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Bought your w140 NEW or Bought it used?

  • A. Bought New (first owner)

    Votes: 3 7.7%
  • B. Bought Used (second owner)

    Votes: 20 51.3%
  • C. Bought Used (third owner)

    Votes: 10 25.6%
  • D. Bought Used (Not Sure How Hands)

    Votes: 6 15.4%

Bought your w140 NEW or Bought it used?

3K views 24 replies 14 participants last post by  migg48 
#1 ·
of the many w140 owners on this board who bought their's new or used.
 
#3 ·
I am the second owner, 1st owner had the car since new with alkl books, and records of service with MB half way through the life. [:D]

I would never buy a new MB unless I have millions of dollars to spare. Its just not worth it, car looses 10 grand week after its out of the dealership.
 
#5 ·
the outcome was predictable, like i thought most of us here bought their w140's used. it is a 5 to 13 year old car to some of us. the one's who bought these new by the time the warranty ran out they are probably driving the new w220. even though i like the w140 better but i would rather drive a w220, *only if i could afford it. why? just because its newer. if you have spent thousands in repairs at the dealership you would understand what i mean by "newer".
 
#6 ·
mbnz230 - 12/31/2005 6:22 PM

the one's who bought these new by the time the warranty ran out they are probably driving the new w220. even though i like the w140 better but i would rather drive a w220, *only if i could afford it. why? just because its newer. if you have spent thousands in repairs at the dealership you would understand what i mean by "newer".
i agree with you. i would like to drive a 220 as well, but i simply don't have any money. And i couldn't even pay for my w140 S600. i had it for about 2 and a half months and just gave up..[:(] but what a great car it was. i still remember everything about it..

as i was saying. there is nothing like having a new car. if there are problems, you give it to your dealer to fix them. no worries, except making the car payments...
 
#8 ·
I think I'm the third owner in New Zealand of my 1995 S420. I don't know how many oweners it had in Singapore.

I'm not rich enough to contemplate owning a new MB (yet).
But even if I were, I don't think I would. It's just not worth it (unless of course you are in the plesant position of being very very wealthy).

Last time I was in our local MB service department, I met a nice couple, who were in servicing one of their MBs. The wife have a C class, and the husband had an E class. After chatting to them for a while, they told me that they had bought both those cars new and prior to that had owned second hand MBs. They wouldn't buy new again - just because of the huge depreciation hit.

And of course there is the fact that no other MB sedan looks as good as the W140. I far prefer the look of my W140 to that of the newer S class.

In fact I'm not sure that i like the look of any other sedan more than the W140. A Bentley might come close.
 
#9 ·
I am the second owner. I bought car from a semi-wealthy lady that had IRS problems and when I gave her a check for 50K in 1995 she had a brand new 96 waiting for her at the dealer after she handed the check over to the IRS agents.
She had 29K miles of pampered careing driving on it when I got it. I was sold by the fact that I asked her to bring car to Manhattan for me to see it, and she replied quite indignantly, "MY CAR DOES NOT GO TO NEW YORK CITY". Car was in showroom brilliant condition and her husband told me she refused to let him drive it and when she paked in MAll Parking lot she would go to end of MAll lot, and walk 3 blocks to entrance. I have aquired some of her habits.
I told her when I bought the car I was buying it strictly because of her. I now after 10 years have 65k miles on it and am ashamed to say that it is not in showroom condtion any more, although I still get a lot of people who do not believe it is 12 years old.
It still have no major problems although I have replaced 3-4 window regulators, a/c system, asr, and only real problem now is door pump. I hope I never get the famous harness problems as my car is in a heated apartment building garage.
The original sticker price including MB phone was 83,000 plus.
Good Luck to all you new and used MB owners.
I STILL LOVE MY CAR
PGP
 
#10 ·
Tbilisi79 - 12/31/2005 1:33 PM

I am the second owner, 1st owner had the car since new with alkl books, and records of service with MB half way through the life. [:D]

I would never buy a new MB unless I have millions of dollars to spare. Its just not worth it, car looses 10 grand week after its out of the dealership.
Buying a new car through a business is where its at. Depreciation mmmmm tax writeoff. Ex demos are also a good buy.
 
