BenzitoW204

well i am looking to buy a c350 and it just so happens my mom wants one too. so we were planning on buying two at the same time. i am still a student so she will be co-signing with me and has perfect credit. i was wondering if this would make a difference since we are buying two at once, i live in santa barbara, california but the mercedes dealership here isnt very good, anyways i was just looking for some advice or tips when doing what im trying to do

thanks

BENZ LIFER

I bought my wife a 2008 C300 Dec 31st from Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel
and was treated very fairly and got what I believe to be a GREAT price.
My sales person was Alan Hong. I recommend you use this site to see what you should pay before calling (http://www.carbuyingtips.com/) It literally saved me thousands off list price. Worth the drive . I would stay away from Fletcher Jones , they hound you to death !

dalazernet

You should be able to negotiate something pretty decent, purchasing two and all ;-). Its funny - specific car brands tend to be in families. My mother bought her W203 a few years back, so I decided to lease one, and now I bought my W204, so we're a Mercedes family all of the sudden...

Best of luck with your negotiating. Personally, I would try bargaining $1000 under invoice for both of them and see where things go. If just one car, you could probably get invoice pricing. Let us know how things go!

Koru_Kinshi

Laguna Niguel has actually been treating me very well. And I'm a big fan of Fletcher Jones, too. I may just end up switching alleigance. Truthfully, FJ's salesmen have been quite pompous as of lately since I've been there.

narky

Buying two at once should afford you quite a bit of negotiating power, especially these days. Nobody's buying a car. M-Bs tend to be a little less affected by the economy (the buying crowd tends to be a bit wealthier in general?) but even so, there is a gaggle of C-classes piling up at dealerships.

I've heard good things about Laguna Niguel as well. Try www.edmunds.com to figure out a general price you might expect to pay with the options you want. Research is key; information is your ally. Gather as much info as you can, BEFORE you go in the dealership. And lastly, don't get hasty--the car will still be there if you go back a day or two later. The sales rep will try to get you to rush into signing.

My father's a die-hard Lexus fan ("Reliability!" he says...) But I think I'm winning him over to the MB side... when he test-drove my car, he was quite impressed with the planted driving dynamics and overall build quality ("Mmm... Solid" he said ). I'm pushing him towards the big brother of the C class.

jangy

Hoehn in San Diego. i can get a slamming deal straight up, IF you are tier one.

joshieca

Screw Hoehn!! I will never deal with those *******s again!!

Your best bet is to go to LA....you will find the best deals there as they move more volume and are usually more willing to work with you.

glw

I got mine from Ray Hashemi from Laguna Niguel. He was great to deal with, nice dealership, and I got a great lease deal...

MB Fanatic

I buy all my cars from Laguna Niguel. I have been treated like **** from Fletcher Jones and hell if they don't want my money, they won't get it. So far, I have bought my first E55 from Fletcher Jones, but all the other cars from Laguna Niguel.

MBLN has a fine sales staff and even better service department. Even their service prices are reasonable IMO.

HanselLee

I just bought a car from Roy Lopez at Fletcher jones in Newport ... 949 718 3027 This is my 7th car from Roy .... killer deals, you wont be disappointed

mb_horseshoe

Actually... Fletcher Jones moves the highest volume of MB's in the United States by a mile. They are literally more than double the #2 dealership.

As far as good dealerships, I've dealt with both Laguna Niguel (even worked specifically with Alan Hong) and FJ and they were both very good - although I do have to agree that FJ salesmen were a little pushy, borderline arrogant.

go to www.carbuyingtips.com or www.fightingchance.com and read up a little bit before you go out to buy. Right now, you can probably get at-invoice pricing no problem.

BenzitoW204

thanks for all your help... it really is going to help! it sounds like laguna might be worth the drive and hopefully everything works out. thanks again

myinternetsucks

it has nothing to do with arrogant sales men or sales volume, it all depends on how YOU negotiate the price. if the sales man is looking to make a sale that day then they'll bite. know first hand what you want to pay then start from there. i went to FJ and also to Laguna Niguel and made both of them compete for my business. im not in the market of making friends with sales men, im there to buy the car i want at the price im willing to pay for it. so in the mean time do your homework on it and see what works for you, also right now with this economy its a buyers market and cars are sitting on the lots collecting dust. this should help you in negotiating a great deal!

mb_horseshoe

You can also try South Bay Mercedes Benz (my parents have bought 6-7 MB's there).

