I think if you look at a 2002 S500( about $88,000 sticker) and 2002 BMW 745( about $78,000 sticker) you will find that the BMW was priced about where the S430 was..and is now valued at a bit more than the S500 is ..in regard to the 2002 cars.....so it seems that this falling resale value is going to be an issue with the 220 cars also.
I have already seen S430's(2002 models) in the 75-80K mileage range going in the mid 20's

by the way I do like the 140 coupe also...but the 220 coupe( in my opinion) is an even better ride


Warren
1992 300SD(sold)
2000 BMW 740I
Columbus Ohio

7-series BMW are much the same

V-12s are especially cheap

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

I agree the 12 cylinder models...both BMW and Benz have crazy low resale
in fact there is point in life where I think its not worth anymore than the V8 cars are

another car that is going to be a real dog is that new Volkswagen Phaeton...there are 2004 's out there that were 72K new...selling for mid 40's with 5000 miles on them



Warren
1992 300SD(sold)
2000 BMW 740I
Columbus Ohio

Not to go off-topic, but this one hits home. Depreciation on the Phaeton is admittedly abysmal (and it'll get worse since VW announced it won't be imported to the US after 2006), but like many W140s, no Phaeton ever went out the door at list price. I leased mine with $0 down and a lower monthly payment than an E Class or A6 (and it's far superior), and most who bought got huge discounts - a couple of weeks ago a Boston dealer was advertising a new '05 Phaeton V8 with a $73k MSRP at $20k off list - a lot of the imputed depreciation is coming out of the dealer's hide, or VWoA's, not the first owner.

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81 300SD
08 MDX Tech
93 525i

05 F650GS

That very believable....I knew some families(not mine I assure you) in Texas when I lived there that bought new MB's in the early and late 90's and they gave huge discounts....as I recall something like...$8000 off a 93 300D 2.5 turbo....$12,000 off a 91 560SEL and $13,000 off a 98 S500 are some transactions that I remember the buyers telling me the stats of
Honestly from what I see the 220 is going fall the same way..they seem to be 50% off after 3 years...but hey again its a great deal if you like the car.
I don't know anyone who has owned a 220 since day one ..just those who have leased and fell under the full maintenance umbrella and turned the car in after the lease was up

Warren
1992 300SD(sold)
2000 BMW 740I

I know a Dr who has owned a 2000 S430 since day one. I think he is up to 40k miles now and couldn't be more happy with the car. He has never had an issue. His major complaint is the new water based paint is to soft. I bought my 300SD from him and he prefered the harder paint on the older cars.

My friends dad has had his S600 for almost two years and he hasn't had a problem, other then an egr breaking when he first got it. Granted the car isn't driven much.

I just helped another friend buy an S320 and it seems to be in great shape. The jury is still out on whether it will be a reliable car.

I think their is a lot of hype about these cars. They are not as bad as people make them out to be. Think about it happy owners are not on the tech forum complaining about how trouble free their S class has been.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

FWIW, I paid $13k for my 97 C230 18 months ago, and that was with 61k and 2/100 Starmark. I thought that was a helluva deal, especially estimating that the warranty saved me 6-8k in repair and disgnostic costs.

As of now, trade-in is around $5000, and in 1st qtr '05, it was over $7k. That's a huge drop in 8 months for a cheap car. And this is the simplest car mechanically that they made that year.

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former: 83 300D, 97 C230, 93 400E

current: 08 C300 Luxury , 92 500SL