So my dealer is getting a 1 month old 2014 GL450 with a few thousand miles, it's specced out exactly how I would order it. My problem is they are asking only $800 what the car stickered at. This seems ridiculous, I realize it's only 1 month old but it is still a used car. What would would you guys offer for this? The sticker was $79,500.

 

My best offer would be new car invoice which is about 7 % discount off msrp I would start even lower. You can buy new 450 close to invoice specially if you find one in stock or if you're costco member and can get fleet discounts

 

it's a used car, pick your favorite blue book (NADA, KBB, etc) and see what it says for retail price. Then decided if you want to offer that or below.

I bought a dealer demo one time. I said I'm willing to negotiate on whatever terms they want, but they are going to be the same terms. We can do auction price on my trade, but then we'll do auction price on the dealer demo. We can do blue book on both, heck I'd prefer we both negotiate at original sticker. I'd love to get sticker on my 7 year old used truck as much as you'd like to get sticker on your used truck. It really set the tone, and we agreed to start from blue book.

 

With it being a 2014 using a blue book doesn't work, it's too new.

 

Their asking price would be whatever the general manager wants at that time, that day or that week since their last sales meeting. If you put a serious offer on the table, it will go up the management chain of command and see if anyone salutes.

If this is a recent trade and it's the only one they have to sell, well, that makes it the prize and they have many, many customers, so they have to go through their market, not take the first offer. If you've already expressed interested in ordering and waiting, you're a new car order and they don't want to poach you (rob Peter to pay Paul.) If you wait and the car sells, either someone paid too much or you didn't find a way to bring the price to your number. If you wait, time is on your side. Every passing Saturday is money in your pocket in negotiating the price. If you wait till say end of March, don't let them tell you end of calendar month is unimportant -- every business runs on monthly accounting and they want that number to be as good right now as possible ... someone will get fired or miss a bonus, so it's serious and selling an $80K used car is a real factor in their numbers.

If they have five of 'em on the lot, that's a different story. Maybe is 6 months, it will be a different story, but right now,autotrader says there's 30 cars on lots in the whole of the San Francisco Bay Area + 100 miles radius . That might not seem relevant to you, but all these dealers will be using the auction block on a car that has sat on their lot for 30 or 60 days, so they know that wholesale number is their "floor" in the market for this car (and that's a bit above what they paid the customer on paper as a trade-in ... that's what they've "got in" the car.) If Manheim or one of the other auction vendors has ten of these passing over their block in a month, the dealers know it's a buyer's market. If there's barely one or three here and there, maybe, month to month, then the supply and demand favors the seller. Hence nonsense like taking $800 off MSRP for a used $80K car. I'm guessing that's their opening asking price and they will be ready to sit on it for 30 days.

Just don't take that deal, it's not good business. If you like the car and it checks out and you can tack on wheel and tire warranty, dealer pre-paid service or some other nice-to-have's and offer $70K, you put a deal on the table and you advise them that you're no longer a new car buyer, and you're shopping around for a used SUV in this price range, probably a 2012 Range Rover Supercharged or other marque, not another MG like a 164 or G Class ... they'll just go searching to compete for that business and play a shuffle game till you tire and just buy one to end the pain. : ) Just make it clear there aren't too many used GL's out there, so you're not coming back if you don't get this one.

I just don't see the point in paying the premium when you can order a new one, get a 5% discount (at least, I got more like 7% and some freebies) and get the car as you the first owner and the lease leverage, etc.

If you want a used one, shop around autotrader and similar sites. They're out there. Avoiding the dealer altogether would make more sense to me -- having bought used cars, I think I learn a lot more about the car by one look at the private seller than by thumbing through documents of a car that nobody at the dealership will really know anything about, much less be willing to be held to their word.

Whatever you do, given the number of defects in the X164, be sure to drive it thoroughly until you're confident it's a good one, then have it inspected at least for panel damage and to examine its service history.

 

I don't know if this helps, but I was looking at a 2013 GL450 this past December also. The sticker was $79420, had 5,400 miles on it, and was used for the US Open tournament here in NY. Dealer was selling the car as new, but had discounted it $10,200 plus the fleet incentive I was getting.

If its used, you can get them to discount it significantly as they probably bought it real cheap. However, if its dealer demo or manager's car, he's not going to discount it much because that represents a loss on dealership perks I guess, not sure but that's what I've noticed.

 

And remember - it's just a game!


The dealer wants to make his profit all over again, and if the market is there for him, as the other poster says, he will.


I bought mine on the last day of the month and they were very keen to book the sale, but each case is different.

 

Thanks for the advice. Can I ask what dealership you were able to order from and get a 7% discount?

 

Not knowing where you are located makes this all a dart board - since availability/"competitiveness" is based on dealer proximity to each other.

Frankly, "most" dealers have open/changeable production slots for mid-April if you act quickly to spec/order a new/new 2014 exactly the way you want it.

A pre-owned GL450 - one key here has to do if the asking price includes Mercedes CPO warranty or not - as compared to your ownership/driving intention.

CPO frankly is the most cost-effective "added" warranty coverage - adding one year - so in this case you would warranty length (46/47 + 12) = 58/59 months - on mileage the new car warranty is capped at 50K miles and the added 1yr CPO is "unlimited" miles for that year.

The comp "value" to you of the added CPO coverage on top is based on ownership/mileage intention.

A "few thousand" miles in one month - kindof interesting - since "few thousand" can be interpreted.

CPO warranty will NOT cover "goodwill" items like interior trim - it will cover all major system including electronics - under recent rewrite of the CPO struts are now considered "consumables" - so where new car warranty will cover airmatic struts, the "new" CPO does not..

Overall - for a 5yr buy/hold, or if you intend to drive over 12K miles per year - for most folks if the rig will have CPO or not is a value consideration.

I have seen some dealers not add CPO on extremely briefly held/ultra-low mile 2014's - however you might prefer CPO - and once CPO is "issued" it cannot be pulled back.

There is also a case for slightly more miles - like 8K-10K - since at that plateau tires can be subject to replacement, depending on wear, to meet CPO specs - which have dropped a tad to higher wear factor - but FYI the 2nd set of fresh rubber will last longer than 1st set.

If you want to "play" a bit - the Mercedes Protection Package - interior and exterior - is one add-on you might consider to discuss with negotiation. That DuPont product has come a far way, interior and exterior, with 5yr "life" with no reapplication. Especially with lighter interior and "denim" bleed in recent years.

Keep the beat !

 

Fletcher Jones.

 

Fletcher Jones in California?