S350 54 Plate 6,000k As New

[Chas]

What sort of price should you get for S350 54 PLATE 6,000K ex cond. Silver. It has everything extra possible !.

Its for a widower friend who has now decided to sell her late husbands car.

thanks for any advice

:? :?

Chas

 

[Blobcat]

Hi,
Glass' value it at £22,500 to £28,000 depending upon condition. Which does not seem a lot for a car little over a year old .

 

[jberks]

I was all ready to argue with you Blobcat, 26k for an 18month old 50k+ car. You're having a laugh! But looking at Glasses and the MB site, you are right, they are selling them for 29k. Aorund 60k new, it's lost 50% in the first 18 months. That's Omega depreciation!.

I guess it's the 'worst' S class (if there is such a thing) and people either want the diesel, which is worth substantially more, or a V8. Factor in the new model and they've dropped like a brick.

 

[Blobcat]

Makes you cry really, over £1,000 per month in depreciation. Only car I've had experience of with that kind of drop was a colleagues V6 Vectra, £13,000 it lost in 10 months.

 

[Speedmaster]

We had one of the new BMW 745's when they came out (was a demo when bought so got £20k off it!!!), still lost another £20k in 2 years. Hence now buying older Mercedes that have taken the pain already.

 

[jberks]

Well it happens with everything new these days. Mine was list 39k, I paid 28k at 12 months old and I suspect now after 7 months if I attempted to sell it, I wouldn't get more than 22k. And mine is probably one of the most desireable E classes.
To avoid massive depreciation you either have to by older in the first place or else keep it for a very long time.

 

[hawk20]

Yes and sadly our worst enemy is Mercedes themselves. All the management are running cars and selling them on into the secondhand market -depressing prices. Every dealer is running loads of so-called demonstrators and selling them a few months old. Worst of all for the E class, Merc dealers are giving up to £4400 off in cash or upgrades because of the facelift on July 2nd. Think what that does to the residual of a one year old car. I just bought a Dec 23rd 2005 S320cdi for under £40k (he said a biy coyly) and it cost £56k new. Done 6000 miles. A new E 320 cdi with bits could have cost as much at full retail. By the way I think you are low on Glass's guide. If the owner goes to their website and types in full details they will give a full valuation for trade in , private sale and so on. Costs about £2.99p

The govt tried to stop the demonstrator problem and limits how many demonstrators manufacturers can run. BUT they stupidly didn't limit dealers.

Used to know the Merc director for UK in the 80's and he said they limited supply to ensure good residuals. Now you sometimes see £5k off a new SL. How it has all changed. So for the first time, I haven't bought new, but 'nearly new' instead. And like you say I intend to keep it a long time.

 

[hawk20]

Here is the news. Glass's guide costs £2-95 for a full valuation. With modest extras and the mileage quoted the car would retail at £33K and sell privately for £29,500. In excellent condition, which it sounds to be, it would fetch about £28k as a trade in and in average condition would get £25k.

As you say the diesel would be worth a lot more. Fuel prices have done large petrol cars no favours at all.

Remarkably, the diesel version has a euro combined figure of over 35 mpg. When you bear in mind that a 1600cc Suzuki petrol 4wd has a combined figure of 32 mpg the S class diesel is amazing. And it accounts for 60% of S class sales as a result. Three years old it has a residual of over 50% of new cost - the best for a big car there is.

BTW the S class is one of the very few cars that has gone up in value in Glass's guide despite a new model launch. Apparently a rarity indeed and some say signs of a classic in the making.:smile:

 

[jberks]

Worst of all for the E class, Merc dealers are giving up to £4400 off in cash or upgrades because of the facelift on July 2nd. Think what that does to the residual of a one year old car.

True, but I suspect that will all stop once the 'old' models are sold and the facelift ones hit the road. Then prices should recover a bit as the gap between the two models balances out. In any case I intend to keep mine for a long time so hopefully it won't matter. I'm still kicking myself for selling the E240 after only 5 years. Won't make that mistake again.

 

[hawk20]

Was the 240 pretty trouble free? I always thought it was a lovely engine to drive. Some said a bit thirsty??

 

[jberks]

Trouble free aside from it being very sensitive about plug leads (2 sets replaced). Idle would suddenly become noticable! Normal stuff like MAS went but that happens on everything these days. It wasn't exceptionally thirsty as it goes, only no more economical than a 320 but without the performance. It was maybe slightly underpowered in that you had to rev it to get the best from it and even then you were sometimes left wanting more. But for all that, it was the sweetest engine I've owned (and will probably ever own having gone to the diesel dark side).

If I'm honest the main reason for changing wasn't the engine but a combination of never being totally happy with the shape of the 210 (always loved the interior though), the usual bodywork deterioration (dings on the door etc), the dash cluster needing fixing, and most of all, the dealer lending me a top of the line 211 that got under my skin.

 

[hawk20]

Yes I too make the mistake of accepting something to try! Can lead one astray. But surely the new E is better in many ways. I loved my 270cdi. Wonderful power with hardly any revs and the silence was golden once on the move. Economy amazing. But how's our friend getting on selling the S class I wonder??

 

[jberks]

The 211 is vastly better than the 210 dynamically though it is slightly less Merc at the same time. Still I'm very happy with mine overall, though I do occasionally miss the refinement of the elegance and find the avantgarde a touch harsh, combined with the 5 pot diesel after the silky petrol V6 - its not the refined insulated feel of the old one, but I'm sure a 211 petrol elegance would be. - so, not a critisism of the 211, but maybe my buying choice and circumstances.

My advice on the S would be to find someone they know or in the family to buy it. You can't do anything about the horrific depreciation but letting my Dad get the benefit of the joke offers I was getting for my C220 left me feeling far better than if the dealer had gained from the deal.

 

[hawk20]

So why do the car mags go on showing Mercs as getting 50% to 60% of new value when 3 years old? Have those days gone with all the discounting that Merc dealers are doing these days? I know when I sold my B class at only 4 months old, the dealers said the biggest problem with giving me a fair trade in was the cracking deals they were offering on new. I hate to see Merc becoming a discount motor. Lot of people buy them because of the high residuals. Short term sales may cost long term growth.