Resale value on 03 era merc e300's

[Sharp11]

It was a beautiful day Sunday and I needed some time off from this grueling project I'm working on, so I took a top-down ride to the BMW dealer to take another walk around the new E92's.

They've got two, a 335 with SP and a 328 without.

I'm not a fan of the SP tire combo, got 'em on the Z4 and I think up here, on CT's rutty roads, an 18/35 series tire is a bit dicey. I like the 17/45's, I've got these as snows for the Zed and they're just great.

The 335 was north of 45K.

Oy....

I haven't driven the car yet, but Sunday's walk around left me a bit cold, I kept thinking about how large (and expensive) the car seemed and it got me thinking; if I'm considering letting go of the Zed for one of these, why not go all the way into luxo-land and get a clean, low-mileage off-lease Merc E320, resale value on these is pretty poor - making it a great used car buy.

The Lexus dealer here in Westport has an 03 with 21k on the clock - they're asking 27,900, reduced from 29,900.

Reliability hasn't been the best, but I'm assuming all the major issues have been dealt with.

This would put ten to fifteen grand into my pocket - money which could go into a third car, say, an MX5 or some such.

Hmmmmm......

Ed

[lemming]

It was a beautiful day Sunday and I needed some time off from this grueling project I'm working on, so I took a top-down ride to the BMW dealer to take another walk around the new E92's.

They've got two, a 335 with SP and a 328 without.

I'm not a fan of the SP tire combo, got 'em on the Z4 and I think up here, on CT's rutty roads, an 18/35 series tire is a bit dicey. I like the 17/45's, I've got these as snows for the Zed and they're just great.

The 335 was north of 45K.

Oy....

I haven't driven the car yet, but Sunday's walk around left me a bit cold, I kept thinking about how large (and expensive) the car seemed and it got me thinking; if I'm considering letting go of the Zed for one of these, why not go all the way into luxo-land and get a clean, low-mileage off-lease Merc E320, resale value on these is pretty poor - making it a great used car buy.

The Lexus dealer here in Westport has an 03 with 21k on the clock - they're asking 27,900, reduced from 29,900.

Reliability hasn't been the best, but I'm assuming all the major issues have been dealt with.

This would put ten to fifteen grand into my pocket - money which could go into a third car, say, an MX5 or some such.

Hmmmmm......

Ed

Ed:

1. where in CT again? i just drove through waterbury/danbury last friday and thought of you. was trying to figure out where the nice backroads could be.

2. agree. i'd take the CPO'd E in a heartbeat and true to form, i'd also consider a C350 or E350 before i'd pull the trigger on a 335i.

[Sharp11]

Ed:

1. where in CT again? i just drove through waterbury/danbury last friday and thought of you. was trying to figure out where the nice backroads could be.

2. agree. i'd take the CPO'd E in a heartbeat and true to form, i'd also consider a C350 or E350 before i'd pull the trigger on a 335i.

lem,

I'm in Redding, just south of Danbury.

We've got driver's roads up the wazoo - if you're driving through, give me a holler.

Ed

[FC]

I'd stay the hell away from an '03 E-class. Generally E-classes are not the most reliable, but '03's seem to be brutal.

But as always, I'm sure I could find a bunch of people that will swear their '03's are the most reliable cars they've owned.

Take a look here. I have (http://mbworld.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=20) other links at home (benzworld.org, etc).

They are very beautiful and competent cars though. You guys know I lust over an E-wagon.