Selling a W210 E320CDI estate

[stuartmac]

Hi All,

I'm in west Kent. Anyone got any idea how much a good-condition 2000 W-reg silver 5-seater - under 150k miles, usual toys, service history, yadda yadda - might sell for, without accepting silly money?

The reason I'm asking isn't a poverty-induced fire sale. When we bought the car a little over a year ago, we bought the best we could find at the time. However, one thing we've missed a lot since is the third row of seats our W124 had. Now a same-reg., same-model 7-seater (with about 30k less miles ) is for sale locally for £4,500. I'm tempted but then obviously don't want the 5-seater sitting on the drive 'til the end of the recession (much as his 'n' hers Merc estates would get up some of the neighbours' noses ).

Regards,

 

[television]

Best way Stuart is to look on Auto trader or Exchange and mart, that way you will find an average price.

 

[deejaybee]

Hi Stuart, having bought and sold a car over the last few weeks I can tell you that you will be able to sell your car, but only if the price is right.

There is a fairly wide spread in the advertised price of vehicles at the moment (both private and trade) because some sellers have just not accepted the current market condition and adjusted the price - it is generally only those at the lower prices that are shifting.

I just sold a '97 R-reg E320 petrol elegance 7 seat estate with leather and 98k miles for £1650, it needed a few things doing (£3-400) but was otherwise it was in very good condition. Your car is 3 years newer and is a diesel, but is also higher mileage, so I don't think you will actually get much more for it. If you want to sell it privately as quickly as you can I would guess around £2000 would be a good place to start.

As a price guide, I have found the Wise Buyers prices to be most realistic. Parkers will probably be higher, but it doesn't mean that you will actually be able to get any more money for it!.

Good Luck.

Dave

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Interesting situation. I found myself in this situation four years ago when I changed my 124 for a 210. I bought the 210 before I sold the 124 purely on the basis that I wanted quite a rare spec. The choices I had re selling the 124were:

Advertise in Autotrader - result: lots of competition from traders, expensive ads and being pestered by dodgy agents telling me they had a buyer waiting if I was prepared to part with £70.

Ringing round local secondhand car dealers - result: waste of time even at giveaway money.

Ebay - result: Car sold in 3 days for 1K. Out of pure frustration I comprehensively photographed the car and put it on ebay as my first ever transaction. If you decide the lowest offer you are prepared to accept and put this down as the reserve and start the bidding very low you will hopefully get some interest. Make sure that you check the bidding history of interested parties or you might have problems.

You do have a desirable vehicle to sell even in this economic climate but it will only make what its worth which at 150K miles is probably about £2K+, you might be lucky and get more than one bidder interested and take the usual care with payment, my buyer paid cash. Study some of the 320CDi sales on ebay for a better idea what its worth.

Alternately you could fit the seven seat conversion yourself using a donor car from Dronsfield or use a seven seat conversion company as I did with my 124

Hope this helps

 

[philiggy]

Hi, depends what you think silly money is, I was just offered this for £2300

http://search.autotrader.co.uk/es-u...-BENZ&model=&min_pr=&max_pr=3000&max_mileage=

I'd set myself a limit of 2k, so as nothing is selling I was going to leave it a bit and see if it sold, I am a Yorkshireman after all

Phil

 

[stuartmac]

Hi All,

Thanks for your help. I had been scanning the local paper Autotrader for a few weeks and hardly seen any, which was why I asked the question here, but didn't think of searching on-line - duh!

Hmmm, I'm not sure the idea is a goer, unless the 7-seater's available for a lot less. We paid £5,900 to the dealer in August last year, it's scary to think we could struggle to get half that, and be paying £2k for essentially a dickey seat. Also, the 5-seater was pronounced remarkably rust-free for a W210 by the guy who looks after it for us ...

Regards,

 

[philiggy]

Hi Stuart
I got a shock when mine was written off recently.
Values on our cars have halved over the last year, its all relative however as the car you sold or p/x to buy it would have halved also.

The problem is the other car is £1500-£2000 over priced.

Phil

 

[mattsurf]

If you are happy with your car, and it is rust free (unlike mine) I would stick with it. A 7 seat conversion from Dronsfield or other decent breaker will cost £200, a new 7 Seat kit from a specialist will cost no more than £700.

Yes your car has halved in Value - however, you could have bought a new car and lost £10-£15k over the past 12 months not £3-£4k. If you are happy with the car, and it is reliable, stay with it.

Yes I know that I am considering a BMW (see my other post), the thought of driving a low mileage 2 year old car which has just lost £24k is really tempting (and I thought that Mercs and BMs don't depreciate heavily)