2006_C350

K-A is a good guy, he's just informing us of pricing that "some" people can get so he actually educates us. He is right in many ways, but we all have our discrepancies. All in all, K-A does help out these forums even though he doesn't have an E class anymore. I bet you he might be very interested as soon as the new re-design is released in a few years.

instantfob

The trunk cash is there for BOTH brands. Internet shoppers like myself will dig until we find all the promotional dollars available. (Big Thanks MBWorld here and T.H.Carrera's referral)

Here's a sample of how much incentives I stacked on my wife's 2013 ActiveHybrid 5

Dealer Discount - 4650
ECO Credit - 4500
Option Credit -1500
Loyalty Credit -750
Graduate Credit - 1000

On top of all that I got my BMW CCA mail in rebate for $1000

When all the stars lined up I've received more credits than my new E.

The key is to keep a good relationship with your dealer rep so they will tell you what's the flavor of the month.

Dema

I can understand why he betrayed MB toward to BMW. First production of W212 has zero advantages to W211. Only ergonomics was changed, but no ride improvements at all. The facelift gave me a feel as driving a completely different car. Ride quality and stability were improved drastically. The updates suspension gives a similar feel like W210 gave me. Transmission was also improved, and although E350 is still lacking in power I feel much more confident in getting maneuvers or merging in traffic. I know that BMW came with facelift model too which I didn't drive yet, but certainly MB put good efforts to be competitive. And new MB interior is certainly superior to BMW. Although exterior styling for sport is a little step back. So I am glad I stick with E class for now.

jhb49

MB of Walnut Creek having Black Friday sale 13 K off 6 2014 E350 sedans.

Dema

I can imagine it will reach $15k at Christmas time sale. I monitor E class sale thread at slickdeals, and one gentleman pointed that MB had $13k-$15k discount back to 2009. So I guess next time when E class will be heavily discounted will be 2017.

K-A

Thank you, and exactly/well said.

I GOT about 18% off in middle of the year in 2011 myself! People here and around the Net are always posting of near or over 20% discounts.

I've researched these cars enough to know what I'm talking about. I have Emails that I share with other members of E350's leasing for low $4's or high $3's all the time, etc. etc. If someone wants to dismiss my knowledge and experiences because they got taken or can't attain the same deals on the most fire-sale heavy car I've personally witnessed in existence, then be my guest. If hearing about how heavily the E's get discounted bothers you, then go complain to M-B about it. It's one of the reasons I got fed up with the E, it was ridiculous how cheaply they let them go for.... it does no justice to the model IMO.

GregTR: Just because you got taken doesn't invalidate what I say. Sorry, if you took what I said more seriously and used it as a benchmark for the deals you were going for, maybe you could have scored a better deal. Though, a Wagon doesn't really apply to what I'm stating to a Sedan-like discount, so maybe it wouldn't.

Also, I'm talking about REAL options. P1 and the basics add to the MSRP, but c'mon, we all know that is really the "standard" of E Classes. How many E's have leather inside, P2 even? Look in the classifieds, barely any. MBUSA trained the culture of buyer for the W212 to be cheap on optioning and to get insane discounts on the cars. The information is out there. This forum is filled with enthusiasts more-so, so that doesn't really apply so much here. On this board there are people who know what they are getting, know WHY they want it, and option it up how they like as well, comparative to the "real world".

Exactly. I gave M-B all the credit they didn't deserve for years, and just got let down over and over again. Complaints generate action, and if others just let M-B do what they do and support them out of habit, that's fine, but I'll bark as I see reasonably fit.

Even so, my notifying others about how discounted the W212 gets isn't about bashing M-B.... it's simply stating facts and personal experiences. I HAVE helped members get better deals on their W212's MANY times.

GregTR

Show me one person who got 20% off in this thread. I have seen high teens but nothing over 20%.

I guarantee you a Camry does not lease for high $300s or low $400s. It leases for high $100s or low $200s. I can make the lease look as lucrative as you want. If you put enough cap reduction on it, an E-class will lease out at $99/month. So that would mean it's the same as a Kia, right? I can't believe you don't see the fault in your logic/reasoning.

LOL! I guess the E-class is too pedestrian for your blue blood, eh? The only person who's upset with discounts is you! I'm just calling your outlandish claims about 20%+ discount utter BS. You have yet to show a single deal that was that good yet you're not afraid to throw out numbers like 25%. I have a great rapport with my dealer, I'm not feeling like I'm being taken and they're not feeling like they're giving a car away. It's called mutual respect. I know it's shocking but not everyone thinks that dealers are out there to take you for a ride. And when you're posting BS numbers you're just making the situation worse. So I'm going to keep calling you on it.

