W211 E55 - Predicting Value over the next few years

[alabbasi]

A link to the cars to see their condition would be better.

No doubt, and if you give me you credit card # and provide me with a living wage , i'd gladly travel the country and take pictures for you
For now, I've provided listings of recorded sales , not asking prices which in many cases are over inflated.

The table I provided gives a good indicator of what to expect. Lower mileage in good condition will retain value, and higher mileage examples selling for a lot less. I don't believe that I'm suggesting anything that's out of the ordinary here.

 

[John]

You can't compare auction prices with the retail market.

Put a decent E55K up for £2k and people will wonder what is wrong with it.

Good saloons with average mileage are a c£8k all day long for a good with more for the estates.

 

[AMGeed]

How come almost all the E55's either for sale or one just bought are over $10k on the MBWorld forum?

Auction prices in the US are no indicator of the prices fetched here in the UK either privately, through a dealer, or even those that make auction as a part exchange.

 

[alabbasi]

You can't compare auction prices with the retail market.

Put a decent E55K up for £2k and people will wonder what is wrong with it.

Good saloons with average mileage are a c£8k all day long for a good with more for the estates.

I think that suggesting that a £2k at auction will sell for £8k retail is a bit optimistic. There's a margin, but not that big. As I indicated, these are actual sales transactions, not asking prices listed in classifieds. Needless to say, they prices will bottom out before climbing back up. As with any car.

 

[John]

I think that suggesting that a £2k at auction will sell for £8k retail is a bit optimistic. There's a margin, but not that big. As I indicated, these are actual sales transactions, not asking prices listed in classifieds.

The point of an auction is to move a car on quickly.

Even when I sold mine 4 years ago, there was a £4k difference between trade (£6k) and what I got (over £10k) - no optimism there.

The E55K is not your average car and as such, for those who know, it will always have a moderate intrinsic value.

Your average auction however will see all sorts passing through and they are "just cars" like any other - bit like how the trade see them when trading in.

 

[alabbasi]

Auction prices are different to trade in values. A dealer expects to make money on a trade in when rolling it though an auction so whatever you were offered was not reflective of what the auction price would be which I would expect to be higher.

I'm familiar with the 55K engine as I own 2 cars that use that motor. They're special and I'm a fan.

But they're not special enough to buck that trend. I expect this to be worse in the UK where the costs to keep them going is so high. Other V8 and V6 211's values are in the dirt and many are making their way to junk yards due to airmatic failures. The only W211 that seems to be holding its value well is the E320CDI and that's because people like to mile them out.

I like peculiar cars, I recently sold a very nice 1980 280TE with a manual gearbox. Probably one of a handful in the US. It had intrinsic value to those who knew what they were looking at and I would get plenty of inquiries. Unfortunately, none of them had any money and it took two years to sell. That's the problem with niche

 

[pmcgsmurf]

No doubt, and if you give me you credit card # and provide me with a living wage , i'd gladly travel the country and take pictures for you
For now, I've provided listings of recorded sales , not asking prices which in many cases are over inflated.

The table I provided gives a good indicator of what to expect. Lower mileage in good condition will retain value, and higher mileage examples selling for a lot less. I don't believe that I'm suggesting anything that's out of the ordinary here.

Sorry but I don't really see your point.
Are you saying that W211 E55 cars sell for around $2k in the USA, that was what I thought you meant?

You took the time to post a table that listed various things, none of them show sale values of E55 though.
As I said a link to the "sold prices" would have been simpler, we could have clicked one then said wow if this is the case.

 

[E55BOF]

But they're not special enough to buck that trend. I expect this to be worse in the UK where the costs to keep them going is so high. Other V8 and V6 211's values are in the dirt and many are making their way to junk yards due to airmatic failures. The only W211 that seems to be holding its value well is the E320CDI and that's because people like to mile them out.

Your predictions regarding the UK market have been wrong so far; I'm afraid I think you're just plain wrong. Time will tell...

 

[AMGeed]

I'm familiar with the 55K engine as I own 2 cars that use that motor. They're special and I'm a fan.

But they're not special enough to buck that trend. I expect this to be worse in the UK where the costs to keep them going is so high.

But this is where you are wrong. You will not find W211 E55's anywhere near the US auction asking prices you posted despite the higher running and maintainance costs.
I don't really know what E55's are fetching across the US (apart from enthusiast owned cars on MB World) and I would suggest, with respect, you don't know about the prices in the UK.

 

[alabbasi]

Sorry but I don't really see your point.
Are you saying that W211 E55 cars sell for around $2k in the USA, that was what I thought you meant?

You took the time to post a table that listed various things, none of them show sale values of E55 though.
As I said a link to the "sold prices" would have been simpler, we could have clicked one then said wow if this is the case.

I'm not sure what you mean. I posted sales transaction history from an auction site for a 2004 Mercedes Benz E55 sold at auction. That's the information that they have available. Asking for something different won't make it simper because it's not something that they offer. That's like someone saying to you that they would buy your house if it was in another part of town. It's a pointless statement.

I showed data from a national auction site that provides users with historical transaction information to help them in their decision making.

 

[John]

Auction prices are different to trade in values. A dealer expects to make money on a trade in when rolling it though an auction so whatever you were offered was not reflective of what the auction price would be which I would expect to be higher.

Exactly, so if my trade was £6k, they are not passing through auctions at £2k.

