Boo2

No offense taken, any SMART investment takes research, not all properties appreciate at the rate that I experienced. The running start is a given (not many people have that kind of money at 19) - the point is that the starting point is the same as those who have the option of buying their car without financing at this point in time. If you have that kind of capital, then you can take advantage of effective leveraging and have similar growth 5-6 years from now. Remember what they say the 3 most important things in RE are: LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. And good locations are demand driven. Forecasting future demand is the key.

spankdoggie

Does it really matter where we buy the car?

Thanks.

Lynn

No, it doesn't. Some people use brokers, some use on-line services, most still go to the dealer themselves. Some shop buy telephone and/or the dealers' internet sites. Use the method which makes you the most comfortable. Maybe you will get the best price or maybe you won't, but convienence and piece of mind are worth something too.

20FHK02

try to print out the quote from the online sites. bring it to the dealer and see if they'll match the price.

my dealer matched the carsdirect.com price when i was buying my car on march

galaxygrrl

Cars direct is the top of you range. You should be able to get the dealer to beat that price. My dealer beat it by almost $1,500. Buy your car and take deliever on Aug 31. Last day of the month the dealer with actually deal.

In the Bay Area, I know San Jose and SF Benz will deal on price. You might want to search the board to see who else does.

Beth

spankdoggie

Thanks galaxy girl, and everyone.

truelove

alright, i finally have enough of a down payment to start seriously looking at C230s. my dad and i are hitting all the local dealerships and online dealerships to get the best price this week. i was just wondering if there is any advice anyone could give me out there as to what to do to get the best price, what kind of markdown from MSRP i can expect on a 2003 if any and anything i need to remember to discuss with a dealer. i've never done this before and i need all the help i can get. any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

TimmyC230boy

you are making a great choice i think. If your not hard pressed on getting a 2003 I might look for a 2002 if you can find one. The lighted door sills are very cool, but hardly worth the money. The C7 is a must. So is the pano roof. I don't have leather so i can't comment on that but the leather on our other MB's is wonderful

taylor192

The dealer incentives on 2002s are amazing right now, you could get $3K off MSRP as one guy did on the Csportscoupe board.

BUT, manuals on 2002s are virtaully non-existance in some areas, so you're stuck with auto, and usually fully loaded with options you don't want.

The 2003s seem to be in higher demand and harder to get, so it depends on what you want, to drive one off the lot soon, or wait. My suggestion, hit one of the larger dealerships and try and negotiate, the smaller ones might give you a better discount, but not beable to order you one for a month or 2, the larger ones may have something similar on the lot.

I went with the smaller dealer and had to take a Brilliant Silver with leather and heated seats (hopefully delivered this week or next) when I wanted Orion Blue with cloth, or wait until the end of October for a custom order. The October production has already started, so unless you can find a dealer getting one with the options you want, you'll have to wait until November.

champa

I would recomend you buy your car in the same dealer where you would have it serviced. That way you will get treated better and given the small perks (free loaners if the dealer offers them, less fuss when getting problems fixed, etc.). Also if you can get the price reduced that would be great, but usually MB dealers would rather give you extra stuff instead of dropping the price. But also remember that they will price this stuff at retail prices, which you may opt to negotiate too. You should at least get the exact car you want (color, options, etc) with at least $1.5 or $2K worth in options. If you have to settle for a car that is not exactly what you want then use it as leverage for a price break. In other words you better decide what features you must have, which you could live without and color. They will ask for first, second or third choice, but I would just act as if I only had one choice. Then anything else is not what I want, and thus I must settle on []

good luck and happy hunting....

le848dave

Just for my $0.02, I wouldn't necessarily call the C7 a 'must have' feature. Yeah, it's a very good deal since those tires/rims would cost much more than $750 to add after market, but since those tires really suck in the snow, they aren't a very good choice for us in the Northern areas where it's snowy more than it's sunny. Not to mention but rims like that are easy to damage here in Michigan during pothole season...or maybe we should just call that all year. Personally, most of the guys I know here don't have rims like that because it is too much of a pain to get them taken on/off for only a few months worth of driving.

Besides, I like my black door handles against my silver paint.

dave

whitecar2003

All the local dealerships? How many benz dealers are there in downstate IL? (Not trying to be a jerk, just curious.)

3 pieces of advice...

Price: I ordered an '03 coupe and my local dealer (MB of Chicago) offered me $1,500 under MSRP w/o any haggling. I added some more content and got them to drop that to $1,600 under sticker. Not sure if smaller markets offer the same deals, maybe a trip to Chicago is in order.

C7: I agree with dave... the 17's look nice, but plan on snow tires if you plan to drive the car year round and budget for expensive and more frequent replacements.

Manual: I also wanted the 6-speed with leather interior, but according to sales people at 2-dealers this is a rare comodity (i.e. not likely to be in stock). Most sticks that I saw in stock were very stripped, if they had any options it was just the panorama roof. Luckily I was able to have the dealer change an existing order to cut the wait in half, but I still haven't taken delivery yet on a car ordered earily July!

