awjenni

If you are eligible for the USAA/Mercedes car buying deal and were planning on buying a new ML in the near future, be prepared to pay more than you planned on.

Prior to June 1st the deal was exceptional. Your price was $500 over invoice, MINUS $3,000. Not MSRP, but invoice. If MSRP was $62,665 and invoice for that car was $58,302, your price was $55,802 (58302 + 500 - 3000). In other words, the USAA price was $2500 below invoice.

The deal starting today is $2,800 over invoice MINUS $3,000. That means the USAA price is now only $200. below invoice, an increase of $2,300.

The car would have sold yesterday for $55,802 and today it is $58,102.

And those are the actual numbers for my own car and my formerly great deal.

C'est la vie?

venchka

There must be very few 2012s left before the 2013s start rolling out.

Wayne

DCubed

Sales this year have far exceeded the expected sales volume and they did plan a healthy increase in sales volume for the ML this year. Normally we have about 20-25MLs on the ground (350 only, not including BTC, 550 and 63) and as of right now we have a grand total of five.

gplank

$500 under invoice? Well, that's no deal at all! Via CarWoo, I've easily received bids for $1000 under invoice...and that's before any rebate, like Conquest.

If that's the case with USAA, the dealers are really making out with a USAA sale, since unlike other discount programs like CostCo, USAA actually sends the dealership a check for $3000.

awjenni

As it was explained to me, the USAA "incentive" is indeed $3000 on the MY2012 ML350. That $3000 is actually paid to the dealer... By MBUSA, not USAA. What USAA provides is a large pool of buyers. It's a win/win deal.

The $3000 is subject to change and varies by model. The R-Class incentive is $1000. Some cars are $4000.

sshu930

How was your experience with Carwoo? Did you end up getting your car through them?