BaT vs Cars and Bids to sell a newer(ish) Mercedes?

Several months back we went on a search for my wife's first "weekend" car.  She's 50 and only owned 5 cars, all DD type.  We set a roughly $25k budget and went shopping.  We looked at cars ranging from S2000 to SL550 and lots in between.  Porsche was her "dream" car.  We drove the 986 and she loved it, but when we weighed out in pros vs cons, she ultimately picked a 2012 Mercedes E550 'vert.  We got the car home and my son said "Awesome car Dad (he giggled at how fast it is)!  Why didn't you look at a 996?"  I kind of laughed it off and said we didn't consider them as they're expensive.  He politely, or not so politely, disagreed.  That night I did a cursory search.  Son of a biscuit, he was right!!  I was so mad with myself for never even thinking of it, it just never crossed my mind.  Not only is Porsche her dream, the 911 is the ultimate dream.  Her father had a 930 when she was growing up.  I did my research, yes I know about IMS, and casually poked around.  A month later I came across a deal on a 996 that was far too good to pass up.  So now here it sits in the garage and my wife is over the moon.  That makes the MB expendable.  I like it, but don't want it for me.  Frankly I'd rather use the money elsewhere or put it in our retirement account.  What to do with it??

Besides casually browsing, I have no experience with BaT or Cars and Bids.  I don't follower either, but understand they may be the best place to sell a car like mine.  Any ideas which site would attract a better target audience for the car?  Quick details...  It's an uncommon color, royal (?) blue with a navy top and tan interior.  Also not as commonly seen wheels, factory AMGs.  91k miles.  It has about every option offered by MB in '12.  Premium 2, driver assist, sport package, etc...  It's extremely clean for the age and mileage.  No dents, scratches, stains, rust (it was an AZ car its' entire life), etc...  Clean and shiny.  According to Carfax, an outstanding service history.  It needs no work I know of...no dash lights on, tires are good, oil fresh.

Where would you list it?

Ive never heard of Cars and Bids before

I know BAT gets lots of looks, been around a while, well known. 

BaT seems picky on what they'll take. I'd first see if they'll accept it and if so, stay there. 

I recently bought a car from Cars and Bids. The interaction with the site was fine but also minimal. I'd certainly be willing to try selling with them.

That said, BaT pulls ridiculous money. Like John said, they seem awfully picky, yet occasionally you see bizarre stuff that makes one wonder how it got accepted.

Before you do either, I'd get an offer from Vroom and Carvana. I recently sold a car to Carvana and was extremely happy with the offer and the process was incredibly simple. 

Probably whichever one will take it is fine. BaT still seems to have a bit bigger audience and bring a bit more money, but cars and bids is catching up pretty quickly. I'd think a "normal" (ie not amg or other super special model) might have a better chance of being accepted and maybe better audience on cars and bids, but that's just a guess. I've never sold with either but I think the process is pretty similar. Cars and bids is free but BaT is only $99 so not a huge difference.

I have listed cars with both over the last year. BaT was easy to work with and got top dollar for my C5 Z06. I also sold a V8-swapped Jaguar XJ-S with them years ago. I am looking forward to selling with them again.

C&B was not as easy to work with. The Audi A4 was a no sale (didn't meet reserve and I sold it on my own on Craigslist for $2K over reserve three weeks later) and they wouldn't even take the Range Rover.

BaT is good for sellers, C&B is good for buyers.

My Dad just sold their somewhat modern car on BaT for what I thought was a respectable price.  The process was a bit lengthy to get it listed, but I don't know how much of that was Dad and how much was BaT.  They wanted tons of good pictures (of course), but that's pretty easy to arrange.  One thing that I found was that that BaT did their own write up for the car but they made an error regarding the top stating it was a manual top, but it is actually a power top.  That caused a bit of a discussion in the comments and I think it might have created a little bit of uncertainty about the car, but I can't quantify it in terms of what the bids might have gotten to without the error.  It may have made no difference at all, but considering all the pomp and circumstance they go through to accept a car, you'd think they could get the details right and/or correct them when they're not.

The really cool part, though, was that the car sold for a few hundred under the reserve price, but BaT made up the difference.  So, hard to beat that as a seller.

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

BaT is good for sellers, C&B is good for buyers.

This. Also, BaT has a several month backlog of accepted cars that are waiting to get on the site. Even if your Benz gets accepted, it likely won't hit the site before Valentine's day

calteg said:

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

BaT is good for sellers, C&B is good for buyers.