My response to "volume" was simply to correct whoever said that LA sells the most MB's.

To me, there's more to it than the bottom line price. Your entire experience should be enjoyable - from the salesmen, service, to the price (especially since this sounds like it'll be your first big car purchase). To some, getting the best deal is satisfactory enough, to me it is not. Find out what's important to you.

Just go into a dealership informed, know what the pricing is for your vehicle (invoice vs. msrp), understand how the dealership makes its' money (holdback %, sales goals, etc) and any salesmen, at any dealership, will bend over backwards for you - considering you are buying 2 vehicles. I strongly recommend reading the entire guide at www.carbuyingtips.com (it's free).

Untertürkheim

I use Calabasas MB, and have used Silver Star (T.O.) before. I am very happy with both. Considering where you are coming from, I would give them a try.

Savage c-300

i got my car at fletcher jones and they treated me very well. their services afterwards was the best ive seen and they have a lot of perks if you live in the area, such as free car wash, free airport storage, ect... i would buy from them again.

joebenz

i've gone to FJ twice to look at different cars for different reasons, both times they were very reluctant to give me any numbers because they didn't want me to shop around, when my mother-in-law went there to get numbers, they would not budge and she ended up going to Penske in West Covina for a much better deal

I tried dealing with LN and they wouldn't give me a price unless I went there to look at their inventory when I already told them exactly what I was looking for

I ended up buying at WI Simonson in Santa Monica. I delt with Dimiti Kiris. He was awesome to work with and gave me a price that could not be beat. I went to Long Beach Mercedes with the number Dimitri gave me and they said he was lying and there was no way they could sell me the car for that price.

So out of my experiences with 4 dealerships, W.I. Simonson was the best.

9elf S

Agree completely with Joe. I emailed and then called every MB dealership in Southern California, and I do mean every one, before I settled on Dimitri at Simonson. Best price and best service. For example, I ordered my C350, and Dimitri kept me apprised of each step of the production and delivery process. I also asked that the front license plate bracket not be installed, which is done at the port not at the dealer. He ensured that MB did not do so.

MB of Laguna Niguel was second on my list, but Dimitri beat them on price and responsiveness. Fletcher Jones was horrible, in my opinion. In any event, the best deals are to be had through the dealership internet sales departments. I never deal with the showroom sales reps.

jherbias

My friend knows one of the managers at MB Escondido so his family always goes there. They've gotten pretty decent reviews among San Diegans.

trial0r

i'll say that simonson sucks. i posted something about them in another thread but basically in the middle of me buying my car the manager of sales up and quit and the car i was after could no longer be found for the deal i had negotiated. it was a big stupidity-orgy until i finally ended up having to find a new car with different options. i wouldn't go there again.

oh and when the sticker on my car said "ipod integration" and i pointed out that there was no ipod integration and my price should be lowered accordingly, my salesperson said, "cmon are you gonna get greedy?"

Buellwinkle

I've been happy buying from John Maxwell, the internet manager at MB of Laguna Niguel. Tell him Carl sent you and you want a better deal than he gave me, haha.

delirium

I bought my C350 from Laguna Niguel, also from John Maxwell. I hear he is in finance now though. But I had an excellent experience with Laguna Niguel.

I had a horrible experience with Fletcher Jones Mercedes. Pompus a holes, all with fake tans! LOL. They would not return my deposit after I decided not to buy from them, it took me months to get it back. They wouldn't even return my phone calls because they owed me money!

They were also unwilling to exchange the optional wheels for the standard ones, something that other dealers will do to make a sale. I didnt want the optional wheels.

Just recently gave them a second chance while looking for another car. They are still jerks.


Bottom line, do not deal with Fletcher Jones!