The third generation W447 Mercedes-Benz Vito and V-Class was introduced as a replacement for the Vito, Viano and the rather strange R-Class of yesteryear. As its name suggests, the V-Class is a passenger car with various seating options and a cabin and exterior skewed more towards luxury and practicality versus the out-and-out space and utility of its commercial vehicle sibling, the Vito.
The V-Class models we are interested in for today’s comparison are those launched locally in 2015 and 2016, as these will have a reasonable amount of mileage on their respective odometers and will have around seven to eight years' worth of depreciation within the market.
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At the time of writing, just over 27 V-Class models listed on AutoTrader qualified for our comparison, providing us with many models to create a definitive verdict. There were five V-Class variants available during the period that we selected for our comparison; however, there was not a large enough sample size of the V220 CDI Standard models to allow us to use it in this comparison. There were sufficient examples of the remaining four variants to make a statistically relevant conclusion.
Determining the actual depreciation on premium vehicles such as this is never an exact science as each vehicle will have various optional extras fitted, affecting its price when new and its current value, too.
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2015-2016 Mercedes-Benz V-Class V250 BlueTEC Avantgarde
New Price: R984 196
Average Current Price: R 729 900
Value Retained: 74.16%
The flagship 250 Avantgarde model makes up nearly 50% of the V-Class models listed for sale on AutoTrader that match our criteria. This means that customers opted for the top-of-the-range variant when buying new, which appears to be a good choice as this model has retained its value exceptionally well. The large sample size also featured vehicles with comparatively low mileage, some as low as 10 000km per year.
2015/2016 Mercedes-Benz V-Class V250 BlueTEC
New Price: R782 416
Average Current Price: None listed
Value Retained: NA
There were no V250 BlueTEC variants that matched our criteria. The model offers the same powertrain as the top-spec model.
2016 Mercedes-Benz V-Class V220 CDI Avantgrade
New Price: R949 175
Average Current Price: R649 700
Value Retained: 68.4%
Even though the V220 CDI Avantgarde models had an average mileage that far exceeded the 250 BlueTEC models, it is still troubling that their respective value retentions vary so dramatically, with an average loss of 31.6% since new.
2016 Mercedes-Benz V200d
New Price: R695 981
Average Current Price: R667 900
Value Retained: 95.44%
With just two models to use as a reference in our comparison, the high residual value of the entry-level model must be taken with the proverbial pinch of salt.
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Which one depreciates the fastest?
Having looked at the figures it is obvious that one model within the V-Class range appears to depreciate more than the rest, and that is the V220 CDI Avantgarde. We may have considered this a statistical anomaly that could be attributed to the samples used, however, the lack of sample models for the similar V220 CDI Standard model leads us to conclude that the V220 CDI models are the least popular amongst V-Class models of this vintage. This may explain their apparent lack of relative resale values, too.
