richmondR

Thanks for the info. I'm already discussing things with Leann.

I'm really looking for a E350 4-Matic, but I noticed that the discount rate was higher (as were fleet incentives) for the E550 and I was wondering if there were any E550 4-Matics around. As I have come to learn, E550 4-matics were apparently special order cars and rarely inventoried by dealers, so its become a moot point.

I'm still looking for a 350 4-Matic at a good price, but I think I'd have more luck finding the Holy Grail (smile).

Alex 3

Mine was a E350 4 Matic wagon. No options available up here. They package it with most althought I must admit I am a bit ticked off that some of the things my E320 RWD 2003 had are not there.

richmondR

Just another E350 4-matic update with a few more details:

1. There actually are a few dealers with new '09 E550 4matics in stock, so they aren't just special order cars. But getting 21,000 off on a E550 4matic is another matter.

2. The 1.9% financing is definitely not available on E-class 4matics and the lease rate on 4matics, according to Leann, is terrible right now.

3. The lowest price I have been able to find on an E350 4matic with P1 is $40,300 (also includes wood/leather steering wheel) and that's on a car that ended up getting sold to another buyer.

richmondR

Another update -- On the subject of fleet discounts for those that are eligible:

Regular E350 RWDs are eligible for a $4000 fleet discount. Apparently the E350 4matic is one of the only 2009 MY cars, if not the only car in the entire MB line, that's not eligible for a 2009 MY fleet discount. Hey M-B, where's the love???

Seriously, I'm sure its a supply and demand thing as pointed out earlier.

fw09e350

i think opportunity may have passed you by... at some point you need to decide if you want the car. if you make it into a sport where you buy at the absolute lowest price, you cant ever pull the trigger.

i never thought of buying an e350 until i saw how cheap it was. i decided when i saw the flint grey 4matic demo for 42k it was a great deal. 35k for rwd in black or white is a sic deal but im very happy with my purchase as i wouldnt want black, white nor rwd.

i personally think if you find new 4matic(vs a demo) with p1 less than 43,000 you should buy it if you really want the car as that seems like a steal. otherwise you wont ever be able to buy because you cant get 40,300 out of your mind.

what is your price target? how many 40,300 have you seen and what was the next lowest price?

Steven Long

I agree - FOUR SNOWS works wonders ... not ALL-SEASON tires ... but real SNOW tires. No need for Blizzaks. Depending on your need for them, you may want to pick up an extra set of wheels for winter use, so you don't have to dismount and re-mount them every year.

I agree!

fw09e350

and to answer your question as titled, no one really knows the answer as these are unprecedented deals, nothing to really compare it to.... we will only know after the fact when it was and who it was that got the best deals. as we stand now, better deals were had before 7/31 when the 10k incentive expired and replaced with 8k. so with that and the dwindling supply, i think "best time" might be behind you.

but man.... i bought an e320 rwd back in aug 95 for 44k when the 96s were about to debut in sep, paid extra 600 for clifford alarm, and i thought it was a great deal. here i am 14yrs later, i buy a 4matic with nav complete with so many gizmos(p2) that im constantly referring to the manual for 42K. i feel like i stole it and i dont care if others paid less. very happy with the new ride. there truly is no inflation.... and how sweet life is!

Dr_jitsu

I found out about this deal a little too late, but nonetheless after massive negotiating I got an Irridium Silver e350 w/ P1, sport package and walnut burl for 42.5K on Aug 1st. I financed 25K of that at 1.9%

I would have paid less a day earlier, and much less for the arctic white, but I absolutely love this car as a dd and am very happy. Getting the color/interior combo I wanted was worth a few extra K.

richmondR

Sorry, guys, the low price was $40,900, not 40,300. But yes, I was offered that price last Saturday morning while I was coaching a Little League game. I held out for $40,000 and the car was sold apparently by the end of the day. I blew it. The next best prices appear to be in the 43 - 44 range and the only 4-matics left in the Midwest are apparently all White or black over black with black wood trim ... There are about ten of those around, but that's about it. Too dark for me.

