H&H AUCTION SL55

[MikeInWimbledon]

Advertised price is seldom achieved price.

To retail it he will need to tidy it up, fix issues and put a warranty on it.

The School Garage has been around for decades (originally selling on Classic and Sportscar mags), with fairly slow moving stock.

A rare colour, but is it worth a50% premium over an ordinary colour SL55?

 

[Will]

I don’t think anyone should care about what the mark up is as such.

I mean, if they’d bought it for £12k and put it up for say £22k no one would question it.

To me when buying something I like to see good value for money, and I’m not convinced at over £30k this car represents that compared to what other examples are available, regardless of what they paid for it

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

I don’t think anyone should care about what the mark up is as such.

I mean, if they’d bought it for £12k and put it up for say £22k no one would question it.

To me when buying something I like to see good value for money, and I’m not convinced at over £30k this car represents that compared to what other examples are available, regardless of what they paid for it

I agree, I don’t begrudge the trader a profit in the slightest. The skill of being a successful trader is to buy the right car for the least amount possible and sell it for the most amount possible.

If they make big chunk on it then good for them. That said, a c50% mark-up (before costs) isn’t particularly high - plenty of people here will own or work for a business with similar or even much larger margins.

 

[G7Wagen]

I always wonder when you see sky high prices for some other classic cars, what triggered the prices to rise.. I suspect a few brave sellers charging more.. plus people hanging onto theirs hoping the price will rise, therefore restricting supply..
These cars can have some expensive parts so if the red one has all new suspension/SBC replaced that might justify a much higher price.
The 030 Performance pack cars command a 30k+ price.. but that's not one.
I like the Berry Red interior., not keen on the exterior colour.

I think he will struggle to sell at that price.. but would be happy if it did and consequently dragged up the average price of good SL55's .

 

[Will]

Like anything it’s supply and demand, and that applies to the sellers as well as the buyers.

I just think in terms of SL55s there’s quite a good supply still. It’s not difficult to find an average to good ~ 50k miler, so colour aside it won’t sell itself on rarity or mileage, and I don’t think it will sell itself on price.

 

[Spider10]

Price drop to £29,995

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Plenty will argue that you should pay a few grand less for buying through auction.

Plenty will also argue that a good saleswoman / salesman can find a buyer out of nowhere and then close a deal.

And a lot of people on here have bought from dealerships who’ve taken a 33% gross margin. (50% markup). It’s not that outrageous…

 

[Spider10]

Personally I can't fault the seller if someone wants it they will pay it plenty of room for negotiation and still a good profit margin

 

[ALFAitalia]

Plenty will argue that you should pay a few grand less for buying through auction.

Plenty will also argue that a good saleswoman / salesman can find a buyer out of nowhere and then close a deal.

And a lot of people on here have bought from dealerships who’ve taken a 33% gross margin. (50% markup). It’s not that outrageous…

I've sold a lot of cars and caravans over a lot of years.....and 50% margins are extremely rare in both cases on my experience and usually only on lower value stuff. Don't forget that even if you make a good margin on paper a proper business will lose 20 percent of the profit margin (selling price less purchase price in VAT....and you get no allowance for reconditioning costs)....pay the staff, heat/light the place, buy a warranty etc etc....you need close to a £2000 margin just to break even in many cases once all costs are taken into account.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I've sold a lot of cars and caravans over a lot of years.....and 50% margins are extremely rare in both cases on my experience and usually only on lower value stuff. Don't forget that even if you make a good margin on paper a proper business will lose 20 percent of the profit margin (selling price less purchase price in VAT....and you get no allowance for reconditioning costs)....pay the staff, heat/light the place, buy a warranty etc etc....you need close to a £2000 margin just to break even in many cases once all costs are taken into account.

Which is why I didn’t say 50% net margin, I said 33% gross margin, and listed some of the reasons why it’s closer to 10% net: detailing, rectification, consumables, storage, energy, collection, delivery, interest, advertising, commission, insurances, business and sales taxes. Even if the vehicle is sold actually at its opening price, which normally they aren’t. (Prices soften, and get negotiated down to do the actual deal)

I said “a lot of people on here have bought from dealerships who’ve taken a 33% gross margin. (50% markup). It’s not that outrageous…”

Obviously net margins are smaller on “bread and butter” routine small value vehicles that roll in and out every week. On more expensive, older, riskier vehicles: not so much.

 

[Will]

Has to be said that an SL55 has quite a lot of ‘bork’ potential too.

I wouldn’t want to be selling one as a retail sale and then have to stand by it for say six months in case it has a bad turn.

Complex cars which cost quite a lot to repair when relatively new. Despite the low mileage it is over twenty years old now.

Some you win, some you lose, but you’d want to factor the gamble into any margin you make on the sale.

 

[SL63Mark]

Never seen that colour before. Sold for £19k, which is probably what it is worth, after auction fees deducted. I sold mine for £19k, private sale, last year. It had 77,000 miles on it.

Buyer beware, there are lots of potential issues on these, especially the early (2002/03) cars.

 

[Jatboy]

It looked nicer in the Auction pics.

 

[joe2612]

It reminds me somewhat of a grey desingo with cream interior that was for sale 3 years ago for 40k (ish) would love to know who bought it.

 

[G7Wagen]

That one looks like an 030 Performance pack model.. much rarer.

 

[Engadine]

If you’ve ever had a drink in a pub or bought a takeaway Coke from a drive through you’ve paid much more than a 50% markup.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Not quite the same thing. When I started selling nee VW and Audi in 1987 we had a 17.5 percent margin.....that was slowly eroded by VAG.....and when I left in 2002 it was 5 percent. We used to get the odd extra percent for meeting operating standards and reaching sales target. No idea what they get now.....

 

[SnowBear57]

I’d noticed that there are two SL55’s up at Historics with estimates of less than £20k.

Still broadly double the price of their SL500 equivalent, but that’s the AMG premium.

These were £100k cars when the likes of Steve Jobs was buying them….

Auction details here:

Ref 77 2006 Mercedes-Benz SL55 JG

View attachment 140546

Still one of the best looking Mercs, I would buy one but the wife insists on 4 seats, so I am stuck with the CLK

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Still one of the best looking Mercs, I would buy one but the wife insists on 4 seats, so I am stuck with the CLK

If you bought two, you’d have four seats.

Would it help?