mercnewbie2

Hi guys -

I'm looking to buy my first ever Merc and curious what I should expect in terms of MSRP discount on a custom build. This would be an 2019 E450 4MATIC with almost every option, so MSRP is close to 82,000. I was thinking of expecting no less than 10% off of this price. Is that reasonable or crazy? BTW not sure if this is typically a regional thing but I'm on the mid-atlantic coast.

Thanks for any insight!

suby01

Hello Mercnewbie. Let me tell you my experience with purchasing 3 brand new custom ordered MB's. I am on the east coast so yes the region may play a part. When you mentioned a msrp of 80k and getting a 10% off discount I assume you mean 8k off a brand new factory ordered MB is pretty much IMPOSSIBLE.
These type of discounts can be had with a Chrysler product, where a brand new Ram is 10-12k off msrp depending the time of the year. My relative just purchased a 36k msrp Toyota for 28k. LOL this is not going to happen with a MB. Used or CPO ok sure maybe.

Mercedes 1 dealer 1. - The car was on the lot, with less options than we wanted. Test drove it OK lets talk numbers. What is your best price? The reply was.......The sticker price is the price. After further discussion the sales manager comes up and says best I can do is $200 off the MSRP. We left.
Mercedes 1 the 4th dealer in the state - We were signing papers with a -$500 off of MSRP.

Mercedes 2- based on options selected we were getting $1200 off MSRP that was if the car was in a MB dealer in the states already. And it wasnt so a factory build order ended up with -$900 off MSRP.

Mercedes 3- all dealers in CT were giving a $400 discount off MSRP. I traveled 300+miles out of state to order one and get it for $1800 off MRSP. After time wasted and gas for both cars and mileage put on the brand new car and the car we used to drive up there upon purchase and then upon delivery. The $1800 discount was diminished greatly.

Hope that somewhat helps.

teksurv

Region does play a role, that's true. Having said that I have leased (should not matter) three MBs and have had success in getting 8-17% off MSRP without much work. I am in SoCal, there is a dealer every 20 minutes.

CaptainE

In Arizona and went to all the dealers in the Phoenix region and none offered anything more than 4%.
It was like pulling teeth even to get them to factory order my E450 sedan.

I finally went the European delivery route to get a fixed 7% off, a free hotel and waived destination fee ($950 I think).

wagonsrock

I'm in mid atlantic as well: specifically DC/MD/VA region. I went with European delivery last year for a 7% discount of MSRP. Dealer would not negotiate on that, but if you search threads here (there is on specifically about ED) you can find tips on getting an extra 2-3% on that. Its a pretty good deal if you were planning on vacationing in Europe because they throw in 2 weeks insurance and road tax etc. Great thing about MB is they discount everything, which makes a big difference for a fully loaded car. BMW discount only the base price.
__________________
2018 E400S Sport Styling, Diamond Silver Metallic, Macchiato Beige/Black leather, Macchiato Beige head liner, Natural Grain Black Ash Wood, Heated and Ventilated Front Seats, Acoustic Package; Heated Steering Wheel and Arm Rests, Premium Package 3 (Digital Instrument Cluster, LED Intelligent Lighting Package, Parking Assistance Package, Driver Assistance Package, HUD)

Courthaven

I ordered my 2019 last October and got 8%off MSRP in Baltimore.

There is also an older post on here where several people shared what deals they got that may help you too.

cetialpha5

I believe MB is one of the few manufacturers that doesn't charge the destination fee when doing European deliver which will add a little over 1% more to the standard 7% discount. There's a European delivery subforum and you can just buy the car from one of the vendors mentioned there. I think in the past people have gotten an additional 2-3% off MSRP going to one of the ED dealers so you should be able to get at least 10%+ off. Everything is done by phone, you fly to Europe to pick up the car and have it shipped back to the US after driving around a little. Then you can take your car to the local dealer and it serviced there.

jhpmbusa

What region/state are you in?

lkfoster

We got 5% of on a custom order at a small dealer on the central California coast with very little haggling. Dealers in Phoenix wouldn't budge much.

petee1997

When considering discounts, take into account if dealer is charging for PDI, Doc. fees, wheel locks, security etching etc. Your discount should be calculated after you have eliminated all dealer charges. If the dealer gives you 8% discount but charges an extra 3K in fees, your real discount on a 100K car is only 5%.

ua549

Back in the summer of 2017 I got 6+% discount off MSRP on the E300 in my sig. It offset the sales tax. It was the first MY18 E Class in the area. There were no dealer addons.

madtrader

I got a $6k discount off my 2018 e400 wagon (which was already in stock, not an order). I had a trade-in, so they had some wiggle room to play with to make it sound better than it probably was. I’ve ordered a 2019 e450 wagon and was offered a $2k discount. We’ll see how it winds up in a few weeks.

Frank Rizzo

You are not going to get much off on a custom build. Your much better off burning some time on the internet and searching dealers and negotiating the price on a car that is in stock. Listingallcars.com is probably the best site because they have great filters and you can look nationwide. TrueCar is pretty good from what Ive seen, so depending on what you want - I think their price usually end up being pretty accurate. Dont forget other discounts like USAA or Costco if they are in play - do your research on Edmunds.com under "rebates and incentives".

