Streamliner

In the next day or so, I will be ordering a new ML350BTC, pretty much loaded up, with an MSRP of around $75K. What would be about the maximum discount I might be able to find on such a vehicle? I realize that incentives and such change from month to month, so, just for the sake of argument, let's just say that I am taking delivery this month. What would you folks think would be a great, realistic deal?

27T

Ask for $1500 under invoice plus incentives at time of delivery. Where you live has a significant impact on the deal you can get. Do a search for "invoice" here and you'll get all of the answers that you need.

On a side note...$75K for a 350?! Yowza. Are you sure your eyes aren't bigger than your stomach?

Streamliner

Just curious, if price wasn't an object, without changing the model, what would you add or delete?

2014 ML350BTC 4-Matic $51,790.00

Polar White
Black leather 1620.00
Anthracite poplar wood 160.00

P01 Premium 1 Package 3920.00
319 Lighting Package 1390.00
996 Parking Assist Package 1290.00
997 Driver’s Assistance Package 2800.00
289 Wood/leather steering wheel 590.00
311 Heated/Cooled cupholders 180.00
399 Multicontour Front Seats 1100.00
550 Trailer Hitch 550.00
810 Harmon Kardon Sound Sys. 810.00
876 Multi-color ambient lighting 310.00
889 Keyless-Go 650.00
401 Heated/ventilated front seats 570.00
468 Active Curve System 2910.00
489 Airmatic Air Suspension Pkg. 1610.00
883 Soft close doors 550.00
297 Rear side window sunshades 380.00
293 Rear side airbags 420.00
282 2nd row seat pass-through 160.00
U09 MB Tex wrapped dash 330.00
Special Order charge 250.00
Transportation charge 925.00

$ 75,550.00

threeMBs

Well this is the same price as a nicely loaded ML550. A day and night difference between the two, IMO.

Streamliner

You are right. But I hate the looks of the ML550 with its ridiculous "sports" styling, I hate the running boards and for about the same money, I will be getting Active Curve and AirMatic. Besides, I WANT the BlueTec engine. To each his own.

27T

If price was not an issue, I'd get the 550, even the 63. I went with the BT because it gave me some 550 style fun here and there. No way does it perform like the 550 but the BT torque is fun. The BT also gave range and was significantly less expensive. The dumbest thing I read on MB boards is "let's be honest, if price of gas/options/drivetrain/etc is an issue to an MB buyer then he wouldn't buy this brand." If that were true, all MB's will be AMGs. When I go the lot, most models are strippers.

However, given your parameters, I'd drop...

-Soft close doors (unless you plan to keep the car only in-warranty)
-Active curve (only in AMG)
-Airmatic (ride as-is is phenomenal)
-Multicontour (not as great as I want it to be for the cosy)
-Leather (no one even knows I have tex and it'll outlast the leather)
-Vent seats (I wanted this but I have to order leather. Heated seats are already standard.)
-Cupholders (Sounds cooler than it is real world useful.)
-DAS (I have Distronic and I'm now indifferent. At first I loved it, then I stopped using it because there's a lot of trust you have to give the tech. If it fails once, you're screwed. Since you have to monitor the performance I might as well drive myself. At least it comes with Active LD and BS. If I were to order today, I'd get the passive LD and BS version and save $2k.)
-2nd row airbags (if you have kids, get it. if not, pass.)
-window shades (i guess if you have a baby, sure.)
-parktronic (wife loves it, but I could do without the beeping. BU camera is all I need.)

These are my thoughts and many options I ordered are worthless to others. It's all preference/personal. If you care about resale, this loaded ML will not fetch much more than a moderately equipped car. If anything it may scare off buyers because of expensive repairs.

DR2000

I just took a delivery of brand new custom ordered 2014 ML350 BlueTEC. The end result came out to 10% under MSRP. I'm pretty happy, but from what I understand that's because there is a lot of competition in NYC.

markfl

OP - I have been unable to find the definative/accurate invoice price on a 2014 ML. I've seen a few 10% off without much negotation. Not sure what the most % anyone has achieved is.

