benzo-boi

Hi everyone,

I'm going to be ordering a new 2005 C230 Sport Sedan. I was wondering for those that have either ordered/purchased or have done research can help me with pricing.

On the MBUSA.COM website, I built the car:

MSRP: $29,970.00
Brilliant Silver: $680.00
Lighting Package: $790.00
Sunroof Package: $1,790.00
Automatic Trans: $1,390.00

Total: $34,620.00

What do you guys think I should pay, "out the door" (including tax) for it? I know it's never good to pay msrp. What do you think is reasonable? What price should I shoot for?

I also have a C-spot coupon ($1500).

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Tandrek

I would push for $30,000 after using the C-Spot coupon. Ofcourse, you will have to add taxes and possibly Freight/PDI/Destination/Handling/whatever.

DiamondNoir2K5

Oh boy, the regulars are gonna love this one!

Since I'm a relative noob myself, I'll try to help a little before the flames begin. Just kidding guys.

Forget about "out the door", it just complicates things. Out the door means taxes and fees, which, unless your dealer has some weird rip-off charges, should be pretty much fixed (the tax depends on your sale price, but I mean fixed in terms of there's nothing to negotiate there).

First, go to kbb.com or edmunds.com and learn what invoice pricing is. Forget about MSRP. If you pay MSRP you're just paying for the salesman's Hawaiian vacation. Depending on what part of the country you're in, buying at invoice would be ok. Apparently in CA, particularly SoCal, you could get a couple G's under invoice.

Are you set on ordering? The dealer will probably try to talk you out of it because he wants to clear the inventory he already has. I don't know if you're willing to wait for the order. If you want the car now instead of weeks from now, realize that the dealer is unlikely to have on his lot the exact model you built on the website. They make up their own mind on what option combos they order on their inventory. You'll probably end up negotiating on a car with a different option set than you're looking for. So you should be aware of the invoice cost of other options (for example, I'll bet most cars have premium sound) because you'll have to negotiate on those.

Guest0001

31000 plus tax would be an exellent buy. btw I dont think it would be too hard to find what your looking for. Just pick one up from the stealer.

amdeutsch

Start here

Didn't we just have a thread similar to this where Anaheim Drew answered a lot of the questions on a similarly equipped car.

accbenz

the price you get on the car depends pretty heavily on where you live...someone in CA is going to get a much better deal than someone in almost any other state, so you can't compare some of what you see on these boards w/ what you're going to get elsewhere. There have been plenty of threads on this already though..."search".

Buellwinkle

It really depends on where you live, someone in Oregon that doesn't have to pay 8% in sales tax will pay about 8% less than someone in California yet the states border each other.

I KOMPRZ

If you are in S.Cali, I suggest you go check out South Bay Mercedes in Torrence. Ask for Detlef (Internet Sales Manager). I took my gf there and picked up her '05 with
1). Lighting Package
2). Entertainment package
3). Auto Tranny
4). Sunroof package
5). Folded seats
6). DVD Command

MSRP$37xxx, our price $3,4000, with $1500 coupon = $32,500 + tax and lic.

This is a hell of a good deal. I hope that helps.

Anaheim_Drew

This is the best summary of the information I have been posting for months

Chedeng_05

I just bought mine yesterday and i wanted the same specs. You are probably doing a special order cause all the cars that have the lighting package ALWAYS comes with extras that you don't want. My dealer had a hard time finding the same specs as yours and he told me the same thing that he will special order it and it will take about 3 months.

I spoke to another dealer and she told me that she has the car i wanted, but again it came with an extra option which was an entertainment package and she was willing to give that to me for free, that way she didn't have to special order it.

Bottom line is i got my car for $34,500 out the door and that's without a c-spot coupon. Dealer invoice was $33,752. The other dealers wanted $500 over invoice....DON'T FALL FOR THAT. I bought mine for $2,100 BELOW INVOICE.

Hope this helps.

Anaheim_Drew

I think those who inform themselves, speak up, and are not afraid to walk away and try another dealership. WIN!
Those who go to the dealership and start talking about how much they love the car, lose. Good deal

amdeutsch

Got points. Now what about those members, like Adam, where the nearest other dealer is in OK City versus in Tulsa. That is quite a drive. Its not like in CA where it may only be 20 - 30 miles in any given direction. What would your words of wisdom be here? It is well known that a lot of the places where dealers are far and few apart service issue could arise that the servicing dealer doesn't want to handle or handles very slowly. Loaner car availability may also be an issue to customers having bought from him instead from X miles away. $0.02

DiamondNoir2K5

Curious, how many MB dealerships are there within a 1.5 hour drive of Anaheim? Just trying to get an idea of how much inter-dealership competition there is there.

