Form I A Mileage 2014-2021: Fill & Download for Free

I think I did it earlier this month (01/2021) when I was buying a used car for my daughter to take back to college that week. I was planning to trade in a 2014 F150 pickup truck with high mileage (188,000) so I logged on to the Kelly Blue Book web site to see about what it was worth. I entered all the particulars about the truck including my zip code, the mileage, and “average condition” with a small dent in one of the back doors and http://kbb.com told me that the trade in value would be $9,547.00. It also told me that the range for my area was between $8.4K and about $11K for that truck in that condition. I also agreed to let http://kbb.com send a message to local dealerships who would pay cash for my truck or allow that much in trade.Now, I had paid $12,000 for the truck about 2 years earlier so I figured $9.5K might be a bit high and that if I could get that much I would be pretty lucky. Within a few minutes I started getting emails from local dealerships, probably 3 of them, and then phone calls. The first one that called I made a tentative deal for the car I wanted that was on their lot, and made an appointment for later in the week to do the deal.I got to the dealership a little before dark, checked out the car and handed them my truck keys. While they appraised the truck I test drove the car and it was fine. It was in great shape, had good rubber, handled very well, and had fairly low mileage for a 5 year old car at 60K miles. When I went into the dealership, they handed me a piece of paper with the trade value of $5,000 for my truck and I started laughing. I told the salesman we were done unless they coughed up $9.5K. He went back to speak with his manager, of course.The sales manager comes out with the salesman a few minutes later and starts explaining that with the high mileage on my truck, la da da and the dent in the door, yada yada yada, he could only offer me $5K. I started laughing again and asked him if he knows anything about Ford F150s. I explained to him that any running 6 year old pickup truck is worth between $5K and $6, even a dodge or a chevy, but that a 6 year old Ford F150 with rusty doors, a broken tailgate, 190K miles, and dents all around was still going to sell for over $7K.Then he asks me what it’s going to take to make this deal. I told him I had $3K in cash and a 2014 F150 Pickup that I would give him for the car. That’s it. No additional fees or taxes or tags or anything else. Pickup truck plus $3K cash equals used car. He started to say something about how he was never going to be able to sell the truck for a profit and that he would have to send it to auction and yada yada yada, when I stopped him and asked, “Doesn’t your business have a business relationship with Kelly Blue Book?”. He said yes. I said, “So Kelly Blue Book is how I got here. http://kbb.com told me that my truck with almost 190K miles and a dent in the door is worth $9.5K and notified your dealership of that, right?” He said yes. I said, “So you knew I was coming with this truck and the company you count on to pre-qualify deals already told you what they told me you would offer me - is that about right?” He said yes.I said, “Then I have a 2016 Ford F150 and $3K in cash that I will give you for that car”. He said Ok, and that was that. Not a hard core con, but kind of a con.

There is no “best” for M3.The original E30 edition (1986–1991)was an answer to the complaint “wow, great car, but it’s too slow”. OK, fine. Let’s throw some of the Two Liter Cup and F1 tech at the car, dial it in and, OMG it’s nearly a perfect sports coupe. Or cabriolet - you could do that too (but it wasn’t really advised due to lack of stiffness issues)Great car. I didn’t love them, because I didn’t love the E30s. They were “tinny” (not “tiny” - “tinny”, as in “felt like they were made from cheap tin”) compared to the E21s and the predecessor 02 series. They felt cheap, but weren’t, and came right as BMWs were becoming “Yuppie-mobiles”, which also influenced my poor opinion of them.That said, there are a ton of people who genuinely believe it’s the best of all the M3s.The successor, the E36 edition (1992–1999)is my personal favorite. The solid construction was back (and with it, a significant increase in overall weight, which is what the E30 purists see as an unforgivable sin). The high-rev S14 four-cylinder from the E30 was replaced with the much beefier and nearly indestructible S50 straight-six. Not as buzzy through the R’s, buckets more torque. If you were sufficiently offended by the weight, there was a factory Lightweight version mainly sold to club racers that was 200 lbs skinnier.If I were going to buy an M3, that’s what it’d be.Again, the successor E46 (2000–2006) is “improved”It got the “improved” S54 engine - still a straight six - and it got a six-speed manual. There are also a huge pile of electronica that comes along with the package - this is where the break starts between “pure performance car” and “performance luxury car”, in my mind.Incredibly performant, huge options proliferation - you could get CSL, CS, GTR-street (which had a V8!), among others. All infinitely customizable with micro-options. A huge departure from “there’s your M3, sir” in the prior generations.The market has started to highly value these cars. I recently saw a minty-mint low mile all original sell for $90k, which would have been unthinkable a few years ago.I can’t drive these. They changed the interior geometry, and given my height, reach, legroom and shoulder room requirements… not possible.My friends who can tell me that they’re awesome, likely the “best modern M3”. Me, who frequently drives cars from the 50s and 60s, notes that ALL M3s are “modern M3s”.The E90/E92/E93 models (2007–2013) all sort of blur together.The big changes: way more electronics, and the engines are all S65 V8s. And have the same inverse-Tardis problem that the E46 had. They’re bigger on the outside.The F80 (2014–2018)went back to a straight six, but it’s now a fully engine managed twin turbo. The volume of electronics holding the engine, transmission, body controls and infortainment together boggles the mind.It’s a very modern car, I’m sure.There’s a new M3 coming for 2021, and I haven’t been bothered to check it out.My biases may show, but that’s OK. I like cars that put the very minimum of interference between me and the road. I completely sympathize with the E30 purists, but just can’t love the car. The E36 M3 has been on my “yeah, need to get one of those” lists for years; an E36 320 with the 1.9 liter Cosworth engine nearly scratched that itch but I clearly need some S50 love. The E46, yeah, I wanted to love that, Chris Bangle styling aside. Beyond that…. mmmm…. not so much.Your mileage may vary. Likely will.