Chasvs

10% off is about right. Most Car buying Services will get you there without any negotiations on your part. My Bank had such a service and I got 10% off, piece of cake.

bud.jones

Well, this isn't the largest discount, but I'm a member of USAA (retired Navy) and they have a deal with Mercedes where I can buy a Mercedes vehicle for dealer invoice + $750 - $2000 (USAA incentive). That means it's $1,250 below dealer invoice. This is defined differently in different regions - out here in Hawaii (which is the same as in west coast states), there are several fees included in dealer invoice, one of which is the infamous advertisement fee (something I think should be paid by the dealer, not the customers). It's still a substantial discount from MSRP, along the lines of 7% to 9% off, depending on model. It helps lower the amount we'll have to borrow from USAA

Unfortunately for me, there are only a couple of ML350s in stock, although they will be getting 14 new models in the month of January (there's no rush, as there's only one dealership on my island ). I don't know whether we'll end up getting one of the MLs from January or place a special order (for delivery in March), but I'm getting excited about our upcoming purchase.

Snipe656

A couple months ago I looked into using USAA. At the time in this region it was a set amount off MSRP but also a percentage off options and then a small fee for their car buying service. I want to say it resulted in 7% off Msrp for what I was considering. They have a car buying tool online that will let you define options and then tells you the cost a dealer is suppose to honor. I am not sure if it has all options listed in the first post. My ML was a special order and I recall at least one of the options was not on the usaa site.

I ultimately did not use their service. I was able to get more money off as well as a better interest rate.

bud.jones

I called USAA to verify the cost differences, as the small print indicates that the resulting price is based on a 3 year loan to someone with an excellent credit rating. I have the latter, but am not interested in the former - I'm looking for a 5 year loan instead. What I was told, and has been independently confirmed by the local dealership, is invoice + $750 - $2,000 USAA incentive. What is not always constant is what dealers consider their "invoice". Often it is not just the price of the vehicle, but includes some fees charged to the dealer.

As for options, I'm really only looking for Driver Assist, Parking Assist, and Keyless-Go. Other nice things to have would be the Multicolor Ambient Lighting and Harmon-Kardon Premium Audio, but other than that, I'm satisfied with what I'm getting. I'm not sure that I need the extra "bling" or the complexity that the other assist systems would bring (read: things break down and all those extras cost a lot to repair/replace).

There is one Cinnabar Red 4Matic in stock now, with 14 more models coming in January. My wife and I are meeting with our sales representative tomorrow to discuss our purchasing options - we may end up getting the 4Matic, but I think we'll probably either wait for the models in January or do the special order thing. Either way, USAA will cover the gap left from our trade in and down payment, at a better price than I can get otherwise.

I tried the COSTCO program, but the local dealership doesn't participate in it. I don't have a lot of options, as there is only one dealership on Oahu. These guys are really nice, however - a HUGE difference from the deanships from whom I have purchased are in the past. For example, when I went in to test drive a non-4Matic model, my sales representative did not ask to copy my license, only had me wait while he got the keys. They don't pressure you at all, the only exception being that someone else had expressed an interest in leasing the vehicle I test drove. They wanted to know if I wanted to purchase in the near term, as that car may not be available should I desire to purchase later, as was the case, unfortunately. That vehicle was really nice!

Oh well, they'll most likely get some back, as I'm interested in purchasing pre-paid maintenance to at least match the warranty. Not that the costs will increase, but at least I'll be able to lock in the maintenance costs at the time of purchase.

I still have yet to ask GEICO how much, if any, my insurance premiums will go up upon the purchase of my ML350 (I currently have a 2008 Lexus RX 350). I'm not sure I really want to know, yet I will get somewhat of a break as the ML will have more safety features than I enjoy now. Overall, I'm getting stoked about the idea of purchasing a new ML - I can't wait until I take it for the first drive!

Snipe656

When I was looking at USAA, I went through their online pages to get a pre-approved loan and within that I could define or pick the length. The 36 month was the only way to get the rate down to as low as 0.49% but they had at least 62 month terms too, I think they had even higher. But clearly the longer the term the higher the rate.

Just out of curiosity I looked at their car buying service right now and used the Honolulu zip code and looks like getting a 2wd ML350 with just those options you listed off nets a roughly 8% savings off MSRP because it says the vehicle should be $53,455 MSRP but their price should be $49,229. I personally never have used their service before and never even bothered becoming a member until earlier this year when I was shopping ML550s and dealers would not budge much of anything off MSRP.