So I'm out of the market for now except to slowly start looking at an enlarging group of low mileage used 2009s, and maybe to see what happens in September as the employee fleet program incentives, and finance incentives, change as well. My next door neighbor has driven S-class cars for the last 10 years and he thinks that another possibility is to look at a 2-3 year old S-class as they have had huge hits in depreciation.

Guys, this thread was my inspiration to get started and I will keep in touch .. thanks to everyone who contributed. I have wanted a M-B ever since I was 13 years old when my friend's dad got a '72 280 SE 4.5 ... at the time, that was the coolest thing I have ever seen, and I'll get there in the next few months.

fw09e350

was this for a 4matic and if so which dealer did you buy from? i already bought mine but im curious. thanks.

Dr_jitsu

RWD. I live in Texas and thus would not want 4 wheel drive.

Dr_jitsu

Richmond,

You have wanted this car all your life and you let this deal of a lifetime pass?

A couple K difference is nothing on these cars, especially once you factor in the maintenance . Letting one go over $300 is beyond my understanding. Thats a days work, and I spent 3 days getting my deal hammered out.

Remember, the end of a model style is the most reliable, and I like the look of the 09's over the newest iteration.

fw09e350

usually best vs next best offers are fairly close, on a 40k car like $500 to $1000 max. i doubt this car ever existed or actually sold at 40,900. to haggle over a price that is 3k better than the next best price is crazy... doesnt make sense to me. by then you had done your homework so you knew that was a great deal yet you wanted to squeeze him for every last penny? when im in the market for a big ticket item, after researching something to death, i will not haggle with a guy who clearly has given me a very good price and best price by far. im not looking to inflict pain on the seller so that i can save a few bucks and feel good about a deal.

this reminds me of a customer that i used to deal with. no matter how good my offer was, this guy always countered. ALWAYS. i guess his thinking was at offer price there was always a profit so hed want a piece of that. even when it was dirt dirt cheap, hed counter. he never got my first call. in fact he was my last call. so he never got good deals from me. and even when there was a good deal, that ive offer to all my other customers first and couldnt sell, id mark it up to account for his anticipated counter. im in sales so respect the sellers right to make a living. i love getting killer deals and negotiating to get them but when i know its a great deal , i just buy it and move on.

DrDrilZ

glad u got one. see ya over on 6speed

richmondR

Dr. J and FW --

Let me offer a little more detail, but ultimately you all are right. BTW I would definitely prefer an 09 over a 2010 for peace of mind about reliability vs a brand new model.

The pricing is critical to meet our budget objectives (not to mention sell this to my wife ... smille) as I needed a certain cap cost to lessen the amount of depreciation and lower the rent portion of the lease payment. Also, when I started this process a few weeks ago, I incorrectly assumed that I could get a MF on a lease equivalent to a 1.9% financing, thereby also lowering substantially the interest portion of the lease payment. Remember, when this thread started, there were guys reporting lease payments in the upper $400s and lower $500s on E350s. That's what I told my wife, and we decided together on certain finance objectives that we would not exceed on the theory that its would be great fun to get an M-B provided it wasn't a budget buster.

What I failed to realize, or at least not yet understand, was that there was no special financing on E350 4-matics, and the lease rates are like .00225 or higher. Also, about the same time, the residual values dropped a few points. Additionally, the $19,000 off deals reported by other buyers through Leann did not apply to 4-Matics. The best she can do is $15,900 off (kudos to Leann). That's a breathtakingly incredible amount of savings, but not enough to get anywhere close to those monthly lease payments we thought we could get. I briefly thought about getting a RWD as there are a number of those left around, and I would be able to get the fleet discount of $4,000, but I was advised against it privately by the local dealers here in the Minneapolis/St. Paul who said that only about a third of their E-class volume or less is RWD. My own assumptions were flawed, and that caused me to get frusterated when dealers started coming back in the mid 40s, and then the lower 40s on a $56 K car (4matic Luxury with P1). Now the cars left in the Midwest just aren't appealing, and the numbers dont work for us anyways.

