Detroit 2016 Preview: 2017 Mercedes Benz E-Class

See, that's the core of argument I'm trying to present.

 

Why get the E-Class when I can do myself a favour and coddle me some more with a barely used S-Class?

 

Prestige and panache, at a lower price.

Save even more with a gently used E Class.. and so on down the line.. lol 

Ahhh well, I going off the assumption that even though one day I might be filthy stinkin' rich I'll still be a scrooge and I guess if I do get rich, Casa himself can point me out as a sellout for buying a Mercedes when I clearly never intend to if I do get rich - because the *hypothetical* money fund is reserved for Camaro SS and CTS-V.

The average S550 buyer is 62 years old with a $324,000 median income (also 83% male).  The average AMG S63 buyer is mid 40s and income of $500-600,000.  I don't think these are the types of people that care about depreciation.   $54,000 in depreciation is 2 months salary for an S550 buyer.  

According to MotorTrend, the S-class overall has an average buyer age of 61 and median income of $371,000.  Which interestingly enough, the average income an an E-class wagon buyer is $375,000.  And that probably explains why they still make it, when he A6 Avant, 5-series wagon and CTS wagon are gone.

wow...54 000 dollars lost in two months...

or

2 months salary gone...

I dont care how much money someone's got...THAT is WASTEFUL and STUPID in my opinion.

Billionaires the likes of Trump, Gates, Vladimir Putin and Bernie Ecclestone, where those monies get replaced through billions of products sold or...CORRUPTION...I could understand this mindset...

But any poor schlep that works for a living....even an idiot 40 year old that makes $500 000 - $600 000 thousand a year is just pissing his money away.

That is NOT a knock on a Mercedes product, its an observation on how stupid some humans beings could be.  Kudos to Mercedes to sell (LEASE) these things to those people...

And yet, you're still losing more in absolute dollars.  Again, the XTS could devalue to ZERO and you would still lose less money than 2 years in an S-Class.   Here is a 2013 S550 4matic with night vision and surround view. It was probably around $115k new and it is being offered for $62,995 used... which means the buyout was in the high to mid-$50k range. It's only got 22k miles and is certified, so it's a screaming deal against a brand new S-Class.   But that also means that some combined group of people (buyer, dealer, MB Finance) ate about $57k in depreciation over 2 years.... will a 2 year old $57k CTS V6 with 22,000 miles be worth more than zero dollars you think?

Exactly. 'Value retention' is always expressed in percentages, which only serve to make the people losing money feel better.

If I bought a luxury sedan and only lost 20% in 3 years, all my millionaire friends would clap me on the back & congratulate my sound fiscal sense.

I would just happen to fail to mention the car cost $1 million and I had $200,000 vacuumed from my account.

Money (or the allusion thereof) certainly doesn't make people any smarter.

Depreciation doesn't seem to stop the S-class from selling

You mean; leased.

An Escalade ESV Platinum loses $48,540 in 3 years.  Is the Escalade not the #1 most profitable GM product by a long shot?  People still buy the Escalade, it is the corner stone of the Cadillac brand.   The Escalade has 50% value after 3 years, and trucks hold value better than sedans.  If Cadillac had a $100,000 sedan, it would lose $60,000 in value after 3 years just like the other big cars do.  All these $100k vehicles lose money because people the make an average salary buying used cars can't afford the gas, maintenance, insurance, etc on them.  

As far as leases go, I don't see them as any more crazy than 0% for 75 month financing that some brands are offering.  The finance wings of car companies are always looking for ways to get monthly payments low so they can sell people on a monthly payment, not the price of a car.  And wasn't this a complaint of Cadillac dealers a few years ago?  That they couldn't match the lease deals on Mercedes, BMW or Lexus because Cadillacs didn't hold value well enough, and they felt they were losing customers.   Personally I look to buy a 3-4 year old used car after the depreciation hit, and then pay it off in 4-5 years and keep it for 4 years after that.   I am not a lease fan myself, because you own nothing after it and forever will have a payment, but they do put people into a new car with a warranty for a low payment.

The 2017 E-class was awarded an autonomous car driver's license by Nevada today, the first production car ever to receive one.   This new car is cutting edge,

Buying an S-Class = Losing 25k per year for 2 years

Buying an Escalade = Losing 16k per year for 3 years

You don't need to work for a bank to figure out which is better for you financially. 

You don't think if Cadillac had a $110,000 sedan, that it wouldn't lose 60% of value in 3 years?   The CT8 will have even worse resale value than an S-class.

Every vehicle that costs north of 100k looses an ass-ton within the first few years. Period. Not sure why the "debate".

*if there are any miles put on the vehicle*