Here are some random auction results with prices achieved to backup what I am saying:

2005 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG
£12,452
Historics - Mercedes-Benz World, Weybridge, UK
23 November, 2019
Lot 125

2003 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG
£7,992
Classic Car Auctions - May 2019 Classic Car Sale, Leamington Spa, UK
25 May, 2019
Lot 314

2002 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG
£8,480
Anglia Car Auctions - Classic Cars, King's Lynn, UK
3 November, 2018
Lot 110

2003 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG
£10,450
Classic Car Auctions - The June Sale, Leamington Spa, UK
10 June, 2017
Lot 234


2003 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG
£10,812
Classic Car Auctions - April 2015 Classic Car Sale, Silverstone, UK
21 April, 2015
Lot 221

This is the trend over here and has been for many years, and will continue to be for quite some time.

 

[alabbasi]

But this is where you are wrong. You will not find W211 E55's anywhere near the US auction asking prices you posted despite the higher running and maintenance costs.
I don't really know what E55's are fetching across the US (apart from enthusiast owned cars on MB World) and I would suggest, with respect, you don't know about the prices in the UK.

I would not consider forum cars to be an accurate gauge of prices. While I've not been on MB world in some time, I find that most forum people tend to think that their car will go up in value just by the magic of them taking ownership of it. How many posts have you seen that start with 'i just bought this car, how much is it worth?' You'd think that if they just bought it, they would know.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Bid to $12,000 on 30th June 2020 on US Auction site.

2003 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG

Seems I'm missing something.

 

[John]

Bid to $12,000 on 30th June 2020 on US Auction site.

2003 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG

Seems I'm missing something.

Yeah, I found that one too.

 

[Will]

E55's are no exception. It's a car. A nice car with a good engine but in the UK, fuel is more expensive, parts are more expensive, annual registration is higher, insurance is higher, rust is a bigger problem , loans are harder to get and annual inspections are A LOT more rigorous. So cars depreciate faster.

While I appreciate that the sum of the parts may be worth more than the car. I dismantle cars on the side to feed my hobby and have made money on dismantling cars. There is graft involved and a need for a well equipped shop with plenty of storage space as a car in pieces takes up a lot more space than a car that's complete.

This is not something that people can do on the side of a road in West London with jack stands and the people who can, will pay even less than 2000GBP for a parts car as they need to make money on it.

What these cars sell for in the USA has little to no bearing on prices over here. Stuff is cheaper in America, we get that.

Over here most AMGs are an exception to your ‘it’s a car’ comment though, as although based on mainstream models the AMG specific running gear and parts make them worth a good bit more than the £2000 figure you suggest. I’m not even on about breaking them, it’s quite rare for an E55K to be broken for spares unless it’s a total loss or has huge mechanical failure. Bottom price for a running ‘55k here would probably be about £5k, but I’ve never seen one that amount or less either.

Also although fuel is expensive relative to what you guys pay over the pond, we are used to it over here. In fact fuel Is actually cheaper than it was 10 years back which when you account for inflation is a bit of a bargain. No one buys an AMG because of the fuel consumption though. But look how many large petrol engined cars have been sold in recent times, it’s been a boom over the last decade or so with lots of V8s sold.

And E55s are actually cheaper to tax than a lot of the newer stuff. About £325/year versus £580 for an equivalent car that’s a few years newer. There’s less interesting/lower CC cars that cost more to tax than this.

But having said all that, and considering the other points you make (insurance, rust etc) why do you think that E55Ks are still worth more over here - seems as though you’re contradicting yourself!

Unless you can show sales prices of E55Ks in the UK for £2000 or even close then I would suggest you have misjudged the market over here. My guess is they’ll not drop as low as that as people will buy them for engines to transplant before they get that low. In other words even as breakers they would be worth a good bit more.

I sold my last E55k with over 150k miles on it for just under £7k and my previous one before then with around 110k for £10k, nothing to hide there. Average values seems to range from £6/7k at the bottom end to £10k+ for nice examples. £2k buys you a ropey E500 with high mileage and issues

 

[alabbasi]

Your predictions regarding the UK market have been wrong so far; I'm afraid I think you're just plain wrong. Time will tell...

I don't think i am. Like I said, last time I said this, people started losing their mind. Combined with Covid 19 cabin fever, it might get really ugly this time

 

[John]

Estimated CAT N estate for £7.5k:

https://www.copart.co.uk/lot/36819208

 

[John]

Lot 125 - 2005 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG

Lot Number	125
Registration	LK54 XDF
Chassis Number	WDB2110762A689902
Engine Number	tbc
Odometer reading	33,200 miles
Estimate	£12,000 - £15,000
Result	Sold - £12,452

Ref 69 2005 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG

 

[John]

Plenty of evidence of relatively strong values it seems.

We've been proved right so far it seems.

The E55K will buck the trend for a while too as I've personally been saying for 9 years now.

 

[John]

You can pickup an old 200k 1998 E55 for £2k though...

1998 MERCEDES E55 AMG AUTO

Lot Number: 01
Result inc Premium: £1,720

• V5 Present
• Chassis number: WDB2100742A710579

Owned by the last registered keeper since 2009 and serviced by the same garage from 2010 until 2016. The MoT history shows the car was annually issued from 2006 until 2018 when it expired in October 2019. Five registered owners from new. Also comes complete with the original service book containing thirteen stamps between 2001 and 2016, manuals and wallet. 194,431 recorded miles.