PKJumper

Happy New Year to my fellow MB fanatics!

I have been to my local dealer and have been offered the following:

2008 E350 4 matic with P1. Brand new car however, it was put into the dealers demo program 3/31/08 and the dealer decided not use it as a demo, but to take the incentive and sell it as new. As a result, 10 months of the warranty is gone.

The dealer is willing to certify it as pre owned to extend the warranty out to 100,000 miles and add a full year.

Sticker is $56,010. Dealer offer: $47,400.00, including the certified pre owned warranty.

I am trading a 2007 Mini Cooper S with 26,400 miles in excellent condition.

Bottom line the Mini plus $31,400.00.

I checked the trade in value on the Mini on Kelly Blue Book and Kelly says $18,000-20,000. So, the number they have put in the trade is in the low end of the range.

Any advice? Thank you!

amdeutsch

If its been placed into service its considered used; regardless what the dealer is trying to tell you. Check the forum for deals available.

PKJumper

Thanks for your super quick reply, amdeutsch.

By placed into service do you mean marked as sold? The car was never used as a demo, has no miles on it and for all purposes is brand new.

Thanks again...PKJumper

shorthair

The car has no miles on it and has been sitting on the dealer lot for 9 months? Strange...

Think about this before you buy it - the market is terrible and one year from now the car will be selling in the mid 20's. Do you have $20k+ to throw away?

tashakes

The car is selling @ auction for $42K to $45K with low miles (5K avg). You have to consider it a used car regardless of the mileage because of the in-service date. I tend to agree with shorthair, seems very odd that they had a car sitting there for 10 months and no miles. Not a terrible deal, with the extended warranty may be OK. If you plan to keep it at least 4-5 years, go for it, otherwise, you should find an 09 and lease it.

ericjburd

looks good to me, i talked my 2008 down from 57 to 43 fully loaded sport, brand new and the 50k warranty last month. You can do a few grand better for sure, but the 100k sure is nice

PKJumper

Thanks shorthair and tsakes.

Certainly, I would prefer not to throw 20 K away. So, what should I buy and what should the price be?

I am not a candidate for a lease as I drive 25000 miles per year. That is why the extended warranty was appealing.

I did wonder why this car would sit on the lot all that time, unsold. The dealers claims that once a car is marked as sold or put into the demo program, it is no longer available for special financing and that eliminates a large portion of the potential buyers.

In any event, sounds like an 09 is the way to go. What kind of pricing would I look for an on 09?

PKJumper

Thanks ericjburd.

Everyone here is so helpful, greatly appreciated!

ericjburd

They need to get rid of that car, just work them on it, they wont budge much on the 09, and youll pay a premium for that 09 100k warranty. And make sure you work them on the finance rate, I had 10k negative equity on my porsche and still got no money down 1.9%. Don't buy their story make a firm offer and walk, tell them heading to bmw or another lot that offered you a much better deal. Play the game, you'll win.

shorthair

How many miles or long will you keep the car? You drive a lot of miles and I understand why you want the extended warranty. If I was in your situation I would seriously consider picking up a 2 yr old car with about 30k miles for the mid $20s. That would mean two years left on the orig mfg warranty which you would go through in 1 year. Then take some of the money you saved on depreciation and buy an extended warranty for as long you can.

steveberde

I agree - I"ve always bought cars new - I was shopping for new E 350 4matics - one thing lead to another and I just wound up buying a 2 year old (now 3 model years old but only 2 years old in warranty terms) E 500 4matic sport pkg fully loaded low miles for 24K ! -This car was 64K two years ago - I drive very few miles a year most of it open highwy so the V8 is wonderful (I live near Montana and No ID where there are great big roads and few LEO's -

Keep looking and unless you need to own brand new I think used is the way to go now days -

Steve

MBNUT1

PM sent

Polar Bear

The 100k warranty is useless unless you will be driving 25k/year. Do you intend on driving this much? Something to consider.

sosh

If you read the posts he says he drives 25K per year. Actually assuming the car has never been titled with the extended warranty its a good deal. He won't come near that on an 09 and while "new" is depending on how you look at it for all intents its as close to new as you can get without picking one up that has just come off the boat. There were most likely incentives to the dealer to have it in demo service and thats most likely why it was going to be a demo.

PKJumper

Interesting suggestion, steveberde, as I actually went to a few dealers looking for a 2 year old certified pre owned car. First dealer had one, way over priced, not willing to deal (I had a feeling it was because they didn't take me seriously since I am a woman), oh well, their loss. Second dealer didn't have any candidates. They suggested the 2008 and I listened. I know that there is a major redesign for the 2010 model year and that there are alot of cars that dealers can't find a home for.

Yes sosh, I do drive 25,000 miles per year and frankly that is when I began to seriously consider the 2008, when the dealer "sweetened the pot" with the offer of the extended warranty at no cost to me. I want to keep the car, 4-5 years. I am tired of buying a new car every few years and am ready to commit to one good, solid workhorse.

I am on the road alot for business and my other concern is whether or not this car is too "high profile" to be visiting clients in. I own a few businesses in the financial services field and I certainly do not want my clients feeling as though they are paying too much for my services. Funny isn't it, everyone wants to run with a winner, but you better not appear to successful or your services are just overpriced.

Well, lots of mixed feedback here, all very, very helpful.

I will probably resume my search for a pre owned car.

Thanks to all

PK

Polar Bear

Busted for skimming.

shorthair

Also look at the non-mercedes dealers. The MB dealerships have the highest prices and don't bargain as much (but do offer the CPO warranty). The other new car dealers will bargain more as they want to get their trade-ins off the lot, and the "better" used car lots get their cars at auction (usually lease returns with clean carfax/autochecks) and are looking for fast turn over. Whatever you buy at least check the carfax/autocheck printouts to make sure you are not getting a previous wreck. Every dealer should give it to you for free. Even if you don't buy from the other dealers it is good data to use to bargain the MB dealer down.

Best of luck in your search!