hotinaz

I just can't wait until tomorow so tonight i stopped by the dealer and put the order in.
A couple questions:
1. My dealer asked for $5k deposit per car , is that the same everywhere?
2. Why do they need to do credit check if you just gonna pay it cash upfront?

I posted netstar configuration on the S class forum.
What i know for 09 GL550.
1. It has exclusive leather option: charchoal, beige/tan, and ash
2. It has heated and ventilated front seat option
3. Standard keyless Go.

Can't wait

MB Fanatic

1. $5K seems a bit high. I only paid a $500 in a refundable deposit.
2. As for the credit check, some dealers seem to be doing it and some don't.

cjh.

Congrats!
As for the deposit...5K seems very high. I only put down $500 for the last two MBs...
Regardless...good luck, and congrats.

MB Fanatic

Tell your dealer that dealers in California are only doing $500 deposits per vehicle, but that these cars are going at invoice regardless of year.

bkdewitte

Hotinaz, which color did you chose inside/outside?
Did they tell you anything about the rims? I would not be surprised if they put the new 09 ML63 kinda rims on the car...

congrats

MB Fanatic

The color is Black, 040 = Black. As for the interior color, I can't recall if thats Chacoal or not. But I think his interior is Charcoal.

Danno4x4

Hot,

I am assuming you are in Arizona... Me too. Which dealer did you place your order through? There are only 5 in the state, including Tucson...

Reason I ask... Schumacher is who I bought from, they matched the price of the lowest dealer... And my deposit was only 500 bucks... Back in 2007. Its up to the dealership to set the deposit at their discression and in addition, the GM can waive it completely.

The only reason I can think of regarding the deposit (which is usually fully refundable even if you cancel the day the vehicle arrives) is that big SUVs are really on the outs with consumers right now... They want to make sure that you are serious, because otherwise they are stuck with a slow selling vehicle on their lot... Yep, even GL 550 sales are hurting due to the price if fuel right now. This might be a sign that you can wheel and deal for a vehicle on their lot right now... Lots of dealers and manufacturers are giving riduculous incentives to buy their SUVs...

For example GM is offering 6K factory incentives for regular gas Tahoes and 4K for the Tahoe Hybrid. That is off of your final negotiated price.

Regarding the credit check... That is also another discressionary thing... They don't need to run your credit... I told my dealer this and they were fine... As it turns out, they REALLY wanted me to consider financing or leasing even though told them I would be paying cash... They get really healthy kick backs from the banks for financing vehicles.

Based on that, either they may get something of a kick back for providing your credit info to the bank, OR, they intend to try to sell you on financing, OR, its another tactic for weeding out the serious buyers from the non-serious buyers...

I would tell them to pack sand regarding the credit report, and that you will offer them 500 deposit or take your order to the next dealer in town, either that or work a great deal on a 550 off of the lot.

hotinaz

Hi Danno,
It's MB of Chandler. Do you mind telling me who's your salesperson was?
I went to Schumacher and was help by a guy name George Limbert and he has that take it or leave it attitude and only willing to give me 1500 of MSRP on the 09. So I just walked out.

hotinaz

Which dealer are you reffering to?
I live in California a week out of a month, so I have no problem purchasing the vehicle there.
Mind telling me your sales person/ dealer no?

hotinaz

Its supposed to be Black on Exclusive beige/tan leather, but since mbfanatic said it's charchoal , I will check back with them tomorrow.
About the rims, the don't have anything yet as we speak. I'm assuming it will be the same as the 08.

LEOSOPHIE

Paid $1000.00 deposit by credit card and had to do credit application the day of delivery as I handed over the cash payment.

Danno4x4

Sure thing... His name is George Toly... One of the most professional salespeople I have ever worked with in buying a car... Super great guy. Tell him that Dan with the GL and and Subaru sent you... I bought both cars from him last year.

