[saurey]

Anybody have any idea?

Of course we won't be able to tell with the geopolitical scene and efficiency.

Our c300's don't get the greatest mpg's. Bad.
It will be the current revision of the Body Style. Good.
It's a Mercedes. Great.


Feel free to complete the list. I am hoping it's worth at least 25K with 50K miles on it in 4 years.

 

[dclawyer]

Anybody have any idea?

Of course we won't be able to tell with the geopolitical scene and efficiency.

Our c300's don't get the greatest mpg's. Bad.
It will be the current revision of the Body Style. Good.
It's a Mercedes. Great.


Feel free to complete the list. I am hoping it's worth at least 25K with 50K miles on it in 4 years.

My guess is trade in value will be 40% of MSRP after 4 years. That's average, even for MB. MB has prestige but has a bad reputation for reliability. 25K way too high in my opinion. And if gas prices keep climbing it could be 30% of MSRP. Leasing now could actually be a good option. Let MB take the risk. Check the Automotive Lease Guide residuals. They are a good predictor.

 

[jrct9454A]

$25k?? Not hardly.

Figure 40-50% of original MSRP.

Our pristine '02 C240 netted $16.5k as a trade, with 26,000 miles on it, at the 4 year mark. It had an original MSRP around $34k, though we paid $30k at the end of the '02 model year. You do the math.

Selling our car privately would have netted, maybe, another $2k, if you have the patience and willingness to vet the potential buyers.

But good luck finding someone to buy your 50k miles, 4 year-old C, for $25k.

 

[opeler1900]

Another reason to lease.

When you lease you don't have to worry about excessive depreciation. Mercedes-Benz will buy back my 41,400 MSRP C300 Sport for 24K ish in 3 years with about 50,000 miles on the clock. So if its only worth 20K Mercedes-Benz Financial will take the hit.

 

[Buellwinkle]

To be comperable, take a first year W203 C320 in 2001 that was about $40K new. It would have been 4 years old when the 2005 W203 model came out. I woud say that in 2005 the car at best sold for $20K then retail but in trade in, maybe closer to $12-14K. I had a 2002 C230 sold for $15K in 2004 but dealer told me that 12K is what they were paying for them on average. So figure that C300 in 4 years with inflation will net you $15K trade in and 18K private party sale. Also, with technology changes, if something with a big WOW factor comes out in 2012 that makes gasoline obsolete or gets 100 mpg it could be worse.

Actually, you know what's a sweet used car deal. You can pick up nice E-Class from 2005 for low 20's with lo miles and current body style. So that was a $54K car reduced in value to say $22K (less for trade in) so that's 40% of purchase price in three years for retail price, heck maybe only 30% for trade-in.