#12 ·
Bought my SWB used and LWB new. In Burma, new or used doesn't really make much of a difference. My 97 S320 is still worth more than 120,000 USD now. That's approximately how much I paid for and hasn't depreciated at all. And so are other cars in the country.
 
#13 ·
W208Cab - 1/19/2006 11:56 PM

Bought my SWB used and LWB new. In Burma, new or used doesn't really make much of a difference. My 97 S320 is still worth more than 120,000 USD now. That's approximately how much I paid for and hasn't depreciated at all. And so are other cars in the country.
wow. So i imagine a new s class will be about 400,000 USD...
 
#14 ·
1996_s500 - 1/20/2006 6:50 AM

W208Cab - 1/19/2006 11:56 PM

Bought my SWB used and LWB new. In Burma, new or used doesn't really make much of a difference. My 97 S320 is still worth more than 120,000 USD now. That's approximately how much I paid for and hasn't depreciated at all. And so are other cars in the country.
wow. So i imagine a new s class will be about 400,000 USD...
Not really. Brand new W211 E is about 150,000 but the new W221 shouldn't be more than 220,000. MB's are never more than 240,000 in Burma. Only the cheap Toyota Land Cruisers get up to 350,000 USD.

The only reason being is that government restricts import licenses and 1-import license's market value is around 100,000. If you really think about it, my W140 is only worth around 20,000 USD after the import license which is what it should be in U.S.
 
#15 ·
Actually, a 1997 S320 (I don't know your mileage) goes for an average of $13-15k only, in excellent condition, with about 70k miles!!!
1997 S500s may not even command close to $20k nowadays.

W208Cab - 1/20/2006 2:40 PM
The only reason being is that government restricts import licenses and 1-import license's market value is around 100,000. If you really think about it, my W140 is only worth around 20,000 USD after the import license which is what it should be in U.S.
 
#16 ·
ychachad - 1/20/2006 12:05 PM


W208Cab - 1/20/2006 2:40 PM
The only reason being is that government restricts import licenses and 1-import license's market value is around 100,000. If you really think about it, my W140 is only worth around 20,000 USD after the import license which is what it should be in U.S.
Actually, a 1997 S320 (I don't know your mileage) goes for an average of $13-15k only, in excellent condition, with about 70k miles!!!
1997 S500s may not even command close to $20k nowadays.
yup, and even 99 S600's (only 14) with low mileage are selling for about 25K. wow.[8)]
 
#17 ·
I've had my 1995 S320 SWB for three weeks now. A friend of the family bought it new, sold it 45 days later to my insurance agent (another friend of the family) because it "didn't have enough motor."

He sold it to my father-in-law in Jan. '03, who gave it to his wife. Mother-in-law hated it for nearly two years (she didn't like white, no seat heaters, no CD player, and she really wanted a new car, not a hand-me-down!). All the while, I was telling her how wonderful the car is.

On Christmas Day, I opened a card from her that said
"enjoy the ride" and had the title. Remotes in a little box. I nearly cried.

The glove box included the previous owner's records, including sales contract and window sticker. The mechanic to whom my mother-in-law took the car printed out copies of the work they had done (she didn't keep her original records). She may have hated the car, but she took very good care of it, just like the previous owners.

Full documentation, and a sweet ride with 70k miles. And the price was right! Gives me alot of room to keep it functioning...
 
#18 ·
Friendly Ghost - 1/20/2006 4:47 PM

I've had my 1995 S320 SWB for three weeks now. A friend of the family bought it new, sold it 45 days later to my insurance agent (another friend of the family) because it "didn't have enough motor."

He sold it to my father-in-law in Jan. '03, who gave it to his wife. Mother-in-law hated it for nearly two years (she didn't like white, no seat heaters, no CD player, and she really wanted a new car, not a hand-me-down!). All the while, I was telling her how wonderful the car is.

