E55Tuner

Had a horrible experience at MB of Encino...

I dealt with a sales manager over there who promised me some numbers for a lease on a '13 C63 with a sticker of $72xxx. The numbers he promised over the phone and in person when we sat down and did a credit app was:

$2000 TOTAL DRIVE OFF
36 MONTHS
7500 MILES PER YEAR
$750 PLUS TAX

I went in today to close the deal and they came up with all kinds of excuses I never heard of and kept raising the price. I went in to try to work on lowering the price.. instead, they kept raising the price, $15 here, $10 there, etc... FINAL price and after about 5 hours of wasting my time, was $799 plus tax, about $50.00 MONTHLY UP from what was promised.. and it was all blamed on a "boo boo" the sales manager made about the "gas guzzler tax not being residualized" ...

Typical stealership BS tactics to lure you in and then raise the price on you..

One of the worst dealership experiences I have ever had, and I have dealt with many dealers.. sucks for them.. I was going to go back in about a month for a GL for my wife and my mother in law is looking for a C class. I do know now that I will never be visiting this place again.

TWO THUMBS DOWN FOR MERCEDES BENZ OF ENCINO.

jordanaf

Sorry to hear that. That is just a horrible experience!!!!! But semi not surprised.

moosejaw

I'm surprised they cant come up with an aggressive number for a car that's about to be replaced in less than a year?

csexty3

sorry to hear, sadly i've had this kind of experience as well. needless to say i walked out and ended up buying 3 cars from another dealership over the years. some people just don't know how to conduct business, i guess.

604 C63

Maybe Im just too used to car dealer tactics but if I get a quote on the phone and then when I come in I find out the actual monthly is 6.5% higher, I don't think its that bad.
The sales guy crunching out the numbers for a phone quote is very different from when someone actually comes in, sits down and you run it all through the system.
Maybe you have a history with the sales guy and should expect better, I obviously can't say, but in my business (not cars) I get a lot of people that would love for me to spend hours crunching numbers when they are only willing to make a phone call and so I give them a ballpark number. If they actually invest their time and meet with me and have a discussion, THEN I run it down a little more thoroughly. Otherwise, I am spending my time chasing dreamers instead of properly servicing those who are truly interested. Could be a similar case here.

Of course, he could just be a lying, thieving slug. I know that I always go onto car lots expecting to have to use an umbrella to keep the sales guys at bay and then leave disgusted because they are too damn lazy to even acknowledge me. Before I bought my C I went to drive a CTS-V. The sales guys were so good at avoiding eye contact that I actually sat on the hood of a car as two of them walked past and went and stood 50 feet away and had a smoke. Walked past me again on their way back in and never even looked at me. I was in a BMW 335 with 3 weeks left on its lease, and wearing a Zegna suit.

Long story short, I think you are a little overly choked and I dont see this putting them in the stealership category. My usual advice is........if the $50 is that big a deal, perhaps you should consider some other cars.

jcarlucci1

Really? You're complaining about a $50 increase from a quoted price? $799 a month is an unbelievable deal for a $72k car.

bluejae

for 36 months isn't that a 1800 difference? you could get a handheld tuner with tune with money to spare...

swagkingcole

doesnt really seem to be that big of an increase in my opinion, esp if you're cool about it and lay out the reality that you'r ready to buy a few other cars.

Paculdo

sometimes the feeling of being duped is more than the value of $50/month.. the OP might go to another dealership and be willing to pay the $799/month (or a little bit more?) if he feels like the (new) dealership is 'genuine' with its dealings (in the end, getting them more business from him in the future)

jwbeard

The bit about the GGT is true: it's not residualizable and not every salesman knows that. You've got to add $1700 divided by the number of months in your lease every month for the GGT.

The only way to fudge a lease is manipulating the cap cost or the money factor. Knowing about these puts you in the driver's seat, so to speak.

BerBer63

i wont go back there...but then again I haven't found a dealership I like in Socal

Zeee_Q

The issue isn't the $50 extra per month increase. It's about a dealership that promised a set price to a customer on a certain car and when the customer showed up to sign the offer, the dealership reneged on their offer. Classic bait and switch tactic many Mercedes dealership use in SoCal to get people to come into their showroom and then attempt to sell them something different or more expensive, often claiming the same car just sold a few minutes ago, but we have something different you could look at.

