Hello R gang!
I need your honest opinion. Would you trade or sell your 06 E320 CDI for an 07 R320 CDI? My E has 3100 miles on it and I just lowered the price on Autotrader to 49,500. I had it originally priced at 51,750 but got no calls. I am thinking of switching to the R320 since MB is offering 2.9% financing and I can get a lower payment for 72 months.

On the R320, what is a good price to pay and where can I get the best deal on an R320 with the following options:

Prem Pkg 3
Heated Fr Seat
Heated Rr Seat
Chrome Pkg
Ligthing Pkg
Air Suspension
Voice Recognition
Hands Free Comm. MHI Cradle

Does anyone know where I can get the best price (at or below invoice) along with the 2.9 on this R320? I need to make a decision but I'm floundering because I have read that some people think the inline 6 is a better engine than the new V6 CDI. Please offer your comments, suggestions, opinions. Thank you very much.

 

I think you may be surprised and dissapointed with what you will get for the E. Gone are the days of residual value. I got 34k for an 18 month old E500 when I picked up my A8L. The MB dealer offered 2k less than Audi dealer. Car had only 12k miles on it. Good luck though.

 

Sam -

I punched in your listed options on the R320 and the MB's BYO estimated an MSRP to be $61,315 (non-metallic paint and MB Text interior). Invoice should be $57,022 (a straight 7% off from MSRP).

For an RClass (R350 or R320) one can easily buy a car at invoice or even below it, provided that the car is stock/on the lot/trade from nearby dealerships. I've got offers between 7% to 10% (with some haggling) on stock models in my DC metro areas (Northern VA and MD). RClass has the best incentives compared to other MB models.

Most dealerships have 8 - 12 RClass 2007 models. Of these 4-5 are R350s, 2-4 are R320s, and 1-2 R500s. Most of the R350 or R320 are equipped with the typical Premium 1 package, Heated Seats, and/or Parktronic, few may come with Navigation. For these MSRP will be $49K - $51K. These large supplies of the P1 equipped cars can be dealt for the 7 to 10% from MSRP.

But for more equipped / heavily optioned models such as you listed, there are NONE. From several dealerships that I've been to, I came across only one or two R320s with P2. I have not seen any P3 equipped car in my area. So if you want a P3, which is pretty much fully loaded with some other options you will have to CUSTOM ORDER. Custom Order may be more possible with R350 or not even so (I have heard that dealerships are no longer taking any order for 2007 RClass). But R320 (or GL 320) Custom Order is probably DEAD / NOT POSSIBLE for whatever reasons that you care to speculate and/or believe. This is really, really unacceptable for MBUSA. If you read some of the threads from senior members on the GL group, you can learn more about the wishy/washy things that are going with the pending 2007 ordered cars to be built with the 320 CDI engines.

My experience started in late January when I put down a deposit for a custom-order R320 (P1, Leather, Navigation, BiXenon, Heated front seats, Ipod) and was told a built / delivery date of late Feb or early Mar. It turned out that my order was cancelled/lost/gone! According to the dealership, if I still want the exact same car, the whole process will start all over for a 2008 model with unknown prices and options list. Built date / delivery is likely to be July 2007 or later. I took my HUGE DISSAPOINTMENT to my dealership and MBUSA and ended up with a very happy ending for a stock model with better equipped options. MB probably paid a good amount of money to make up the difference. This certainly is somewhat unique to my case and may not be applicable to others, especially who doesnt have an pending order that was canceled or lost.

Hope this helps you and few others who are interested in an RClass, especially R320.

And, Yes . . . the 2.9% financing (for RClass models) was available for up to 72 months, 100% finance (subject to qualification). This may still be going on for March. You can check with the dealership or go to the MBUSA website for latest postings.

Happy shopping, buying and eventually driving.

 

RDriver, thanks for your thorough response and information you shared. I expected that most of things you said to be the case with the R's. I may have to settle for a P2 pkg. to get a good deal. I first need to sell or unload my E320. Do you or anyone else here have any suggestions? I have put an ad on Autotrader with no activity so I just reduced the price to 49,500. My E is loaded too. Thanks again for any advice you can share.