hx_guy

Only discount we are eligible for is the Conquest incentive. We are Costco members too but will they really give you a better deal than going in yourself and negotiating for invoice?

With the Conquest money, I just want to make sure that they don't try and pull a "We already took that into consideration when we have you the $52,500 price, we can't go any lower". I've seen a thread on here where that happened to someone.

I want $52,500 (invoice) and then the $3,000 Conquest off that, which is why I was thinking of telling them exactly that.

Another thing I read on here is that it's best to not even go in? Just find the car online, contact the internet manager and agree on a price over email/phone and only go in when that's done...that they will try harder this way to get you to come in. This sort of worked with my 2011 Audi A4 even though it wasn't planned. Went in, test drove a car but wasn't ready to buy. Couple days later, found another car on their website and contacted them via email and had a price all set before I ever went back in.

BM2BZ

do everything online is always the easiest and save you time in the dealer. i remember one member here did that and took him less than an hour to pick up the car including the 15,000 signatures the dealer requested . btw, you should shoot out some emails to different dealers if you have not done so. then you can compare everything at home w/o even talking to the "stealers". go to the one who gives you the best price or send emails to other dealers and see if they could beat/match the price. good luck .

fcienfuegos

I did everything on line, I sent an email to all local dealerships explaining exactly what I wanted including color combo and packages, then asked for their best price out the door, this means all taxes, fees and discounts included, that way you avoid surprises later. Once I got the best possible deal (in writing via email quote) I setup an appointment to sign papers and picked up the car, the time spent at the dealership to take delivery of the car was approximately 15-20min. All said and done I got a bit over $10k off the sticker price; I got a great deal and it was a quick, easy and painless way to buy a car.

BM2BZ

hx guy, see how easy it is? best way is sell your car in private party and follow what fcienfuegos just said.

hx_guy

Ok well our E320 sold! Got $3900 over what we owed on it so that worked out nice. Now to shop!

hx_guy

Anyone know what the price difference is on 10k vs 12k vs 15k miles per year for the E350 Bluetec? I assume the residual is less (which causes the montly price to go up)?

WEBSRFR

++1

This is the best way to buy a car and that's how I bought mine. I would actually take it a step further with a Buyer's Order. I negotiated a deal for the car and the warranty and had them take down a deposit (always with a credit card) and send me a signed buyer's order. I signed it back with the contingency that execution of Buyer's Order is contingent on pre-purchase inspection and I am due a full refund if the PPI fails for any reason. This has some advantages:

+ Everything is spelled out including the cost of warranty, maintenance plan, taxes, tags, etc.,
+ They can't change any terms when you show up.
+ They can't sell the car to anyone else.
+ The dealership essentially has no "out" from the deal once it is signed but you do.
+ Makes for a wonderful dealership experience as you just show up, inspect the car, sign and drive away. Basically no games.

I think this is also good for the dealer as they know you are serious. This is how I would buy every car I will ever buy in the future.

troymir350

I'm not sure what this month's residuals are, but the 12k/year is usually 2% less that the 15k, and the 10k is 3% less than the 15k. Hope that helps. What are they telling you the residual is for May?

hx_guy

They haven't as I haven't contacted a dealer yet, but based on the lease special on the MB website, it seems to be 77%. ($43,555 residtual on $56,565 MSRP car).

troymir350

I guess it's possible that it is that high, but remember that there is usually several thousand dollars of "cap cost reduction" in the MB published lease "specials." Take a look.

hx_guy

Gross cap cost is $55,774 in the lease disclaimer. The cap cost doesn't affect residual, does it? I thought residual was based off of MSRP.

And the 77% seems to be confirmed on the Edmunds.com discussions as well, it's insanely high which is why people are getting $55k+ E350s for under $500/month, it's pretty nuts.

troymir350

For sure the deals are great, and I won't pretend to have the official information. It's best to contact a dealer and just ask what the money factor and residual is for the month. When you get that data, you can calculate the lease pretty accurately.

