6G Schnell

Which market are you in= C300
What is the MSRP=54185
What is the money factor=0.00186
How much is the acquisition fee=1095
How much is the doc fee=80

Is this sufficient info?

alexkhane

Winter Event is going on right now, MF of 0.00136 (may be off by a point or two) and $2k (possibly $4k) dealer cash are current offers until 12/1/14.

I would expect Chicago can double it as it's a major metropolitan area. It may be a state thing as I've seen dealers in smaller cities at central California double the dealer cash. Or it may be a nationwide thing and dealers in less competitive markets need to pocket the extra cash to support the lower volume.

Best way to find out may simply be to mass email all dealers, and ask if they'll give you $4k below invoice or better, and see any bite.

alexkhane

By market I mean where you are. But since the doc fee is only $80, I'm assuming it's California?

MSRP of $54185 means an invoice of $51197. Minus $4k incentives you're looking at purchase price of $47197. This was the going price last month in California; incentives seem to have gone up by starting this month so theoretically you should be able to push as far as $5k below invoice in CA, but it's very early in the month and I have not seen local prices push down that far - it's still at last month's $4k below mark.

MF of 0.00186 seems to be based on October's MF of 0.00166 + 0.00020 markup. The new MF should be 0.00136, however a dealer that marks up MF is always bad news.

Acquisition Fee of $1095 is marked up by $300 also, but this is unfortunately becoming standard amongst all dealers, both good and bad. You may need to get to finalizing the lease contract and be prepared to walk away from the car if you want to get dealers to walk back this markup.

Assuming you are in California in a County with 9% sales tax, your final deal should be at most:

MSRP: $54185
Invoice: $51197
Purchase Price: $47197
MF: 0.00126 (after you sign up for AutoPay)
Monthly w/o tax: $466
Monthly w/ tax: $508
Due at signing:
- $1095 acquisition
- $408 registration
- $125 doc & other fees
- $508 first month
---------------
Total drive-off: $2136

This is a conservative estimate. C300s are so overstocked that many (if not most) dealers will dig further to push them out, so you may be able to get up to another $1k off on the purchase price. It looks like the quote you got was based on last month's numbers, but as you correctly suspected the dealer is taking you for a ride.

richardamp

That's a great deal, maybe the best I've seen here. A few questions if you don't mind:

1. Did you have a trade in?
2. For your USAA discount, did you negotiate the best you could and then tell them about USAA, or did you tell them about USAA up front?
3. Do you know if you got discounts for both the dealer cash and USAA? I've heard conflicting thoughts on if you can get both or just one or the other.

Thanks.

6G Schnell

Yes, CA, forgot to mention.
And they sent me updated quote immediately after I asked about money factor.... monthly went down to 645 from original 692....


Tank you very much for detailed analysis, now I have a solid point to go after, or walk (drive) away....

alexkhane

Did he give you what the MF is with the new quote? Honestly in a market with as much competition as California, any dealer that doesn't give you specific terms such as the MF straight up when you ask for it isn't worth your time, and even that $645 quote is laughably high. It looks like he's giving you the promotional MF of 0.00136 but still giving you only invoice pricing and pocketing the full dealer cash

If you're within reasonable distance to Los Angeles shoot me a PM and I can send you a reference that doesn't pull BS like marking up MF and keeping all the dealer cash.

miketc

How do one know what the invoice price is for a given MSRP cost?

alexkhane

Invoice = (MSRP - $925 destination) * 0.93 + $925 destination + $700 ad fee + $40 training

May be off by a few dollars due to rounding, and possible the ad+training might differ by region, but from what I've seen it seems to be consistent nationwide.

Internet sites like Edmunds does not account for ad fee+training, so add $740 to any number you get from those sites (not to mention sometimes they're wrong on the pricing of options).

6G Schnell

Just sent PM with more details...

C400DW

1. No trade in
2. Told him upfront that I was usaa member and that I have seen discounts hovering around 10% not including usaa.
3. Sale ticket shows 10% off + usaa discount.

It was honestly the easiest car buying experience I've had. Everything was negotiated online before I even showed up to sign papers. When the wife and came to the dealer to input our build and get assigned a build date, we signed the paperwork with no hassle and up selling. Really a pleasurable experience and if MB builds us a good car I will definitely be buying from this particular dealer/sales person again.

richardamp

Great to hear. How many dealers did you get quotes from, and were any others offering similar discounts?

