 had the same problem. Really hard to digest.

Did anyone trade in an '03 E55 for their CLS? Would you mind PMing me the details? My dealership has one they can still change the build sheet on but it would still be here in the middle of winter which is kind of pointless for me. I figure I'll sit through the winter and then maybe put my car up for sale to see if I can sell it privately. If anyone is itching for a fully loaded '03 E55 that has been babied like no other, let me know. I'll probably put it up officially come March or thereabouts.

-m

traumadoc

NICE. But I have a CLS coming!

SL65AMG V12

^lol that was mean :p

I know its not the identical situation but we would love to trade our E-Class for a CLS350 however the value of the E is an absolute joke. Like your 55, the price has taken a battering

Nice 55 you got there btw. I'd take that anyday!

adx

I agree on resale value not being so hot that's why I'll keep my E55. Maybe one day it will become a classic.

FIXEDupW209

dont meant o hijacke your thread but...can you check your pm when you get a chance. I have a few questions regarding your tint. Thanks in advance

Rock

Marcus:

I feel your pain. My 05 had only 7,000 miles when I inquired about a trade for the CLS55. They wanted me to take a $10,000+ hit on my E55 and pay them a premium price for an incredibly beautiful black CLS55. Unfortunately, I mean fortunately, I just could not justify the transaction. After that letdown, I decided if my car cannot be as pretty as a CLS55, it can at least be faster...................hello Kleemann.

amgplayer

I had an '04 E55 with 16K miles, owned for 15 months, $86K sticker. Trade value was $70K against the CLS55 last March. The sold my trade within the week to a local dentist for price unknown.

Stiggs

if you think the E is taking a hit you should see my 2003 CLK55. I bought this car new in June 2003 for $72K. When I wanted to trade it in a couple of months ago it had 20K miles and was (and still is) in mint condition. I baby my cars, but then again who here doesn't. Ok, the point is...they would only give me $38K for my car trade in. I was sooooo pissed. Now I am trying to sell it privately for $45K. My car lost $34K in over two years. Thats just sad. But no one ever said this was an investment. I just didn't think I would lose so much on it. Dealerships suck. The worst part is I always have it serviced there, so they know what kind of shape its in. I even had another salesman say "thats a nice CLK, I would love to sell that car here." yeah right....for maybe $12K profit you dirty scumbags.

Marcus Frost

So I guess I am not alone, I guess that's some consulation. Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to sit on the E through the winter here (buying a CLS would be pretty much pointless anyways) and see if I can sell it privately come spring.

I definitely want a CLS, just gotta make the $'s work.

-m

AMGfan

Marcus...I feel you brother...I'm probably going to step up next year, too. If it makes you feel any better, it "seems" that model year #2 on a car seem to be a safer bet with regards to any mechanical/electrical glitches.

We might even get a good deal on a CLS55 depending on when the CLS63 (?) comes out. Whatever you decide...good luck!

E55_POWER

Don't feel bad, I got a 2004 CL55 for $116K and in 3 months I only got $86K...I"ll never buy another CL, well maybe the 65 :p

clos

I read some where once that the average person trades their car in 3 years. Those of us who can afford a car over 60,000 is not an average person.

The last car I bought was a 93 GS300 the old body real nice car so nice it was stolen 3 weeks after I bought it recovered the next day and was stolen again 4 months later. So between time spent stolen and in the shop I think I drove the car for maybe 5 months. I was left with nothing and had to look for a new car

From that point on I decided to lease and never purchase again. Since the average person trades their car in 3 years then I guess i'm average person. I don't worry to much about what a car will depreciate since I don't keep them that long.

And on the last note please note that Mercedes have the highest residual value of any car. So if they lose so much imagine any other car. In the same book I read it also stated that a new car can lose up to 30 percent of its value in the first year.

Just MHO
CLOS

Improviz

...residuals are estimates, and we're not hitting them.

When I got my CLK55, residuals were *much* higher, and they've plummeted since then. Not sure if it's the new bodystyle or what, but the three year residual right now is 47%...which is average...when I got mine, this was in the mid 50's as far as I recall....

E55 has residuals right now of:
2y = 60%
3Y = 48%
4y = 39%

Which are, again, average. Otoh, they're better than the ALG numbers I'm seeing for the M5 (57/45/36), so whatchagonna do....not a huge market for these ultra high performance machines, I guess.

And they're not always on the money either: check out the residuals for the BMW 6 Series and contrast them with what they're actually pulling...like any other estimate, they're not always accurate.

FloridaE55

Actually, BMW has the highest residual value....

traumadoc

Mini Coopers are pretty good as well.
PM me CLOS. We're in Miami this week.

Improviz

Overall, but certainly not on every model...their average is higher thanks to the stellar resale of the 3 Series, but the larger sedans aren't as stellar.

Here is the latest list of the top ten residuals, per cars.com:
http://www.cars.com/go/advice/Story....referer=advice

Top two are the mini cooper and the porsche carrera...I have a hard time believing the third entry, the land rover lr3, will perform as advertised, chiefly because their resale values have historically dropped like a rock, which when coupled with high gasoline prices' effects upon SUV sales as a whole, doesn't bode well for them....

Fourth place is the E55!

Of course, opinions vary...for example, here's Kelly Blue Book's list:
http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/ke.kb.s...dvalue;article

FloridaE55

Well, BMW beats Mercedes on residual in almost any category, not only the 3-series. There are exeptions, of course (the E55 might be one). I just responded to the previous thread because the previous writer stated "Mercedes has the highest residual of any cars". IMO, this is a general statement and simply incorrect.

