newyorktoLA

Has anyone had any experience with dealers marking up C classes? A new 2013 with the new Sport Package came in to my local dealer and I went to check it out only to find a sticker on the driver's window that says, "MSRP: $46,XXX + $5,000 DEALER MARK-UP = $51,XXX"

Why??!!

By the way, the dealer was Mercedes Benz of Encino! Stay away! $5K? Really?

Sportstick

Because they can, to create the illusion of high demand, to give them the opportunity to then appear to discount the car a few thousand and still sell at full window sticker price, etc. It's all about what they can get away with among less knowledgeable buyers. Feel free to laugh and just say "no"! You can leave your phone number with a printout of truecar.com pricing and ask them to call when they are ready to get real. I don't think you'll wait long if you're interested.

AkaSigFreak

They are probably trying to make the left over 2012 AND 2011's look more appealing. I would consider a heavily discounted 2012, but some dealers still have 2011s on the lot. Hard to sell with the 2012 facelift.

LandSeaAir

Yeah that's all marketing tactics, I would laugh in their face. I love the Cs, but a facelifted C-class is not like a just released Ferrari Spider or new gen S-class fresh off the boat.

jack flash

Looking also for some reliable info on the ml350 gas engine verses the diesel 2012 and a price if anyone has purchased one

MBRedux

When we recently went shopping for our new daily driver, (ending up with the 2012 C300 4M) we visited several competitors. It was just around the time the new 3 Series BMW's were hitting the showrooms. Since they were so new, every dealer around here placed a $4-5,000.00 dealer mark-up on the window.

Luckily I just so happened to have had my sons birthday card in my sport jacket's inner pocket. It was one that talks when you open it. This one happened to be of a loud LAUGH! So every time I walked up to a car inside the BMW showroom and looked at the INFLATED PRICE on the sticker, I would open the card!

There were a few other customers that got the joke and were laughing along with me, until the manager walked over and said, "Can I be of service?" We ended up happily over at Mercedes Benz.

Bottom Line: The manager for your MB dealership must have been a former BMW guy!

jctevere

I have never seen the Mercedes-Benz dealerships where I live markup any car. Of course the ones on the floor always have rims, tints, chrome packages which they charge 10x the actual cost of, but never seen a straight dealer markup because its new.

I got the first two 2012 C-Class coupes at my local dealership when they came in and had both of them discounted $7,000 from MSRP... Lol

However, I agree with Redux, the BMW dealerships are terrible, especially on Long Island. When I first went car shopping, I was told (on an old body-style 3-series, when I knew the new body style would be coming out in 3 months) that they didn't have to discount the vehicle because its a BMW. LMAO, I laughed at him and responded, "Does that ususally work for you?" and shortly left to visit another brand. I honestly couldn't believe he said that.

NWChris

I work at a Mercedes dealership and we mark up cars all the time, and 80% of the time people pay for it. If you pay even MSRP you are a sucker.......
For friends and family I usually write them up around $1000-1500 below dealer invoice. And if you know your **** anybody can get that pricing.

Domm

About what percentage do you mark up above dealer invoice? This is just for reference

NWChris

My saying is, "If you are looking for a discount, Honda is down the street." BMW/MB brands don't need to discount their prices, they arn't meant to be driven by bust outs. I only discount prices for friends or family.

C300Sport

From the sounds of it, you have plenty of success selling to people with more money than sense. Guess my poverty stricken, busted out self would have to work with a less elitist salesman.

NWChris

You sir are a ***** tbh. Salesmen need to make a living too. Don't go into dealerships and make them look bad for putting mark-up prices on their cars. At all dealerships, when we sell a car at or below msrp we only make what we call a mini, which is the least amount of money you can make selling a car which is around $250-350(Some dealers only give salesmen $100-200) in which we would have to sell 15+ cars to pay bills(most salesman average 8-11 cars a month, 15 is your top seller on a good month) Most of us have wives and kids that we have to feed, so when you do stuff like that it really pisses the employees off in which it usually gets taken out on the next customer.

Moral of the story, don't bash dealerships if you are a CUSTOMER in front of other customers. And don't EVER go into a dealership to tire kick or joyride, only go into a dealership if you are ready to buy(we are paid on commission not hourly). The internet is your friend for fact finding on any car.

