M-B-Michael

New member here.

Just brought home my Sport Sedan yesterday.

Anyone have any questions I can answer seeing that I have one right here? (I am sure many of you have the same car as well of course).

Quick Run down:

I went to buy one of these in 1999... Dealer treated me poorly so I bought another brand.

Saw that Mercedes was offering an "improved" Kompressor sedan version again, and so I jumped in w/ both feet (albeit at a different dealer).

Bril-Silver over Ash
C2
CD player via factory
Heated Seats
5 speed auto

Dealer had 3 in stock, two auto one 6 speed. I have a sportscar in the second stall so I went for the automatic.

It is a fabulous car as I am sure you know. I sure am proud of it.

Nice forums here. Hope I can contribute.

curioused

How much did you get it for? I was planning to trade in my coupe to get the sedan, I need the 4 doors man, I got a 5 month old baby and it's really a task to get him in and out the car....

If ever I will go through with this I wanted to get the same specs as yours.... probably go for a different color...

Benzer

Congrat on your new C. Great looking car.

I am too thinking of the sedan but in the MidNite blue. Please post your net price, if you dont mind that is, so the other members can be informed.

You surely can waste a few hours here easlily and enjoy it too

schwarz c230

I love my coupe, but if I needed a 4 door car, I think I would buy one of the new sedans

M-B-Michael

Sticker was $33,300 - Kelly on-line showed invoice @ $31,010. They gave me a good "low retail" figure for my '99 sport-ute trade, and took an additional $1300 off sticker from the C230K after I asked them to.

Edmunds on-line shows TMV (true market value) of $32,500 or so. I was happy anywhere under that to be honest.

The dealer was very good to me, and rather knowledgeable (rare you can bet). I think as the word gets out, discounts are not going to be necessary to sell these cars.

I looked at the Jag X type, the Audi A4, BMW, and Cadillac CTS. This C-class was the winner.

BTW... I have a 5 year old & a new born. Both baby seated & happy as clams in warm water in the back of this thing. The doors swing out damn near 90 degrees, so its easy ingress & egress too.

M-B-Michael

I did forget to mention one thing...

The car does have the nuttiest lite blue tint to the windows...

I was told it was part of the "sport package."

I can see Mercedes tinting the glass, but in blue? What's up with that?

It works on my color scheme though.

BTW... I was going to go for a Blue paint code car, but ya know... The Silver w/ Ash guts is pretty darn hard to beat... The other two Sports they had were Black w/ Charcoal auto & Charcoal w/ Charcoal manual.

The silver was on the showroom floor & just called out to me. Know what I mean?

RandyG

The entire C class line has been selling at way below invoice for several months now. I'm not surprised the dealer came down so quickly on the price. You probably could have gotten even more of a discount.

M-B-Michael

Geee thanks Randy...

Way to go and pee in my wheaties this morn.

One note though... I see people post throughout this forum using the words "below invoice." Please enlighten me to the exact dollar meaning. I know what it means, but it seems as several others have let the meaning escape them.

I only ask because I noted that often times they meant "below sticker" yet they typed "below invoice." To get below invoice on my car would mean to have purchased it for less than $31,010.

That's possible I am sure, but let me continue.

Now again... To my understanding, Mercedes has an invoice price (price they "pay"), and then they have a 3% additional holdback (additional profit built in for the sale), all set in conjunction with the MSRP (sticker price).

If that is the case:

My car = $33,300 sticker (sport sedan)
My purchase price = $32,000
My cars invoice = $31,010
Hold back = $999

Edmunds.com TMV = $32,450 or so...

Now Randy states that "C-class cars have been selling for below invoice" for a while now. Well dang... Great for the economy I guess. Churn & burn.

Okay, now if we really want to dissect MY deal we have to include the trade. My 1st offer on my trade from the dealer was very low & taken right from KBB-On-line (they printed it off & handed me the page). I told them I needed $4000 more than that offer. They offered up $1500 more on the trade after that request. I added that $1500 to the equation then I asked for an additional $1000 "on paper" for the trade on top of that. AND! Now I needed $1300 off the Mercedes sticker to make it happen. 2 hours later, we signed with those agreed upon numbers.

So... If you want. You can include subtracting just the additional $1000 they gave me for the trade - from off of the "sticker" price, then bringing me to a total of $2300 off sticker - which in turn puts me BELOW INVOICE by $10.

That way the dealer "made" 3% on the sale, and should be able to sell my trade on the lot for a few dollars more than they have in it. They keep the doors open, and I am happy.

Its just a numbers game, but sounds fair to me.

And best of all, the car is nice enough that I would have paid sticker for it. Mercedes should be able to sell every last one of these right around sticker price. Its that great of a package and superbly priced.

amdeutsch

You are correct in your assumption.

You need to look where Randy is from. CA is one of those markets where they discount cars more than in the midwest. You also have to remember that your car was just introduced. What Randy is talking about is that a lot Coupe's are sold that way and a some sedans in his part of the country.

In the end it sounds like you are happy with the car and your purchase. That is all that matters. Now, wipe those of your face and go drive it.

