SeeTeeSee

Hello everyone, I have been following this site for almost a year as I prepare to treat myself to a 2012 E-350 Cabriolet. Many thanks to everyone for their information as it all has been most helpful. As I prepare for my first visit to my local MB dealer, I am wondering about a pricing strategy. What seems to be an acceptable price and "fair" for a car which will be ordered and not already in stock. To keep things as simple as possible I would like to use MSRP/sticker as the reference and focus on % off this number. My research seems to indicate the following:
Invoice is MSRP-7% and Dealer Cost is MSRP-9%. Thanks again to everyone.

CTBenz23

The way the economy is today I would be dealing off the invoice price and paying no more than invoice for a car thats not on their lot. They are simply making money off putting an order in for you.

mb23

I got my 11' under invoice and it was ordered, but its a 550.

lebDocNCali

I just got my E350 2011 convertible way under invoice, a very good deal. However, I looked for 2012 and I couldn't get a dealer even come close to invoice. I decided to get the 2011 with the color I want and the appearance package. I thought that the only difference will be the new engine with 300HP, if I am that attached I can get a tuned ECU for $1K, much less than the 2012 prices knowing that the 2012 has a 2k higher MSRP than 2011. So, it is safe to say that if you are not in a hurry wait for next years spring event and you will get the car you want for below invoice, or search for a 2011 and you will get the best deal ever.

BenzMan369

I didn't even bother to shop around when I ordered my new E350C in June. I went to the same folks I've been dealing with for 11 years. They gave me -7% off the MSRP with zero hassles. They couldn't even price out the order sheet, because no firm pricing was available at the time.

The car came in two weeks earlier than they estimated. I picked it up last Monday. It was immaculately prepped. True to their word, -7% off the MSRP, plus tax, tags and a $125 Doc Fee. My salesman spent two plus hours going over the entire car with me.

These people are straight-shooters and their service department is the best I've ever dealt with. Of course, the New Car Manager tried to low-ball me at first on my trade-in, but some old fashioned haggling with my salesman wearing out shoe leather running back and forth from his office to the Manager's office with my counter offers, resulted in getting the KBB trade-in price. More persistance probably would have gotten the price lower, but I was happy.

BTW, when I was picking up my car they had a 2012 white Cab on the showroom floor with red leather. I can't say for sure if it was a 350 or a 550. Gorgeous.

IMO, if you have a choice between buying a 2011 or a 2012, even if you have to wait, get the '12 at this point in time. The '11's are great cars, like the '10's before them but, having driven my car for a week now, the major drive train changes under the hood of the '12's set them apart in important ways and make them worth the additional cost. Which is why I suppose some dealers are actually trying to add a premium to the MSRP for the '12's early in the model year, now that word of the changes is becoming more widespread. Or so I've heard.