Now this, assuming the black leather is "201" comes to a total MSRP of $73,720 using the USAA service and their discount brings it down to $68,078 I think their initial base cost difference is because when I pick Active Curve it then says Airmatic is included. That is based on my local region so very well could be different elsewhere.

bud.jones

Just out of curiosity, how did you determine the $49,229 price point? That seems a bit low, and I would much rather use your figures than the ones I have found . Here is the configuration I just put in on the USAA site, with the options listed:

2014 ML350 2WD

Polar White
Almond Beige MB-Tex

Premium 1
Driver Assist
Parking Assist

Harmon Kardon Premium Audio
Multicolor Interior Ambient Lighting
Keyless-Go

The MSRP is listed as $59,535 and the Dealer Price is listed as $53,954. That dealer price includes the $2,000 USAA incentive, but not the allowed $750 dealer markup. In other words, the price should be $54.704, assuming that Dealer Price shown is the actual dealer invoice. There is no way that USAA can know the dealer invoice value for all regions, so their Dealer Price value is not a hard figure. That being said, it does give the customer a decent starting point. The only real way to know the dealer's price is to ask them for the dealer invoice for the specific vehicle in which you have an interest.

Going off of Edmunds' website, the same configuration nets a dealer invoice of $54.466, a sum that does not include the USAA discount. Additionally, it also does not include the advertising fee, something I was told is included in the dealer invoice here in Honolulu.

It all revolves around the dealer invoice, which varies from region to region. I will, hopefully, be able to see that price point on several vehicles later today, when my wife and I meet with our sales representative. It may not be be best, but at least I'll get a decent deal using USAA.

bud.jones

OK, this is bit wonky. I just went back to the USAA configurator webpage, configured another ML350, and noticed that the discount from MSRP was based on a 60-month loan with nearly $10K down. I guess the MSRP discount calculator changes from time to time. I've attached a .pdf I made of the page. It would be nice if they allowed the user to select the loan terms (APR and length, if nothing else) to get a better idea of how much of a difference they can make.

Snipe656

Good question, I must have fat fingered something because just did the following: selected Mercedes ML, put in 96801 for the zip code, selected Premium 1 (P01), Driver Assis (997), and Parking Assist (996).

MSRP: $56,725
Discounted Price: $52,270

Adding the selected interior changes those to:
$58,345
$53,777

I had left off the other options earlier today so left them off now as well. I thought it was just the first three that interest was in. Looking this evening I see "Using Estimated Dealer Price of $53,777 and a $9,743 down payment on a 36 month loan at 1.39% APR"

bud.jones

Well, my wife and I are getting ready to go to the dealership, so we'll get some concrete numbers there. I'm curious as to how the 14 new vehicles will be outfitted and if I can put my name on one with a few tweaks to the configuration. That way, I can get an ML without having to wait three months. I'll post again after our visit.

EDIT: Although I'm going to get royal screwed on my trade in (2008 Lexus RX350 with 92.000 miles), I put down a deposit on a 2014 ML350. My USAA incentive was wiped out by Hawaii sales tax, but I still ended up with a good price overall.

cal2013

I bought the 2014 ML350 4matic in Bay Area in Nov. MSRP $64010, paid $55000+TTL. I didn't have any USAA incentives. This car was not a custom order. I was able to find one close to what I want in the dealer's lot. I am pretty happy with the car and the price.

Snipe656

Mine was around 14.5% off MSRP but I got a vehicle that had been special ordered by a dealership employee who then "left employment" before the ML came in and the dealer could not find a buyer for I think over 100 or 120 days. Might have helped that I also made the offer pretty much the last days of the 3rd quarter and closed the deal before it ended so it was off the books before Q4.

ilke.senol

I didn't know that they deliver cars with keyless go and heated/cooled cup holder. At least here in UAE, the dealer said that people forgets the key in the heated cup holder and therefore, they don't deliver cars with both options. So, I have got the keyless go but no heated/cooled cup holders

Streamliner

How hot does the heated cup holder get? I can't imagine that it gets any hotter than the sun during the summer months in UAE, does it? I mean if the key can't survive sitting in the heated cup holder, what if you left it on the dash in the desert sun? Sounds a bit crazy on the dealer's part to me.

fabbrisd1

Actually - the cup-holder/key comment has to do with 2013 - a coverup story on why heat/cooled cupholders originally planned for 2013 intor were not available - consider it a urban myth - the fact was the vendor was not production ready.

Heated/cooled cupholders accomplish this - hot drinks stay hot longer, cooled drinks stay cooler longer - will only operate when cup is inserted - nice color/change amber/blue accent LED lights for heated/cooled selected...

Keep the beat !

ilke.senol

I totally agree with you Streamliner. It did not make any sense to me too. I mean is that the problem that people forgets the car key in the cup heater... Come on I guess the engineer in MB can come up with a simple solution like the heater works only when it detect a cup, for example Anyway, like anything else, things do no make sense in this part of the world. So I did not question much. I am still happy to receive my car after 2 months fight with the dealer about the options I want to have simply because they are not used to work by ordering cars. They only know how to sell the cars with fixed specs from the batch.