Wheens

Anyone used carsdirect.com to buy their coupe? If so, which way did you go; their guarenteed price, or selected dealers?

How hard is it to get the exact car you want?

Savings? Pros and cons?

Thanks

KWiK

I know 2 people that have used Carsdirect.com and got exactly what they wanted. Not a single problem in the transaction. Both took the Carsdirect price because they felt the price was very good for a no hassle deal.

I used priceline.com to buy my 325i and got just what I was looking for.

jay

I used them about a year ago. Not for my coupe, but for a toyota 4x4, and I have to say it was the easiest thing I've ever done. I chose their price, by the way. They beat the dealership I picked it up from by more than 4k! Even the dealer was looking at me like "Hey, who do you know?"

Good luck!

CitronC230K_03

its too late for me, but for my config i had to order my car. when going thru carsdirect.com, do they order cars, or do they just take whats being delivered?

Wheens

Good question citronc230k.

spankdoggie

I had a completely trouble free purchase through carsdirect.com.

I told the gentleman over the phone what I needed. He did a search, and it was not available. He custom ordered it from Germany for me. I had to wait a couple of months for them to build it, but the whole process was perfect. He also was a funny guy, and took a lighthearted approach to the whole thing. Answers the phone immediately.

I gave a couple of salesmen a chance, but they were not on top of it like the guy at carsdirect.com.

$1500 under invoice for a 2003 C230 with the wheel package, Xenons, 6 disc Cd changer, auto (for the wife to drive; I like stick shift ), and the sunroof is cool. Charcoal leather, etc.

I highly recommend carsdirect.com.

If you want the name of a trustworthy carsdirect.com person, I will give you the name of mine if you send me a PM.

Bobdole

sounds like buying online is the way to go nowadays,wish i did it 16 months ago,but o well,$1500 under invoice is hard to beleive,but if thats what it was u got a smokin deal

CitronC230K_03

WOW!!!! i got $1500 under MSRP and they are installing my illuminated door sills for free. i bought them, but the installation is free. i thought that was good. not a steal, but i felt i got a fair deal. but $1500 under invoice, thats awesome. you have pretty much the same options as i do. i have the special order charge and power seats, but no auto though. next time i think ill give them a try!!!

nellee

I used carsdirect.com to price my 2002 CLK320. Then I printed out the price and brought it to the dealership. They agreed to match it, but we told them to knock off another $1000 off it which brought the price to a measely $500 over invoice.

They actually have carsdirect's website bookmarked on their computers because so many people are using carsdirect.com as a benchmark pricing. The salesman at MB San Francisco informed us that carsdirect.com usually buys from them at roughly $500 less than what they quote online, so if you print their ad and bring it into the dealership, you can talk the salesman down another $500+ from carsdirect's low price.

Beware also that carsdirect.com's prices do fluctuate very often based of supply/demand. We priced our CLK at roughly $1500 over invoice when we bought the car in July, but a week later it was priced at $3000 over invoice, closer to MSRP.

It also depends on where you are located also. In San Francisco, the ML320 and C320s are being priced over $500 below invoice!

spankdoggie

They changed their prices, so I don't know what it was now without pulling all my receipts out. It was the best deal I recieved, though...

Right now their website says about 1100 under invoice. I will have to check my receipts, but I did not get a steal. I got a good deal, probably the same as you citron. Whatever it said on the website, at the time of purchase was the exact price I got it for. They did not deviate from that.

I am happy with it.

speedfrk

I think there is some confusion over "under invoice" and "under MSRP". 1500.00 under invoice would mean that cars direct gets their cars cheaper than a MB franchised dealer. I doubt that is the case.

MB-BOB

I agree with you, speedfrk... We need to be sure we are using the same, correct terms. $1500 under MSRP makes sense... under "invoice" does not. MBUSA's dealership network will not stand for an internet provider getting the cars for less than they can get them (invoice=dealer wholesale).

Also, be aware that Carsdirect.com is not licensed to conduct business in all states in the US. In such cases, Carsdirect.com quotes MSRP only.

spankdoggie

I found this price at their site with the link provided below, for a C230 w/ no options in my city...

"CarsDirect Price: $23,315
MSRP Price: $25,615
Invoice Price : $24,469"


How would this be explained? Thanks.

C230 quote from carsdirect. May be expired link now, though...

