Anyone sold their e55 AMG?

[s5aif]

Hey All...
Been in the market for a mercedes e55 2004 for a few months now, just waiting for the right one. I have noticed that most of the e55's i saw online on ebay and autotrader are still up for sale with the price being reduced a few thousand pounds. This is giving me the impression that these cars are hard to re-sell. Has anyone recently sold their e55 and if so how long did it take. Dont want to end up with a car which will end up taking months to sell when the time comes for a change. Thanks.

 

[jibcl500]

I think generally large engined cars are becoming difficult to sell, people are worried about higher car tax and poor fuel economy that comes with V8's.
Me I dont care but when you come to sell the car it can be.

jib

 

[ricky s]

I look at MBs used car listing for E 500,55amg and 63amg every day, just to see the values, as I have considered PX mine a couple of times as Iam just not useing it, but have been disapointed with PX values offered, from the MB dealerships I have approach. But I have noted on their site that they are very slow to move, which given they range price wise from 25-75k, not suprising, however the depreciation on these cars is always going to be high, because of that said previously, before you potentially buy a 55, you already know that fuel and servicing are going to be expensive, and I for one will live with these running costs, the depreciation is a concern, but that applies to most newish cars, the E55 car is a joy to drive, luxury, and effortless power,a great car. and should you still be veiwing these cars, the only thing I personally would say/warn, is do not buy one of these cars without a MB warrenty, if something went wrong, the bills could be very big!

 

[nick-E55]

in my view the only way to sell most cars quickly is to undercut most of the others that are advertised. Otherwise it just sits there at an unrealistic price, u get lots of hassle and esp with cars like E55s, every month that passes it goes down by 400 quid (obviously depending on what it is...), so u end up cutting the price anyway. Regarding how much you'd lose, it;s mainly a function of whether u buy from a stealer and how long u keep it for. If like me u run several cars and change (some of) them every 9-12mths, then u get smoked.

In answer to your question, I paid 33k for a good E55 from a MB stealer, and decided to sell it after 6mths. At that time, the forecourt price was low 30's and private was about late 20's. so i put it up for 27 and sold it in 24hrs.

 

[JEZ.S320L]

in my view the only way to sell most cars quickly is to undercut most of the others that are advertised. Otherwise it just sits there at an unrealistic price, u get lots of hassle and esp with cars like E55s, every month that passes it goes down by 400 quid (obviously depending on what it is...), so u end up cutting the price anyway. Regarding how much you'd lose, it;s mainly a function of whether u buy from a stealer and how long u keep it for. If like me u run several cars and change (some of) them every 9-12mths, then u get smoked.

In answer to your question, I paid 33k for a good E55 from a MB stealer, and decided to sell it after 6mths. At that time, the forecourt price was low 30's and private was about late 20's. so i put it up for 27 and sold it in 24hrs.

WOWEEEEEE - A GRAND A MONTH depreciation

 

[nick-E55]

yep. if the forecourt price is say 30, then u would be bid as a trade price maybe 25-26. If depn is 4k pa, so that the same car on the forecourt in a years time has a sticker price of 26, then if u only keep the car a year; u paid 30 and would get a trade price of maybe 21-22. Bear in mind that for something like the E55, the new price was over 60k (?), and when i bought it, it was 3yrs old. Now THAT's depreciation...

 

[jberks]

absolutely.
Learned the hard way. bought a C class for 19k. 2 years and 14,000 miles I later tried to trade it in. It was utterly mint, ready for showroom condition with 6 months full MB warranty remaining (to fix anything, had there been anything wrong, which there wasn't). Even the tyres were good. We can give you £7k sir!

A huge chunk of depreciation is the dealer's mark up, so the longer you keep it, the more years you have to spread it over. Plus, depreciation tends to work in percentages, so the less it's worth, the less you lose. So, I bought my last E for 23k, (so not much more than the C) but kept it for 5 years and 75,000 miles and got 7k back on the empty! So, lost £6,000 per year on the C, but, simply by keeping it longer, only lost £3,200 per year on the E.

This one I'm keeping forever!!

 

[philharve]

As you will see from my signature (below), I tend to keep my cars for a long time. I therefore have to be careful with my selection and I have to ask myself whether I can live with the car for possibly the mext decade, or more. I'm not in the fortunate situation to be able to change my car every year. I've never purchased new and probably never will.

I've never understood why people part with huge sums of money for a new car only for it to suffer horrendous depreciation in the next few years. It's the 'newness factor' which people are prepared to pay a premium for. Why shouldn't a car a few years old not be as good to own and drive as a new car? I believe they can be, which is why I prefer secondhand and I also avoid the heavy depreciation too. I would consider a used E55 or an AMG model if I knew they were going to be reliable.

My C230K originally cost its first owner aroung GBP27,000 in the Millenium year. I picked it up 4 1/2 years later for GBP8,600 with 89,000 miles on the clock. I've owned the car for (almost) 3 years and it has covered another 30,000 miles.

The original owner suffered an average depreciation of around GBP4,000 per annum. My average annual depreciation is currently less than GBP1,000. So I've had the same pleasure of owning this car as its original owner but with around 80 percent less depreciation.

The service costs per 10,000 miles (say) is probably little different now than when the car was new. Setting aside the 'thin paint' issue, the car has proven a reliable investment and will likely continue to be so for many years to come. Is a new car necessarily more reliable? I think not.

