R Class depreciation

[BTB 500]

Got the (German) in-laws staying at the moment. They turned up in a 12 month old R350 lwb they bought a couple of weeks ago:

Nice car with COMAND, leather, parktronic, etc. Would have been just over 70K Euros new. They paid ... 33K Euros. I make that 53% depreciation in a year

 

[recycled]

What exactly is the R-class trying to be?An suv ,estate, hatchback,mpv or a bus?

 

[marcos]

Just had a courtesy R-Class whilst my ML has been in the garage.
I would not have given the R a second thought but it is a cracking car. Loads of room, comfy, quiet, clever seats and drives great.
Don't knock one till you have tried one, it will surprise you.


It handles better than an SUV but has the same room, a bit like an estate car but roomier all round, better looking than an MPV and nothing like a bus

 

[DITTRICH]

There is, I think, something not quite right about the rear end. It just looks wrong. MB got it right with the W124, W210 and W211 estates, but this just fails miserably. I can't put a finger on it, but maybe it has something to do with the bit at the top which overhangs backwards.
Les

 

[recycled]

I do not doubt it is a good car. In fact i think it is.i just do not try cars that i do not like from sight no matter how great the figures sound.
And believe me i do not like the sight.
Same with the new 5 series great car, hate the looks. Ditto the porsche cayenne.

 

[BTB 500]

Looks-wise I'm not that keen on the car, but they love it and having sat in one it's quite impressive. Somewhere between an estate and an MPV, but with 4WD. Too low for the SUV crowd. But it was just the depreciation I was commenting on really

 

[recycled]

. But it was just the depreciation I was commenting on really

I think the maybach is slightly worse, or is it. about 1k a week

 

[Dieselman]

What exactly is the R-class trying to be?An suv ,estate, hatchback,mpv or a bus?

All of the above..

 

[fuzzer]

buying new is insane , however used seems to be a bargain!

 

[sym]

buying new is insane , however used seems to be a bargain!

Yep !

S. (Planning next ugly used bargain Benz purchase !! )

 

[Silestanix]

The R-class depreciates like a brick dropped from a building.

 

[fuzzer]

The R-class depreciates like a brick dropped from a building.

correction..

An aerodynamic teflon jet propelled brick dropping from a building

 

[Silestanix]

correction..

An aerodynamic teflon jet propelled brick dropping from a building

 

[gary350]

Its a dog of a car something like the GL if the ML is not big enough for you then you have troubles. MB have lost the plot all their cars seem do be upsized,against general opinion.

gary

 

[Will]

I think people are missing the point of Bill's post here - the depreciation.

You'd be mad to pay the new price for one, but a 1-year old MB with that spec is a bargain. 33k Euros is less than £22.5k. At 1 year old that's about C-class money really.

Obviously they're not to everyone's taste, but that's why they are now such a bargain and if you're happy to live with the looks you are getting a very nice car for the money IMHO

Will

 

[BenzComander]

Year old 320CDi sport LWB on Autotrader for 30k ish!! Would have been near 50K to buy new!!

Still, if you want a Merc, and need to seat six in comfort, facing forward what else is there?

 

[Ted]

Yup - MB are making some pretty ugly cars atm.

But the R class? You know I shouldn't like it, but I really really do.

 

[hawk20]

Just had a courtesy R-Class whilst my ML has been in the garage.
I would not have given the R a second thought but it is a cracking car. Loads of room, comfy, quiet, clever seats and drives great.
Don't knock one till you have tried one, it will surprise you.


It handles better than an SUV but has the same room, a bit like an estate car but roomier all round, better looking than an MPV and nothing like a bus

The trouble is that many of the things you claim are not borne out by the facts. I drove the SWB model. Long as an S class and I would not want any bigger with UK parking.
1. The legroom in the front is less than an A class and inadequate for longer legged people like me. It is not height of occupant that matters but leg length that matters. It has room for, say, a 31 inch inside leg. I'm 33 inch and could not get seat back enough to get thigh supported.
2. Raising the front seat to try to support the thigh does not help because some fool designed the seat so it swings forward (reducing lewgroom) as you raise it.
3. No tilt adjustment on the squab on a £40-50 k car is absurd. Even cheap superminis have that.
4. Boot space is about like a mini and totally ludicrous for 2 or 3 people on holiday let alone for the six it was designed for.
5. Could have been a really good crossover, a big estate car with luxury seats (not the ones it has), lots of room for a wide range of people sizes, a bench seat behind the two front seats, option of childrens' seats in the back and a major sized boot. Like an ML but looking like, and set out like, a big E class estate. At the moment ML's have more legroom in the front, in the middle and a far bigger boot.

The long wheelbase has enough legroom in the front but still has a pathetic boot to get 6 seats that few people want.

The residuals are lousy because Mercedes are letting dealers sell brand new ones at £9k off list, thus wrecking their customers residual values.

 

[Dryce]

The residuals are lousy because Mercedes are letting dealers sell brand new ones at £9k off list, thus wrecking their customers residual values.

Shirley that means the residuals are bad off list but not from actual prices paid.

Which is how it works with Fords (eg. 18k car worth 10.5K at end of year 1 but really costs £14k new with discounts).

 

[Dieselman]

1. The legroom in the front is less than an A class and inadequate for longer legged people like me. It is not height of occupant that matters but leg length that matters. It has room for, say, a 31 inch inside leg. I'm 33 inch and could not get seat back enough to get thigh supported.
2. Raising the front seat to try to support the thigh does not help because some fool designed the seat so it swings forward (reducing lewgroom) as you raise it.

At a motorshow I sat in a Cadillac Seville just to see and couldn't get the seat far enough back.
A tall German man got in and sat in the passenger seat, took one look and said 'Get a proper car, buy a Mercedes'...LOL..