My Garage Toy: I have a 1992 500SL White over argent with a custom ordered Oxblood leather interior (not a standard exterior/interior color option). I have both tops and a pulley-carrier storage system for the hardtop. It does have heated seats. The only aftermarket is a trunk mounted Sony 10 disc CD w/remote control. I am the third owner of this garage-kept, non-smoker, Florida Car. The car has 42,700 miles on it and I have only put 1,500 of those on it in the last two and a half years I've owned it. The ZR rated tires have less than 3,000 miles on them. The car has no dents or dings; no paint or body work; clean carfax and is easily a 9 on a 10 scale (one of the alloy wheels has a little curb rash). I have all the keys and books plus pictures that can be e-mailed. The reason I am selling is too many cars and I want to order a 2006 when available. This IS NOT a "book" car, so I thought the best place to get some honest feedback is from forum members. Thanks and feel free to ask any questions.

 

You can check on websites like Kelley Blue Book (www.kbb.com) to get an idea.
I might be interested - let me know when you have a price.
-Ron spedy4437@yahoo.ca

 

If I had used Kelly when I was searching for "the right one", I would have been thrown out of dealerships and hung up on by private parties... and NADA only gives Average and High Retail...which is information of some consideration...and I've watched ebay, but rarely does something comparable get posted. Finally, I must have looked at 15 500SLs before I found this one and this one was equally as nice as I saw on any dealer lot and much prettier! As I mentioned in my original post, I don't believe you can "book" THIS car.

 

Along those lines, you can't "book" any car. But, you can use KBB and NADA as guides, which is all they were ever meant to be. They don't grab numbers out of the air but use actual records of sales. The problem is, the car you're shopping for may not have ever sold in your area or it may have sold for a non-market price (very high or very low). Sometimes the guides are behind what happening in the market. You have to start somewhere and KBB or NADA is better than stumbling blind and wishing there was something perfect, which there isn't. Never will be either.

And you'll never get the deal you're looking for if you let people intimidate you because you use pricing guides. The dealers that laugh at you use the guides, too. I've seen many dealerships that print a KBB report and tape it to the car's window. Look in the dealership's appraiser's back pocket. There you'll find all kinds of pricing guides they use to make offers for trade-ins.

Why tell them you're using KBB anyway? That's like putting a target on your forehead. They love telling you it's "just a guide" and that your numbers are no good and theirs are. Just make your offer.

 

Yep, guides are guides and they may be useful for say a 2000 Toyota Corolla... which there are a blue million of, or even a much newer Benz. If they were close to accurate KBB and NADA on this car wouldn't be $3,000 apart which is like a 15% dispairity. Of course I looked at those guides before my post, but I wanted a feel for what it might be worth from Mercedes enthusiasts- I guess I was placing a higher value on their opinion. Anyway, thanks for your reply Lugnut.

 

There's one certainty when it comes to any car's value. It's worth only what someone pays for it, not what someone thinks it's worth. It's not worth one single penny more than that.

This site has members from around the world, so it's not as good as the guides which at least attempt to localize the values. At any rate, everyone has their own method and you certainly have yours.

To be honest with you, I'm at a loss as to why you think the car is so special. I mean no disrespect, but I just don't get it. I see 500SLs and SL500s all the time where I live. It's more special than a Corolla, though. No argument there.

 

Lugnut again, makes a good point. The bottom-line is, a car is only worth what you are actually able to purchase or sell it for. Any other points are moot. At least until you register the car with your state. Then they will then give you a value, so as to collect taxes. Sometimes it can blow your mind, and other times it can break your heart. Whatever the case, it is what it is. Good luck with your sale.

 

I've put it in the paper for $23,900...willing to negotiate down $2,000. [&:]

 

After a month, I accepted $20,000 cash