ImInPA

Residuals for the Bluetecs is currently about 77%. This is why the deals are so absurd on Bluetec leases.

troymir350

I double checked, our's was 78%. I guess I forgot how high it is!

hx_guy

Wow thats super high...how many miles/yr?

troymir350

That's 24 months/10k per year. But remember that was from March.

K-A

Is this on a gasser or BT?

No wonder M-B's profit margins are trailing their competitors. They're subsidizing the E's so heavily, they're practically giving it away, with artificially high residuals. I was playing around with an 535i M-Sport yesterday, and although its sticker price was only about $5K more than mine was (all due to the fact that the M Sport Package is almost $5K and our AMG Sport Packages are whored out for free), when I asked the guy "how much do these cars Lease for", he said over $800.... without Taxes!

That's why BMW has the higher profit margins and are making more money, they're not giving away their products! Though, M-B is taking back market share from them this year, and currently leads in U.S Sales, so BMW is already starting to cut M-Sport prices and probably will cave a little bit.

rjm

I was offered $10K off of any E-350 on the lot at my local dealer at the end of April. This was after he verified I was a USAA member. He told me they have an agreement with USAA to market their cars with special pricing for members. There were some other cash incentives in there contributing to this deal (one may have been I was a prior MB owner and/or currently drive a BMW). It was certainly a good deal financially, but after driving the E-350, The Audi A6, the BMW 535i, and the 2013 Lexus GS350 I went another direction.

dfordham

Well come on man! What direction??

Regards,
Don

troymir350

Audi I hope?? That was our 2nd option. But with the USAA and other discounts, the $480/month lease trumped the Audi. A $65k car for that price makes it feel even nicer than it is.

**JAY-V**

I think I got a good deal.

$56K MSRP 2012 E350 Bluetec w/ "Sport Styling Package", P1, and trunk spoiler.

After conquest cash, my total drive off was $2500. Monthly is $350/month + CA sales tax so it's right around $390 after taxes. 24 mos lease, 10k miles per year.

Residual was close to 80% I believe.

Does this sound right or could I have done better?

troymir350

Enjoy the car. For that price you did well. Everyone has access to incentives that impact the final price, so in general just compare the monthly outlay to a great car. There is no losing.

hx_guy

Went to a few local dealerships today to look at some E350 Bluetecs. None of them are exactly what we want (color combination wise or options) but we realize we need to compromises on some things as the inventory is pretty low.

We only got into serious talks with one of the three dealerships on a $60,080 E350BT with P1, Parktronic & Lane Assist plus other misc. options). While at the dealership they offered us $55,000 plus $3,000 Conquest incentive for a total of $52,000 sale price (plus fees etc). We actually wanted $49,000...not on this specific vehicle, but based on a $57,000 car. Since they didn't have a $57k car, we still pushed for the same price. They said they couldn't and we left.

10 minutes later they called and said the best they could do is $50,500. I countered at $50,000 plus maintenance and they said the manager had left for the day, that he didn't think they would do it but would ask tomorrow and follow up.

I feel that would be a very good deal. The $50,500 is good too, but still more than we wanted to spend. I know it has more options but we don't really need those.

Also, they offered us a fantastic deal on a $61,875 MSRP E350BT with P2, panorama roof & lane assist. They would do it for $51,000 (inc. Conquest). We liked the interior and exterior colors but absolutely hate the panorama roof, so much so that it's a deal breaker. I've driven the GLK350 with the same roof and it kills here in Phoenix with the heat. You just feel it radiating down on you, that shade they have is useless, my forehead was sweaty the whole time I drove the GLK. Fantastic deal for anyone who would appreciate it though.

troymir350

Take the P2 and explain your concern. If they put some UV reflective tint on the roof that should help. Ceramic tint with high reflective value should keep it cool. Otherwise you're meeting your price reduction targets so that is good news.

hx_guy

That P2 is really attractive (thought I hate the Spoiler Pkg it has, I think it cheapens the car a lot), but $10,875 off MSRP is a great discount and the options are nice! No Parktronic though which we would really like. I just don't think I could deal with the pano though, I don't know. The monthly would be ridiculously low though as the residual should be 77% I think, so you're only paying on the difference of $3,356.