Incendiary

If you've been following my saga (well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration) on this thread, I have an update. We've decided to get a 2005 E320 4matic. I have a couple questions.

1) My mom said the salesman told her they'd sell two cars for a certain price. I checked out the price online at carsdirect.com, and it looks like it's invoice price they're offering it at. Can I do better at this point, or should I jump on this? If it's the OTD price before TT&L, it sounds pretty good to me. If they try to tack on processing fees, advertising fees, etc., it might not be.

2) Any hidden fees, like advertising, etc. that I should be aware of? I'd prefer not to pay any of those fees, especially processing fees, as I don't feel they're legit. If the dealer is absolutely forced to pay something like a regional advertising fee, that may be legit. Any insights?

3) What is the code W4? Is that 4matic? Also, what is code 167 (standard edition)?

Thanks in advance for the help!

BudC

If MBUSA adds an advertising fee, it'll be on the Invoice and it's called IRG Participation.

In Phoenix and LA, it's $600. Any IRG Participation fee should already be accounted for in the offer.

You won't see any administrative fees until you are ready to sign the Purchase Agreement and it'll probably be in there as a line item. Don't be surprised if it's close to $300.

Ask your salesman what other fees besides state fees the dealer will add to the offer.

Incendiary

Thanks, Bud. I don't think the advertising fee was listed on the sheet he gave, but I'm planning to email him soon to find out what else is going to be tacked on. I'm also going to ask for wheel locks and all-season mats to be thrown in. Regular mats are already automatically included, right?

Think it's a good price? Ready to sign if people here say it is.

vtec26

I too got a $600 surprise when they tried to add the advertising fee when getting an 04 e320. when i told him it was a deal breaker, he immediately agreed to remove that charge.

Incendiary

Did you pay less than invoice? I'm just wondering if I should shop around, because I didn't think it'd be so easy to get invoice price. I thought people got C-classes below invoice easily, but not E's (or at least not until near the end of the model year).

vtec26

i got the car in early 04, just before i read on this forum that everyone was getting $1500 below invoice. i paid $500 over invoice. that said, i don't think my price and that below invoice price can be used for comparison as they were for 04 e320's.

Incendiary

Looks like we're close to a deal.

Here's the estimated price we've preliminarily negotiated on a 2005 E320 4matic with the following options:

metallic paint
sunroof pkg
6 disk cd changer
heated front seats
dvd comand navigation
throw-ins: wheel locks, all-season floor mats, and of course, the carpeted mats that they come with anyway

Add in a $295 processing fee for tags/title/registration and a $10 dealer online finding fee (rip off in my book), and it comes to a total of $51305 before taxes.

By my calculations, this still comes out to below invoice, even considering their 3% holdback from MSRP they receive from MBUSA after making the sale. Is there a catch? Seems like too good a deal to be true.

Incendiary

Well, it's done. Bought the car today. Paid ~$51300 before TT&L, and that's without the LMT $1500 coupon. Given invoice as listed on carsdirect is $52882, I think we got a fair price.

I'll post pics when I can.