On Christmas Day, I opened a card from her that said
"enjoy the ride" and had the title. Remotes in a little box. I nearly cried.

The glove box included the previous owner's records, including sales contract and window sticker. The mechanic to whom my mother-in-law took the car printed out copies of the work they had done (she didn't keep her original records). She may have hated the car, but she took very good care of it, just like the previous owners.

Full documentation, and a sweet ride with 70k miles. And the price was right! Gives me alot of room to keep it functioning...
awwwwwwwww man. Thats awesome. That was an awesome Christmas present.
 
#19 ·
W208Cab - 1/20/2006 2:40 PM

1996_s500 - 1/20/2006 6:50 AM

W208Cab - 1/19/2006 11:56 PM

Bought my SWB used and LWB new. In Burma, new or used doesn't really make much of a difference. My 97 S320 is still worth more than 120,000 USD now. That's approximately how much I paid for and hasn't depreciated at all. And so are other cars in the country.
wow. So i imagine a new s class will be about 400,000 USD...
Not really. Brand new W211 E is about 150,000 but the new W221 shouldn't be more than 220,000. MB's are never more than 240,000 in Burma. Only the cheap Toyota Land Cruisers get up to 350,000 USD.

The only reason being is that government restricts import licenses and 1-import license's market value is around 100,000. If you really think about it, my W140 is only worth around 20,000 USD after the import license which is what it should be in U.S.
Yea this used to happen in NZ to up untill the mis 80s you could buy a car overseas drive it around, bring it back drive it some more and then sell it for more than you paid for it in the first place.
 
#20 ·
Wow, it's amazing how much depreciation our W140 has. It's really too bad, for such a great car. I bought a W208 CLK in U.S. and the depreciation is incredible. It's worth almost nothing now too and I don't even drive it much. [:(!]

Congradulation on your Christmas gift. No other gift can make the gift any better. W140 in my opinion is the best Mercedes Benz in its time and still today. Best looking S-class ever.
 
#21 ·
I have purchased an S320L,an S280 and an S500L in that order. All of my cars have been used and the nearest I got to a new one was the 320 which was less than a year old.

Unfortunately for a new buyer these cars plummet in value over the years which is of course brilliant news for us used purchasers. New my latest car cost over £77,000. With 59,000 miles on the clock I subsequently bought it for just over one tenth of that amount. I am sure it`s the same most places.

It happening here now with the W220s which you can buy for under £10,000.

Me, I will stick with the W140. I have never wanted to own a W220 new or used and I could have bought either. It just isn`t a proper S to me.

The W221 on the other hand looks promising but I am going to wait until the bugs are ironed out before I buy.
 
#22 ·
I acquired "Sebastian" when he had 3K miles. One of the Enron guys was unloading many of his goodies and a friend phoned me with the news. It was such a sweet deal. I found the original window sticker in the glove box and the price was around $135K, not to mention tax, luxury tax and gas guzzler tax! I'm not going to tell what I stole the car for, it was rediculous. I love my Sebastian and will continue to keep him maintained in top shape and intend to pass him on down to my boys.[8D]
 
#24 ·
UnshavenChauffeur - 1/21/2006 2:18 PM

Is not the proper 'Benz nomenclature, "pre-owned" rather than, "used" ?
well "pre-owned" is usually used as "certified pre-owned", that being where MB personally says that the car is good, and they have done their check, and they approve the car. "Used" can just be anything bought by anyone who owned the car.
 
#25 ·
I'm the second owner and, boy am I glad I am. I've bought 3 new SLs and I bought a 6.9 sedan new back in 1979. I lost a little money on each, but nothing compared to the guy who bought my S500 coupe new. Sticker was right at 100K. I bought it 4 years later with under 30K miles for $22,000. And that included a 100K bumper to bumper warranty. And 18" Lorinser D93 wheels! He'd just bought a new 220 cl500 and simply wanted it gone. The best car deal of my life, the worst (I imagine) of his.

M.D. Moore
 
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