heat010

Hi Gang,

I'm still planning on shooting for the C230, but I hear everyone waiting 4 months or so, so they can get the factory leather from Germany.

Do you think Mercedes will ever ship C230s with factory leather to U.S. dealers? Or are they so short of leather there that cloth is the only version they can ship to the states.

I know waiting makes a heart grow fonder, but geez 4 +#@$& months!!!!!

benzomonterey

A couple of dealers have coupes with leather in stock.

Phil Smart in Seattle has a Orion/charcoal

You might check Laguna Niguel.

Not sure where you are located.

nboyd

Mine should arrive in 3-4 weeks and I ordered it three weeks ago. So if you go to a large dealer you will not have to wait long anyway.

Andre at Laguna Niguel told me they have 27 c-coupes and many have factory leather. I wanted Black with Oyster leather, c2 and auto, so I had to wait for the exact build.

I was in Princeton last week and saw a really great looking red coupe at princeton junction, it made me want to change my order.

Nathan

heat010

That's unbelievable!!! Actually I'm up in the SF Bay Area. It's so strange, since the dealers up here only have cloth from what I've seen. I hope those aren't ones that have had aftermarket leather slapped on them. OEM or bust!! What I'm saving up for is Silver C5, C7, auto & changer.

Thanks for keeping your eyes out on them. I only hear good things from Laguna Niguel from everyone.

greg230

only 2 coupes on the lot at keenan in doyelstown, both cloth

greg

nboyd

I spoke to Laguna Niguel about 10 mins ago to find out if my car had been shipped. I also asked if they have any cars with factory leather and they said they had a red c-coupe with factory leather.

Nathan

C230K

Ebay has one, black,auto,leather,cd 5,500 miles, in LA


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/aw-cg...808637&r=0&t=0

galaxygrrl

Heat010,

When I bought my car a week and a half ago, San Jose had a paparika with leather, sunroof, and I don't remember what else.

Also, I was in SF benz the other day and they had a black one with leather. If you go to SF benz, know I got my car for 2% over invoice so it can be done. I liked my sales guy, bill scott, would definately recommend him.

Cheers,

Beth

pixmation

Factory leather is not as rare as it may sounds. The difficult part is to have factory leather with the exact color and options that you want.

When I bought mine, the C5 were either with auto tranny, not the color I want, without C7 or with options that I don't want.

heat010

Hey galaxygrl (Beth),

Was it a difficult negotiation with SF Mercedes Benz to get that 2% over invoice price?

What option packages did you get? I was pricing out the invoice price on the base C230 and also getting the invoice prices for the different option packages (C5,C7, Auto and changer.

Since you got the 2% over invoice on the car, did you pay full price for the option packages?

I'm just really curious since bay area dealers are a challenge to get anything under MSRP.

Thanks for giving me the name of who you dealt with in SF.

galaxygrrl

Heat!

I negotiated one sum for the car. Price of options was always included on the total package. Negotiating option by option is not good idea. There is a mark-up of anywhere from 6.5 to 7% on everything on the car. This includes options. So, for example, to figure out the cost of the C5 package, just divide $2700 by 1.07, so that is $2523 (small profit margin, no wonder dealers wont negotiate much)

Here is how I got a good price. I called Bill, told him that I was interested in buying the car, and had a nice chat with him. He's a really nice guy. I would buy another car from him in a second. (can't believe I just wrote that about a car salesman)

Went in for a test drive, and told Bill that I had never paid over $500 over invoice for a car and never will. He smiled (I'm sure he thought, yeah right, not for a Benz).

I went for a test drive with Bill and told Bill I was buying a car the last day of the month (because that is when you can get a good deal). If you want a deal like this, you need to wait until Feb 28th.

I told Bill exactly what I wanted and that if he could work with me on price, I would give him the first shot at selling me a car -- I committed to Bill, so Bill needed to commit to me. That put Bill in a position so that he needed to put together a deal that worked for him and worked for me (but after all Bill wants to sell a car, so this was easy). He also needs to make sure his boss could live a low price from me.

If you want a deal like this you need to take a car that is on the lot. In my case, I told Bill what I wanted and he made sure that the closest thing in the Bay Area was on his lot Jan 31 (he got it from Walnut Creek, so you have about 10 dealerships stock to choose from in the Bay Area). If Bill had not had gotten the car on his lot, then I would not have gotten the price.

When I went to buy a car, the car was on the lot. There is a huge incentive for the dealer to move the car then. And if it's the last day of the month, then they get to add another sale to the books for the month. That's the trick. We went back and forth for two hours. I only threatened to walk about 3 times-- ugh!

The trade-off was I got everything I wanted (color, Bose, sunroof) except factory leather (I’m adding it). In your case, you might be able to find your C5 and C7 package, but you might need to make a trade-off on color, or leather, or something else. It's what Bill can find in the Bay Area. If you want a special order, forget a good price. You can expect to pay MSRP.

As for a CD changer, I could not get them to move on the price from MSRP, so I bought it from www.autoclass.net for $464 and my friend will install it for a six-pack from our favorite microbrewery and some good company one night.