I went back and forth for about 3 weeks on a 2018 E43 and finally got 11% off MSRP and that ended up only being $5k more than a 2019 C43 custom ordered. #1 tip in car buying: Dont get emotional. It's just a car and you can find another one. I haggled for 3 weeks and my Adviser kept trying to tell me "someone is coming in today to look at it" Pfft. I dont care...I cant tell you how many times Ive seen someone get too emotional about a car and make a rash purchase on the spot only to regret it later because it was not really what they wanted or could afford. The whole point of the test drive/dealership experience is to get you emotional - think of the dealership as a strip joint - bivtices only here to get my money and you'll be fine.

Good luck.

JTK44

Sorry to completely disagree:

As I previously posted, (see thread "Ordered 2019 E450: Money Factor, residual and lease payments")my made to order 2019 E450 had a MSRP of $70,205, plus two years maintenance $890, total $71,095. See below for the equipment on it.

My purchase price, including delivery was $62,042.

That is $9,053 or 12.7% off of MSRP.

On Long Island there there over 15 MB dealer's within a one hour drive all competing for my business.

Whoever says that you cannot get 10% off of MSRP on a custom order Mercedes should try another dealer.

threeMBs

Sorry, ignore.

JTK44

Go to the thread "Ordered 2019 E450: Money Factor, residual and lease payments" which I started for complete details.

Other's members have also set forth similar discounts.

FYIL

A. Lease
B. Not financed leased
C. Yes leased
D. No trade

ua549

IMO if the deal involves a trade it almost impossible to determine the real discount. This is because of the trade-in valuation which can vary greatly depending on perceived condition. Financing can also skew the apparent discount percentage.

The discount I posted above was for a cash deal with no trade.

JTK44

I agree: With a trade in you really do not know what the actual discount is.

Ditto with financing.

I had neither a trade in, my 2019 E450 replaced my 2016 E350 which was coming off lease nor financing.

threeMBs

1. Leasing IS financing (and they know you'll be back).
2. There's zero chance to get 12% off ordered car without financing or trade-in. Zero. They make nothing on it. Nothing. On in stock loaded car I did get 12% off, but they squeezed me on a trade and got all "their" money back when they resold it as CPO.

JTK44

Dear three MBs:

The numbers I posted in the previous thread are actual, so I do not understand what you mean when you say:

I could have purchased the car at $62,042 or leased it: my option.

I took delivery on December 26,2018.

If I ordered a car today I would expect an even greater discount as delivery would not be until end of May/beginning of June and the 2019 model will be over 6 months old.

Again I am in area where there are 15 to 20 MB dealers within 1 hour all competing for my business.

For the aggressive buyer this makes for a buyer's market.

Remember when you order a car, the dealer know's the car is sold, locks in his profit and does not have to worry about floor planning the car until it is sold. Remember cars sitting in inventory costs the dealers a bundle!

The old saying "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!"

Also, this is my second Mercedes from the same dealership so the pricing was extremely aggressive.

FYI, in shopping for my car, I also used Costco and the Costco affiliated dealership, (not my dealership - the one I bought it from) was offering discounts of about 10%.

So yes, you can order a car to your specifications and expect to get 10%, or more, off of MSRP.

ua549

If you lease from MB they'll recoup much of the discount via money factor and other lease costs. A lease is as easy to manipulate as traditional auto financing. Was that $62,042 an out the door price or were there add-ons? I always calculate a discount based on an out the door cost that includes ALL add-ons versus the US Monroney amount plus add-ons. Add-ons can be substantial (>100%) depending on your jurisdiction. For me a percentage discount is meaningless. I don't care about the deal others claim they got. If I like the numbers for my deal I'll write a check.

There is a real estate broker/lender that advertises that they will pay all real estate closing costs whether one is buying or selling. What's the catch? They make it up by adding a few basis points to the financing rate paid by buyers (while remaining competitive with other lenders) or via the real estate commission sellers pay. It is a classic case of you can pay me now or you can pay me later. Car dealers do the same.

JTK44

The point of this thread was “what is a reasonable discount on a custom car?”(see above)

Based on my experience 10% or more.

That discount, actually a bit more, is what I received

While you may not care what percentage discount you get the OP wanted that information - again the purpose of this thread.

Also so while you again might not care what discount (actual dollar amount) others have received- again that is the purpose of this thread.

To to calculate percentage discount you need MSRP and selling price - both of which I provided.

As I posted the price of $62,042 was my price, plus NYS sales tax for either out right purchase or price for the lease.

Only the financicially unsophisticated will permit a dealer to manipulate a lease payment.

There were no add ons or other charges: $62,042 was the price.

allfortheunion

Regarding trade-ins, you can take the car to CarMax to get a written offer from them. That will be based on local wholesale or auction prices, and then you will have a minimum price acceptable from the dealer for your trade-in.

Also I wonder if the date JTK44 took delivery (Dec 26) might have had some effect on his experience, as quarterly and year-end dealership sales numbers can result in a lot of money going from MBUSA to the dealer.

ua549

You must add financing charges to determine the actual discount you received. I prefer to add the tax as well because I look at the bottom line. Lower price = less tax. Tax can vary significantly when the price is reduced below a certain level in some jurisdictions.

dudley07726

depends on your location. You weren’t getting that in Naples Fl. I can see that for a car on the lot, but not a custom order.