It all depends on your expectations. I have owned Mercedes Benzes for years. My first one was a 1990 300e. Metallic Silver with grey leather and Serrano wood accents. The car had features such as all-electric front seats with three memories, heated rear-view mirrors and airbags. I drove the car up until it I lost it during the Harvey hurricane flood. By the time that event happened the car had over 325,000 miles on it. The car had a straight-6 engine that seemed to be indestructible. I would say that in the last 12 years of the car I must have put about $10–12K of work into it. Things that I remember replacing were brakes and batteries (of course), the computer went bad on the car at one point and it was about $800.00 to replace. The air conditioner also developed a leak and that was about $1,300 by the time it was said and done. We replaced some hoses, the O2 sensor at least three times and the rear differential bushing as well as the rear flex disc. I had the motor mounts replaced once and the front shocks. Seems like a lot but the car lasted for 27 years and would still be running if it weren’t for the fact that it was under five feet of water and mud for about 12 days.In 2014 I bought a C250 Sport to be my new daily driver. The 300e was kept in a garage for most of it’s life. I had the windows tinted so the interior was kept in great shape. Not a single crack in the dashboard or the seats. The carpet was in great shape and I spent time cleaning and polishing the car including the engine’s compartment. The car did not look 27 years old at all. I kept it because the Blue Book value was ridiculously low considering the condition of the car. I never added any other oil than synthetic and kept the services going. So you can add to the 12K I spent through the years the cost of the maintenance services.My first C250 was beautiful with a 2L turbo 4 engine that generated an impressive amount of power given it’s size. Mine had the 18″ wheels that makes the car look that much better (in my opinion) than the regular 17″ wheels one. Unfortunately, I lost that one also to the flood.I drove a 2018 GLC SUV until I decided to replace it with another C250 Sport (about two months). I ended up buying a Pre-Certified one that matched almost all of the features that my old one had. It just made sense. I took the money the insurance gave me on my old one and found a nearly-identical match for around the same price. I added some money to extend the factory-backed warranty until 2021 (it cost me around $3,000.00). So in a way I have my car back with an unlimited mileage extended factory warranty on it which is very nice.I enjoy the beauty of the Mercedes Benz line. I always have. I also like the way they drive, specially the later models which are much more spirited than ever before. I like that solid “thud” that the doors give out and all the details that German engineering can give. The one Mercedes I ca say I dislike is the CLA. The car is beautiful but the fit and finish is not quite to the standard of Mercedes Benz. The door windows do not have a frame around them which makes the doors bottom heavy. The glass then tends to rattle when the doors close. The CLA is also a front-wheel drive car and I am not a fan of front-wheel driving dynamics so that’s a deal-breaker for me. The regular C Class, is much nicer and a lot better finished. the E class is the bread and butter line for Mercedes and has some very nice features.As a whole, I love Mercedes but they aren’t the cars for everyone. Like most German cars, they had to be properly maintained in order to keep functioning well. The maintenance on this cars aren’t cheap and they are not the sort of car that your average guy can fix something on it. You can buy an used one for a good price but you’ll pay tons to keep it going. I personally would never buy a used German car unless it was Pre-certified. The Pre-certification process will add a factory warranty and ensures that the vehicle passes certain criteria in order to represent the brand. If you buy a German car at a great price from a used car dealership, you’ll be buying a car as-is and chances are there’s something already wrong with it and that’s why you are seeing it at a great price and outside the brand’s dealership.Owning a Mercedes is great so as long as you can really afford it.