BruinsBenz

I went to Beverly Hills Benz last week. it was horrible. the dealer was sooooo arrogant and rude. He said there's no such things like a negotiation or discount. It seemed like they have plenty of rich customer that they can exploit as much as they want. I may not gonna go to Beverly Hills Benz anymore because there are tons of Mercedes dealerships.
Anyway... I saw the 2014 order list and, gladly! finally! AMG sport package was there! Moreover, they said 250BT will be also available on Aug...
So I am considering between 350 or 250BT. However, I live in Socal so I may not need 4matic...
I will have diamond white, lightning, panorama, sport package plus one (21inch wheels) premium pkg, and harman kardon. Dealer insisted to get Lane Tracking or Driver Assistance Package but I am still not sure about getting it...(worth it?)
I drive BMW E92 M3 now...and still don't know if I have to trade in or sell by private party.
I saw here many people get great discounts from Socal dealers such as 5-10% from invoice?!?! (i think that's no brainer) I wonder if I can get that also...If i can, do I have to get a deal now? or wait till Aug or Sep. I have never pre-ordered a car before, so have no idea about that.....

I am sorry for such a long and blurry words...but please give me any tips or advice about ordering 2014 ML350 or 250BT.

Thanks!!!

27T

I was treated very nicely at BH and I also received a great price quote from the internet/fleet guy. However they have poor reviews on dealerrater and didn't answer my question if they'd offer me the "buy rate" on the loan. There are a handful of dealers that have a stellar reputation and also offer the buy rate on top of great pricing.


I'n not sure if both the 250BT and 350BT will be offered next model year. I was under the impression that the 250BT was supposed to replace the 350BT however the 250BT will be pushed another year. I've heard conflicting reports.

My 350BT came standard with 4matic. I would have ordered it regardless because a major reason for the ML purchase was safety.

Yes on Lane Tracking, I went with distronic.
Yes on HK.
Read some reviews on the pano here and on mbworld, especially since you're in SoCal. I passed on pano once I drove it under the sun.
Don't forget parktronic, keyless go and lighting package (especially lighting. that's a deal killer.)
Other options people love are ambient lighting, mbtex dash and black headliner, satin ash trim. Also the tow hitch to provide add'l safety, easy bike rack usage and it's very expensive to do after the fact.

You should easily get 10% off MSRP (if there's a decent incentive). You can get it on an ordered car no prob. You are just rolling the dice on which incentive there will be at time of delivery which is fine and there seems to always be some sort of incentive. You just have to have an understanding with dealer that you will pay "X under invoice plus any incentive at time of delivery, and offering you the buy rate on the loan." Search for "invoice" on this and the other forum for more details/discussion. only talk the internet depts of dealerships. either call or go through the website. Thousand Oaks, Calabasas, Laguna Nigel, and Foothill should give you great pricing with a good track record. Downtown and BH may offer great pricing however their dealerrater reviews scare off some buyers. Most other dealers seem to have less competitive pricing but things change.

I'll probably send you a PM if I have info laying around.

Benz Werd

The first thing I would do is boycott that dealer you referred to, and when you do get your new ride take the time to drop-in and have a chat with the dealer principal and tell him the car could have been on his sales list if his sales rep wasn't so rude and arrogant.

Best way to decide between the 350 or 250 is to drive them both, and if possible take each one home overnight, or at least for a 1-2 hour test drive on your own. You'll discover alot more about each model if you spend time playing, rather than just a test-drive with the sales rep babbling on in the passenger seat. However, if you want to tow anything decent or cart around heavy loads I'd probably forget the 250, it will be a bit of a slug. The 350 has got heaps more features, and grunt, for very little difference in fuel consumption.

Diamond white is a beautiful colour, good choice. As far as your other options go also consider resale value. Definitely go for the lighting package, the lights are amazing. This is also another great reason to take a tester home overnight if you can.

Pana roof looks great too, especially with white. It gets pretty hot here in Melbourne and mine hasn't been a problem at all. I have ventilated front seats too, which help alot. On those really hot days just close the sunroof blinds if you wish. If you're going for black headliner with black seats, rather than grey, and have tinted windows the cabin is quite dark with the standard sunroof.

If you love your music Harman-Kardon is a must, but if you just listen to talk back radio mostly it's possibly not worth it. See if your dealer has at least 2 MLs in their lot, one with HK and one without so you can compare them both.

The AMG sport package is a nice feature. I don't have it though as it wasn't available here with the ON & OFF Road pack, which I wanted more. I'm not exactly sure why as you can order them both together in the USA. I guess it's got something to do with the fact that the AMG sport package here comes standard with 21" wheels, where as they're only 19" in the USA. I wish I could have got it though, as it gives the car a slightly more aggressive look, if that's what you're after.

