sigep69

Is it fair for me to try to ask for 5% over invoice? It is my goal to try to purchase the ML350 BlueTec to as close top Invoice as possible. Is this too far fetched??

marvron26

Why don't you ask for invoice or even less? The worst thing that can happen is that they say "no". If there are other dealers in your area you can also get them to be competitive with their pricing.

hkkang

If your goal is to get 5% over invoice you should definitely start out with invoice as your first offer. The dealers never accept your first offer and it effectively becomes your bottom price from which you have to come up. Insist on something that you think is unachievable and slowly start coming off that price. I suggested ten percent off MSRP on my 13 ML BTC with one dealer and he laughed in my face. My friend helped me out by starting out 12% off MSRP with another dealer and I ended up with 10% with the second dealer.
Having said that, the best offer I got on a ML14 order was about 3% off MSRP which I believe would be about 4% above invoice. I ended up with a 13 ML due to tax hike in VA starting July 1st.
Hope this helps

Proteus7

It's all about competition. If you're in a metro region, you can typically bid dealers against each other. In Seattle, I was able to get 1% over invoice, - fleet discount ($2k) on a special order 2013 model. That being said, I probably woudnt do quite as well for a 2014 this early in the cycle. It's all about supply and demand. For special orders, a dealer has to use a "build slot", and for some models, like the diesel, those may not be common late in the year.
In SoCal, due to massive competition and large volumes you can go lower, but..

I should also point out that especially with a special order, a good salesman can really help. Mine was able to sort out a number of issues around unavailable paint color, options, and production delays, and has been great after the sale too.