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#16
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That said, there's always that risk. When you see a one- or two-year-old car back on the dealer's lot, you wonder why. . . . .
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* * -- Paul W. (The Benzadmiral) ('03 Buick Park Avenue, charcoal/cream) Formerly: '97 C230, smoke silver/parchment; '86 420SEL, anthracite/light grey; '84 280CE (W123), dark blue/palomino Last edited by Benzadmiral; 09-12-2006 at 03:52 PM. |
#17
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Maybee its owner wanted something different? There are a number of people who only keep a car a couple of years. My doctor friends BMW was only a year and a half old. A year is a long time for some people.
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#18
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The dealerships that do buy from auctions generally are the bottom feeders. Domestic car lots will typically buy high end cars to get people onto the lot. The buy here pay here lots will buy a lot of the older high end cars that they sell on their lots and make more money in their financing than they did on the car itself. When you see that BMW or MB at the Ford dealer do you really think someone traded it in on a new Ford? A Lexus dealer while still a Lexus dealer would get a high volume of trade ins and lease returns and generally would have no need to buy a Mercedes at auction. Especially a C class. They might pick up an S55 or an SL at auction but why would they pick up a low margin unit when they have plenty of high margin trade in's to choose from where they don't have to bid against other dealerships? I at one time sold cars and saw the domestic dealers in action. I would not reccomend buying off of a domestic lot because they do "lot stock". Most of the domestic car trade ins are high mileage and are generally beat. Most domestic buyers seem to stick with domestic makes and don't maintain their cars as well as some of the European/Japanese owners do. In order to keep their used lot from looking like a junk yard they have to buy at auction and pick from the inventory the top feeders did not want. Additionally used car units are the most profitable units that you can sell on a lot. Not only do you have a lot of margin in the car to begin with but most buyers that are financing used cars pay high interest rates. With a car sale there are several profit centers. The car itself is one but so is financing and "add ons". Dealerships get a kickback on the financing that they set you up with. They also get kickbacks on the warranties and other services that they sucker you into buying on the car. One way to get a great deal is to fight tooth and nail on the price of the car and let THEM finance you and add on all of their packages onto your deal. They will let the car go cheap because they are making money on the backside of the deal and you can step in with your own finacing and pay the car off in full. Most of the warranties and other programs can be canceled and refunded. They really hate it when you do that. |
#19
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Wow! Somebody dredged up this old thread and brought it back to life. And there are some interesting posts here...
The irony is that we bought our C320 on a Toyota lot. It was 3 years old with only 6K miles on the odo!!! The sales manager claimed the previous owner traded it in on a Sequoia SUV. This had a ring of truth...as the poor C320 must have sat practically unused for the first 3 years of its life. Now the car is 6 years old and only has 27K miles. And it still looks like new!
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'01 SLK320, '79 450SL & '01 C320 -- What? 3 Mercedes? I am DEFINITELY crazy!!! |
#20
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I didn't mean to speak in absolutes, however...
I think it would be an amazing coincidence if the variety of used cars for sale at a lot reflects the variety of cars traded in. I still think the used car offering reflects what prospective buyers ask to see, and the proportion of trade ins just won't support that (e.g., lots of SUVs traded in when gas prices are high). I imagine there's an abundance of trade ins to choose from in the industry overall otherwise there wouldn't be dedicated used car lots. But I'd be surprised if half the used cars at any given MB lot are direct trades. I expect this is particularly true within dealer chains. Cars returned to the Putnam group in the SF Bay Area or the Ellis group in SoCal probably stay within the chain but not at the recieving dealership. Again, a matter of statistics. The other thing that doesn't connect with me is lease returns. How many leases are financed by the dealership? My guess is not enough to account for all lease returns on offer. If a dealership has to buy lease returns to offer, why be limited to the cars returned to their lot? I imagine manufacturers give their dealerships first crack at regional lease returns. Not too expensive to shuttle cars within a 50 mile radius. Of course I defer to those with first hand knowledge. I'm just putting uneducated ideas to see what folks have to say. And my contribution to the thread - unless you're buying a Starmark car, buy an MB from any dealership that treats as you deserve to be treated and can convince you that they've thoroughly inspected the car. Has anyone asked an MB dealership to do a PPI on a used MB on their lot? Outside of Starmark cars, I mean. Sixto 93 300SD |
#21
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Sixto 93 300SD |
#22
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Just plenty of heat... :fork_off:
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'01 SLK320, '79 450SL & '01 C320 -- What? 3 Mercedes? I am DEFINITELY crazy!!! |
#23
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I realize that was a mean thing to suggest. My apologies.
Sixto 93 300SD ... probably has been through snow and floods |
#24
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No need to apologize. I saw the humor in it.
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'01 SLK320, '79 450SL & '01 C320 -- What? 3 Mercedes? I am DEFINITELY crazy!!! |
#25
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It's a Mercedes-only V6. No Chrysler in there.
There are 2 generations of V6 engines: a single overhead cam unit up to 2005, and a more powerful DOHC engine from 2006 onward.
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'01 SLK320, '79 450SL & '01 C320 -- What? 3 Mercedes? I am DEFINITELY crazy!!! |
#26
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Originally I looked at a 1992 and a 1994 300CE/E320 Coupe. Both Beverly Hills ordered cars with Black on Black combo and relatively low miles with extras like CD players and phone systems. Now I have looked at the following models, 1998 C43, 1999 C230Kompressor, 1999 C280 and C43 as well as the 2002 C32 and also a 1996 C36. All I need to do now is get the best for the least amount and make sure it's been completely gone thru. I would appreciate any and all help. Thanks, Jason
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1988 300CE 120K RIP(Midnight Blue/Parchment) 1987 300E 202K (Arctic White/Palomino) Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons. It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth. ~Song of The Open Road |
#27
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Good luck on that. If your looking for a full retail unit with all the factory blessings your going to pay for it. Perhaps you might locate an independant and have the car's inspected and just eat some of the minor repair costs? Your going to have to spend one way or another. MB lots usually Starmark their nice cars and don't liquidate them like other makers might. When Im looking for a used Mercedes the LAST place I go is a MB dealership. |
#28
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I know this is a difficult thing, but it is possible. Newspaper ads, Autotrader and craigslist.org are your friends!
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'01 SLK320, '79 450SL & '01 C320 -- What? 3 Mercedes? I am DEFINITELY crazy!!! |
#29
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Yeah but they have some nice cars! They only keep the cream of the crop. For example the local one took a 1996 E300D in on trade with only 20k miles! It looked like a brand new car, not a mark on the thing! It was on the lot for a short time at $21k. Thats a lot for such a car, but again it was perfect and came with a warranty. You could spend $10k less on ebay for the same model but its going to have darn near 100k on it and not be in the same shape. You really do get what you pay for in regards to used MB's, and people who pay good money for a perfect example usualy are not disapointed.
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1999 SL500 1969 280SE 2023 Ram 1500 2007 Tiara 3200 |
#30
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And of course as a used car buyer you have no way of knowing if the MB dealer did not spruce the car up themselves. Go by the MB dealer during the beginning of the week and hang out near the back of the used car section and you might catch a glimpse of the guy with the pickup truck and airbrush doing paint repairs and detailing. Consumer driven cars are imperfect. I have seen brand new cars with scratches swirl marks and other imperfections. Paying an exhorbatant amount of money for a car with a low number on the odometer and "perfect" cosmetics is more of an emotional response than one of logic. The dealerships know this and are standing by to take your money. |
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