P.S.
You got PM

Matt230K

Michael, it sounds like you did very good. It seems like a lot of people here talk about below invoice, when they probably mean below sticker. The C-coupes are probably available below invoice in parts of the country, but the sedan was just realeased and I don't think the same discounts apply. But your dealer treated you very well and you got a great car for a great price. Congratulations

Matt230K

I hope you like to detail your cars a lot, because midnight blue is one of the hardest MB paints to take care of. It is probably harder than black and shows all scratches and swirl marks.

M-B-Michael

Thanks Matt!

I liked the coupe too, would have gone for one, but needed those back doors.

Super cars either way.

Matt230K

No problem, I work at my dealer, just a lot tech for now. But if you have any questions, feel free to post. I have learned a lot and can find out even more if I need to. Lynn also seems to know just about everything, so you can ask him too.

Lynn

There is a common misconception that the "holdback" is some sort of hidden profit. It can be, depeding on how soon the car is sold, but often is not.

The dealers have to have financing in order to pay the factory for the cars. The dealers have arrangements with several banks which work a lot like revolving charge accounts. These are called floorplans. Many manufacturers, but not all, pay their dealers a holdback. The purpose of the holdback is to offset the interest charges of the floorplan. Most holdback programs are calculated to pay for the first three months on interest on the floorplan. Some are less and very few are more.

If you order a car, buy a car allocated to the dealer but not yet in stock, or buy a car fresh off the truck, the dealer gets to keep the holdback or can use it to negotiate a lower price. If you buy a car that has been on the lot for a month, about one third of the holdback is due to the bank. If the car has been on the lot three months the holdback is gone. The bank gets it all. Once the car has been on the lot more than three months, the dealer is paying the interest on the floorplan out of his gross revenues. This is the reason it may be possible to get a better deal on a car that has just arrived than on one that has been in stock.

At the current time both MBUSA and the dealers have more inventory than they need, so MB is offering dealer incentives on several models. This is how the cars can be sold under invoice. MB is subsidizing the dealers.

MB///HRV

Great Job. I actually ordered mine last week. Same everything but I included the bi-xenon lights. My understanding is they are not producing them with the c4 pkg. I'm guessing they are spot on b/c i called throughout the n/e and nobody has them with the bi-xenons. I just can't wait to get it in. They tell me mid march. so let's keep our fingers crossed. In the mean time how do you like the car so far? I'd love to see some more pics. Oh and is there a big gap on the tire wells?

TNblkc230wz

Nice Car. Hope to order mine soon!

bagwell

plz post pics of the rear = i'm interested in the exhaust..thx



and BTW...."invoice" doesn't mean squat...$$$$ off the MSRP is what you look at....you did pretty good!

M-B-Michael

Hey! That's more like it. Thanks guys.

Here is a rear photo:



The exhaust it right there... But you don't see much of it. It is just two downturned stainless tips cut on the bias.

The exhaust note is zero. I can see changing the rear muffler to a performance unit.

The wheel well gap is not as bad as a non-sport. Perhaps its the wheel & tire combo. It looks pretty good right out of the box.

How do I like it so far?? Well, the highway manors are impeccable. It is very quiet too, like driving in a vault. Fit & finish is exceptional everywhere. Paint quality is very high. Around town drives are pretty effortless, the steering is set to feel somewhat sporty. My wife tells me that a lot of people look at the car as it rolls by. It certainly is a stylish package. As you sit in the sport seats you are greeted with a great chunky steering wheel. It feels very good in hand. All the controls are correctly placed for the driver.

I would like an additional 12 volt power port, and the car could have adapted a throatier exhaust note from the factory. That is all I would have added differently.

I have not jumped on the throttle yet, but I have worked the chassis & brakes. They feel up to the task of my demanding drive style. I am hoping for performance in the 15.9 second 1/4 mile range. Am I dreaming? I think I saw a Road & Track test of the coupe @ 15.7 in the 1/4.

Anyhow, I could not be happier in this price bracket. It is a great buy.

Mercedes

Motor Trend got 15.3 for the coupe in the 1/4 mile

and 0-60 in 7.2 secs I believe

pokerFACE

well if you dont like the blue, i'll swap out my regular green ones for u

Lynn

No one else has come close to those quarter mile numbers.

Matt230K

I have. 15.19, but with Gtech pro. Who knows how accurate a time it was. And this was before pulley.

Lynn

I have seen cars post truly impressive numbers with the G-Tech that can't be backed up at the strip. It is a nice toy, but I'll believe timing slips.

Matt230K

Yeah, I don't put much faith in that time. I need to go to the strip and see what it can do. Of course, now it is pullied, so it will beat that time anyway. But when I did it, I had one heck of a launch, so it might not be too far off. It wasn't the greatest for the clutch, but it was a nice start with no wheelspin.

trench

I was telling tommy the other day how I think of Lynn as "the voice of reason."

He also seems to have the most patience for newbie questions.

Cheers, BT

PS: M-B-Michael, welcome aboard and enjoy the new wheels!