Hi Everyone!

I need some advice...it's been a while since I bought a car. I was looking at an Audi A6 and a ML350 both 2013 models. I'm probably going to go the ML350 route. So I asked for a quote and the rep came back with a 4% discount from total sales price after all of my options. He said that MB was offering a 4% discount on all 2013 fatory orders. Total sales price came out to be arround 64K. How much can I negotiate? Here's what I priced out from the website....

 

I shopped a lot for an 2012 ML550 before I decided to wait for the 2013, and shopped all up and down the West Coast.

I haven't heard of that 4% factory order discount....but one thing for sure, you should be able to do a lot better. Around 7% is typically invoice price, and I hear most deals are done around there or about $1000 below. Edmunds.com is typically a good source of invoice pricing, but not sure they have 2013 yet.

Costco, AMEX, and AAA all have good discount programs, but the advice about those are in this article is probably pretty sound, that is, you can probably do better by negotiating with the Fleet manager:
http://www.kenrockwell.com/mercedes/best-deal.htm

However, I don't think Costco and other 2013 discount pricing is available yet, but should be by the time your car comes in. I found the Costco discount to be different from dealership to dealership, anywhere from $500 to $1,500 off an ML2012.

USAA has historically given the best deal, that is if your a military vet or close relative (i.e., spouse or child). They're the best since they give the dealer an actual cash rebate.

Also, you should ask about the Conquest rebate if you own another Luxury brand car, or the Loyalty rebate if are a current MB owner.

If you finance via MB, I've heard that spiff the dealership about $300, so mentioning that upfront could help them give you a greater discount.

These discussion pages on Edmunds.com about buying experiences could also be helpful: http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.eea4717!make=Mercedes-Benz&model=M-Class&ed_makeindex=.eea4717

CarWoo.com is also an interesting site, where you can get blind bids on your configuration. The best deal I got there for an 2012 ML550 was 9.1% under invoice (which included Conquest of $1000). For 2013, the best deal was $1000 under invoice.

Good luck and let us know how your negotiations are progressing.

I just put in an order for an ML550 nicely loaded. The dealer has promised to match any deal I can find out there when it finally comes in sometime in October. And I've warned them that I'm expecting at least $1,500 under invoice...which was the best deal I was offered by another dealer on a similarly equipped 2012 under the Costco program.

 

Thanks so much for taking the time to send me this....really apreciate it! How do you find out what the Invoice price is? Consumer reports has this offer where you can get a pricing report on new cars but all I could find on the ML350 was the 2012.

 

Its not fool proof and does not included loyalty or conquest cash but to get invoice or close to it take 93% of MSRP.

 

carsolutions.com does have invoice pricing for 2013 M-class. It would be a good deal if you can get 2013 M at around invoice before incentives from MBusa.

The deal you can get is also highly dependent on where you live, and how many dealerships are nearby.

 

you guys are awesome....thanks so much! Back to researching....

 

There are a number of sources, but I'm told Edmunds.com tends to be the most accurate.

Here's a complete directory someone assembled: http://autopedia.com/html/MfgVhl.html

However, since MB just recently announced 2013 pricing, not sure if or when invoicing pricing will be available online.

Also, if you are a current MB car owner financed through MB Financial, the Loyalty Accelerator program could be helpful:
http://www.estatemotors.mercedesdeal...erator-program

 

Thanks Ca92129! http://www.carsolutions.com does indeed have the invoice pricing when you build a 2013. Although some options are missing, like Active Curve System and the rear lockable compartment that I ordered with my MY13 ML550.

I went ahead and price out my config as close as I could, substituting the off-road system for the missing Active Curve. It calculated MRSP at
$81,625 and invoice at $75,976.

The difference between invoice and MRSP and is about 7.3%, or about $5,649.

I hear that MB dealers typically have a 3% holdback that MB gives them to offset the cost of holding inventory. But that 3% becomes all profit when you order it. So, even if the dealer sells the car to me at invoice, they'd still make $2,448. That's probably how one dealer justified offering me a $1,500 below invoice price when I was looking to order an 2012 a few months ago.

Ca92129 is also very correct about your deal can vary, depending about where you are looking to buy it and the number of area dealers. For example, Portland, Oregon is probably the worst, since the only two MB dealers in the area are both owned by the same company. So, they know they have a captive audience. Whereas in Orange County or Los Angeles, Calfornia, there are several within a 45 minute drive in any direction, including one of the largest MB dealers in the country, and they naturally compete with one another. Depending upon where you live, it might be worth buying it from a far-off dealer and having it shipped. I think CarWoo could help with that, since they submit your bids x amount of distance from your location that can extend out pretty far.

 

Just a word of warning - I just went to carsolutions.com and used their configurator to build a ML63 to compare to the actual order that I have from this past weekend. Their configurator is incorrect in both the options available and pricing for the ML63. It looks like it treats every model like a ML350 but I didn't dig too much into it. MSRP on the ML63 ending up being > $10k more than what I see on my order sheet because it had the wrong option codes.

 

Remember to add in that annoying "processing fee" at the end which averages typically an extra $500.00!