Just curious what type of discounts people have been able to negotiate recently. In particular for the 580.

A dealer showed me an invoice pricing sheet and it was less than 5% off of MSRP, which I find very hard to believe. I asked for 10% off for a car that is on the lot. I was subsequently offered 5% off, but it just wasn’t enough, especially in this environment.

I’m really curious how much other people have been able to negotiate off of MSRP, regardless of trim.

 

I guess it depends where you are. I’m in suburban Baltimore and got 10% off including 3 years of maintenance, 0% financing and an additional $750 off the first payment from MB financing. That was at the height of the COVID panic when the dealers were limited to the number of customers in the showroom at any one time. The inventory may have been depleted as the factories just recently opened up which may explain more demand than supply. I know there were some states where the showrooms were shut down completely so they may still be offering better deals.

 

May I ask for what trim?

 

Curious to understand what you mean by "in this environment"? GLEs have been delayed for many months even prior to the COVID slowdown. The assembly line was shut down afterwards and hasn't recovered yet.
With that, there is essentially very limited supply of MY2020 GLEs for the past year at this point. Demand was probably very high prior to COVID, and I imagine is considerably decent still today.
From my perspective you have a very limited supply with somewhat considerable demand. With that, there is no incentive for the Dealer to sell you a highly discounted vehicle.

 

That’s understandable, especially considering this is an all-new model. Production is always slow to gain traction as a new model roles out. However, regardless, it doesn’t hide the fact that car sales have plunged off of the proverbial cliff and we’re staring down what will likely be the biggest recession since the Great Depression.

 

Yeah, what did you get? 350, 450, 580? What?
My 580 order just got bumped to a 2021 and we haven’t confirmed a price between the dealer and I yet.

 

GLE 350, ventilated seats, premium package, pano sunroof, 20” wheels. Really wanted a 450 & had reservations about the 350. Car was on the lot, 10% off including maintenance for 3 years plus 0% financing & another $750 rebate. I couldn’t wait; needed to take what I could get. Not unhappy at all with the 350.

 

It’s anyone’s guess but the recession might not be felt as much by a lot of Mercedes buyers except in their stock portfolio. Some small businesses will close. The difficulty getting production lines back to full capacity and pending orders might offset any reduced demand. And like bad habit said, there has been a shortage of GLE’s and delayed orders for a year....the 450’s in particular. My dealer has never had a 450 hit stock, they sell before arrival.
If you aren’t fussy about the Dealer shopping around is one way to check pricing.

 

The recession may not be felt as much by a Mercedes buyer, but there's no question it's hitting the dealerships, if only because people simply don't want to interact with with them right now. We've been looking at an Audi Q8 to replace my wife's Lexus RX 350 and there's one particular vehicle we like that has been on the lot at our local dealership for more than 2 months.

MB is still trying to meet previous orders, but that pent-up demand will eventually diminish.

 

It’s easy to assume that since you or I can still afford this car, that all other “Mercedes buyers” are equally as unaffected and/or can or is even willing to buy one regardless of the circumstances. I think there’s some bias in that assumption and I personally don’t believe that.

While I don’t want to go too off subject, this is an unprecedented situation, an unorthodox economic phenomena that doesn’t have too many parallels in our time. While the brunt of the early economic impacts have surely affected lower-wage employees more than anyone else—as is often the case with economics—the initial, narrowly-focused impacts slowly start to trickle out and affect others. I hate to use this term, but “trickle-up recession” is as good as any and it’s only a matter of time before “white-collar” sectors start feeling the pinch, if not already so.

Still hoping others can share their discounts and prices paid.

 

Nothing to do with what I can afford.
You make a decent argument for some future time but it’s still supply vs demand and for the most part supply is limited. If you posted your location you might get more meaningful responses. Large car markets with more competition seem to offer the best pricing....SoCal for example.
I got more than 5% over a year ago using pricing offered by another dealer on a custom order.

 

I'm in south-central Pennsylvania. Got the car mid March, just before everything went crazy. I got 5% off of the sticker and a fairly generous trade allowance on my old car. Might have done a little better if I'd have taken time to shop around the Baltimore or DC area but the local dealer actually had one in the color I wanted. The Mojave Silver seems to be kinda rare,,,

 

Mojave silver is beautiful, What color is the interior? Enjoy!

 

 

5% off was the best I was offered too when I was shopping pre-crisis.

That said, I don't think you will get 10% right now. At that price they would be losing money or making no money. Typically a Mercedes dealer has 6% in margin above the invoice line, and then maybe an additional 2-3% in other forms of margin.

