MBUSA.com vs. Dealership
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Senior Member
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 272
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From: California Girl
that red one
MBUSA.com vs. Dealership
My rim drama is still in full force. I found a set of OEM chromed 07 rims (I know, I know, ya'll aren't into the chrome thing but I really like them 
) Anyway, took them home and my husband thought they were total crap - pitted and just an overall bad chrome job. So I again returned the rims with no problems. I decided to go onto the mbusa site and logged in to see what it had to offer. Going through the owner's online section I registered my car, bla bla, bla, then I went to the accesories section which has limited accessories to choose from, but it does have a wheel/rim section with both the rims styles that I'm looking for. The 06' 5 spoke funnel style with a MSRP of $248 and the 07' style MSRP of $298. I'm able to get wholesale pricing so I decided to call my dealership and find out what the wholesale prices would be, the parts guy quoted me $372 for the 06' style and $425 for the 07' style. I said what??? How is that possible?? I just went online to mbusa.com and repeated what they have listed on the MSRP's, well the parts guy was completely shocked and went onto the site himself and say exactly what I saw. So, he's going to call MBUSA tomorrow (they're 2 or 3 hrs ahead of CA) and he's going to call me tomorrow with an answer, but he did tell me that under the circumstances he feels that he should honor the prices that mbusa provided (plus the % of wholesale) since they are the ones that "set the standard for the MSRP prices that are given to the dealerships" I'm amazed at how confusing and misleading purchasing a simple item can be to consumers. No wonder people get ripped off all the time! Anyway, wish me luck!
Wendy
) Anyway, took them home and my husband thought they were total crap - pitted and just an overall bad chrome job. So I again returned the rims with no problems. I decided to go onto the mbusa site and logged in to see what it had to offer. Going through the owner's online section I registered my car, bla bla, bla, then I went to the accesories section which has limited accessories to choose from, but it does have a wheel/rim section with both the rims styles that I'm looking for. The 06' 5 spoke funnel style with a MSRP of $248 and the 07' style MSRP of $298. I'm able to get wholesale pricing so I decided to call my dealership and find out what the wholesale prices would be, the parts guy quoted me $372 for the 06' style and $425 for the 07' style. I said what??? How is that possible?? I just went online to mbusa.com and repeated what they have listed on the MSRP's, well the parts guy was completely shocked and went onto the site himself and say exactly what I saw. So, he's going to call MBUSA tomorrow (they're 2 or 3 hrs ahead of CA) and he's going to call me tomorrow with an answer, but he did tell me that under the circumstances he feels that he should honor the prices that mbusa provided (plus the % of wholesale) since they are the ones that "set the standard for the MSRP prices that are given to the dealerships" I'm amazed at how confusing and misleading purchasing a simple item can be to consumers. No wonder people get ripped off all the time! Anyway, wish me luck! Wendy
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Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Orange County
2005 C Wagon (No snickering please!)
It seems that some Mercedes dealers have set their list prices as a multiple of MSRP. This allows them to discount parts with coupons and concessions, yet still make a full retail profit on the parts. Many dealers allow employees to receive commissions on parts sales, and by charging above MSRP, the customer pays the commission. Then there is just outright greed. Take a typical seat module. It costs about $20 to manufacture. The guys who make the part then sell it with a 2.4 multiplier to Mercedes. The module is now $48. Add $2 for shipping to Mercedes. Now Mercedes calls $50 the "A" cost. Mercedes adds a package, and administrative costs, which double the parts price to $100, now called "B" cost. Now the part is made available through the Electronics Parts Catalog (EPC) to dealers and some limited parts to independent shops. This adds an additional $5 to the part to arrive at the wholesale price of $105. Many parts are shipped by FED-EX from Germany, and this part would build $20 into the cost, or total $125. The dealer is then quoted an MSRP of 2.2 times $125, or $275. Now some dealers add 70 to 100 percent to that, for a final price to you of $467.50 to $550.00.
Now you know the rest of the story....
Now you know the rest of the story....