Unlike many, I actually enjoy the car buying process. I enjoy the 8 week waiting period for a special order. If I tried to lowball every dealer in the metroplex over $100 it would be far less enjoyable. If I had to order a car from California just to save another $200 it would be a headache. I'm only 36 and this will be my 8th new German car, 4th from a luxury brand. I'm no expert by any means but I know how the system works. The only experts are the ones who sit on the other side of the table.

Today I drove my E90 up to the BMW dealer who I bought it from 3 years ago. I was nice, cordial and I got the same in return. Plus they offered me $2k more than what the Benz dealer offered as a trade-in. And when I told them I'm getting a Mercedes they asked which dealer. When I told them the used car manager said, "Oh, I know the GM there, tell them we'll buy your car, send them a draft over and they can do an in&out on your car so you can get the tax credit on it saving you another $1,300". He wasn't upset that I was leaving the BMW brand. He didn't have to offer the extra $1,300 tax saving, there was nothing in it for him, but he did it. He even said that I should tell the MB dealer the trade-in he offered and if they match it that's fine otherwise they can call him and he'll vouch for the quote. And this is how some dealers work. They're actually a pleasure to work with.

You just don't get it. I showed you actual current market data that shows that the average asking MSRP price for an E350 is just under $60K. I wasn't talking about enthusiasts, I actually showed you data over 11k new vehicles that are currently on the market. It covers 2 months of new W212 sales. You showed nothing to back your claim other than asking the rhetorical question about how many P02s I've seen in the used car section.

A 2014 E350 Sedan with P01 and metallic paint has an MSRP of $57,415. Based on my observation the average E350 Sedan sells for $59,700 so on average they have about $2,300 worth of options on top of P01 and metallic paint. That can get you leather and lane tracking, or it can get you park assist with Keyless-GO. So on average every single E350 comes with two options in addition to P01 and metallic paint. I'm guessing that is not good enough for you.

You can add about $20K worth of options to a W212 and most people "only" get about $7K worth. Yeah, they're really shooting for those cheap ones.

Again the numbers above are based on actual data, not something I heard from a friend of a friend who's second cousin works at a dealer.

You have yet to provide any facts. All you provided was personal opinion based on anecdotal evidence. Anecdotal evidence is not evidence. You're not notifying anyone about anything all you do is make people feel like sh*t because they only got 15% off MSRP.

Am I disappointed that MBUSA doesn't provide the same discount on the E-wagon that they do on the E-sedan? Sure! Am I miffed that I'm not a lawyer who can get another $3500 off just because they're members of the ABA? You bet! Do I think my dealer provided me with a fair deal? Absolutely!

K-A

People have attained as much as 25% off of E350's I've seen here. Last year in December there were posts of that, one of which started a thread getting a car MSRP'ing over $60K in the $40's. Again, you can make it however logical you want it to be, to justify what you paid, but I know what I know, I know what I got (almost 20% off) before the major incentives even started kicking in, etc.

I get Emails all the time advertising E Class blowouts. A loaded Camry can easily lease into the $300's with $1-3K drive off (notice I say loaded). Perhaps this is close enough:

drsaab

What are you guys fighting for? As posted above the MB of walnut creek has right on there home page 13k off E350, so for any E350 that is under msrp of 65000 then your getting 20% or more off. Also there is a lease for 1999 down and 349 a month, low miles (7500) a year.

so 20% seems doable at this time for a sedan.

GregTR

Which part of "1 at this price" do you not understand? Again, I'm sorry but you're a moron...

2006_C350

If they can do "1" at this price what makes you think they can't do "2" or "3"? It's a gimmick, they'll do more than "1" if you know how to negotiate and find the right dealer.

GregTR

Are you familiar with the economic term "loss leader"? How about "Bait & Switch"?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loss_leaderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bait-and-switch

2006_C350

Are you looking to get an E350 or not?

GregTR

My E350 Wagon is en-route from Brunswick to DFW and should arrive Saturday. What does that have anything to do with K-A's stupidity?

K-A

Exactly. 20% is quite common and commonly advertised. I'd love to take credit as the best bargainer of all time, but the 18% off I got on my 2011 E350 wasn't out of the norm.

