Ok....so the wife saw this thing at a lot near us and wants it...its a 2001 AWD with nav, sunroof....everything...but it has 116,000 miles on it. I've heared Mercedes-Benz Vehicles never die, but I'm not sure about buying something with that many miles on it....they are asking $12,999 for it. I have no experiance with Benzs....anyone with thoughts?

 

It seems like a lot of money for 7 year old vehicle w/ 116,000 miles. Even for Mercedes.
They're know in Europe for their relability, but I'm not sure about the States.

 

Mercedes has the highest value retention in the industry. That said, I would steer far away. Mercedes from the early 2000's are not known for stellar reliability, and this thing has higher than average mileage.

Caveat emptor on this sucker!

 

Whatever, I just traded a used loaded 2000 ML430 with 88k for $8000(wholesalers are putting $7k or less on it). It's a rattletrap(and it's in 'good' condition). You're asking for a $4000 check engine light any any given time. Pass, they're junk. And all the gizmos like nav seem cool, but with MY2000 technology, its ancient. What's really scary is when BMW's with I-drive are in the low teens $ and young people buy them up used. Its a $10,000 car that can need a $10k repair. MB/BMW resale value sucks actually. The KBB looks high, but its not unusual to have to sell them more then $7k below it. And HN is right, MB's actually did hit quite a low spot in interior materials and quality and overall reliability between 1997 and 2004 on just about everything but the highest model lines.

We have a 2007 CLS550 loaded with a $14,000 lorinser body kit, $9000 Lowenhart wheels, and $3500 Lorinser exhaust. Car was $74K new before the mods, we bought it at the auction with 1200 miles for $62K. Nice car though it was starting to squeak and creak at that mileage