E430 Avantgarde 1999, sadly has to go!

[MJS1]

Is anyone interested in buying my beloved V8.
It's in Violane metallic with full light grey leather interior. It has
air conditioning, passenger and driver climate control (both digital), ABS, traction control(switchable), electronic stability control, folding heated wing mirrors, auto dimming rear view and wing mirrors, electric drivers seat, front and rear parking sensors with visual aid in car, new (Feb '04) Sony stereo with tuner, flip down removable front CD with added 10 disc changer in boot pocket, airbags all round, factory fitted alarm and immobiliser,18" AMG alloys.

I'm the fourth owner of the car, the two previous to me were members of the same family.
I bought the car from a dealer in Surrey called Carlians in January of this year to use solely at the weekend, but unfortunately, due to me moving house in the December before, most, if not all, of my weekends are taken up by DIY so the car is rarely out of the garage.

It will return around 25-26mpg and far out pace most cars on the road. (Sounds fantastic too!).

The service book reads as follows:
23/03/00 9161miles
02/10/00 23046miles
02/08/01 35134miles
All of these services were carried out by Mercedes dealers. Having 'called up' the next service date on the dash it is due in 5500 miles, the car currently has just under 50400 miles on the clock.
If you viewed the car you wouldn't be disappointed it's in A1 condition.
The asking price is £13795 (cheap for the mileage and condition check out the 'What's it worth' section on Auto Trader) but I would be willing to negotiate as one of the tyres has low tread, all the others are good.

 

[MJS1]

Am I expecting too high a price? I paid 15K in Jan of this year.

 

[pluggers]

Ive had a look in "parkers price guide" it lists your car about 12k + or - £500 depending on whether its a T plate or V plate,with or with out tiptronic box,Will fair better if it was an estate probably at the price your offering yours at now?.Im in the same situation at the moment looking to buy another car but wondering if anyone will buy as its so close to xmas.

 

[Will]

Am I expecting too high a price? I paid 15K in Jan of this year.

Have you had anybody look at the car yet? Where have you got it advertised (other than here!).

Personally, E430s sound like lovely cars, but they don't hold their value in the way many MB owners would hope.

Big, juicy, range topping cars are notoriously difficult to sell (not just MBs!), and this is the main reason they are so cheap - Buyers dictate the market value!

Personally, if it was me, and remember that I have never seen the car, I would:

Get the tyre replaced that is low on tread (even a good quality part worn from a local tyre garage).

Have the car valeted, if it is not already in spotless condition.

Get it advertised in as many other places for a competive price. What I mean by this is that the most expensive sounding cars rarely sell. If a prospective buyer is searching, and finds three or four similar sounding cars, and yours was the most expensive, chances are they will look at the others first, and probably buy one before seeing yours!

With these areas taken care of, you can only keep it advertised and be prepared for a little wait (as pluggers has said, it is December! Many people will not be looking to buy 10K+ cars over the Christmas/New Year period!)

Hope you get the car sold, and get a price that you are happy with.

Cheers,

Will

 

[MJS1]

I've been advertising the car for about 2-3 months mainly in Autotrader and Top Marques, I did try to base my price on what similar cars are going for and thought it was pretty fair. The number of calls was around 5-6, mainly through Top Marques, but each time people were not prepared to travel to view. One guy messed me about for around a week, phoning to cancel and rearrange each time I spoke to him. On occasions he would cancel by text which was quite frustrating.
The tyres are Michelin Pilot Sport and I have been told by a fitters that I either have to buy another of the same or replace two for another brand to have a matching pair. Money being tight at the moment I was reluctant to spend £200 on a new tyre, I would rather knock it off the price of the car when striking a deal.

At the moment the car is in the garage where it has been for the last three weeks since I gave it a thorough going over.

I did buy the car with the sole intention of just using it at the weekend ( I have a car bought cheap to commute to work in ) but it is rarely out of the garage.
I cant justify the cost each month of the personel loan I took out to buy the car with the amount of use I get from it.

I've stopped advertising now (apart from this site) and will start again mid January.

Cheers

MJS1