socaldriver

Howdy all,

I was originally looking at a fully loaded C280 when a friend of mine mentioned that with all of the deals going on at MB, I could get a E350 slightly loaded for a few thousand more.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I priced an E350 with premium package and lighting package and the dealer is offering me $8200 below MSRP. Every dealer I have called has said that they can't match this deal--so I figure its a pretty good deal. The only problem is now I can't seem to get my sales guy on the phone so that I can ink the deal.

My question is what do I do now? Did I miss out?! I want to do this deal but no one will match it and my sales guy is MIA. Advice please.


Thanks.

luxury1

Go into the dealership and start talking with someone else. You shouldn't have to chase a salesman.

jangy

Talk to the Sales Manager, not the salesman. the manager is concerned with number of cars sold per month and profits. The salesman is worried about his own cut, which only comes from customer gouge.

socaldriver

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I might of been unclear. The guy is a fleet manager, I just refer to him as a salesman.

There is another fleet manager at the dealership--should I deal with her instead? I thought it was a faux pas to change sales people once someone starts helping you.

I would really like to do this deal as this dealership has the best deal in town (LA area) and is literally a mile away from me......

Flash Gordon

You can deal with anyone you wish to deal. You are the customer. You don't owe anyone at the dealership an explanation.

revstriker

I agree with Flash Gordon on this. If you want to make a deal, you shouldn't have to wait for the salesperson (or fleet manager) to find time for you. Move on to someone else.

If it makes you feel any better, tell your story to the other fleet manager when you go in. Tell her that you want to buy, and did not want to wait for the other fleet manager to "get around" to calling you back. I'm sure she'll have no problem taking his commission.

konigstiger

First and foremost, was the original offer made verbally or via email?

If verbal I would email the other fleet manager with your specs to obtain his offer without mention of the original offer. If the second offer does not match or better the original, reply to it mentioning the original terms, the associated (other) manager’s name and contact info, and CC the General Manager if his email address is available.

Jangy is correct in that always try to contact the General Sales Manager initially, preferably at months end.

farrbar

I got about $8500 off MSRP in October on a 2006 350 (4-matic) with premium package. I had to work a couple of dealers vs. eachother, but in the end I had 3 dealers willing to sell me the car at the exact price. In hindsight I probably picked the wrong dealer (Fletcher Jones - Chicago) but they were closest to my house.

socaldriver

Hi everyone,

I wanted to thank you all for the advice and to give you all an update.

My plan was to wait until Thursday to call the MIA fleet manager to give him one last chance. Fortunately, another dealer ended up calling me just now. And guess what? Not only did they have the exact colors (interior and exterior) that I wanted, but they were willing to go as low as $8400 below MSRP!

Talk about a 180--I was worrying whether I would get the deal or not and now I have a better deal. I plan on signing the papers Saturday morning and will hopefully post some pictures by Sunday.

Again, thank you all for the support. And if anyone wants to know where I got this deal and with who, I'll be happy to share the information.

One last question. I was planning on getting xenon headlights, but the dealer didn't have that option. However, he mentioned that the standard headlights are bright white, not yellow. Do you guys know if this is true? I have xenon's on my BMW and they work really well with my old eyes.


Thanks again.

MBnAZ

Best of luck. Really enjoy our E320, which I bought just before the E350's came out. MB had like $6K trunk money to the dealers, so we got it $10K off MSRP. Dealer still made money from their holdback. I think the current E350 has $4K trunk money and a similar amount of profit built-in, so sounds like a pretty skinny deal.

socaldriver

Actually only 2k dealer incentive right now--based on Edmunds.com and talking to dealers. I've heard people getting 9-10k off on the 06 E350 but that was around Christmas time. Unfortunately, timing is everything.

ATS

I would not buy my car without Xenon's, a huge difference in my opinion. Good luck on your car.

tbone

I agree. The difference between xenons and halogens is like Broadband vs. dial-up...once you experience xenons/broadband, it's hard to go back!

socaldriver

I just picked up my new 06 E350 with metallic paint and 526. No pictures yet.

Here is the deal I got:
$0 cap reduction
$1700 drive off fees
$527 monthly
12k per year, 39 months

Wish I had gotten more options, but the dealer didn't have many choices on the lot.

mkaresh

Some halogens are much better than others. A few years ago Consumer Reports tested the headlights of 45 cars. The winner of this comparison, which included a number of xenon cars, was a halogen-equipped Mazda Protege5. This happens to be the car I own, and the headlights on it do work extremely well, far better than other cars I've owned.

In general, of course, xenons are much better than the standard headlights. I have no idea how good the standard E-Class lights are.

steph280

For a long time I thought the W211 halogen lights looked dimmer than others, until I looked directly into it. The lens focuses the light in one spot so it doesn't diffract all over. so it's bright only at the intended area, not scattered all over.

Because of this, you can upgrade the halogen to Xenon HID with one of those inexpensive H7 upgrade kit. Before anybody jumps in saying "ohh that's going to blind the other drivers because the housing wasn't designed for it," go look at an actual conversion instead of hearing it from third person. The cutoff is every bit as good as the factory xenon setup with minimal (if any) bleeds. But this modification is illegal according to DOT. So proceed at your own risk.

Back to the original question. I don't know if you've purchased the car yet, but back when I was shopping for mine in LA/OC area, the best deal came out of House of Import internet fleet dept. They basically start the negotiation using the price from carsdirect.com, which was already cheaper than any other dealer (Downtown LA included). Might want to check with them if you haven't.

Mr.Gearhead

Man you guys in LA have the deal


I just leased... last night...

2006 E350
2300 down
600 per month
12k miles @ 39...

last night I thought it was good... today... I need a rape kit... hahah

Should've would've could've... hehehe

stormybmw83

I paid $5000 below invoice in oct when I picked up my e350. In Sf bayarea