When you compare the S-Class and the 7-series, BMW is the winner as well. The same applies to the comparison between E-Class and 5-series. So there is not much left...(all residuals according to leasecompare.com)



Unfortunately, this is the chart of the 10 best VEHICLES, but not the 10 best MANUFACTURERS. (We were talking about Mercedes in general, so a comparison between the two manufacturers would be very interesting...)

Improviz

True, no disagreement here, although in the E Class range, they do...but not, as you point out, in the S Class or the C Class...

Not according to ALG. I went back to cars.com, who uses ALG's numbers, and while the 7 series has better residuals than the S Class, with the 5 Series/E Class it is not so clear-cut...the following are 24/36/48 month residuals for the different models:

5 Series:
525:
55/42/33

530:
54/41/33

550:
53/40/32

M5:
57/45/36

Contrast w/Mercedes:
E Class:
E320 CDI:
59/47/38

E350:
58/46/36

E500:
53/42/33

E55:
60/48/39

So frankly, there it seems that the Benz is the winner, not BMW.

The 3 Series has better residuals than the C Class, as I mentioned previously, and the gap here is the largest.

I can read, and am well aware of the contents of the link I provided. And I provided that link for a reason: to illustrate that while BMW on average might be higher, they do not dominate the top ten, i.e. that there are lots of cars with high residuals available. I certainly wasn't disputing that BMW has the highest average residuals; in fact, I said as much, and the KBB page for which I provided the link clearly states it:
But yes, the original poster was incorrect: Mercedes no longer has the best residuals, thanks to their sloppy QA and watered-down material quality, although steps are supposedly underway to rectify this...

FloridaE55

I never stated that BMW would have the highest residual on every model - or did I??? I never had a doubt that you could read. I simply stated that a comparison chart between the manufacturers could solve this dispute. Your link was interesting as well ...

I guess we have a tie on the E-Class and 5-Series:
According to leasecompare.com, the 5-series residual is higher than the E-Class residual after 2 and 3 years. That changes after 4 years though (I don't know why.. ).

Here are the numbers from leasecompare.com:

MBC Captive Lease Programs – Effective 11/3/05

2006 MODELS

Add 2% to Residual Value for 12k mi/yr and 3% for 10k mi/yr on all terms

E Class 4dr Sedan E350

24 mo/15k mi – 70% Residual Value – Money Factor .00325 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 60% Residual Value – Money Factor .00275 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 51% Residual Value – Money Factor .00275 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 43% Residual Value – Money Factor .00340 Base Rate

E Class 4dr Sedan E500

24 mo/15k mi – 64% Residual Value – Money Factor .00340 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 54% Residual Value – Money Factor .00290 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 46% Residual Value – Money Factor .00290 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 38% Residual Value – Money Factor .00340 Base Rate

E Class 4dr Sedan E55

24 mo/15k mi – 66% Residual Value – Money Factor .00390 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 56% Residual Value – Money Factor .00340 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 48% Residual Value – Money Factor .00340 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 40% Residual Value – Money Factor .00340 Base Rate

================================================== ======

525i Sedan

24 mo/15k mi – 71% Residual Value – Money Factor .00160 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 60% Residual Value – Money Factor .00160 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 41% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 32% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate

530i Sedan

24 mo/15k mi – 69% Residual Value – Money Factor .00140 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 60% Residual Value – Money Factor .00140 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 40% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 32% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate

550i Sedan

24 mo/15k mi – 68% Residual Value – Money Factor .00260 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 57% Residual Value – Money Factor .00260 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 40% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 32% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate

M5 Sedan

24 mo/15k mi – 73% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate
36 mo/15k mi – 59% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate
48 mo/15k mi – 46% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate
60 mo/15k mi – 37% Residual Value – Money Factor .00285 Base Rate

It also depends on the length of the lease (BMW is the winner after 2 years, Mercedes after 4 years....)

E55_POWER

M5 residual for 24 months was 76% for me...I've never seen ANY car with such high residual.

The E55 was strong until the M5 came out it seems. 03's with 24K miles, wholesale at the auction is low 50K's with 04s with 15K miles bringin in low 60's, where as 03 M5s are still bringing in mid 50's. It really doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, cars are **** for investments. I seriously hope that no one here bought their cars thinking that they were gonna break even

FloridaE55

I STRONGLY agree....

traumadoc

Bought a 2000 CL500 shortly after they came out when there was a 1 year waiting list. Bought it at sticker price and kept it for almost a year and sold it at $14,000 profit.


Definitely a fluke and will NEVER make up for all the money I have lost on cars.

clos

Hey guys,

I didn't think such a general statement would stir up such a debate. I really wasn't thinking about BMW when I made the statement and the book I read was about 2 years ago.

I was just saying if you like trading your cars in after 2 to 3 years then it seems to me you should consider leasing. IMHO if I where to purchase a vehicle I would never buy new unless I want to be the first one to get it, be prepared to lose money.

I have never given it to much thought on how much money I have lost with what I consider to be one of my passions. CARS and nice ONES for that matter.

Just my 2 cents.
Clos

WIldcat465

I don't get it. The E55 is a fabulous car and there is no way that I'd trade one for a CLS. The two CLSs I drove were not worth the money to me. The E55 was more comfortable and has usable back seat. If you're tired of tking the hit, just wait for a used CLS. Believe me, they'll be be available soon.

For the money, I'd buy a CL (or keep the E55). It's a superior car better car and you can probably pick one up cheap. Besides, you can actually fit adults in the back seat.

New isn't always better.

Improviz

Well, again, I wasn't disputing that BMW's average residuals are higher; I only wanted to point out that w/the 5 Series vs. the E Class, the E Class is right there with them....

It is odd that they'd flip flop like that on the long-term leases...oh, well...

Anyway, I think we agree; we were just on different trains of thought!