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A New Owner - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.comEdmunds.com Member, Administrator, Moderator Posts: 10,315
edited March 2015 in Mercedes-Benz
image A New Owner - 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG Long-Term Road Test

The 2005 Mercedes-Benz CL65 has sold after listing it on eBayMotors.

Read the full story here


Comments

  • tenschamp2tenschamp2 Member Posts: 15
    So, you guys bought it for $34k and ~15 months/~16k miles later to sold for $20k. Quite the depreciation hit.
  • bankerdannybankerdanny Member Posts: 1,021
    Shortly there will be many comments about the inaccuracy and uselessness of the True Market Value tool.

    My personal experience a few years ago was that it was a good predictor of what I was able to get in a private party sale of my 2007 Forester.

    The CL65 is a specialty vehicle and given how expensive it is to fix I would expect that the calculator would have a difficult time accurately pricing it.

    Personally I would spend my $20k elsewhere, but it sounds like the buyer knows what he is getting into and can afford it. I hope he enjoys the car.

  • bankerdannybankerdanny Member Posts: 1,021

    So, you guys bought it for $34k and ~15 months/~16k miles later to sold for $20k. Quite the depreciation hit.

    And 10 years ago it sold for $200k. Definitely not a car that can be considered an 'investment'.
  • ebeaudoinebeaudoin Member Posts: 509
    Now the fun part- What to do with that $20,000??
  • markinnaples_markinnaples_ Member Posts: 251
    Not sure I'd call him a collector, but more like a upper line dealer. Has/had some nice cars. That should fit right in.
  • bankerdannybankerdanny Member Posts: 1,021
    ebeaudoin said:

    Now the fun part- What to do with that $20,000??

    Low mileage 1989-1994 300ZX TT.

  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    Congratulations on your new purchase. NO REFUNDS! Did you hear me? NO REFUNDS! ITS FINAL! We don't want to get a call from you whining about a $5k repair a month from now.

    Seriously, though. You've got to be kidding me. You bought this 15 months ago, put a measily 17,000 miles on it and the value went from (your purchase price) $34,000 to a selling price of $20,000. What the heck? You had an extra 42% depreciation on an already 9 year old car, plus put a lot of money in repairs.

    Wow. I mean, wow. Good riddance. Glad to see her gone.
  • kirkhilles1kirkhilles1 Member Posts: 863
    How about a higher mileage 93+ Supra? That'd be pretty cool.
  • barich1barich1 Member Posts: 143
    If '90s sports car is on the table, I vote for an FD RX-7.
  • cjasiscjasis Member Posts: 274
    edited March 2015
    I think it would be more accurate to call Mr. Soliman a car dealer and not a collector. It will be interesting to see what he's able to turn around and sell this steaming pile of crap for. As Mr. Barnum is often misquoted as saying: "there's a sucker born every minute..."
  • notfastnotfast Member Posts: 93
    Wait, so he's a broker? Anyone want to email him to find out the "new" price on the CL?
  • s197gts197gt Member Posts: 486
    if he is gonna try and sell it i don't think he'll get much. my comment from the previous post:

    "one here in indiana with just less than 81k miles and asking price is $20k if you search on edmunds.com. same color, same year.

    http://www.bmwofschererville.com/auto/used-2005-mercedesbenz-clclass-60l_amg-schererville-46375-in/2362680/"

    it is still for sale.
  • bankerdannybankerdanny Member Posts: 1,021
    Those last generation Supras are great cars, but finding a stock one is getting really difficult.
  • throwbackthrowback Member Posts: 445
    How about going really adventurous, Bertone X/19? Or one of hidden headlight Honda Preludes?
  • nomercy346nomercy346 Member Posts: 69
    WOW! depreciated like a new car while racking up stratospheric repair bills.

    wasn't the last repair quote with all the things that need fixing 5 figures? ( I know it was from the dealership but that is gonna be big $$$$ in parts alone + some of that is probably not exactly DIY stuff so you'd at least need to find some Benz focused indie-shop)
  • Mr_ShiftrightMr_Shiftright Member Posts: 64,481
    May God have mercy on his soul.