I did my homework before buying the GL and got price quotes from MB Chandler, Schumacher, Phoenix Motor, MB Tucson, MB Albuquerque, and MB Vegas. Schumacher matched the lowest price.

dgt1031

what price did you guys pay for the 09 gl550?

hotinaz

Price hasn't come out yet, my deal is whatever the price will be, it's 500 over the dealer invoice. Which is 7% off MSRP

DaCeptak0n

I only put $500 refundable deposit myself and that was over a year ago. Maybe dealers are starting to see a duck and run trend with cars too, (like the housing market)?!

ffayad

I Live in California and bought my GL from Mercedes of Chandler in Arizona. They ofered me an unbeatable deal. Michael Woods is my agent and he was very helpful and courteous and on top of things. My drive was about 5 hours which i gladly did.

Danno4x4

Thats actually a helluva deal... Maybe they are hoping to make a little bit of extra cash from selling your name to some pre-approved credit organization, or trying to get you to finance... or maybe a little bit on the float from the 5K deposit that you are giving them...

I wasn't anywhere close to that at Schumacher... And MB Chandler was even worse than that.

hotinaz

I contacted Schumacher today and George Toly wasn't in so they transfered me to the fleet mgr. Guess what... they beat Chandler price and willing to go for invoice with only 1000 deposit.
Here is my dilemma, I feel bad for my sales guy at chandler MB or should I not?
I mean he came on his day off yesterday to meet me and stayed untill almost closing time to give me a test drive on the S. What's your thought?

StevethePilot

Is this at PMC? Who'd you work with?

Stumblefoot

Personally, I'm old fashioned. If you made a deal and shook on it, then you should keep your end of the bargain. I'm sure plenty of folks will disagree with me, but you should do your negotiating up front, not after you reach an agreement with a seller.

However, you might let them know that you only want to put $1,000 down on the deposit. That seems plenty fair.

Urabus

In the big picture of things, $500 isn't a significant amount compared to the total cost of the vehicle. It might be worth sticking with the original deal because the good will between you and the salesperson might come in handy when you bring your car in for servicing. That's what I would probably do.

That being said, they requested the $5000 precisely to try to discourage people from backing out. If you already paid it, that meant that you were OK with it. It would be strange to ask for some of it back. But if you haven't paid it yet or that $500 is important to you, you could simply walk away and never return to that dealership, ever .

Danno4x4

I was actually over at Schumacher yesterday picking up some parts. I also looked for George, but he was off yesterday... If you end up going with Schumacher, I would highly advise you do the transaction with George T. he is the kind of guy you can come back to over and over in the future with any issues or problems and he will bend over backward to help you resolve them... Not all sales folks will do this for a customer for whom they have to do additional work, but that are not immediately resulting in additional income.

So, on to your dilemma... A couple of things to factor in...

1.) Which dealership is more convenient to get your service completed at? Reason I ask is that service managers and advisers tend to be more helpful and flexible if you service the vehicle where you purchased it.

2.) I would not go back to Chandler MB and ask them to match Schumacher's price and terms... I would simply either decide to stay with Chandler and their terms or to cancel your order from Chandler and go with Schumacher... If in the process of cancelling Chandler asks why you are cancelling your order, you can tell them that you still feel that you really aren't getting the best price and terms for the deposit and that you would like to still keep looking. If they ask what you need from them, you can tell them invoice and 1K deposit... But I would not mention that you are playing Chandler and Schumacher off of each other, that will just tick them off.

3.) A deal is not a true deal until the car arrives and you have signed the papers and payed them for it... For example, if you were financing the car instead of paying cash, you cannot lock your rate in and your payment in now and you cannot qualify for the loan now. They will tell you your rate and payment when the car arrives, based on that you can still cancel at that time.

The deposit is simply a way for the dealer to weed out serious buyers from non-serious buyers. It is usually fully refundable if you cancel and will directly offset the price of the vehicle when you pay for it...

If you feel that the 5K is unreasonable, tell MB Chandler that you feel this way... Maybe they will refund some of your deposit...

In the end, there are a bunch of factors to consider... But let us know which way you went.

MB Fanatic

Take the deal over at Schumacher. Invoice is the price for these cars, not a penny more IMO. They are still going to make a killing on your sale as it is. Service costs, kickbacks from MBUSA, and other things.