Buellwinkle

Many cars, specially MBs are sold below invoice because the dealers have incentives and the incentives may have accelarators. For example, a C230 may have a $2,000 distributor to dealer incentive for each they sell in a certain month. Then if they sell over a certain quantity they give them $3,000. All carsdirect.com does is be the middle-man between you and a dealer that prearranged a certain price. So this is why they can easily sell a car for below costs. Then some manufactures offer manufacturer to salesman incentive call spifs and carsdirect may accept this spif as their fee. The more popular incentive is the Manufacturer to cutomer incentive called rebates but that's beneath high end companies so they do it differently.

On top of all these incentives they have holdbacks which can be a few percent of the car and these typically have accellerators for exceeding a certain quantity. A dealer may be near a certain level and give deeper discounts to make that level. That's why it's better to buy a car the last weekend of the month and in the winter when incentives are best. Actually this weekend is the best of the whole year as they try to compete for the a higher holdback and close out the year with the best possible sales numbers so the managers get their bonuses.

speedfrk

So I guess there are incentives on the C230's right now? Anyone know what they are for certain? If so, that may explain why trade-in on my car is so low. Plus, I might try to work a deal on a new car without the transmission problems mine has.

yeloaw

Wow, now I know I got a good deal. I got my car w/ the c2 pkg and metallic paint for 29,600, bout 5000 below MSRP. 2-3k below carsdirect. Best time to buy a car is in august-sept. Dealers recieve more incentives and have to clear out for the new year. I bought my car in Aug. Emailed a few dealers and had them compete w/ each other. Printed out lowest price email and took it to my local dealer. Finished the transaction within two hours. Worked perfectly without any hassle.

amdeutsch

Something on these numbers here smells funny. MBs have a 7% markup and a 3% holdback. Lets look at those numbers presented.

Carsdirect:
25615 - 24469 = 1146 = ~ 4.5%
25615 - 23315 = 2300 = ~ 9%

MB:
7% of 25615 = 1793 > invoice = 23822
3% of 25615 = 768 holdback > cost to dealers less unknown incentives: 23822 - 768 = 23054

Figures don't lie but liars can figure. :p

Now at 23315 that would be a good price if you wanted a plain jane model. But I understand that in CA cars can be had cheaper, especially what appears to be a loss leader like this. You might even be able to do better this time of year, very slow sales for dealers, since bonuses, volume pads, etc. come into play.

amdeutsch

What kind of car did you get?
Just looking at the numbers you presented it doesn't make any sense; too high for a C230K and C240 and too low for a C320.

At least with the listing of the options and discount you presented. There has got to be some info missing.

amdeutsch

Actually in my neck of the woods, just north of you, I couldn't get a price from them. They kept asking me for a different zipcode.

mdp c230k

I got my 2002 C230k for carsdirect in Sept 2001 and it was the first one that they had sold. I paid list price but I got the car I wanted which no one else could do for me at that time. With tax, title, and all that crap the car came to $29970 total. That is with metallic paint and C2 option. I think it was a great time saver and they got a car I could not find.

yeloaw

Got a c240 auto. from Long Beach, HOI offered to match but w/out metallic paint.

MsMercedes

So how does this work? Do you build your car through Carsdirect.com, then they deliver it to your closest local dealer? Can you have a trade in, and if so, how does a trade-in work? I am asking because my local dealership is notorious for giving very low trade-in values.

This sounds like it might be the way to go on my next car.

Wheens

Go to their website and you will get your answers.

In essence, they work as a broker, utilizing a network of dealers. For instance, there are 4 dealers in the SF Bay Area they work thru. They will first try to find your car (or close to it) stateside. If they can't, then they will order it for you at their guaranteed price thru one of their nearby dealers.

They have a mechanism to handle tradeins (see info on website) and can arrange financing if you desire.

Wheens

Well I did it today.

I ordered, thru carsdirect, a manual C230 in Pewter,; with C1, C5, C7, CD, Comand, Brown Poplar Trim. Build in Jan, delivery scheduled for early April.

The final price was exactly what the carsdirect website produced.; $2300 under MSRP, $576 under "invoice" for my area (SF Bay). Carsdirect is working with Smythe in San Jose. Easily done, no hassle.

BTW, my nearest dealer wouldn't budge off MSRP and made no attempt to even get close to carsdirect.

KWiK

Congratulations!

Keep us post on how Carsdirect works out for you.