DUDE, you need to become more street smart. OBVIOUSLY you can score that deal, the "1 at this price" means they're just trying to get you in the door. It's the lamest and most common salesman tactic. I get these "1/2 at this price" EVERY WEEK. So there have been "hundreds at this price".

Again, just because you got RIPPED doesn't mean you should take it out on me. Next time, listen to me and you'll get a commonly good W212 deal, i.e around or at least close to 20% off. Help me help you.

K-A

Adding to the countless/infinite evidence that W212's get let go for 20+% on the norm, here's a front page deal. And you'd have to be a sucker and salesman's dream to think that this isn't continuously attainable.



.... But yeah, it makes sense for anyone who got chump'd into paying close to MSRP on an E Class to deny, deny, deny.

bigigg

Yes, that was brought to my attention.. Knock on wood, I'm gonna take my chances. Picked the truck up yesterday

threeMBs

I was beating on this point each time these "ads" are "presented". You are the first to say the same. Most just think that if they can do "1" they can do more. By the same token, if one dealer (maybe!!!) can do it, others can do to, right? There is NO WAY. Also, and I was saying this for the longest time, what may (or may not) be possible (as far as Es) in CA is certainly does not represent the rest of the country.

K-A

No offense, but some of you need to brush up on your negotiating tactics if you really think "one at this price" means anything.

If they say "one at this price", that is MEANINGLESS. Never fall for it. They showed you how low they're willing to go, so you have that as a baseline. I've done this time and time again. I'm not saying this to offend anyone or their cars.... this is just how it works.

Not to mention, they have a new fire-sale "one/two at this price" every freakin' week, so it's obviously BS.

Not to mention again, the front page on the website listed above has over 20% discount and loaded-Camry like Leasing on a W212 right there.

I'd say I have a pretty good track record when it come to studying and getting good deals. In 2011 I got 18-ish% off of my E350, before the continuous fire-sales really started, in 2010 when the W212 was a brand new body style, I got my first W212 around 12-14% off (when some people were paying very close to MSRP still), I got my 5 Series for what is basically known to be the best deal anyone has attained on the Bimmer boards (which is still much more expensive than even a lousy deal an E350 goes for these days), I even sold a depreciation-rock Chevy Malibu for the SAME price that I bought it for, 2 years and 30K miles later.

I get Emails on these ridiculously cheap deals on W212's all the time, since I'm on the Email list of many different dealers who I've either given business to or inquired with.

People can brush off what I say to stay content with their own deals, or prospective buyers can use what I say as a benchmark to try and attain (or beat it), I happen to think the latter is more productive.

If it were me getting an E350 MSRP'ing for around $60K right now, based on my research and the plethora of ads I get, I wouldn't pay more than $350 and I wouldn't spend more than $2,500 drive off, and that's not even being as aggressive as one can be once the true end-of-year deals kick in. That's at the low range of what the marketplace has valued the E350 at, in terms of bargain-basement yet attainable deals, based on my observations. I thought perhaps the marketing schtick of "new bodystyle" M-B was trying to sell the extensive facelift as would curb that.... however not only did it not, but I think the deals this year are better than they were last year at this time, on the pre-facelifts.

hyperion667

GregTR

K-A, that lease special you listed sold in September. I checked the VIN. You're showing an email that is 2 months old for a car that is not even available as evidence that w212s are leasing for low $300s. What was your lease payment again?... That's what I thought!

Are you saying I got ripped off? Considering you never tried to negotiate for an e-wagon in Texas you have zero idea what is a decent deal on one.

I guarantee you that no dealer will give you $13k off a special order that is due in 8 weeks of anything because they can't commit to a discount that far out which they have no control over.

Trust me, I have no issues with my negotiating skills. I'm not buying one of the 170+ e-sedans that are on my dealer's lot so none of your advice apply.

In my search and negotiations I talked with dealers from Georgia and California and guess what, it wasn't because of price. It was because of trying to locate a vehicle that was optioned the way I wanted without being white on beige. And why did I want to locate a car in the first place? Because the a-hole dealer that I went to ffirst said there was $5k off and I knew that even if it was true that discount would not have been guaranteed 2 months out for an order.

The dealer in California said they can't sell out of their region, period. And the car I inquired about was sold anyway. The dealer in Georgia had a customer cancel their order that they placed in March so they had a build slot available. They didn't even match the local dealer's $750 over invoice price, they said it was too aggressive and they would never sell a wagon at that deep of a discount.

