How can I value and sell a very low mileage E500 estate?

[MD5]

As a fellow owner, I'm rooting for you, but it won't be worth as much as you might hope, as they haven't finished depreciating yet, but the clues are here!

I am NOT selling this car today, but this summer I want to sell my 50k miles 2004 E500 Estate, which is immaculate and essentially one owner.

And how can I begin to price it?

To be clear: I don't want any approaches, privately or from dealers today.

How far away do you think the summer is?!

I actually know someone who might be interested.

Good luck with the sale, when it comes to it - it looks like a nice car.

Cheers,

Gaz

An estate is a bit of a different kettle of fish , different market , but I would think you'd get £6k for it all day long , maybe a bit more.

But see how you get on at £7k, while the dreamers are out there asking £7k for a 150k mile one it will make yours look an absolute bargain!

Stick it up for circa £6k but be prepared to wait for the right buyer, who may want to be picky on spec and probably negotiate on price anyway.

This is the longest ad I think I've ever seen.

FTFY!

 

[merc85]

LOL, Re Summer, may be waiting a while

 

[Teflonso]

I can't comment on an E500, but last year I sold my 7 year old Golf GTI, 19k miles, immaculate, always garaged, never seen a grain of road salt, FSH. It even had the original bottle opener and pristine rubber cover mats.

Autotrader and Pistonheads were useless - just a bunch of chancers and traders who wanted to offer two lolly pop sticks and a Des O'Connor record, it was less than the value of a normal mileage car that had been thrashed all its life by some chav in a baseball hat. Nowhere near to what Glass's and CAP valued the car at. We-Buy-Any-Car say they offer 85% of CAP value. They don't. We-Want-Any-Car were a little closer closer on-line and on the phone but wanted me to pitch up, ready to sell on the spot, which I interpreted as "ready to be gazundered".

My advice - start early, use owners clubs, specialist sites and other such options and be prepared to wait it out if you want to get even reasonable value for the car.

.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Thanks for the Friday feedback....

Useful thoughts, all round.
The only reason I'm thinking about selling is a whining noise from the passenger seat.
"She" says that one London couple doesn't need an E500 Estate, SL500, MX5, and a young driver carryall all on the same driveway.
"I" say, that they're just horses for different courses, but if I did sell this, then I could buy.....

To answer several folks question, I'm not worried about price: it gets whatever it gets. I'm just wondering how to find the a buyer that will enjoy it for what it is.

In my eyes, it's five door estate for an S class driver who needs the 5th door, but who doesn't need the nonsense of an SUV. And it's definitely not an E55k: why go for all those reliability / stiff suspension / jolty, racy stuff?

Anyway: conclusion that I'm taking away is: four pronged attack when selling: Use MB Club, Autotrader, Pistonheads, and Mercedes Enthusiast. And price is anyone's guess, depending on who wants it, and for what...

 

[Will]

In my eyes, it's five door estate for an S class driver who needs the 5th door, but who doesn't need the nonsense of an SUV. And it's definitely not an E55k: why go for all those reliability / stiff suspension / jolty, racy stuff?

You keep going on mentioning 'reliability' and 'E55K' in the same sentence. What do you see as unreliable on an E55 or notably reliable on an E500 by comparison? Like I said earlier, your car still has airmatic, SBC brakes, plus all the early W211 electrical issues ready to appear out of the woodwork.

Running costs/reliability between the two are near as dammit identical.

Only issues I've had with my E55 (new keyless go handles x2, dimming mirror glass, door lock actuator) could affect any W211 identically, so I don't take your point. At least AMG cars tend to be better specced

 

[219]

My thought is - it's a very nice car and , as long as it has the hide-away towbar it would be perfect for a caravanner who wants a comfortable , luxury towcar for summer holidays .

You could do worse than stick a classified ad in the towcars section of one of the caravanning magazines - it's still early in the season so now is a good time .

There are plenty of people with a family and a larger 'van who don't want a diesel , a 4x4 or an MPV .

 

[219]

That comment on insurance was a useful reminder.

Going back to my comment about this being a Familienwagen for the three car family. My London insurance bill, for two five litre cars and a sports car is just £600 a year, and the cost of having an extra / fourth car is less than £200 p.a.

So, these things are much more affordable for some than for others.

That is kind of what I was getting at above with my comment re caravanners ; there will be other cars in the fleet as well .

 

[MD5]

Mike,

I really do sympathise with your situation, as these cars are undervalued at best, but are at an awkward stage in their lives. If you had come on here with one a couple of generations older (or four years ago when I first started looking!) we'd have been over you like a rash, but these cars are good value for money now, and getting cheaper (apart from mine -we don't know about yours yet! - because they are special !!).

Is yours a 7 or 5 seater? If 5, it's less versatile for families, and if needed as a tip car/daily hack, it's too nice, so where does it fit in? Has it had any suspension parts or the SBC pump replaced? If not, they are looming, whilst higher mileage cars will most likely have had these jobs done - mine even came with a spare airmatic compressor and strut! As Will says, mileage isn't an issue for these engines, it's the other bits that fail.

Sunroof? Anyone looking for a tidy keeper will be looking for all the goodies, but they haven't reached classic car status yet, so unless someone is taking a longer term view of ownership and is buying early, you are limited in finding that niche owner that will pay what the car should be worth.