/rant

Sportstick

Not sure what goes on in your store, but on this forum, we don't tolerate name-calling. This ends now. Move on with civility. Thank you.

NWChris

My bad, it is just so irritating to hear things like this.

Sportstick

Thank you and I understand, as a ex-car salesperson. Your post made very strong points, and would have even more credibility without that first sentence. Keep that approach in mind, and you'll have great ups here!

C300Sport

I think many people want to feel like they got a "deal" but are ultimately willing to pay a fair price. I also think most people realize if you beat a dealer up too much, there just isn't enough left over to make a deal worthwhile.
I deal with this often when guys bring in deals that promise to move tons of equipment, but just don't leave enough margin to keep the lights on.
Reminds me of an old saying about losing money on each one but making it up in volume...

Fung63

This is definitely a marketing ploy but the fact this dealer does something like this = I would stay far away from them.

I recently stopped by my local dealer to inquire about the new GL, sales guy was straight up about what discounts off MSRP, incentive programs, dealer discounts etc I can get. None of this, lets make the number higher so the drop looks bigger kind of nonsense

plus i always believe, the sales experience you get is an indication of the service experience you will get once you buy the car.

MDMercedesGuy

$5K markup? Hell, I got nearly $6K off MSRP with no regrets. ADP markup is garbage, my checkbook and I will walk off the lot if I see those stickers on a car.

If a salesperson isn't willing to negotiate, I'm not willing to waste any time with them and make that known up front. This is coming from a former dealer employee as well (another brand, not MB). It's the nature of the business - as a consumer, I'm there to get the biggest bang for my buck. Going into a deal with thoughts of anything less is financially irresponsible.

LILBENZ230

You hit the nail on the head. There's a big difference between "making a living" and "making a killing". I can't imagine paying even MSRP for a C-class. However, if you want to hear something funny.. the Honda dealer in my city puts ADP mark-ups of $1,000 randomly on Honda Accords. And not on new designs just on lots, not that that would be acceptable. But like 2012 models. It's hilarious and that's why even when I used to buy exclusively Hondas I always went out of town to do so.

Fung63

the thing is, our community while large is still just a fraction of the buying public out there. The majority of the people still rely on their sales guy to be their primary if not sole source of information.

LILBENZ230

That is very sad. I have yet to meet a salesperson who was actually knowledgeable about the car they were selling. I always know more.

MDMercedesGuy

My salesguy was rather knowledgeable about the product when I bought mine. Granted, I had read the manual cover to cover prior to the purchase process and knew what I was looking at - but he was really helpful. Sadly, I got a letter last week and card for a new sales guy who replaced him.

Through the whole process, he was a straight shooter - even when things got a bit heated over the trade in value I got offered on my smart. He got me the info I needed to track my car on the ship with no questions asked as well.

The experiences with my particular dealer buying the smart are what brought me back there to buy my C, even though I live 2 miles from their sister dealership. As long as it makes geographical sense, they will have my repeat business.

MBRedux

Oh man, I had a grand time doing it! Everyone laughed! In my 45 years of selling (also a salesman for 7 years), buying, building, restoring, and now tuning cars, I find it's only the dealerships that are doing poorly that need to adopt such unfair policies, most likely to make up for their losses. These dealerships also have a tendency to overprice their parts, and over exaggerate their repair estimates, especially non-warranty claims. Customers can always smell out a rat, and these dealerships don't last for very long. The BMW dealership I referenced above, just went out of business last month, 6 weeks after my humorous visit, (it's rumored for posting huge losses, so BMW forced them out) and was recently resold.

_Bondo_

Yep.

Jaywalker

Another, possibly the most important, reason for Additional Dealer Markup is in order to sell a car to a person who wants to buy but is upside down in his present ride.

Can you imagine how hard it is to sell a car to a guy when you say, "Yep, $20,000 for the new car, plus $4500 that you owe on the old one over what it's actually worth, so your new car will be $24,500, plus tax. And documentation fee. Sign here." With the $5000 ADM you say, "Twenty five thousand for the car, less your $500 trade, so your car is $24,500, plus tax and title. Okay?"

When I was selling cars we used to say we could sell 10 times as many cars if the buyers hadn't bought their current car with 60-month loans - that practically guaranteed an upside down car for much of the loan term. I came to the conclusion back then that if I couldn't afford to pay for a car in 48 months I was buying too much car. FWIW.