francotse

Now I have access to the following...

1.Costco Auto
2.Penfed
3.Truecar
4.Edmund

Are there any differences between fleet discount and incentive discount?

Thanks.

fabbrisd1

Of your list - PenFed

For your info Costco "discount" is not a national MB program..

Dalema

What is the Penfed deal? You have Penfed but not USAA?

fabbrisd1

Non-Military/non-Gov, etc - can join Penfed with $15 membership is a associated non-profit such as VoicesForTheTroops - see PenFed membership page.. can be smart move for some..

Mercedes program discounts (like USAA, Penfed) are based on month of delivery - so "what's the USAA/PenFed discount for a MY15 delivered in September is a moot point - Mercedes programs are generally set 4th/5th day of that month.

Keep the beat !

fq1

Thanks, FAB. What does the delarship need to prove one has Penfed? I am a member but don't know how to get the discount.

fabbrisd1

The PenFed paperwork can be done at the dealership at time if delivery as long as you have online access to your acct.

PkB2014

One caveat of getting the PenFed deal is that you have to have been a PenFed member for at least 6 months.

thenew3

Can anyone share what past PenFed discounts has been for MB?

I can join PenFed if the discounts are substantial compared to what one would get with costco or just your own negotiation skills.

Thanks

jgc650i

According to PenFed, members get "up to" a $4,500 discount on MB vehicles thru the car buying service, but they also say you have to be a member for at least 1 year before being eligible. Separately, they do offer pretty competitive financing rates if you're purchasing and have frequent "limited time" rate reduction specials. I got a 0% financing rate with them when I bought my GL earlier this year.

thenew3

The MB fleet disscount (according to mbusa.com) on a GL is $2k, so I assume the Penfed is either $2k or less. Is that in addition to whatever other incentives and negotiations we can do ourselves? i.e. do we go in and negotiate a price, then once agreed upon by the dealer, then get them to add the $2k fleet discount for Penfed on top of the previously negotiated price?

My wife is a DOD employee so we can sign up for penfed if it will get us additional discounts to whatever we can do on our own.

as far as financing, I usually get it from my credit union (DCU) which often offers 0.99% or current 1.24% for 65 months on new or used.

Does the Penfed/USAA and other fleet discounts apply only to purchased vehicles or does it also apply for lease?

Thinking about leasing a 2015 GL350 or 450.

Our family may be outgrowing our E-wagon soon.

Dalema

The USAA (and I believe Penfed) incentive are on top of whatever you can best negotiate. You can tell the dealer at the end. On a lease it can be applied to the cap cost.

Penfed has 0.00% financing for up to 36 months currently.

Would be interesting to know, from someone in the know, what the current USAA / Penfed incentive is on the GLs.

fabbrisd1

USAA members can configure in their online access - PenFed members can call PenFed.. USAA discount and PenFed discount can be different - and again, "incentive discount" is based on month of delivery and specific model..

symple84

Can the PenFed deal and the Amex car buying service be combined?

baldmike73

right now USAA incentive is 2K off - i used the USAA car buying option it in the past and it saved me 5K - but you can blend the 2K + loyalty accelerator

fabbrisd1

Just to clarify - using USAA as a example - the USAA "discount" is $2000 off MSRP for a 2014 GL delivered in July.. which is the maximum USAA discount on the 2014 GL since introduction last Fall..

USAA discount for a particular month are set at the begiining of that month - and are based on month of delivery.

A MB dealer is under no obligation to write-up a purchase for a USAA member above/beyond the USAA discount for that month - if a dealer chooses to dip below - then that's their goodwill to that customer, or aggressive price competition in their particular market with other MB dealers.

Keep the beat !

fq1

FAB, this is a bit different from the way it works with BMW. With BMW you negotiate your price with the dealer. Once that price is agreed to, you tell him you also get the USAA discount which then reduces the previously agreed to price by the USAA discount for that month. It kind of works as if the USAA discount is a "coupon" that is added on top of any price one negotiates. I am not sure who compensates the dealer for that "coupon" but I would imagine it's BMW NA. Are you saying the Mercedes USAA discount does not work like that an that the dealer is not obligated to give the USAA "coupon" discount to the customer?