If you take this route DO NOT tell Bill that you know that I paid 2% over invoice. He needs to feel that it's worth his time to work with you. If you tell him that is what you expect to pay, then it's not worth it to him (or to his dealership for that matter). He will politely pass on working with you. (I'm very, very, serious)

Just tell him that you know me a little and I said I got a good deal and was treated well. When you sit down to negotiate, then say you know I paid a little over 2% over invoice, BUT NOT before then. Once he has committed to you and gotten a car for you on his lot, you have the upper hand. Then, you could get him to 2% (my was actually 2.3%). Remember, buying a car is a big game.

Oh, Bill's email is bills@sfbenz.com.

Feel free to email me with questions beth@mailops.com.

Good Luck!

MarkL

It's great that you were able to work out the deal that you did. But, in today's market, I'm of the opinion that you can work a similar deal with an ordered car. I've purchased about 15 cars since I've been driving (32 yrs!), and I've only bought 2 off the lot. I've never paid MSRP for these cars, except for my C240. But, I bought it in August of last year, and I don't know anyone who got one then at lower than MSRP. And, there were none on the lot at that time.

When your dealer orders your specific vehicle, all profit is "pure profit". The car hasn't sat on their lot incurring "floorplan" as they call it. It's easier for them then trying to track down the vehicle you want, transferring it, etc. Also, I believe an ordered vehicle does not count against their allocation.

I've never heard of working with the "base" price of the vehicle and option packages separately. Where are you guys coming up with this? The car's price is base + all options that you want. You work from invoice up, not MSRP down. For example, invoice for base vehicle + your options = $30K. You tell the dealer what you're willing to pay over invoice, $500, 750, etc. My impression is you're getting discounts now due to the post-9/11 market situation. Last summer, no way.

pixmation

I read somewhere (yahoo buyers' guide or edmunds) that you can still get discount if you special order your car, if may not be as much as buying from the dealer's lot. The dealer may make the sale only when the car is here and deliveried, but it's a sure sale in the pocket. Plus the car won't be sitting on the lot. So the dealer's holdback is all pure profit for them. The article mentioned when you special order the car, make sure the saleperson knows that you know about how the dealers' hold back works.

If you are going to finance the car, it would be better if you have your loan pre approved when you start dealing with the saleperson. Let them know that you have already been approved, sometime some people spent the time making the deal and ended up didn't get approved and the sale fall through. The saleperson may be more willing to work on the deal if he knows ahead finance will not get into the way.

On top of that, most dealers will try to beat or match the APR you have, I got mine pre approved at 5.99%, when they want to match it, I asked for another $200 off the car if they want me to go with their loan. Instead, they beat the APR and offer me 5.59% (over $300 saving over the life of the loan).

tommy

Make sure that your friend drinks the beer AFTER he/she installs it, and I'd be interested in exactly what "some good company" really means. :p You should try to take some pics of the install, as that seems to be a fairly common question from the newbies.

It's good to hear that some of you people are getting decent deals now. Too bad I couldn't wait until now to buy mine.

heat010

I just want to thank everyone for your helpful feedback. I know when the time comes to haggle, I'll be very well prepared. You guys are great!!!

galaxygrrl

MarkL -- jealous that you got Capri Blue. I love that color. I tried so hard to get any of the four dealers I talked to move on that color, but alas no one would.
Enjoy it!

MarkL

Thanks. Interestingly, Capri was not "special order" on my C240 (or C320), but has the $1150 or whatever special charge on the coupes. Do you mean they wouldn't budge on the special order charge?

I saw Capri and Desert Silver when I first looked at the C240. I gravitate toward Desert Silver-type colors, so I thought I'd go for something different. I was undecided until I saw it one last time just before I was ordering -- it looked great, but it had the Ash interior. I think the Java sets it off better. That day, I was able to see Bordeaux, White, Aspen Green, Black and Capri all together! I always thought a dark MB sedan was the way to go. I've also seen Capri Blue on "E's" and a couple "S's" where I think it's also special order.

galaxygrrl

Yes, not dealer would move at all for an special order -- even the dealer that I ended up buying the car from would not move on any special order before my black car was on the lot. I think part of it is the Northern California market is pretty tight on this car, they are sold even before they are off the boat. That is why I went through such detail for Heat.

I had three dealers reps even tell me on the phone to not come into their dealership if I was not willing to pay MSRP. They did not even want me to come through the door -- I almost dropped the phone, can you believe that. A few said to go to LA and buy a car there because in the Bay Area market no one was going to move.

This was unlike any car buying experience that i have ever had. Go figure.

heat010

Man those dealers sure have alot of attitude. I'm not going to look forward to talking to those guys. Do you know which dealers gave you that line. At least I know to avoid them. The gall !!

Laguna Niguel is beginning to sound more inviting!!!

galaxygrrl

Personally, I think the headache of going to LA to save $1000 is not worth it. I'll pay the money then.

Bill was fine, I also think that Phil in Marin was great too, I just chose to work with Bill because I wanted to buy a car in SF.

I think that San Jose would move one price too, I talked to them on the phone also.

Plesenton, Modesto, and one other that I don't remember gave me a hard time.

Good luck.

benzomonterey

Just a suggestion, I live here in Monterey and the dealer is extremely easy to deal with. It's Stahl Motors the salesmans name is Jack Golden. They are Californias oldest Benz dealer. They are used to dealing with old money so you don't get the attitude.

Rick