Mercedes should be heavily discounting the current C63's at this point since they are at the end of their cycle and there's a very limited market out there for such a fuel thirsty car when cars with almost the same horsepower such as the Audi S6 are getting 26 mpg. In addition, rumors are already out there on the replacement C63. Nothing against the current engine, I personally love the big naturally aspirated motor for their sound and power delivery, but those only appeal to a very limited group of people.

Try asking friends for recommendations on which dealers are reputable. You could also try emailing the internet department for a quote to shop around and have everything agreed upon and in writing before you walk in.

E55Tuner

Thanks guys for all the replies. Just like a few members stated, it was not about the $50 at all. It was about the feeling of being duped. Just like another member said, if another dealer offered me the $799 price from the get go and stuck with it, I would have liked that much better obviously. I've done a lot of shopping around this past few weeks and even with the $50 added to the monthly payment, that is still the best price I could find for a C63 sedan with a $72k sticker. I even tried fletcher jones where I got my current E350 and Wifey's GL.. And they couldn't touch it...

UPDATE: MB of encino called me today apologizing and wanted to come down to around $775 just to earn my business. You guys think. Should give them a shot?

My biggest problem is my office Is literally 10 blocks from my house, I have 2 little ones, so I can barely use the car and on weekends, we use the GL. My current E350 only has 3200 miles on it after about 17 months and that includes 2 round trips to Vegas! I really want the C63, I love the motor, exhaust, seats, available tunes for easy hp increases, etc..

What should I do?!?!?!

Bardman

When it comes to what you want, follow your heart. When it comes to getting what you want, follow your head.

Sounds like you want to buy a C63 sedan, so buy one.

When it comes to who you buy it from, buy it from whoever gives you the best price. If that is the guys from Encino, then buy it from them.

tfthach13

It seems like if you do decide to get the C63, it's going to be a garage queen. Unless, it's going to be a dedicated track car, I would probably say no to getting it.

However, why not entertain the idea of trading in your current E350 for an E63? You still get the motor, exhaust, seats, and tunes that you want from the C63, but in a family sedan form. The E63 still hauls a** like no other, so it won't be too different from the C63.

In the end, it's really up to you (obviously).

Paculdo

get the c63 man.. i bet you'll put more miles to it ;-)

get MB encino to honor the initial price they gave you..

xtyper

Yes, I've played this game with many dealers before. I assure you, play hard to get with them a bit longer and they will honor the original deal. Call them and say you found another local dealer willing to do the $750, but as a courtesy you are calling them back to give them one last chance to earn your business. Guarantee they bite.

Good luck.

buyaka350

$2000 TOTAL DRIVE OFF
36 MONTHS
7500 MILES PER YEAR
$750 PLUS TAX

sounds unrealistic to me on a 13' c63.

Guilty

Well, not everyone is as dumb as you.

rory breaker

I think you should go get the C63 for the simple fact you went in to buy this car, put these guys through hell for a simple tax mistake, posted about it on the Internet, and they are coming back hat in hand to try and solve your (somewhat) ridiculous claim....and now you're rethinking getting the car altogether??

Dude, go buy the car, enjoy it, be done withe agony.

TEKZILLA

wowsa... aggressive..

edwardsflight33

To OP. Like others said, you may be able to get them to come down more. With the Edition 507 being so popular for MY2014 and a new generation coming out MY2015 you should be able to use that to your advantage.

csexty3

+1, this worked for me multiple times before

E55Tuner

Overall, is this deal a really good deal or is it just okay?

Maybe I'll give them another chance.

But, Now I'm kinda rethinking the C63 altogether.. I drove my buddy's E92 '11 M3 and the higher redline, high HP VS low torque combo along with the extremely sharp "real" DCT made me reconsider. I like the looks of the C63 a bit more (More aggressive) along with the nicer exhaust note, and the much more supportive seats... but the body looks more dated.. Why couldnt MB Just put a real Dual Clutch in the C63??????????????

ahhhhhhhhhhhhh so confused now.. I've read a few posts on here about people with big regrets about the "MCT" ... BMW's DCT just feels way better.. but then the M3 has its own cons too..

OC6.3AMG

I personally think that it is a good deal. I'm now actually thinking to cancel my order with an OC dealer and go with Encino.