do you find it frightening?
 

almost a year ago, i acquired a 1997 c140. 20,300 miles. starmarked and owned by a very elderly lady who purchased it new in december of 1996.

i found it on the mbusa website. paid 37k+tax, etc.

car was, is cherry.

today, i took it into a mb dealer for some warranty work. they gave me a c240 as a loaner. nice little car. but nothing special. it is the base c class benz.

just for the hell of it, i went to the mbusa site to price it. whoa. did i make a great deal for the virtually unused c140 or not.

i could not believe that as loaded as i would want it, a new c240 stickers out at 41k.

good used S class ones for ever will be my motto for ever. who are the idiots that purchase these mini-benzes new?

even crazier is the amg c class. starting sticker, no additional options, 52k.

hello...

anyone home?

I paid $5K for my 300SE. I have to take car of some deferred maintenance items, but it's still a great car.

Taxes are low too.

i bought a C220 CDi, estate, silver, leather, xenons, all the toys, W reg (2000) - last of the 202's for 25K UK (in 2001)

18 months later swapped with a 120K mile CL420 1996/7 - stickered at 14K iirc - so i lost 11,000 pounds in 18 months.

I do have problems with the CL - like a squeeky door trim - but its sooooo much nicer, and I'm not going to lose as much on it. :eek:

I paid $5500 for my '91 300SE, (trade in offer made to the previous owner). Best buy I ever made, 13 yo Benz that everything works including the A/C. My understanding that Blue Book on this car last year was between $8-$10 grand.

1987 300e
 

I just paid $3,500 for 1987 300E with under 100,000 miles on it. A little rough around the edges but mechanically sound. Have put 3500 miles on it in just 3 weeks and it runs like a top. I've driven 240D's for many years and a 1978 280CE. This is the only "newer" gas mercedes I have driven and I love it.

$41K for a C240 is definitely all available options. The base is right at $30K. In todays car market, that's a fair price for these cars.

That said, finding a solid, well kept used car for a fraction of that price is definitely the way to go. As much as I love my C Class, the money would've been more wisely spent for a solid, low mileage used MB. When I bought the car, however, all my other cars were broke and I was afoot. I had no time to do the long search for a car good enough and clean enough to be happy with.

When I bought my 300E, I spent over two years looking for a manual transmission 300E. I was EXTREMELY lucky that I found one with a manual transmission AND in great, pristine condition.

Buying a GOOD used car is a bargain. Many used cars are NOT good. You can end up in a situation where you would have been much better off just buying new.

As with most anything, there are pros and cons.

My $0.02,

I'm Craig, and I'm a recovering new car addict...
 

who found the cure in the Baron, my first truly used car, at 145K and 14 years of age when I bought a year ago. (He'll be legally able to drive in another year!) I've finally realized that 50-60K miles in a *good* car is still young; could it be because at just over 50 myself I've realized I'm not old yet?;)

not to quibble with mr bible, but the mbusa web site posts a base price for the 2004 c240 sedan at $33,370.00.