SFBayDave

For those of you in the San Francisco Bay Area looking to buy a new Mercedes, I highly recommend Charles Bayard at Smythe European. My situation: I just turned 25 and for the most part I have a limited credit history. I could not get financed through MB credit or its partner lenders. Charles said no problem, so he took me to his credit union personally and explained my story to them. Within 20 minutes of getting my loan approved, the credit union had bought my car. I can't speak for anybody else, but my experience with Smythe and Charles are hands down the best treatment I have ever heard of with any dealership. I hope the rest of you have a good car buying experience as well.
Car info: 2005 c230 SS, Granite Grey Metallic, Auto Tranny, Lighting package, Entertainment Package, Sunroof Package, Heated Seats.

DiamondNoir2K5

That's nice of him to do, I guess, but did you get a reasonable rate on your loan, and a good price for the car?

SFBayDave

Car. $33,000. Interest rate of 6.2% for 60 Months as opposed to a 16% APR and a co-signer from a different lender. As for as Im concerned I lucked out otherwise I would not have been able to purchase the car or at least until I have established a long credit history.

S_kLaSse

congratz .....

DiamondNoir2K5

33K is about $800 under invoice for that config, so that's pretty decent.

As for the 6.2% financing, I've heard offers of 1.9%, but given you have no credit history, you wouldn't expect to get the best rate. Certainly much better than 16%. But seriously, who in their right mind would take 16% financing on a car. That should be illegal!

I'm happy for you, I'm just skeptical of salespeople. You never know, his "own personal" credit union might be giving him a kickback for driving credit-history-less buyers like yourself over there.

But, if you feel like you got a good deal, it doesn't really matter whether he or the dealership made an extra buck for the referral.

Enjoy! (granite grey...much more stylish than the overdone silver!)

jan ken po

Yeah I got 2.9 for 60 through MB, CU was only offering 3.29...but I'm older than him & have perfect credit. Damn 16%, I'd have a heart attack if I heard that.

DiamondNoir2K5

Don't you have any credit cards? I thought all Americans had 3-4 credit cards!

If not, get thee some.

But don't forget to make your credit card payments, otherwise then you're really f*cked!

Saprissa

you & me both ! 2.9 - 3.9% rate is awesome right about now. I think most credit unions, including mine are offering between 4.5 - 7.5%. The only knuckleheads I know of offering those 12% and higher APR are used cars salesmen. You know the ones with all the little colored flags all over the lot.

MB Credit can go as low as 1.9% and even offer up to 72 months payment plans, but they hardly ever advertise that. I think it comes down to a hard-up dealer sale, where the pressure is great, and a sale is a sale. Would be nice, but don't see it too often.

jinijazz

Dave, it's nice of you to show appreciation of his work after the deal. I myself bought 05 2 mos ago from there, and my sales person, Kenny, was great too. I would definately go back to him for new SLK. Their sales AND service department are great(even though my loaner was c240 ), and they definately deserve high praise.

Disclaimer:
The comment above does not apply to Part department, whose virtue is being slow as possible, ignoring customers for their personal phone conversations.

SFBayDave

Jinijazz they have a nice selection of the new 05 SLK's if they are not sold by now. My goal is to establish a credit history where I can qualify for a low rate. I plan on promoting to the C55 AMG in a two or three years. For my first brand new car, I am fortuntate and I appreciate it is a Mercedes. Most people in their lifetime will only see the "Star" as it speeds by them. They will never drive or own one of their own. I hope everyone remebers that. Enough said. Cheers!

hphan

I was down at Smythe on saturday and the sales guy I talked to (didn't catch his name) said that all the new SLKs were spoken for. Or maybe I just didn't look rich enough.

DiamondNoir2K5

That would be good timing, right around the time the W204 comes out. Of course, by that time it won't be called C55 anymore. I don't think I would bother upgrading to an from a C230 to a C55 if it had the exact same body style (well, you get the quad tips, but otherwise the lower body work and interior are largely the same). But I would consider making the jump around the time new new W204 bodystyle comes out. Or maybe an SLK... oh the choices!

Saprissa

yeah, i figure already on my next MB being an AMG model... but since that's at least 5-8 years away, no sense on drooling over the C55, by then they'll probably have a C85 !

mick1

me, i like to switch brands. my current car is a bmw 328i. i'm gonna trade it in for a c320 ss when it gets here. when it's time to replace the c320 ss, i think i'm gonna go for a porsche

jinijazz

I didn't realize it could mean a lot to us. Yeah, we all should appreciate it, after all we are fortunate enough to enjoy these fine cars.

I will take time to find a replacement of my Boxster.It has been my favorite last several years, new SLK is only alternative I can think of. I always try to avoid first production of new model, want to test drive several times. No matter which one I go by, I will remember your post. Thanks for the great post.

mick1

I don't know if i like the new SLK or the new boxster coupe more

DiamondNoir2K5

That looks nice. One major difference is the SLK has a retractable hard top. I don't think anybody else has that.

jinijazz

I prefer convertible, and I will miss Boxster's beautiful handling no matter which roadster I get. New slk looks promising though.

remmib

Did he buy you any "gift"? I bought my car at Symthe with a different sales. The guy gave us a couple MB key chains, bought a nice dozen of roses when I picked up the car. (My wife didn't go with me to pick up though), and he also bought us the all weather vinyl floor mats, with the condition that we hand him the survey as oppose to send directly to MB.... In general, I don't think sales are all that friendly on weekends when they are busy.

SFBayDave

Remmib. I got a silver Smythe key chain and floormats. The funny thing about it all is my dad was skeptical about me spending a good amount on a car. Once he saw it and seen all of it's features, I can assume his next car will also be a Mercedes. Congrats on your recent purchase as well Remmib.