Thank you all again, I unfortunately wasn’t able to test drive it before I bought it because no one in my state had it and had to custom order this one. Although there aren’t many GLE 53 AMG out there in the private market or dealerships right now, I agree with some people that private selling this is going to take too much time and effort for me to be worth it. I’ll try Carvana and see if I can get a better price than Vroom and if not, I will just keep it. I did get a decent 7-8% discount on it when I custom ordered it so hopefully Carvana offers close to it with the current used car market. It only has 850 miles so maybe after the 1000 mile break in period I’ll start to like it much better.
3 Likes
Gotta improvise sometimes, my suggestion would have been to get a feel of the gle driving dynamics and go test another 53 amg suv.
On a purchase this big even driving an hour or two for a 90-100k “investment” would have been the play, better to waste a whole day than 8k.
Oh well, I think there are few enough of them out there that you might get lucky and be able to minimize the damage, the problem or maybe not a problem is that an x5m starts at 15k-20k higher than a gle 53, and the cayenne gts even higher.
So you lose money and pay more for the new product.
But Hey, if you got it you got it.
1 Like
In this tight market for GLEs it may be worth paying for a national ad at Autotrader or similar, and also try the enthusiast forums. Don’t bother with CL as you’ll get endless lowballers and joy riders. If you don’t get any serious offers you’re not out all that much for the ad.
No reason to allow test drives, just offer to bring it to a mechanic for a PPI at their cost.
1 Like
Oh you can sell without allowing test drives? I thought I had to allow test drives, pay for shipping if no interests in my state, etc. I’m not familiar with the process but yeah I may try autotrader or ebay since there are only few gle 53s out there and maybe someone doesn’t want to wait 6 months for custom orders rn for these cars.
No law of course, and you’ll turn some people away. I just think it’ll be a time waste. On a new car you can tell them to test drive at a dealer.
Shipping is negotiable but by default it would be at the buyer’s expense.
1 Like
Put yourself in a potential buyer’s shoes - if you were the one buying, what would you put up with?
As for the third party buyers, I’ve found their offers to be ‘meh’ for high-end, high-priced, low-volume cars. It’s just not a major part of their business model as they’re looking to turn the car around quickly. Still worth a shot checking, but don’t have high hopes
1 Like
5.1 s to 60 and 101 in the 1/4 mile. What the hell do you want from an SUV?
I have a 2007 ML63. Yeah, its like mid 4s to 60, but I still prefer my Charger R/T, which is slower than your 53. So it isn’t all about the numbers. i think maybe you are expecting sportscar feel, and you are not getting that in any mid-to-large SUV, no matter how quick it is. You gotta downsize the car, and if that is not a possibility, then get used to driving what ya got.
Did you get active roll control? That looks to be a wonder for cornering. I suggest starting to look at tuning possibilities. Would be way cheaper than swapping cars.
1 Like
Macan (if big enough for op) might be a good option. Most sports car like suv I’ve driven. Still an $8000 hole to fill though.
1 Like
The only time I did not test drive a car (my 911) was when I was physically in another country and was looking to ship the car.
I had a PPI done; but I will never not test drive a car again.
Someone who won’t allow test drives screams “I know what I got” to me and I assume they’ll be too difficult to work with.
That’s just been my experience, so it’s anecdotal. Take it for what it’s worth.
3 Likes
Problem solved.
That’s what I meant about downsizing. Stelvio also has a much more sportscar feel. Probably the baby Benz AMG CUV as well. But I’d imagine the OP would have gone with one of those had such a small size been viable.
Believe what you like, but I’m highly confident I could sell that car rapidly where I live. I’m smothered in 70k cars here.
Doesn’t edmunds have a tool for learning how hard or easy a particular make would be to sell in a local area?
On a brand new car, there’s really no reason why you need to drive that specific one. A mechanic would find any issues with the specific model, I don’t mind the mechanic driving it. Being willing to take the car for PPI doesn’t scream shady to me.
You are just asking to have a bunch of joy riders. I’d rather scare away a percentage of serious buyers and not deal with the waste of time. Was your 911 brand new with under 1000 miles? Probably a different circumstance.
I’ve considered the Macan GTS as well because it’s a similar price range with the GLE 53 but I do prefer the size of the GLE (I used to drive an Audi A4 and I hated it due to small size). I’ll be honest, I haven’t test-driven an x5m or Porsche cayenne turbo yet. But I really want a V8 engine with 500+ torque mainly as I took a Ram TRX for a test drive while buying my father a truck and I fell in love with the sound and that instant torque that GLE lacks. My plan is to test drive a 2017 BMW x5m near me because that’s the closest thing I have access to at my state and see if that 170 ish extra torque is worth it.
You are probably underestimating Craigslist crowd though I am talking about large markets like SoCal.
1 Like
I wouldn’t suggest tuning here, most on here don’t know anything about what a tune encompasses or the implications of a tune.
ONLY TUNE IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING
Otherwise you risk getting taken to the cleaners for a bulletproof tune or cheaper shady tuners (considering many on this forum are penny pinchers this is a reality) can cause you thousands in damages.
That’s a good suggestion, but knowing brabus it’s probably 3-5k for the parts + labor and you have to find a reputable shop. Brabus is always pricedy.
2 Likes
Brabus is worth it - especially if you’re in Miami!!! Lol
1 Like
I’ve never been a fan of this line of reasoning. Some people enjoy the feel of being pushed back in their seat as they mash the gas pedal. It’s not about getting to the destination faster - it’s about having fun getting there.
It’s not insufficient for getting around town obviously. It’s insufficient for his personal preferences for how fast he wants his vehicle to be. As you mentioned, you can get a speeding ticket in a Prius. But I’m pretty certain it won’t be worth it in the prius… in an AMG or an M? Might be worth the cost of penalty.
4 Likes
I have a 21 gle 63 and love it, can’t imagine a 53 being that much different. I would take this car over our old x5m any day. In my opinion it’s a better mix of comfort and power.
2 Likes
I agree. Tuning is not one of my options because my state doesn’t have that many, if not any, qualified shops to do these things.
If I did decide to sell my GLE 53, I’m really leaning towards ordering a 2022 BMW X5M or X6M because it’s around 20k more than the GLE and has a significant power upgrade (429 hp to 617 hp and 384lb-ft torque to 553lb-ft torque) with a V8 engine.
I agree with some people that Cayenne GTS almost has the same power as the GLE 53 and the Cayenne Turbo is too expensive (almost 50k more than the GLE 53). I also thought about BMW X5 M50i as well since it’s cheaper than the X5M but I don’t want to make that mistake again and choose a car that I won’t regret.