This. Also, BaT has a several month backlog of accepted cars that are waiting to get on the site. Even if your Benz gets accepted, it likely won't hit the site before Valentine's day

This could be a concern.  It's not the money that I'm worried about, it's the garage/driveway space.  Wonder how long C&B takes.

I doubt that BAT would take that... seems too much like a normal used car to me. Have you tried Carmax, or any of the online buying services, or even your local MB dealer? With the hot market, you may be happy with their offer, and it'd be a quick and painless sale (which in itself is worth something!)

I would say carmax or even the Mercedes dealership. Lots of dealerships qre buying cars outright. Ford keeps sending me offers for my Expedition and Honda for my wife's Accord.

I tried Carmax about a month ago and their offer was extremely lowball.  I was rather surprised because they gave a fantastic price for my wife's old DD not that long ago.  Perhaps they just didn't have an appetite for a car like that right now?  I can try them again or Carvana.  

In reply to SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) :

Could be the time of year, convertibles don't tend to be hot sellers in cold weather.

I don't know what a reasonable value is but without knowing what anything about it beyond what you've said here, carvana says $20k.

It's hard to predict what exactly BaT will sell, they've definitely sold some "normal" cars. That seems to be more up C&B's alley though. With the listing there being free, there's really not too much to lose as long as the wait to get it listed isn't massive.

i do agree that BaT is still better for sellers, but that gap seems to be closing quickly. BaT service might be a bit more helpful, but you also get to pay for that service.

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

calteg said:

Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:

BaT is good for sellers, C&B is good for buyers.

This. Also, BaT has a several month backlog of accepted cars that are waiting to get on the site. Even if your Benz gets accepted, it likely won't hit the site before Valentine's day

This could be a concern.  It's not the money that I'm worried about, it's the garage/driveway space.  Wonder how long C&B takes.

They both have wait times, and it depends on the car. Neither site wants to list the "same" car or a substantially similar car at the same time. When I sold the Z06 it listed right after the 1 on the site sold, and as soon as mine was done, another was listed. The Jag on the other hand they took ASAP because it was unique. Also, the more work you do for them (photos from the beginning, details for the write up) the quicker they go.

dps214 said:

I don't know what a reasonable value is but without knowing what anything about it beyond what you've said here, carvana says $20k.

That's so strange, I wonder how much geography comes into play.  I just went there and the offer was $13,400.

You can also get a value from Carfax, that then will put you in a list with local dealers who will buy your car for an agreed upon amount. I actually just did that this last Monday. I had gotten a slightly lower from Carmax, but decided to sell to a local place because they deal with cars of similar caliber (my car was a 2013 M5). We had a little negotiation on the final selling price, but I was happy with the amount and it matched what I would have gotten from Carmax anyway. I am not buying my next vehicle from them, as they didn't have the spec I was looking for, and it was a painless process. I went this route also because for the dollar amount involved, I think many people would have rather financed the amount, so this allowed me to get a check more quickly.

Are you looking to get away from selling it yourself on something like Craigslist or FB marketplace for any reason? 

SKJSS (formerly Klayfish) said:

dps214 said:

I don't know what a reasonable value is but without knowing what anything about it beyond what you've said here, carvana says $20k.

That's so strange, I wonder how much geography comes into play.  I just went there and the offer was $13,400.

Well that's extra weird because I used the zip code for the location in your profile.

Hate to say it, but I don't think BaT would take that car. They've denied a number of recent AMG cars from friends. 

I've been thinking about selling the mr2 spyder and getting a 4 seat convertible so the kids can ride in the back. Not sure a Mercedes is in my future though. That's a nice looking car. I like the color. Are the back seats small kid usable or are they decorations?

dculberson said:

I've been thinking about selling the mr2 spyder and getting a 4 seat convertible so the kids can ride in the back. Not sure a Mercedes is in my future though. That's a nice looking car. I like the color. Are the back seats small kid usable or are they decorations?

Well hey there my friend...and teammate.  You'd be surprised how large the back seat is.  I've had my 17 year old and 14 year old twins in there with zero complaints (not all at the same time, LOL).  Unless the person in the front seat is 6'10", there is enough room for an average sized adult to sit back there comfortably.  As with any coupe, access isn't as easy as in a sedan, but it's not tragic.

How much ya want for the Spyder?

Hello there!

I've not really thought about a price on the spyder. It's in great shape but has a few minor scuffs and dings from actually being driven. About 120k miles, motor is from a 2003 and it has the 6-speed manual with double overdrive so it cruises pretty nice on the freeway. Nice wheels, tires, interior looks good. 2003 tail lights and rear bumper and factory new headlights. I think in today's crazy market it might be worth $10k but I'm not sure. I'll give you the spyder and some cash. ;-)