I would imagine you may get 10% on units that have high stock levels and are slow to move like the GLE350. But beyond invoice discounts on the GLE450 and 580 would be unlikely at this point.

Generally I don't think car dealers are desperate now. First of all Mercedes is funding the inventory so they have no incentive to sell at a loss. Second the factory closure makes them a bit cautious about unloading vehicles quickly at a loss. While demand is down, so is supply. I think when you will see big discounts on new 2020 cars will be starting in August. Used car discounts are a different story.

 

Right but I recall you posting you got a GLE350. Dealers have a lot more of those in inventory and a lot more aged inventory on the 350.

 

Exactly.

 

Crap......you mean I lost out on 3 years of free maintenance?

 

Black interior. My last few cars had light colored interiors and I was ready for a change.

 

Interesting discussion - the major impact of COVID at this moment - with factory closure/very-partial-reopening due to supply chain issues - there are very new SUV's being delivered to dealers..

Now that "most" dealer's in "most areas" are back-to-business - for the GLE that you really-want-to-have - in that viewpoint inventory is quite tight.

Overall at all Dealer's New Car Financing from MBFS is good - Dealer Discounts to the Customer are a bit tighter than earlier in the year..

 

Recently leased GLE 450. Northern California dealers have tons of GLE 350's but very few 450's. It's my first MB. I have taken MB SUV test drives in the past every time I purchased or leased a new vehicle, and MB was nice but not worth the higher price to me. Same thing this time when I drove the GLE 350, but when I drove the GLE 450 I fell in love with the ride and handling and decided to take the plunge (and expense) to move up. I used "True Car" in the past to get discounts, similar to the Costco Auto program, usually about 4% below MSRP is typical. True Car referred me to a dealer almost an hour away and that's where I drove the GLE 450. Local dealer very close to me had no 450's, just lots of 350's. I think it's the extra acceleration of the electric boost in the 450 plus the electronic dampening of the standard 450 suspension that caught my attention. Anyway, after the test drive I found an old friend retiring from MB and he had a spare friends and family discount voucher that should have given me 12.5% off MSRP. The dealer said 450's are so rare they typically get several $K over MSRP. That is when I should have walked away, and shopped other dealers, definitely a red flag. I did my home work prior to this and knew that 450's were not plentiful and none in a several hundred mile radius were exactly what I was looking for. Bottom line, I got 7.5% off MSRP when I should have gotten at least 12.5 off MSRP, but the one they had in stock was probably closer to what I wanted than anything else within a 400 mile radius.. Ideally I'd rather pay for the driver assistance package, comfort seats (massage), and acoustic comfort package instead of the 3rd row seats and running boards that I did get (and pay for). Overall I'm VERY happy with the vehicle, but need to brush up on my negotiating skills next time and be ready to walk away. If I had walked away and ordered the vehicle equipped to my precise preference I would have to wait 3-4 months and probably pay the same price (more options but bigger discount), but get the vehicle I really want.
The vehicle I got has AMG exterior trim, but not the night package. IMO, night package only worth getting on a black paint exterior color. I have the Espresso Brown interior (MB Tex) and light grey headliner with natural walnut wood trim which gives a nice warm feel to the interior and the light grey headliner keeps the interior from being too dark. The sunshade on the panoramic sunroof is also a nice touch to get extra light without getting fried in the bright sun. Premium package is essential. Ventilated seats help to take the scorch out of a hot day in the sun, but don't actually have coolant/refrigeration. The seats are incredible compared to the Jeep Grand Cherokee Summit I was driving. I see occasional reports of thieves stealing catalytic converters, but personally I think there would be a bigger black market for stolen seats from this vehicle. I drove a 580 with Airmatic suspension and was not overly impressed that it was worth the extra expense, but it may be worthwhile if you do offroad driving or tow large objects/trailers. I did not get a chance to drive the E-Active Body Control suspension

 

Congrats on your 450. If you used an MBDEAL Control Number, they have to give you the full 12.25 off, they should have signed the certification letter indicating so.

 

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Any new inputs here? 53? 580? 63?
Still wanting a 580 and dang they are proud of them, even the used ones.

 

I was only able to get about $2,000 off my 580 that I just picked up August after placing my order in early March. $87,575 MSRP and I got it for $85,500. ($500 USAA discount and $1,500 from dealer). At least where I am there don’t seem to be many 580s around so they aren’t willing to deal too much it seems.