Then when I finally put the local dealer's feet to the fire about the $5k by locating a vehicle and telling them I wanted them to trade for that and give me the promised discount they finally admitted that the $5k was only on sedans. So they made me inquire every dealer about their cars (btw doing your own dealer request for order sheets from two dozen dealers just because your local guy is a moron is a pain in the rear) for a possible dealer trade for a chance to get the monthly deal that wasn't even there in the first place.

I ordered the car from another dealer with no issues. The first time I'll see them is when I pick up my car.

I was never talking about my deal as my deal has no bearing on sedan sales or discounts. I'm buying a car model that they sell less than 2,000 a year from a region where they are practically non-existant. But until I see someone getting $13k off on a $57k w212 I'm calling BS. And even if there is a person who gets that deal it is not the rule, it's the exception. Sure we all want to be that exception but based on simple statistics that will never be the case. Even the mighty K-A couldn't score that deal...

GregTR

Not exactly $13k off... But I'm still waiting for their sales guy to contact me... I might get one for the wife...

Their TruePrice for a leftover 2013 coupe is still not $13k off. Maybe their website guy didn't get the memo...

K-A

You have about 3 members on this thread who got almost 20% off. I got almost 20%, I have multiple Emails OVER 20% off. Last year around this time members were reporting closer to 25% off, etc. etc.

You can find as many ridiculously overpriced quotes on E Classes to make yourself feel better (are you TRYING to get members here ripped off?). Nobody in their right mind would pay anything near $8xx for an E350, the market and manufacturer (by incentives and allowance to let go for) has priced that car drastically lower.

If the Vin in the Email I JUST posted up (I've posted "hundreds" of those loaded-Camry-priced E350's this year) is for a car that sold in Sept then that just further proves that it DOES NOT apply to "one car". That is what they are willing to let E350's go for, period. There is no "one car" on the lot. The game is that you come in for that deal, they say "that car sold", and then it's up to you to attain the listed deal, and it is ALWAYS attainable.

You trying to convince yourself that E350's aren't leasing in the $300's with little to moderate drive off might make you sleep better, but it is far from reality, and isn't doing a service to members here. I guarantee if I was in the market for one, I could attain the listed deal on the Email I posted, or even better if I wait until closer to the end of the year.

K-A

Don't forget that this year M-B might finally regain the "U.S Luxury Sales title" for the first time in several years due to the most extensive product rollout and product expansion they've ever done in a years time, so they will do WHATEVER it takes to clinch that as BMW will probably start to get more aggressive than usual to try and continue their own "U.S Luxury Sales Crown" (BMW still lead worldwide by a large margin), therefore you'll see more and more insane deals on C/E Classes especially. That's something that can surely be used to customers advantages.

Gentlemen's bet: By the end of the year, I predict we'll see at least 1-2 members here report 30% off on E350's.

GregTR

"Almost" being the operative word. I have yet to see anyone listing "over" which is by your own statement is the "bare minimum" of a discount you would consider on an E-sedan.

I don't know how else to put it, but you just suck at math. Let me break it down for you: $800x60=$48,000. So the chances are pretty good if you financed an E-class your payments will be over $800.

I'm pretty certain you have a serious issue with numbers, math and logic in general, I sure hope you're not an engineer or an attorney. You must be an artist. Currently there are about 11k E350s in dealer inventory. You posted at best a handful "One at this price" deals from the west coast and you immediately made the sweeping generalization that this applies to all states and all vehicles in dealer inventory. I'm willing to bet it doesn't. And not because buyers are suckers but because it would simply be financially impossible to maintain for any dealer to stay in business.

Again, you're using generalization without actual numbers. You're throwing out random numbers with complete disregard to what it really takes to get to those numbers. Define "little to moderate". $3k might sound little to you but it makes a $100+ difference on a 27 month lease which immediately moves your lease from the $300s to the $400s. What was that lease payment on your E350 again?


By "whatever" do you mean selling over 5k cars to dealer loan fleets in December like BMW did last year? Given that MB is in the lead by over 5k cars in the US right now I really don't think they need to succumb to that kind of tactic to get the title. I for one couldn't care less which Luxury manufacturer is in the lead, I'm not buying the car for the image, I'm as brand agnostic as one can get.

I'll make a payment on your lease for every person who can post a verifiable cash deal they made for a new untitled 2014 E350 with less than 100 miles sold in December that was 30% below MSRP without USAA, ABA or AMA membership or fleet discount. Put your money where your mouth is! Talk is cheap. And you sure talk a lot... BTW my payment is way more than $800, just a fair warning...