C400DW

I requested quotes from 5 dealers. None were as good but after I had received his offer I didn't haggle with anybody else.

dshanker

Going to pick up my car on Tuesday...

C300 4matic w/ 321 sport and a few others
MSRP $51,245
MF: 0.00126 (w/ autopay)
In virginia you pay sales tax on the full price of the vehicle up front at 4.05% (in my county)
PPM: $975

36 months...
$4,104 out of pocket to leave the dealer
$541/mo

any idea if thats reasonable?? seems like the "sale price" on the car is somewhere around $44,600ish which would mean im pretty close and/or not going to get a lower lease number

thanks

6G Schnell

Here is what happened: dealer refused my offer for $500 month/$2150 down as being "too far apart"


Will check with LA dealers next. Just found out fleet discount on 2015 C is $2500, considering upgrade to C400. How much would numbers change in this case? Any difference in dealer incentive, MF, or something else?

Capt Slo

The 400 had a lower residual when I was comparing the 300/400. Couple that with the the 400 being about $3k more for a comparibly equipped car and I went with the 300. If I were financing or paying cash I would've gone with the 400.

alexkhane

Disclaimer first - this is all speculation based on what I've seen as advertised prices around here. YMMV once you actually start negotiating with dealers, and never underestimate how far a dealer might discount in order to push a car once you're sitting across from them and start to walk out.

So initial round of November advertised prices aren't looking very good. They're about $1000 higher than October prices. Dealers seem to be only accounting for $2k incentives, which mean they aren't doubling. Hopefully it's simply dealers setting a high price to start and you can negotiate down to $4k below, but there's a possibility the $2k can't be doubled.

There're two dealer cash programs on the C-Class right now:
* $2000 US Winter Event Bonus Cash
* $1000 US Customer Certificate Program

The Customer Certificate used to be $1500 last month, and that is the program that was able to be doubled to $3000. It was reduced this month. The Winter Event is a new program, and I haven't seen any indication from advertised prices that it can be doubled. So likely scenario is either:

A) Only one or the other applies, and maximum applicable dealer cash has been reduced from $3000 in October to $2000 in November, or
B) Since the Customer Certificate could be applied twice, you can apply $2000 from Winter Event and $1000 from Customer Certificate and maximum applicable dealer cash remains at the $3000 it was in October.

Ah_gl450

I thought the $2500 was only for the c-class coupe, and the C was $500 only?
https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/fleet...am_information

Ah_gl450

Excellent break down. Quick question, can you apply MSD to the .00136 MF?

alexkhane

Unfortunately no, MSDs only apply to standard MFs, which is 0.00210 for Tier1.

6G Schnell

Could be a different fleet program. Used my certificate today to get this beauty

rogerfrancis14

Nice ride. I have a very similar car on order, except I have a black interior (MB-Tex). just curious how long it took between manufacture and delivery to you(or your dealer). And also maybe where you are (US,Canada...). Mine is taking forever :'( Its been in the 'inproduction' status for 2 weeks now (according to the dealer).

stiane

We got nearly $14000 off on our w205, c250 Blue tec 4matic.

6G Schnell

It took me zero time. Here is what happened: I've been looking for this particular color combo/options all over CA. Considered both C300 and C400. Yesterday I went to local dealer to cancel extended warranty and to my surprise they found exact car at dealership. Purchased on the spot and drove home....

Ifly65

If you attended the launch party /Oktoberfest at your dealership watch for an email. I got one yesterday offering 3 years prepaid maintenance if I buy before Nov. 15. Nice perk. I am in the processing of preparing to turn in my 2012 lease (it's up in Feb.) for the 2015. Thanks to all the help with the numbers posted on here, hoping for a great deal.

ravithej

Hello All,


I am in market to buy Mercedes 2015 c300. I looked online and found a car with MSRP 47560 + TTL. I asked for 40560 + TTL. Till now he came down to 41480 + TTL.

If he doesn't come down below 41480 do you guys think that it is a good deal. I can wait till year end if prices will go down further.

Thanks