That said, their prices vary greatly, and there a currently three 2004 E55 estates on Autotrader. There is only £500 between the cheapest and dearest, yet the mileage ranges from 50k odd to 120k, and the 50k car is the cheapest, being sold by a trader, so go figure?! Timing your ad with overpriced cars will help, and of course it should command a premium, as the condition sounds great - or will it just help sell it quickly in a bit of sticky market?

Anyway, good luck, I hope you get a good price, and I'm happy to put a link to any ad you place here over on to the official MB owners' club forum to widen your audience a little.

 

[Charles Morgan]

Try Carandclassic too - it bas a lot of modern cars on it too, is free, and gives you a lot of space to write up the car. The £12500 E500 sport was sold via it.

 

[gIzzE]

In my eyes, it's five door estate for an S class driver who needs the 5th door, but who doesn't need the nonsense of an SUV.

But there in lies your issue. Most people now prefer an SUV over an estate, it takes relaxed and refined to a whole new level.

I never wanted one, I was always an estate buyer, but as soon as Fiona got one I fell for them big time, now I would take the SUV over the estate every time, my old man was the same, laughed at me when I got mine, then borrowed it for a weekend and swapped his 7 series for an ML two weeks later and would never go back.

Audi have said that their increase in models to the range, to make them the largest premium car supplier, will come from SUV models. It is what the vast majority of people are wanting from a car.

So although you call SUVs a nonsense, many of the buyers for an E500 Estate 2 or 3 years ago have already moved on to them.
I'm not too sure how many people want a V8 that does 23mpg average and 0-60mph in 7 seconds (my mapped 2 litre X3 does it in that and averages 47mpg) without having all the toys.
I look at your car and think, it has got SBC, it has got airmatic, but then none of the essential options, so all the bits I don't want on an S211 but none of the bits I do want.

I'm not saying there is not buyers for that car out there, there are, as I had been looking myself for a few months till recently, I have an ML and an X3 and think that one nonsense SUV is probably enough. Quite fancied an E500 or 550i estate, but you need to be very realistic, many for sale sat around for months at sub £5k and they are ones with all the toys.

Would 45k miles and no options appeal to me as much as a car with 75k miles and nice options? No, and I certainly wouldn't pay more for it.
However there are probably as many buyers out there who would prefer lower miles.


You say ''I'm not worried about price: it gets whatever it gets. I'm just wondering how to find the a buyer that will enjoy it for what it is.''

I think you're thinking about this a bit too much, who cares who buys it, who cares if they enjoy it in a different way to you? It is a car, a bit of metal, the guy down the road has one and he uses his carry all his decorating gear around, it is in a right state, but as he says ''I could be in a van but where is the fun in that''.
Horses for courses.

 

[grober]

In a way you have answered your own question- There aren't many about ----because not many people want em. Altho your car should have escaped the Valeo radiator problem, the early ones had the SBC problem, the M273 V8 timing gear issues and allegedly some problems with the autotransmisssion transmitting all that torque. The profile for your prospective buyer is an enthusiast prepared to take on the extra running costs of such a model for the pleasure of driving it but they will have mentally deducted that extra future expenditure from the price they expect to pay for such a model meaning it will merely price as a good clean model W211 Estate of that age? It might be worth sourcing your proposed next purchase from a specialist MB dealer who might see the merit of that V8 engine and allow something more for it in part exchange? Try to find a good road test report of that particular model [ perhaps in the US motoringpress/internet] as a selling pitch aid - might help convince prospective buyers.

 

[mct_cars]

Imo id stick with £6,999 for not to much more you can get a e55k,

A remapped e320 cdi similar miles will have more torque and far better mpg than the e500 would also be available at around the £6,995 too

Totally different league in terms of performance, remapped or not.

You will get twice the MPG though.

 

[MD5]

the early ones had the SBC problem, the M273 V8 timing gear issues and allegedly some problems with the autotransmisssion transmitting all that torque.

This has the M113 engine though.

 

[grober]

This has the M113 engine though.

I stand corrected not introduced till later. One less thing to worry about.

 

[whitenemesis]

Also there is no SBC 'problem', its a service item. One owners need to be aware of certainly but it shouldn't be described as a problem

 

[grober]

Its certainly not a "design fault" but surely a fairly predictable extra item of expenditure in the longer term if the pump hasn't already been replaced.

 

[whitenemesis]

Definitely, as said a service item. It has a finite service life, though not one that's easily determined.

Still no more expensive than composite discs and lasts a lot longer!

 

[merc85]

Totally different league in terms of performance, remapped or not.

You will get twice the MPG though.

Really? i beg to differ a e500 1/4 is 14.5 my derv did a 15.2 not that much in it really is there?

And yes i got 52mpg yesturday at 60mph over 40miles

 

[gIzzE]

Really? i beg to differ a e500 1/4 is 14.5 my derv did a 15.2 not that much in it really is there?

That's easy for you to say!!

Sorry, I have read that sentence a dozen times and still can't work it out?

 

[Howard]

He's saying his chipped up oil burner is 0.7 sec slower over the quarter mile than an E500.

I think