Market value - 1999 S320, 68K miles

[stephenson]

Found a nice one in LA and will have to drive it cross country if I buy it ... seems a bit high at $25K?

Thanks for your comments and advice in advance!

[bwheitman]

That is really a nice car. Those 140's are probably the best thing MB ever built, even better than the SL I traded mine for. I think the price is kind of high though. Check out www.kbb.com, and www.nada.com for retail/wholesale values, try to find a price between the two. That is a $75,000 car new, but I have seen them go for less. Good luck! and take your time shopping, and try to get a one owner from a state where there is no rust.
Best Regards,
Brian

[Will_w202]

MB dealer here (NC) has a 99 S320 with 53k for $28k. CPO (Starmark), which at a dealer is about a 5k add. So, I would say low 20s.

[jcyuhn]

My brother recently sold his very nice '97 S320 for $16K. Mileage was about the same as this car. He had it on the market for several months; it was not a fire sale.

I'd say the price is a bit high; you're going to see $4K-$5K/year in depreciation at that price. Too high for a car out of warranty and/or not certified.

My $.02,

- JimY

[A. Rosich]

Cars in California always tend to be a little higher on market value than the rest of the States, basically due to market availability, extra emission guidelines and weather wise they tend to be in better shape.

Try making an offer to the dealer with a 10% discount. W140s are not easy to sell (because of maintenance issues).

[suginami]

Cars in California, especially the L.A. and San Francisco markets, are very high compared with the rest of the country.

For example, I bought my 2000 E430 with 70,000 miles from a seller in Houston, and I paid $18,000. A similar car here in the Los Angeles area would run about $22k - $25k.

[stephenson]

A. Rosich,

I was interested in the 3.2L for fuel usage advantages, but do recognize some V-8s' maintenance advantages over their sibling L6s outweigh the fuel disadvantage of the V-8 ... your opinion is that I should consider the 5.0L, then, in the mix? Seem to be a lot more of them, for sure ...

And, the autoleveling is hydraulic, right? Makes a difference when heavily loaded? Less sag?

Thanks!

[A. Rosich]

I do prefer the 500 over the 320 in the W140, is much more powerful, smoother, and in the States at least, you STILL don't have to worry to much about fuel costs.

Anyway, fuel costs also depend on your type of driving. I have a good friend who owns an S320 and when we go to the beach my car actually gets BETTER fuel economy over his. In town driving the story is completely different, though...

In terms of maintenance, if the 320 has all of its weak points taken care of already, it should be easy to mantain.

What you have to take into account is the general maintenance of a W140, which is NOT cheap. Anything that could go wrong (and believe me, sooner or later something will go wrong) is going to be expensive to fix.