JimBarnhart

I think he's just trying to say beware that if you order a vehicle your discount isn't determined until you complete the purchase (i.e. when the vehicle arrives and you do the paperwork).

I used a fleet discount on mine, had to wait 3 months for delivery. Luckily it hadn't changed by the time it arrived and I got $3K off. It went to $2K a few months later and has been there ever since.

The only time I have seen my fleet discount denied was when the dealer had some special incentive on a vehicle and he couldn't combine that with my fleet. I don't think my dealer was playing a game with me, if the system doesn't allow it, they can't do it. Since there are no special incentives on GLs, that wouldn't apply here.

Dalema

I agree on that point.

However, when I did this (and maybe it has changed) the discount was almost separate to the transaction with the dealer. I negotiated the price and at the end noted I had the USAA discount of around $4,000 (less now) and that amount came off the negotiated price.

They told me that discount was between the manufacturer and myself (but applied to the purchase) so if there was an issue with the paperwork that would be my problem - I guess that's why they didn't care about it during the negotiation.

Has that changed now?

cincy8

I used USAA and was told it was off MSRP. The dealer offered no other discounts but did give me weathertech mats for the whole car. This was within the first year of the model release.

The dealership did not honor the usaa options prices which would have saved me another $1,000 or more. I neglected to clarify that up front and it was too late when I took delivery. I'm not sure how that should have worked and will investigate that up front next time.

You can get usaa finance discount by using car buying but I find their rates deceptive. I've never gotten the advertised rate because they say I have too much credit because of my unused credit limits even though I have little month to month debt and excellent rating. It cost me 2% more.

gaogi

Question: I'm listed as a joint account holder with my sister for Penfed. When I log in to the Penfed Mercedes program site, it would only show the main account holder's name. Can I take advantage of the Penfed program as a joint account holder? My name is listed on the statements.

nickv

Hi guys, I'm close to buying a GL550 for my wife and would appreciate some clarification on the Penfed process. Is the Penfed discount in addition to what I negotiate? If so, how should I approach the situation? Negotiate and then inform the dealer of my additional discount? Thanks in advance!

thenew3

I would like to know as well. I've called a few dealers and got conflicting information. Some say the Penfed fleet discount is in place of any other discount, while others say it is on top of any other discounts you negotiate.

Would like to hear from anyone that has used the penfed fleet discount what your experience is.

fabbrisd1

Let me be frank - and in this case GL350's are in limited supply - and MB corp does not need to give any additional dealer incentives to move thru planned production for the balance of this calendar year - and in national scope about EVERY dealer will be able to sell their allocation on this particular model. However, every dealer has monthly and quarterly "new units sold goals" from MB that represent earned margin on total new unit sales.

1) Although I have not seen this happen - yet - any dealer has the option to not accept MB "fleet" program discounts on a particular vehicle - think of a $2K fleet discount in in this example as being $1000 of that $2000 back to the dealer from MB, and the other $1000 coming off the dealer's original gross

2) Whether a dealer offers additional "discount" above/beyond the "fleet discount" is their choice - as best said, you can negotiate the very best deal you can - then pull out your "fleet" discount - it will be that dealers choice whether to accept "fleet" on top of your negotiated discount or not. When "ordering to build" if you sign a agreement with your best negotiated price - it is not honorable, or acceptable - to pull out the "fleet discount" on delivery and "expect" it to be honored on top - it is still that dealer's "choice" on final total discount.

nickv

Fab, thanks for your insight. Is the same true for the GL550?

fabbrisd1

Yes, I am not trying to bring up a obstacle - with production availability - the dealer has their own choice whether they add are willing to add a additional discount beyond a fleet "discount"