nboyd

My wife and I are going to buy a C230 C-Coupe next month and we have been looking at the color options.

The magma red with oyster leather is 'Special order'??? I can't believe a red sports car with a light interior is not one of the most popular combinations.

The car is a complete bargain but we need automatic, our current car has CD as standard so I damned if I am not getting another one, the roof is a seller for me and I am upgrading so I want leather, so with the right color we are looking at $32,000.

Not the cheap entry I had convinced my wife. I don't mind paying for value but paying $1000 for the pleasure of ordering leather and a $1000 for the pleasure of ordering the color I like? This does not include the matalic charge or the price of the leather.

Does anyone know why it cost that much. Being a European I know outrages car colors are the norm so surely they have the combinations programmed in the computer???

Nathan

MarkL

Nathan, Magma is not metallic, so at least you won't have the $645 metallic charge. As for the special order, sometimes it makes no sense. I have a C240, and Magma itself was a special order color. I also can't understand why both leather colors are not available for the C230. For paints, I can almost understand since they might have certain production runs. But since they have both leather interiors standard for various exterior colors, it shouldn't cause them a "hardship" to install either color. Oh well

vinmanc32

It must cost them less to mass produce certain colors and force buyers to buy what they produce. If you want something else you pay a severe premium because they dont make it normally. I dont think it will have any impact on the resale value but perhaps. I happen to think that magma is a great color but I wouldnt get one for me. Most people think they are very nice colors... if they are in someone elses driveway. But my hat goes off to the bold few who take the bull by the short ones.... enjoy. They are beautiful cars that will cost you to look good.

Flashman

The $1,000 special order (recently increased to $1,150) is for ordering a non-standard leather color (at least in the U.S.). It is not for just ordering leather. You can get the charcoal leather without that special order charge. Also the special order isn't just the leather color, but the interior pieces too.

Magma Red, Oyster Leather (special order), Automatic, Sunroof, CD Changer is $31,575. The same car with Charcoal Leather is $30,450.

BTW, you can save some good money by just ordering cloth and doing the leather aftermarket. You'd have $2,375 budget (what MB was going to charge you) and I am SURE that you can get C-Coupe monochromatic oyster leather for half that.

You can also save money by ordering the CD Changer yourself (mail order) and then having the dealer install it. Or looking at the Sony single-CD player that installs under the factory radio and plays via a built-in FM modulator. Last I checked, the Sony CD deck is $125.

Rick

MB-BOB

I'm not certain, but I thought the "Special Order Charge" was for the first occurrence. I wasn't aware that you paid it twice or more for each option that is out of the ordinary. Hopefully, one of the dealer members can clarify this.

In any event, nboyd, you should only have to pay ONE special order charge (for the non standard interior). While Magna Red is a special order color for the sedan, it is not a special order for the Coupe, nor is it a metallic add ($640).

Since you want the Panaroma roof anyway, you will save some money by ordering the C5 package, which has the leather option, roof, and Bose stereo. The C5 saves $310 compared to ordering all the options separately (like getting the Bose option half price).

Car with delivery: $25595 (USA pricing, don't know about Europe)
Automatic Trans.: $1300
C5 Package: $2700 (leather, Roof, sensor and Bose)
6-Disc Changer: $800
Total: $30395 OR...
Special Order: $1150 (optional interior color)
Total: $31545

Also, If your wife is a whole lot shorter than you, give some thought to the C1 memory seat package. The electric seats are to the ladies what the roof means to you. $1225 (a swap out if you decide on the standard charcoal leather) Just some thoughts.

Lynn

The special order fee is only charged once per car. It is an invention of MBUSA. I have viewed MB web sites for numerous countries and it seems only to be charged in the USA. The metallic paint fee seems to be limited to North America. It is highly probable that it is MBUSA which prevents the installation of in-dash CD players in US cars, so that they can soak us $800 to $1200 for a $275 CD-changer.

If you check various MB web sites you will find a greater selection of paint colors, and interior colors both cloth and leather. There are paint and interior combinations not available here. Since cars sold here are made on the same assembly lines as those sold elsewhere, it can't cost more to produce the combos sold here as "special orders".

Flashman

What's the volume of US cars vs. other MB markets?

MarkL

Yes, Rick. But to my earlier point, while both leathers are optional cost, the oyster leather is available without the special order charge with many of the other exterior colors. All one is asking them to do is install the standard available pieces in their magma red car. The oyster dash, etc. in the cloth version is the same, so that is not an issue. It is simply the seats and door trim that is different.

(EDIT - I just realized that oyster cloth w/ magma red is also a special order charge)


We probably don't understand the whole production process. As with paints, I believe they run certain colors at a time, so painting a model a "non-standard" color may cause assembly line issues. However, since they install both colors of interiors all the time in the C230, I just can't understand the special order charge for a certain interior color.

DrMike

I wonder why some functionary in MBUSA marketing department doesn't provide definative answers on here. Since the prevailing belief seems to be "they are unneccesarily gouging us" the truth couldn't be any worse than what people already seem to think.