So who got to drive first? Anyway, the really hard part of this experience will actually be selling it, especially if you don't want to take a massive hit on it.
Dart or CL65...man, talk about a major bummer if you got stuck with the Dart. Think I might look for the local Greyhound station rather than get stuck with the Dart...
That is awesome! My very good friend is the inventory control manager there and handles the adds and the pricing for everything on their lot. His older brother actually owns the dealership and is a huge car guy...
I wish I would have known you were in Reno. I'm a loyal reader and follow and have been for a long time and would dropped whatever to meet you!
And yeah its' been cold and frozen up here for a couple of weeks now...
Used cars don't depreciate the same way when you drive off the lot. There is no new car smell to tarnish…except in this case because that car looks brand new. Mercedes had a spell of poor quality cars in the late 90s and early 2000s.
@juddholl10: You're right about the depreciation difference between new and used cars, but that's not the kind of "hit" I was talking about. The fact is, the market for an 8 year old AMG is small. It usually requires a couple of months to find s
I would have insisted on taking the 911, CLA, Telsa or even Cadenza or MDX on such a trip. Its much more fun to make an event out of a trip like this, but I suppose you guys do this sort of thing a lot. Maybe I'm just a simple guy, but I think driving a nice car makes and mundane activity more interesting.
Plus my opinion that the Dart is a hideous hunk of junk is solidifying..
Glad we had some LA celebrities come visit us here in Reno in the middle of winter, no less. It would be interesting to see the history of the car, as we seem to be getting a lot more wealthy Californian maintaining a "residence" here for tax purposes (and bringing their chariots with them). Look forward to the story on the return trip. Safe travels.
Sounds like you guys actually had a good dealership experience. @quadricycle: True, there is the curiousity of how low it can go... but surely by now having lost such an enormous chunk of value, it's got to be near rock bottom right? Do you expect Edmunds to sell the car for less than $28K at the end of the year, especially after they fix all the issues (that are most definitely going to crop up)? It's actually kind of intriguing! I think if I were to do something as YOLO as buying a CL65, I'd at least try to look for something with a carmax level warranty because I'm pretty sure you can run up 9K easily. V12 engine! That sounds cheap...
This isn't a car that I'd normally be interested in... big, heavy, thirsty and frankly showy to a certain demographic... but as a car guy I'm very interested to follow this car. If anything breaks, it's going to cost an arm, leg, and toe to fix but this much car for that price is pretty cool. And there's just nothing like the silky smooth power of a V12. Great choice Edmunds.
I think quadricycle is right on your resale a year from now. Also, you haggled, settled on a price, filled out the reams of paperwork and even cut a check for $34k before driving or even seeing the car - ? How does this square with the directive that "The Boss told us we had to drive the car and see it in person before making an offer..."? Regardless of what the boss said, how do you haggle meaningfully on a purchase of this magnitude and variability without seeing the car? Yeah, you made sure you could back out of the deal, but why make just backing out of the deal your only negotiating tool? You don't think you can find something on an eight-year-old car with 56k miles on it to try to further lower the price? Showing up with a check in hand...if I were the salesman (I once WAS the salesman...), I would have probably regarded you as gofers not empowered to dicker further.
did it appreciate? If I recall correctly, it was under $30k no matter how good of condition it was couple year ago and it's way more readily available on craigslist I felt.
It might be even more expensive when Edmund done with it.
Comments
I wish I would have known you were in Reno. I'm a loyal reader and follow and have been for a long time and would dropped whatever to meet you!
And yeah its' been cold and frozen up here for a couple of weeks now...
Used cars don't depreciate the same way when you drive off the lot. There is no new car smell to tarnish…except in this case because that car looks brand new. Mercedes had a spell of poor quality cars in the late 90s and early 2000s.
Plus my opinion that the Dart is a hideous hunk of junk is solidifying..
Mercedes says there were 142 CL65s produced for the 2005 model year btw
It might be even more expensive when Edmund done with it.