Anaheim_Drew

Off the top of my head using my house in Anaheim as the center point.... No less than 10. But 1.5 hour drive is 100 miles away so we are now talking about maybe 15 in a 125 mile area

Anaheim_Drew

California

Auto Stiegler, Inc. Encino (818) 788-0234
Autobahn Motors Belmont (650) 637-2333
Berberian European Motors Stockton (209) 944-5511
Beshoff MotorCars San Jose (408) 239-2330
Beverly Hills, Ltd. Beverly Hills (310) 659-2980
Calabasas Motor Cars Calabasas (818) 591-2377
Caliber Motors, Inc. Anaheim (800) 225-4237
Calstar Motors, Inc. Glendale (818) 246-1800
Claridge's, Ltd. Fremont (510) 623-1111
Courtesy Motors Auto Center, Inc. Chico (530) 893-1300
Downtown LA Motors Los Angeles (866) 411-6922
Fletcher Jones Motor Cars, Inc. Newport Beach (949) 718-3060
Hoehn Motors, Inc. Carlsbad (760) 438-4454
House of Imports, Inc. Buena Park (800) 637-2333
Keyes European Van Nuys (818) 461-3900
Kimball Motor Company San Luis Obispo (805) 543-5752
Mercedes-Benz of Bakersfield Bakersfield (800) 848-3494
Mercedes-Benz of El Dorado Hills El Dorado Hills (916) 567-5100
Mercedes-Benz of Escondido Escondido (760) 745-5000
Mercedes-Benz of Fresno Fresno (559) 438-0300
Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel Laguna Niguel (800) 200-7516
Mercedes-Benz of Long Beach Signal Hill (562) 988-8394
Mercedes-Benz of Monterey Monterey (831) 375-2456
Mercedes-Benz of Oakland Oakland (510) 832-6030
Mercedes-Benz of Palm Springs Palm Springs (760) 328-6525
Mercedes-Benz of Pleasanton Pleasanton (925) 463-2525
Mercedes-Benz of Sacramento Sacramento (916)924-8000
Mercedes-Benz of San Diego San Diego (858) 569-6900
Mercedes-Benz of San Francisco San Francisco (888) 226-3400
Mercedes-Benz of South Bay Torrance (310) 534-3333
Modesto European Modesto (209) 522-8100
Penske Motorcars West Covina (888) 209-2500
R.A.B. Motors, Inc. San Rafael (415) 454-0582
Rusnak/Arcadia Arcadia (626) 447-1117
Santa Barbara Auto Group Santa Barbara (805) 682-2000
Silver Star A.G., Ltd. Thousand Oaks (805) 371-5400
Smother's European Santa Rosa (707) 542-4810
Smythe European Inc. San Jose (408) 983-5200
Stead Motors of Walnut Creek Walnut Creek (925) 937-1655
W.I. Simonson, Inc. Santa Monica (310) 829-4511
Walter's Auto Sales and Service, Inc. Riverside (909) 688-3332

Anaheim_Drew

I stated this point long ago..... In a case like this you buy from the best option available keeping in mind that you need this dealer for service.

Slater126

It's all common sense. Go to edmunds.com and find out the invoice. Ignore TMV because it's usually too high. Then subtract any incentives from that. On these cars, you're not talking scorching demand so start at 1% over invoice (BEFORE shipping and AFTER you take out the rebates) and go up to 2.5% max. Then make sure your rebates are taken out, add in your shipping, tax and you're good to go.

The key is to keep everything seperate. Dealers win by confusing you and mixing things together (the worst is "what payment can you afford"). It's much easier to negotiate than it was 15+ years ago because people are better educated and dealers realize that unless you're seeking a rare car, you can just go down the street and get the same thing. They'd rather have $100 than nothing, especially if they can get the deal done quick. So if you sound like you know what you're doing, they usually cave pretty quickly.

Of course you also have to be realistic, especially if you want an '05. Some people on here claim they have gotten the cars for like $15,000 below invoice or something like that. This is probably message board bravado. In reality, you're going to have to go a small percentage over invoice -- but you'll come in well below with rebates. If they get pissy about it, remind them of the dealer holdback -- the 2-4% of MSRP dealers are credited with. This generally isn't a major bargaining chip though because it diminishes the longer the car is on the lot, so it's sort of a moving target, and the salesman doesn't get any of it. You can still mention it if you reach an impasse.

Tandrek

If you're looking for a dealership around Anaheim, I would highly recommend Fletcher Jones Mercedes. As the largest MB dealership in the world, you will not have trouble finding a good deal.

Tandrek

I was just at the Fletcher-Jones Dealership and was told that they would make you a great deal on a C230 Coupe at $2500 under invoice, no problem.

amdeutsch

Why did you go and ask about a Coupe when his very first post talked about a sedan?

Tandrek

Whoops!

Anaheim_Drew

A good deal based on what? The largest does not always mean the best deal Noobe buyers should beware. The salesman will sense your fear and eat you alive at FJM.......

Tandrek

Have a drink to calm yourself down, then.

Anaheim_Drew

And buy a coupe when you wanted a sedan!

Tandrek

If you drink enough, you may have trouble differenciating.