    Yes, an RX-7 Twin Turbo !!
  • gslippygslippy Member Posts: 514
    My prediction from Feb 11:
    "If you sell it, you'd better disclose the issues. I predict you'll get less than $20k."

    So I was off by $1.

    Hope the new owner enjoys this money pit.

    And yes, I don't believe in the TMV tool; it's usually wrong on the cars you sell.
  • kg75kg75 Member Posts: 1
    That's not a collector, that's a dealer...In any case, good job on getting rid of that money pit. I'm quite the fan of expensive cars, but this one just doesn't sound like it provides much joy of ownership vs days in the shop and $$ spent to keep it running.
  • reminderreminder Member Posts: 383
    So that's what a guy with lots of expendable cash looks like? That smile will be long gone when he starts catching rides with dudes driving flatbeds.
  • zhangrenhouzhangrenhou Member Posts: 79
    It should fit right in with his "collection".
  • amgraceramgracer Member Posts: 1
    Thanks Guys! Love the car!!
  • steverstever Guest Posts: 52,454
    Hey, good luck with it! Love to see some updates and pics now and then.
  • sharpendsharpend Member Posts: 177
    edited March 2015
    2005 price: $180,000
    2015 price: $20,000

    I'm no math wizard but that seems like some mighty steep depreciation. Maybe a world record.
  • banhughbanhugh Member Posts: 315
    edited March 2015
    sharpend said:

    2005 price: $180,000
    2015 price: $20,000

    I'm no math wizard but that seems like some mighty steep depreciation. Maybe a world record.

    It's all about the luxurious German quality. You pay extra for it new but you have the peace of mind that it will take care of you for decades, lol
  • andrewekuandreweku Member Posts: 2
    Looks like he made a pretty good profit off of it, even if it didn't sell for the price listed in the ad. http://www.autotiq.com/cars-/#/sold-mercedes-cl65-amg-silver-serviced-600hp/
  • ttopjohnttopjohn Member Posts: 25
    It's an odd market for the 2005-2006 65 cars - I think because there aren't enough of them for market forces to work efficiently. Presumably someone buys a few of the higher priced ones - they eventually disappear from the listings. But on the other hand, I've personally inspected and test driven 2 S65s that were listed around $22,000 - one with 93,000 miles that I don't know the ownership history of, one with 80,000 miles that was a one owner on the lot of the dealer he traded it into. The 80,000 mile one sold in a couple of weeks, 93,000 mile one was still listed last I checked. I think the folks who buy the higher priced ones are either buying it because it's a nice one near them, or they're trying to follow the usual advice of buying the nicest example of (insert car here) you can afford, and taking a high asking price as an indicator of quality. I think Edmunds had a toe in both of these categories when they bought this one. But I think the real price for one these with 60-90K miles is closer to the $20,000 that they got, or yes, the $25,000 of the TMV calculator.
  • b189b189 Member Posts: 4
    these cars are worthless. i bought mine for 20k cant even sell it for 13k. its already how old and depreciated how much.....yet its still diving!
  • socal_ericsocal_eric Member Posts: 189
    Speaking of the TMV tool, I've ran it on some specialty trim level, lower production and other similar performance models that might be considered somewhat "rare" and it can be a little off from real world going rates. For similar cars like this CL65 it would be nice if a notation/flag/range or something could be displayed that there isn't much data to work with and values may vary. For "normal" cars like a Camry or minivan it does seem to be a lot more accurate.
  • cx7lovercx7lover Member Posts: 90
    That site says its already sold hahahahahahaahahaha
  • camrydriver69camrydriver69 Member Posts: 54
    I hope the new owner enjoys this oil burner.
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