The driver assistance package is also fantastic, although at times it's a bit too good, so it takes a bit of getting used to. Again, great for resale value though, along with parktronic.

Waiting until August or September isn't too long. I waited almost 7 months for mine. And if you can't get at least 8-10% off the dealers first price then walk away and go elsewhere. Not sure if this works in the USA as well as it does in Aus, as the markup on our cars is alot higher so of course there's alot more room for negotiation. My car cost around 85% more that it would have in the USA.

If you are currently driving an M3 you might want to consider a 550 if fuel consumption isn't a problem for you. In saying that though mine has averaged around 14.7l/100km (around 16mpg) since delivery, and I've done just on 9,000kms (almost 6,000 miles) now which has been around 80% city driving. On a recent 2,000km highway trip to Sydney & back I got around 11.5l/100km (around 20.5mpg) over the total journey. These figures are very good considering the engine size and weight of the car.

Good luck with it all. Have fun test driving and making a decision. If my previous experience with BMW is anything to go by, you'll be a very happy chappy stepping up to a Benz!

Cheers

340z

Hi BruinsBenz,

I recently purchased a 2013 ML 350BTC that I special ordered and with several of the features you've mentioned.

There were very few diesels in the SF Bay Area so I had to go to several dealers in order to find a diesel to test drive. Some dealers were good and some were amazingly bad - particularly for a Mercedes dealer.

Find one that you're comfortable with, that is responsive, with good follow up and who you feel you can trust. It will make life easier if you're ordering the vehicle, because it will take some time to build, and you may decide you want to change or add some features throughout the process. You'll want a salesperson that you can trust and who is knowledgable to help guide you through that process.

I'd drive all the engines that you can (350/550 gas and the 350 BlueTEC), in traffic and in the different types of driving that you do. Traffic in SoCal can be brutal, so make sure you like the engine/transmission response. I found that, while the 350 gas is a great engine, I felt that I needed to really wind it up to get it going. You don't always have that kind of time in nasty traffic. The 550 was, well no kidding, amazing, but I do a lot of highway driving and wanted something a little more fuel efficient. In the end the 350 BlueTEC was good for my driving style and I like the range it offers between fill ups. I'd be a little concerned about the 250 BlueTEC in a 5000lb vehicle. But that's just conjecture on my end at this point. You may want to search in this forum for the experience and feedback of international owners who have first hand experience with the 250 BTC.

4 Matic - I'd suggest the same test - drive a 350ML and a 350ML 4Matic. Try them in turns and freeway clover leafs. I felt that the 4Matic felt more stable and pulls into turns a bit more naturally. And, if you decide to go to Mammoth Mountain for the weekend, or hit one of those occasional snows over the Grapevine, you'll be covered.

Diamond White is a beautiful color - I saw one with a great detail job the other day. It positively glowed - and you'll love it on those hot LA summer days. if you get it with one of the beige interiors, it will stay cool inside, too.

Definitely get the lighting package. Much better vision while night driving and it automatically adjusts down the drivers side lights when oncoming traffic is approaching, so you won't blind them

I hate sunroofs and would have preferred not to have one at all...but my wife loves sun roofs and loves big sunroofs...so we have it...and, I have to say...she was right and I was wrong. It really is nice, and makes the interior feel really open. I also don't find that it heats up the interior. Whatever MB users for glass - it blocks a lot of heat. We parked for 4 hours in the sun on a 90 degree day this weekend, with all the windows shut - and I forgot to close the sunroof shade - but the car was not blazing hot when we got in to go home - i have the ash gray interior, so that helped a bit.

Large wheels look great - no question. Some feel they ride rougher, but others report they are fine...and they do look great....Try to find some rough highway cement highway with a lot of expansion grooves and/or uneven surfaces and see if it bothers you. If not, and even if it does...did i mention that they look great?

Harmon Kardon - really sounds good for the money. Premium package pretty much a no brainer and fairly intuitive - plus love the voice commands

Lane Tracking/Distronic At a minimum, I would get the Lane Tracking package - just for the blind spot mirror feature. I wouldn't drive a car with out that feature, particularly in LA traffic. I've had it in previous cars, and it's saved me from a few near misses over the years. I also find that its a lot less stressful to know that its there and telling you if a car is in your blindspot. It will take less full head turning to double check (a quick glance over the shoulder will do) - and that's important in stop and go and chaotic traffic. The only bummer on the MB, is that it doesn't work below 20mph. I miss the feature in city driving.

