Where do USAA incentives come from?
 

USAA offers incentives to new car buyers, some MB up to $2,500.00. I wonder who coughs up this money. Is it the dealer or MBUSA? I ask, because if it is the dealer, then you can probably get the same deal with or without USAA, if you drive a hard bargain. If it is MBUSA, then the USAA incentive should be in addition to anything negotiated with the dealer, right? Same would go for the MB Club of America, which I believe offers incentives on new MB, after you have been a member for over a year.

I am guessing the $2,500 comes to USAA through their TRUECAR affiliation. One Dealer I worked with was adamant they would not combine discounts, such as this, with an additional MBUSA discount. I ended up purchasing a CPO 550SL, from a different dealer, with just 1,800 miles on it for a $40K discount off the original MSRP. First time I have purchased a "used" car in 50 years. I'm a big time CPO fan now and in the future.

you have to buy car thru USAA and one of its no haggle dealer...

so you pick the car - they show the price based on dealer price and any and all discounts.

That is not true. The USAA discount Streamliner is talking about is available at all US dealers. I have used it several times (I want to say it was around $4500 for my last S class- but that was in 2015). It is on top of all other discounts and rebates and is paid by MBUSA. I don't know if USAA reimburses MB for part or all of the discount though.

Not true. Any USAA member can download a certificate and use it at any MB dealer. I’ve done this three times now.

Sorry yes there are two ways to purchase as USAA gets manufacturer discounts and some dealers are in the USAA network and offer no haggling pricing online using cert and other discounts.

I have not used it as USAA dealers are hours away from me but I do use their online shopping tools to research models and pricing

In my experience, this is true; however, all the dealers I have contacted would not accept the USAA certificate AND combine it with an MBUSA program. They would accept one or the other but not both. I continue to find CPO extremely low mileage (under 2,500 miles) 1-2-year-old models an unbeatable buying opportunity. I'm continually amazed that so many people would purchase any MB vehicle and offer it for resale after putting less than 2,500 miles on it. I'm a buy it and drive it for 10 years kind of guy - I average 5-7 thousand miles per year on my cars.

I've used it 4 or 5 times and I have never had a dealer balk- it's coming from MB, the dealer isn't paying it...

OK, so let’s take this a bit further: you order a car from a dealer and at that point, the dealer agrees to an 8.5% discount. Then, when the car arrives, you give them your USAA certificate and get another $500.00 to $4500.00 off, depending on the incentive offered at that time, correct? So, if MBUSA is covering the cost of the USAA incentive, what do we feel the chances are that you can also get some “Customer Retention” money that MBUSA has promised?

I usually negotiate the final price with all of the available public rebates (ones that are available to all) and then say plus I have USAA. I did see a bit of disappointment once. I think mainly because the manager believed he could have sold the car for more money knowing there was another big discount available. Once you get to that number I think that is it though.

Im a CPO fan too, only way to go.

PENFED has this affiliation too. While I have not used it for my last two purchases even though I financed through PENFED, I may consider it next time I am in the market.

It doesn't cost us two cents to ask. The worst thing that could happen is the dealer says "no". You'll never know if you don't give it a try.

Oh, you can be sure I will ask. I will be hitting them with everything I can find. However, knowing where the discounts come from, I’ll know when they are BSing me and when they are not.

Morgan Stanley offers the same thing through their Reserved Living & Giving program. Per their website: "Incentives may be combined with most leas and finance offers advertised. Offer may not be combined with other incentive programs. Special program incentives may not be eligible for use in conjunction with most other retail programs currently offered at the time of delivery. Please confirm compatibility with your local dealership."

So now that we've cleared that up....