Negotiate price on special order?
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Negotiate price on special order?
I'm close to buying a 2018 GLC 350e plug in. To get the options I want, I plan to special order it. I've gone on the MB build site, plugged in what I want, and got a price of $62,470. Since this is a special order, how much wiggle room do I have negotiating a price? I also plan to trade in my 2004 Ford Thunderbird convertible (under 35,000 miles with hardtop). Am I better off negotation a high trade in value for the Tbird, a lower overall price for the GLC (if so, much much), or should I stick with the price, but ask for add ons (maintenance plan, Driver Assistance package, extended warranty)? Thanks!
#2
Junior Member
Ultimately the way any dealer looks at it is: new car - trade in car = total. They're only looking to get that total to be as high an amount as possible.
The Benz dealer is just going to sell on your vehicle, and it adds extra time and complexity to negotiating a trade in as well which means a sales person is less likely to cut you the best deal. I would find somewhere to sell the Tbird separately at a good price, get that deal in place. Then you can just focus on shopping around for the GLC. If you're really after the best deal check out a 3rd party service like http://www.automatchconsulting.com/ who can source vehicles easily at the best prices due to them doing it day-in day-out. Note: I have no link to them and haven't used them, but they have a good reputation.
The Benz dealer is just going to sell on your vehicle, and it adds extra time and complexity to negotiating a trade in as well which means a sales person is less likely to cut you the best deal. I would find somewhere to sell the Tbird separately at a good price, get that deal in place. Then you can just focus on shopping around for the GLC. If you're really after the best deal check out a 3rd party service like http://www.automatchconsulting.com/ who can source vehicles easily at the best prices due to them doing it day-in day-out. Note: I have no link to them and haven't used them, but they have a good reputation.
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mhcdancer (03-07-2018)
#3
It depends on how many allocations your dealer has for the 350e. These cars are hot due to the heavy tax incentives. They can only sell so many of them, and they want to maximize profit on each unit.
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mhcdancer (03-08-2018)
#4
Junior Member
In my experience negotiation on special orders yielded less discount overall vs vehicles already at the dealerships. But there was still some, it wasn't MSRP.
#5
Super Member
I got 6% on a special order GLC300 4W on a special order placed last August. There are those who said I should have negotiated better and there are those who said that I got an excellent deal. I do know that a couple of other dealers merely offered $1000 off. A friend is pondering a GLC350e and was told by the dealer from whom I bought my car that the 350e is on tight allocation and at the moment they were selling at list price. Now that was 3 weeks ago, and my order was 7 months ago. So best to check with several dealerships.
#6
Junior Member
I special ordered my GLC 4matic at the end of November 2017 and received a 9.2% discount off the total price. This transaction was for the new car only. I sold my old ML350 on my own. Total price of my GLC was $50800 and I got it for $46000 even.
#7
Super Member
But it raises the question of what dealers can actually net from these vehicles. It seems that the delta between list and published "invoice" is about 7%. Obviously there are holdbacks and incentives. I was wandering around showroom while having my car serviced when I overheard sales manager quote a salesman on a $100K+ E63 "Quote 'em $1k under."
Meanwhile, the answer seems to be that at least certain vehicles can be special ordered at a discount.
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I'm close to buying a 2018 GLC 350e plug in. To get the options I want, I plan to special order it. I've gone on the MB build site, plugged in what I want, and got a price of $62,470. Since this is a special order, how much wiggle room do I have negotiating a price? I also plan to trade in my 2004 Ford Thunderbird convertible (under 35,000 miles with hardtop). Am I better off negotation a high trade in value for the Tbird, a lower overall price for the GLC (if so, much much), or should I stick with the price, but ask for add ons (maintenance plan, Driver Assistance package, extended warranty)? Thanks!