A landslide 92% of voters thought that $15,000 was a truly Nice Price for the , and we can't argue with that. Today we're going to look at the wondrous effects of depreciation.

Back in '06, when Mercedes-Benz unveiled the über-minivan, we were all impressed. After all, 503 horsepower in a minivan? The original sticker price on one of these mall-parking-lot-dominatin' babies was a stunning 95 grand… but then gas prices went crazy, the economy went sour, and you know the rest. Now, just a couple years down the line, it's possible to for a bit more than half the original price: $48,991. , our tipster on this one, describes the situation quite eloquently:

Mercedes-Benz has given its new R-Class van (sorry, Grand Tourer) a dose of AMG shock therapy,…

Over 500 HP awd 7-seat station wagon with options out the wazoo. Original sticker was $94,820; but it now for the low-low price of $48,991.

It only has 21,019 miles on it with remaining factory warranty - plus possibly a Certified Pre-Owned warranty on top of that. The original owner took a depreciation hit of $2.18 per mile - which makes the fuel cost relatively cheap.

So for the price of a new, stripped down R-Class which nobody wants to buy, you can have a low-mileage, 500+ HP beast (which absolutely nobody bought) with a warranty. Exclusive, unloved, and insanely powered.

So, whaddya think? Is that a pretty good price, or is this the time to put Autobahn Motors' nodules in the vise and turn the crank a few times- check out the beads of sweat breaking out on the salesman's brow!- see if you can get that price down into the 30s? You get too cheap, though, you might miss out!

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