JHinman

I am talking to a local dealer about a 2019 S560. He has found a car just the way I would like it, but would have to trade for it.

He makes it sound like trading is a difficult, time consuming, and expensive process. I do not know where the car actually is, but I believe it is somewhere in the west (I am in Idaho).

how much effect should trading and shipping have on a new car price?

That may be a difficult question to answer specifically, but any general guidelines or thoughts would be helpful.

Thank you!

Katie22

1000 dollars to ship would be what I would expect to be added in one way or another. I know you have your mind set but I will say one thing, our car has the Burmeister 3d system and it is stunning. If you like audio it is well worth the price. Just saying.

MichaelinChicag

If that dealer is making it difficult for you, work around them. If you can find the car on your own, I'd make an offer to the dealer who has it and buy it from them. If you can't find where it is on your own, I'd consider going to a broker. I've had luck using them in Chicago before.

JHinman

That is good info about the price of shipping.

The higher end audio is appealing. My focus right now is not hearing the car and the tires!

tkelley.EClass

+1, Burmester 3d is absolutely epic. Hands down the best sound system I've heard in a car.

TNS550

Back in the day, a dealer would just give one of the shop guys a couple hundred dollars to drive the car he was trading to the trading dealer and drive the other car back. Probably does not happen that way now, and I would not want a new car this nice to be driven any significant distance by someone else anyway.

You do need to factor in not only the cost to get the car you want to your dealer, but the cost of getting the traded vehicle to the other dealer (unless a car in transit can be redirected at no cost to the dealer). If the dealer has a similar car you could get quotes on it as well as on the one you want, and hope to end up with the price of the one on the lot, plus the dealer’s out of pocket costs to get the other car there.

Alternatively, you can try to get the car directly, by searching and finding the location of the car you want but consider your transportation costs to go get that vehicle or alternatively the shipping cost. I’ve bought vehicles out of town and it was no big deal, but the vehicles were no more than 125-175 miles away. If your heart is set on that particular combination, you can search dealers at Southwest Airline destinations and plan a nice trip around picking up the car.

JHinman

I would be happy to pick the car up elsewhere. I have done that before. The problem is finding the car. The one I want has a light colored interior, and people seem to have a fascination with black. Not many big cars with light interiors sitting around on dealer lots. Using Edmunds does not find the car I want.

1bad540

seems everyone Ive seen has the light int and conversly cant find black!!!

JHinman

Maybe that is a regional difference?

Pntblnk

Try Cars.com. You can search nationwide with the specific exterior and interior color you are looking for. This helped me locate my S a couple years ago as I wanted a very specific color combination with the options I wanted.

Wolfman

Dealer trade is something specific and not necessarily easy. We have had this done in the past.

Long story short, if dealer has a car that a customer of another dealer wants, they have to trade. If the car is desired, the other dealer typically declines. If ready to trade, the dealer will look at the others inventory and pick a car. I have seen dealers end up with less desirable cars because they had to take them in order to get a rare one. This was common on the G-Squared wagons.
S-Classes are rather common and often traded...

fun33

Try using this search site. It lists every car available from all the major car sites. Just put in as many specifics of the vehicle you are looking for and you might locate the dealer who has your car. https://www.autotempest.com/