KickServes

Hi, New guy here. I am in Colorado and looking to buy a new 2017 C300 for my wife. This will be our first Mercedes. She usually drives about 15K or so miles a year and we plan to keep it for a while(at least until 100K and/or 5-7 years at this point). She test drove the car and she liked it.

We decided on a C300 sport with Panorama roof, Premium 3 package and night package. The dealer has the car in stock and the MSRP is $52.7K. He said he can give $5000 off of MSRP for a final price of $47.7K. The various taxes and doc fees etc add up to $4600 for a total price of $52.3K.
We are planning to finance it for the 2.99 APR deal from the dealer and we can pay up to 10K down.
Here are some questions we have :

• Is this a good deal? If not what can we negotiate on and what's a decent discount on this package?
• Is there an specific amount that we should put down? I am all right with either zero down or whatever makes sense. We are both professionals and employed and can afford the car payments easily either way. Asking to see if there are any merits either way.
• Since we intend to keep the car at least until 100K and/or 5-7 years(or as long as it drives well), does it make sense to get the extended warranty from MB for 7year/100k now or wait to buy it later? Also what's a decent price on the extended warranty?

Leasing is not an option and TrueCar average for the same specs in our area is 46,900 if that matters.


Thanks for any help you guys can give.

MASSC450

Personally I'd want at least 12% off sticker (no more than 4 yr loan period too...2.99% is not bad), not bother with any extended warranty (no tire/wheel insurance either), and go with a 2 yr pre-paid maintenance plan...$750 for the C300...right? I'd also put some money down...say about $5,000 to help bump the monthly payment down a bit, then with that other $5,000 buy new tires in two years (you'll need to) and maybe some mods...CBE exhaust, Dinan piggy-back.

If you're not an oil change type of guy, go with the 4 yr pre-paid maintenance plan, this way you pay nothing just about for the 4 yrs/50,000 miles you own this vehicle.

Then after 4 years when it's paid for an it's out of warranty, just get rid of it. I say this because I liked my first Mercedes too, a 2015 well equipped C300 Sport 4Matic...got tired of it in about a year, and then got a C450.

Mike5215

Discount is about average. Personally when there's low apr financing I take as much as they'll give me and hold onto my cash. But I make it a rule never to finance for a term longer than the warranty, and to never keep a high mileage Mercedes out of warranty. So factory is 48 months/48,000 miles. At 15k miles a year you'll be out of warranty in roughly 2.5 years.

You can buy, at time of purchase or anytime before the factory warranty expires, an Extended Limited Warranty that will get you more time/miles. You can buy the ELW from any dealer and some discount them.

Presuming you can get the car covered for 5 years, and the monthly payment for 60 months is ok, I'd put nothing down. Maybe pay cash for the ELW.

There's a link in my sig to a write up on car dealers and buying, with spreadsheets that you can use to build your own deals.

KickServes

Thanks for the suggestions. I read through your car buying negotiation website. Thanks for putting that together.

I will definitely get the extended warranty down the line and go with the 60 month payment plan.

Would it be makes sense to ask them to throw in the pre paid maintenance plan if they aren't going to reduce the price much? Is that something that would work?

MASSC450

Sure, just about anything is on the table in car buying negotiations.

Mikey53

When I purchased my C300, the dealer agreed to throw in 4 yr prepaid mx as part of the overall deal. It ultimately comes down to individual dealing skills and having the ability to walk away from a deal you don't like.