phillyreem

My car won't be here until end of week earliest. Do you think fleet will go up, down or stay the same. It's currently $5500 for May. Would be upset if it goes down or away.

MTrauman

It will not go away. Doubt it will decrease as the 2018s will start production around the first week of July. If anything it will probably stay the same or go up. Just my 2 cents.

Streamliner

And who qualifies for a fleet discount?

phillyreem

mostly everyone. You have to work for a sizeable corporation that has a fleet account. You can google online or call any dealership and they will tell you if you qualify for fleet

MTrauman

One can also qualify through professional organizations. I qualify either under the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) or the American Bar Association (ABA) as I am members of both. Clients of mine have also qualified under the American Medical Association (AMA).


If I recall, I saved $4,000 in September 2015 on my ordered 2016 S Class from the fleet discount.

syswei

My personal theory only: due to rhetoric/pressure from Trump, MB and other German auto companies may end up being less price-aggressive in the US market. So incentives could be reduced and/or MY2018 prices go up a bit more than they otherwise would have.

Streamliner, another possibility if you or a relative was ever in the military, is USAA.

phillyreem

Lets hope not. My car should be here tomorrow or Saturday. I do have USAA. I thought fleet and USAA were the same amount.

MTrauman

Interesting personal theory but the German auto companies want to sell cars. Yes it may be hard for them to stay out of the political spotlight given the fact that Trump threatened German auto makers with a 35% tariff on cars they import to the US. The German companies stance will be to be mindful of building more cars in the US or face the wrath of the 35% tariff which, if occurred, would change the monetary scenario drastically for us S Class owners. For example, if the tariff would be applied to my S550 with an MSRP of $137k (I am guessing the tariff would not applied to the MSRP--maybe cost instead--but I will use that number for simplicity) my car would cost me $48k more. Not good for us US customers. My S550 would now be close to $185k in the US--starting to get to China's prices on S class cars.

MTrauman

You are correct. These dollars all come from MBUSA with deals with individual companies or associations/organizations.

syswei

My impression from shopping in for my MY2015 was that there was more than one level of fleet discount, and the USAA discount is equal to the highest level (and thankfully, so was my wife's employer).