So what is the motivation to buy a new car when a good secondhand one is the more logical and cost effective option?

REGARDS

Phil

 

[television]

Thats why they will have to bury me in the SL

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

Burning Money

I suppose car depreciation has to be viewed in comparison to one's spending power, however I cannot imagion myself being so wastefull. Reminds me of a paragraph from 'How To Buy A Used Land Rover'. Regarding the purchase of a new RR; 'the depreciation and running cost's would be hard to replicate by dealing £10 notes out of the window, while driving at 60mph!!' makes you think.........................:roll:

 

[JEZ.S320L]

I suppose car depreciation has to be viewed in comparison to one's spending power, however I cannot imagion myself being so wastefull. Reminds me of a paragraph from 'How To Buy A Used Land Rover'. Regarding the purchase of a new RR; 'the depreciation and running cost's would be hard to replicate by dealing £10 notes out of the window, while driving at 60mph!!' makes you think.........................:roll:

I concur with what you say - look at my signature!! It was also said, that the secret way to fuel up a RR, was to switch the engine off - otherwise it beat the pump.!!

In addition, I used to go offshore sailing. The cost equivalant was likened to standing naked in a cold shower and ripping up £20 notes.

To top it all, I also used to shoot. The saying then, was: BANG.! Up goes £40 - down comes £2.

It's only money.......

 

[nick-E55]

agree that clearly changing your car frequently is costly, and "wastefull", but if for example u spend 7 grand on a nice holiday for a family of 4, when u could spend much less, that could also be considered wastefull, etc etc.... smoking costs a lot and is a waste of money...

THe only other thing i would add is the true cost of buying an older car. Before i could afford to be so wastefull, i bought a 300E-24, and i think it was about 5yrs old at the time. ...after 9mths, my first service bill was 2 grand (!). Now, i probably bought a crap car, tho i did buy it from a garage, got it checked and also tracked down the previous owner etc etc. And how many times do u see a 10yr old car advertised for 5k with the owner saying they've just spent 000's on it.

But personally, i love older cars with "personality/character".. part of my ideal garage would definately incl an Audi quattro from the 80's, a Lancia delta integrale and a 1960's SL.

 

[ricky s]

Nice to see you are still with us Nick, what car are you currently looking to replace your R32

 

[nick-E55]

hi Rick, how's things? have just sold my R32 (after 6mths... :roll: ), and looking for something for weekend and track.... it's either a bmw z4 M, or more likely a 1994 porsche 968 club sport (but they only made 170 of em). Still love driving the 320 sport estate (when my wife will let me!), and got a swb landcruiser which is amazing off road (and very good on road too for that matter). Love the handling of the R32, and now want something more hardcore, but i do miss the warp-speed acceleration of the E55.... :grin: :grin: :grin: Cheers, Nick

 

[Ellsy Tanners]

Its no good moaning about it, If you want big boys toys, i am afriad you need big boys money!!

 

[nick-E55]

Its no good moaning about it, If you want big boys toys, i am afriad you need big boys money!!

absolutely. When i sold my E55, the guy had been very thorough about checking the car etc etc... then as he was about to leave the house to drive away, he started asking about the fuel consumption... and got very concerned about it.. DOH! Unbelievable... You also see similar on various forums... there are threads on the porsche club on 911, where people who have paid 60k for their shiny new car moan about the dealer ripping them off on the cost of oil when it comes to the first service... and you'd be surprised how many want to buy their own oil.. and give it to the garage to use for the service.. hmmm... I'm dislike the parasites, er i mean dealers as much as anyone, but u cant be surprised when a porsche, BMW or MB dealership charge over the odds. It aint right, but it's life (and someone has to pay for the cappuccino machine, pay to keep the salesmen in their Gucci shoes.. and of course keep those poor shareholders happy...).

THere are one or two exceptions , but generally speaking... fun costs money!

ok.. rant over.....

 

[Dave's E55 AMG]

I have enjoyed reading this thread. It's easy for me as mine's free but Ellsy's spot on, if you drive this kind of vechicle you should expect to take a hit in the pocket.

 

[jamesmc]

I can only imagine the motive for driving a new car out of the showroom is the 'look at me I'm I have a new car and you don't' factor... that is unless you are going to keep the car for say 10 years or more (to spread the annual depreciation as mentioned above) and you want to know from day one how it has been driven and looked after.

Confession.. Had a couple of new cars years back when i couldn't afford it. Now I can afford it I don't go that route but, I guess, over the years my outlook on life has changed and these days I can't see the sense in buying a new car and keeping it for only 2-3 years and selling it.
With modern cars and their plethora of electronic wizardry a new car may be no more reliable than a three year old car, so what are you really paying for when you drive your new car out of the showroom?

 

[Dave's E55 AMG]

I can only imagine the motive for driving a new car out of the showroom is the 'look at me I'm I have a new car and you don't' factor... that is unless you are going to keep the car for say 10 years or more (to spread the annual depreciation as mentioned above) and you want to know from day one how it has been driven and looked after.

Confession.. Had a couple of new cars years back when i couldn't afford it. Now I can afford it I don't go that route but, I guess, over the years my outlook on life has changed and these days I can't see the sense in buying a new car and keeping it for only 2-3 years and selling it.
With modern cars and their plethora of electronic wizardry a new car may be no more reliable than a three year old car, so what are you really paying for when you drive your new car out of the showroom?

But if people didn't buy new cars there'd be no used cars - if you see what I mean