worth hanging onto ?

[carabind]

This is more of a general question. I bought a E220 CDI ex demonstrator which is a year old now, and am happy with it to date as a replacement for a company car
I’m thinking into the future now. It was right at the top end of my budget and will be four years old when it’s fully paid for through contributions via my company. I will definitely keep it till its three years old, but then loose the warranty cover which avoid costs. What I’m trying to ascertain is whether to sell it at three years old, or to risk a further year uncovered, so to speak.

I guess that its been reliable over three years, the odds of major cost in the fourth year is slim ? Any views anyone?

 

[Blobcat]

This is more of a general question. I bought a E220 CDI ex demonstrator which is a year old now, and am happy with it to date as a replacement for a company car
I’m thinking into the future now. It was right at the top end of my budget and will be four years old when it’s fully paid for through contributions via my company. I will definitely keep it till its three years old, but then loose the warranty cover which avoid costs. What I’m trying to ascertain is whether to sell it at three years old, or to risk a further year uncovered, so to speak.

I guess that its been reliable over three years, the odds of major cost in the fourth year is slim ? Any views anyone?

I did something similar in that I bought a 2 yr old E320cdi as a replacement for a company car. I only had 1 year of MB warranty and nearly 3 years of my risk. I have had it for nearly 4 years now and have been very happy with it - I still have not decided on when I will change it.
If you sell at 3 years what are you going to do for the next year whilst you are still paying for it?
You need to look at what it will be worth at 3 years old against what it would be worth at 4 years old and asses if the price difference makes it worthwhile to keep it or sell it.
If you sell at 3 years it is already out of MB warranty so from a buyers point of view there is only a price difference between a 3 and 4 yr old MB.
I would keep it as it is a known quantity, assuming you are happy with it.

 

[Rory]

You could buy an extended warranty which are quite dear, but small beer compared to the deprecation costs, and the money you'll lose selling the car ans buying another.
You could also buy Service Plus (up to 6 yrs/120K miles) which would take car of all your service and repair (like brake pads and disks etc) bills.

If you went for both of the above (some people seem to think that Service Plus means you don't need the extended warranty, but the jury is still out on that) then pretty well all you'd have to pay for is fuel, insurance and tyres.

 

[carabind]

Thanks for responses. Any idea what Servce plus would cost ?

 

[Blobcat]

Service plus I understand is specific to the car so you would have to check with your MB dealer for the prices.

 

[Rory]

I think you can get a quote by calling MB. Details from MB website:
http://www2.mercedes-benz.co.uk/con...after_sales/maintenance/service_contract.html

 

[jberks]

it does depend on the car and mileage. On my E270 for 20k pa Service plus was around £90 per month.

When to change is always a tricky one. Personally, having changed a couple of 3-4 year old Mercs for newer ones, I've slightly regretted it. I've effectively given away perfect cars with their best years left for bugger all in the way of a trade in. In fact my Dad ended up buying the first one and 6 years and 1 E class later she's still a fine motor providing him with reliable, comfortable and classy transport.

In some ways, Mercs actually get better with age. The interiors don't age and wear like other makes and even 10 year old ones look pretty good from a styling standpoint. Even the engines and gearboxes still seem to loosen up over 60k-100k. Assuming the mileage isn't galactic and you maintain it properly (using a decent MB specialist to keep costs down whilst maintaining it to the correct standard), you could continue to take and bank the company payments whilst running the same, not exactly embarrassing, motor. Pop a private plate on it and the age becomes completely irrelevant. Then either buy an extended warranty (my fully comp one was £600 for the year) or else 'self insure' and in the unlikely event of a problem, use the fund you've built up to repair. Assuming all goes well, you could be looking at a tidy sum towards the next deposit a couple of years later.
The thing to remember is that depreciation reduces in cash terms, the older a car gets. So a new one drops £8-10k in a year (hence why we buy demos), but a 5 year old one, worth perhaps £9k will only drop £1-2k over the same period. So, the longer you keep it, the cheaper it is to own.

 

[carabind]

Thanks Jberks - glad I'm not on my own. Mileage won't be galatic (say 15-20k per year) and think I would "self insure" with the profit I make. If it's been trouble free for two years and looked after, then there is no reason why it won't soldier on. And as you say, a good indie will help lower running costs, but Imay perserve (with servicing) with the local MB dealer whilst in warranty to save an argurements if anything does go wrong within the first three years

 

[OlafMaxwell]

I have to agree with J Berks. Having 116k I now seem to get few problems with the car, so much went wrong earlier it now seems good for another 100k and it is much more of a known quantity comapred with a newer one.