I also got the Distronic. I really like the adaptive cruise. I have had cruise control in cars for over 25 years, and have never used it because you're always overtaking some car in front of you and having to hit the brakes and then re-engage the cruise or try to sync speeds manually. Distronic takes care of it for you. Great for intermediate traffic and longer drives. However, I'm not yet comfortable using it in stop an go traffic. I've read that it works, but not willing to risk it yet....Apparently, it also works with the collision avoidance system and will help stop you if traffic stops in front of you (I'm not sure if that is only when Distronic is engaged or not)

The only feature of the set that I don't care for is the lane warning. I find it comes on at unnecessary (even if accurate) times - like when you cut over the white line on offramp or a winding road, in order to take a smoother line. I went over the hills the weekend before last and purposefully drifted to the right to let a couple of motorcycles pass, and it went off - both turning on the beeper and hitting the left side brakes (thats the active part that comes with Distronic). It was a bit of a shock, and i'm not sure it would have helped, if I really had dozed off or something. I'm going to give it a few more miles and then will probably turn that feature off.


Pricing is a tough one. When you're ordering a very specific vehicle, that's not readily available, its a little tougher to negotiate. This is because the dealer knows that you probably can't find it elsewhere. Also, if you're ordering now, you're going to get a 2014. It doesn't appear that there have been a lot of ML incentives this year on 2013's, but, generally, later in the model year, there are incentives. However, by ordering, you'll be getting a 2014, so they probably will not apply, as MB wants to help the dealers get rid of 2013 inventory first.

You can try a few things. First, check what's out there now. Edmunds dot com and Autotrader dot com have a pretty good inventory search capabilities. (You may want to expand the search area out to 500 miles just to see whats around). You may find what you're looking for is out there now. Second, check if you have any "affinity" programs through your work benefit or memberships (Costco, USAA insurance, AAA insurance, etc). They might have no haggle pricing that is decent.


Couple of other things to consider - Parktronic - i haven't tried the parking guidance yet, but its the only way that you can get the front and rear parking sensors. They aren't the best implementation that I've driven, but I wouldn't get a car with out them any more. Passenger Side Seat Memory (and lumbar support) - unlike some of the other MB's, this is an option on the ML. My wife and I have dramatically differently seating positions. If you are planning on sharing this car with another driver, and will be the passenger, it might be worth getting.

Whatever options you get, you're going to love the ML. We took a 300 mile road trip this past Sunday with another couple. The ride was great. The car is amazingly quiet for an SUV (the other couple both commented unsolicited). It also drives easily, effortlessly and without fatigue.

Good luck and enjoy!

27T

I received a PM about the "buy rate" so others may have the same question and I'll post the answer here.

The buy rate refers to the interest rate on the loan that is offered to the dealership. Most of the time, the dealer offers the auto buyer the "sell rate" which is higher than the buy rate. It is another way for the dealer to make additional profit.

A few dealers offer the buy rate without the buyer having to ask. Most of the time they don't. After you have set a purchase price for the auto, then say, "I plan to finance, can you give me the buy rate."

The salesperson will either say, "sure". Or he may say, "you have to talk to the finance manager about that." If he does, just ask, "can you check right now?"

Feel comfortable to ask for the "buy rate". The dealer knows what it means and it shows you're an educated buyer despite it feeling awkward since the vernacular is new to you. Good luck.

BruinsBenz

thank you so much for these thoughtful reply.
what did you mean that lightning pkg is a deal killer?
and what is the buy rates on the loan?
finally, if I order for 2014models, do I pay deposit first, and pay whatever price on the day when I get the car? or can I 'prepay or loan' full amount when I order my car?

BruinsBenz

understood. Thanks!

27T

Without the light pkg I would not have purchased the truck.

On orders, some dealers ask for a deposit, some don't. It ranges from $0-2000. Some dealers claim it is non-refundable, which is not true.

Since no financing is set in place there is no contract and the deposit is yours if for any reason you decide not to purchase. Not sure if it is true in all of the US but it is so at least in CA.

ciparis

I had a great experience in the Bay Area recently (at Autobahn).

I special-ordered a very loaded ML 350 Bluetec. When it arrived and I was trying to get a larger discount (they had previously agreed to take 4K off, but I wanted $500 more after shopping around a bit), the sales manager remarked that there were zero ML's like this one around and it could be sold at a premium. My salesperson replied "well sure, but the only reason we have one is because he ordered it like that". I got my discount

Getting the buy rate is hard; I had to settle for the sell rate (half point higher), but given the vehicle and the discount vs. demand, I can't complain. Bluetec has a high residual as well, which helps (although the money factor is higher than gas -- it's about a wash overall).

Must-haves for anyone (imo) :
- p01
- lighting
- lane departure

My personal must-haves, in addition:
- distronic (no way will I ever buy a car without it again)
- leather (it's the SMELL)
- HK stereo
- ambient lighting
- pano roof
- parktronic (so helpful, even if you can park)
- 3-zone climate (because having to adjust 2 dials all the time is idiotic, and 3 zone is the only way to lock them in the US)
- wrapped dash
- sport interior or multicontour (I went sport this time -- good option)