Also, as to fw's comment about the price never being good enough, I know this story reads that way, but my only request to dealers was that they give me their best price upfront as I wont try to counter them. I never countered anybody. A dealer near me came in at $40,900, the car was very real, and it just happened that someone else got it later that day, and I suspect at a higher price. They knew my objective was $40 even. That car is still listed on the dealer's site, but when you contact them they will tell you its been sold and not yet delivered. The manager of the store promised to contact me if for some reason the sale isn't completed.

That's the news at the moment. Thanks for your comments ... they are all appreciated, including the kicks in the butt.

Dr_jitsu

Rich,

My point was that you seem to be an exceptionally bright guy which suggests that you likely have very good earning power and a couple K should thus not matter.

However, once the wife gets involved of course all logic goes out the window, at least in my case

fw09e350

just sharing my opinion, not that its right or wrong. i understand everyone's situation is different and wives always wreck the logic of anythng! i was just more baffled more than anything else as you seemed to me that you were chasing your own tail.

either way, best of luck. im here to share info and offer my opinion. you obviously can agree or disagree... for as long as im contributing meaningfully, then its all good.

richmondR

fw --

I was chasing my tail ... you are right. I got too into trying to get the deal without understanding the current economics and what was, and ws not, available. Looking back, I was pleased, though, that I was able to get an offer about 13-14% less than the starting point.

dr j --

I am a lawyer and my wife is a physician who works part time ... we are just very disciplined about these things because of other expenses in our lives. And as to wives, there is no doubt whatsoever who rules our roost ... it defintiely isn't me.

Dr_jitsu

OK, but it seems you spent about $3-5K in billable hours on this decision already.

My negtiations, clear bra/tint/getting/learning to use/loading my I Pod/nav/blue tooth took up 1 week of my time (I teach college and have a break) however I value that week highly.

A very high IQ and common sense are not always mutually compatible. Of course I am referring to myself

richmondR

I've spent a ton of hours obsessing over this process. although its been kinda fun. The low point was about three days ago when I spent about 4 hours one evening going to the website of every MB dealer in the upper midwest checking for 09 E class 4-matic inventory. There isnt much out there at all.

I also got to meet today to meet some folks at Maplewood Imports in Minnesota which is my closest dealer. Spoke in detail with their internet folks Roger Pierson and Tina Hall and the General Manager Doug Mulder. Vice nice and straightforward. What they told me is that, at least as to the 350 4-matics, that the dealers that have one aren't likely to trade them any more as there is a high liklihood that they will sell quickly, or if they do trade, the buyer dealer would have to pay a premium in addition to the shipping making it a losing proposition for the buying dealer and the customer. Roger said that he has gotten a lot of e-mails from people looking for E350s for under $40, and they're just not there anymore.

They are helping me try to locate a very low mileage '09 (translated, less than 10K hopefully). I'd like to stick with an '09 to get the better radio package (as compared to prior years). There are cars that are starting to come in and, of course, that market will only coninue to grow.

richmondR

One more update for those still looking for E350s:

I came across a dealer that seems to still have a number of RWD E350s. The dealer is Higginbotham Motors in Jackson Mississippi. Their site shows over a dozen RWDs currently.

The most amazing thing was I happened to send in an inquiry to see if any of the units were 4matics (it wasn't clear in the inventory listing) about 8:30 this Saturday evening, and I had my question answered by their Internet sales guy, Josh Smith, 15 minutes later! That's above and beyond the call of duty, so I suggest that you give Josh a call if you are still looking for one and you want a quick reply. Josh's number is 601-326-3228, and his e-mail address is jsmith@mercedesporsche.com.

For the record, I am located in Minnesota and I have no relationship with Josh. I just thought that this level of responsiveness deserved mention.