DrMike

I've purchased my last 6 cars over the phone. One factor is how many dealers are within a distance you are willing to travel. In western CT, which is near NY city, I have 7 MB dealers within an hour's drive. Here are my recommendations:
1. Decide what you want. Model, options, color.
2. Get the invoice price (dealer cost) from Edmunds or KBB web sites.
3. Decide what you are willing to pay. I got my 2002 delivered last Jan. for 3% over dealer invoice.
4. You can call, email, or fax the dealer and tell them: "I am prepared to buy this car (give specs), and want to purchase it for
X% over factory invoice. Just give me a yes or no answer regarding if you will sell me the car for that price". With the 230, some dealers gave me a sob story, some said no way, some were insulted, but 3 dealers met my price.
5.There are different regional and dealer policies on document preparation and co-op advertising. You should be able to get your price and not pay those fees. In my case, they showed the document fee on the sales agreement, but lowered the sale price to offset it.
6. You can ask for a copy of the invoice, or an invoice on a similar car to verify pricing. Agree on a final number for the "out the door" price. I have them fax me an agreement and I give them a CC# over the phone.
7. My experience has been that there is NO PROBLEM with a nearby dealer servicing a car that was purchased elsewhere. Sales and service are different profit centers, and they are happy to have my service/warrantee business.

One other comment to my lengthy post. I have had uniformly pleasant purchase experiences with telephone purchases. It has seemed that dealers who are willing to give me a no bs competitive price over the phone are not into the games you encounter with some dealers when they have you in the showroom.

Happy hunting.

Outland

I went looking for a 2002 based on the "unknowns" with 1.8L motor in the 03's. It took over a month to find a 6 speed Silver Coupe with C5 and C7. Did get a steal of a deal on it too!

Make sure you get the C7, sure you'll need different tires for snow,but you get the cool racing pedals, the much improved C7 shifter(why they aren't ALL like this is beyond me), the larger tip on the exhaust(whoopee, eh?), the painted door handles and the snap down mats...and oh yeah, the coolest looking rims! Only option in the entire MB lineup that is a flat out STEAL!!!!

grn300m

I recommend the C7 wheels. The stock wheels are chick wheels and just don't work as well setting performance look. I do have friends with the stockers, but they couldn't car less about the 'look'. The car is just as fast with either wheel, so I guess it gives them a 'sleeper' performance car. As for the snow, get some all seasons 17" tires for the C7 wheels. In the Pacific NW we have Les Schawb Tires who will swap your tires for free in the fall and spring, as long as you buy from them. Big time customer service. I'm sure you can hook up with a tire chain in the Midwest that will do it for you free, or a small fee. For the other 9 months, you will have you speed rated tires. BTW the chicks love the C7 wheels

viper

Hey taylor192 did you buy at Ogilvie Motors ?

aslanchow

Hi! I am looking to buy a 2003 C230. I just wanted to ask if anyone has any problem with this car? I have seem a few new coupe that had broken down on the side of the road. That kinda worry me a little. And i f anyone has any experience in dealing with auto dealer from the internet? Can they really offer a better deal? Thank you :p

Bobdole

u have see A FEW on the side of the road?sorry can't beleive that there few problems but all under warranty,regarding online,you should get anywhere from $250-500 over invoice

aslanchow

Thank you for your reply! Is there an auto dealer that you would recommend?

balajc

Well...If I ordered my car with the 6-cd changer, I will fully expect to pay $400...but....

last week I made a deal with a MB dealer in NY on LI for a 2003 black C320 4matic. I got a discount of $1,500 which I think is decent for a new car like this.

I just got a call from my salesman that the car we were going to pick up this saturday was damaged during transport and the front windshield is smashed!

I was told they are going to get another car with the same exact color and options but with the addtion of 6-cd for extra $400. I told him that we should get at least a bit of discount off the $400 since the car is not what we wanted. But the salesman refuses to budge even just a bit!!!

I just called again and left a message that we will take the car if we can get $200 off the 6-cd. From my previous conversation, he kept telling me we have to take the car since they are bringing the car in as we speak and for the new C320 4matic, no more negotiating is possible.

Can I just cancel this sale? I put down a $500 deposit last saturday. If I refuse to go through with the sale, can I get my deposite back fully? It is not our fault that the car was damaged during transport and I certainly do think I was right in asking for a discount on the 6-cd, at least I did not ask for the changer to be thrown into the deal...

KWiK

If the only difference is the CD changer, $400 isn't too bad. Just take the deal unless you a looking for an out

MarkL

I understand your "plight", but do you really want to cancel over $400? I suppose you could order another car the way you want at the original agreed upon price w/o the CD. They'll certainly sell the other one to someone else. Why don't you want the CD? Putting in your own?

balajc

Well guys...this car is for my mom. I told her about the $400 extra and she wasnt happy with it. She told me to go get discount for the cd-changer. Personally I never haggle for a couple hundred bucks....but I am stuck in the middle you know?

avlis

The deposit is refundable. Unless you signed something saying it wasn't.

balajc

Recently I cancelled an order for my Audi A4 and got my $500 back with no problem. It was a car on the lot that I picked out, and on the back of the purchase agreement it stated the deposit is refundable (might be liable to "dealer damage"). But the Audi dealership gave me no trouble and refunded me fully.

I did not read the back of the MB purchase agreement but I would imagine it is the same type of form...besides it wasnt my fault that the car we wanted was damaged.