My wife took her 2005 W163 ML500 to Carmax on Monday to see what we could get in quick cash.
They offered about $3K below Kelly BB and Edmunds, and about $5K below NADA. Rather disappointing.

We are ready to make a new MB purchase the week after Christmas of an in stock vehicle from the local dealer. Previous purchases from this dealer have been very close to invoice.
Will MB dealers typically come closer to KBB or Carmax? Or even lower? I've never done a trade-in before, but for multiple reasons I'm not wanting to hassle with selling this one on my own.

I bought my Subaru at Carmax. It wasn't the best deal in the world, but it is a good car. The only way a dealer will give you close to KBB on anything is if they are making lots of profit on whatever they are selling you - try selling them the car without buying anything and see what I mean. Even if they buy a "creampuff", they will still have to put some money into the car to get it ready for sale, and people coming in won't want to pay much more than KBB to buy it.

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1984 300TD

I'm currently in the market for a minivan for the family and am looking at Carmax as an option. I'm sure I could do better on my own, but don't really have the time to shop vehicles and take them to mechanics for inspection. Anyone else out there have any experiences with Carmax tha they're willing to share?

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Steven
1989 260E (276K miles)
1995 E320 (50K miles)

I'm gonna guess that a MB dealer would have WAY more room to wiggle on taking that car in trade. An outright sale to a dealer will always net you the least IME. That's cash, the dealer's negotiation is only numbers on paper. In other words, when Carmax offers whatever they offer, let's say 8K, that's eight grand in real moolah. When a dealer gives you TEN in trade, it isn't costing them near that much in actual dollars. They can play with taking some off their profit, some off commission, some from here some from there.
Tyler should weigh in here...

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Then join CLKMAN in his prayer thingy and hope it works since you do understand that if you don't get a mechanic to inspect it or you really know what you are doing, you will be bent over. That is, unless you really get lucky.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Yup, that's what I am afraid of. Time to rethink this one. Was just hoping these guys might actually be different.

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Steven
1989 260E (276K miles)
1995 E320 (50K miles)

Good job thread digger

And then you woke up. They are there to make money. That means buying cheap and selling high. All they need is a chump. Would that be you? If not, get it checked out or DIY.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

About a year ago now I had a bad experience with my vehicle and amongst others I looked at Carmax. We have a huge store near me. They seemed just like every other sleazy dealer to me. There prices were such that I couldn't see the point. Better to pay the bit extra and get a new car I would think.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

Well in my own defense I am typically a research DIY hound. But this time I am in a time crunch and so have been trying to find a shortcut.

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Steven
1989 260E (276K miles)
1995 E320 (50K miles)

Shortcut : longest distance between two points.

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Personally, I always buy used from individuals, not dealers or curbstoners.

But if I were to support sleaze, I'd rather support a local independent lot than corporatized Wall Street parasites like Carmax.

I have never been able to get more than NADA trade in value for a 163. People look at them next to a X5 and think it looks cheaper and older.

After 3 months with a 2005 ML350 Special edition with 80,000 miles, I settled on $10800 for it. I think it was about $5000 under book at the time. Nobody wants them unless they're cheap, especially a gas guzzling V8 with over 100,000 miles.

Here is the average auction prices for all 2005 ML500s sold in the last month

ATLANTA $7,100 94,605 1 $7,100 $7,100 CALIFORN $7,600 100,609 2 $4,100 $11,100 RIVRSIDE $3,400 125,643 1 $3,400 $3,400 SAN DIEG $8,600 75,475 1 $8,600 $8,600 SF BAY $7,550 112,217 2 $7,400 $7,700
Would you pay retail for your vehicle? Most people, unless its a very desirable model, expect an exceptional deal.

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

IIRC, when you buy from a dealership, they have a sticker to tell the date it was inspected or something. I look around here and they usually keep it for 3 months or so before they send it to auction. I look for the ones that are oldest on the lot and see what their schedule it. After which, I make an offer. Individuals do not and they also play the same games and there is even less recourse. My E300 came from a car seller that had to fix my fuel system leak after I discovered it 2 days later. An individual would tell me to go pound sand.

Wait. You have a social conscience? All the while hoping that the economy goes south and people get tossed from their homes so you can buy it cheap and profit from it? And you have the nerve to criticize Wall Street Parasites? Why? Because you aren't as good in the game as they are? Got Hypocrisy?

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow

Depends on who I am buying it from for my case. I look at trade in, private party and dealership value. I had a lady that wanted more than a dealership for a W202. Told me her boyfriend said it was worth that much. Told her that her boyfriend can go write the check. I would pay her a little more than the trade in value since that was all she was going to get. That came pretty close to what private party was going for and a little less.

__________________
01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
06 Polaris Sportsman 500 EFI
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Red
03 SeaDoo GTX SC Yellow
04 Tailgator 21 ft Toy Hauler
11 Harley Davidson 883 SuperLow