I am debating whether to order a car stateside or in Germany. Here are a few questions I have.

1) Is price negotiable? and if so who would you negotiate with?
2) Can my truecar corporate discount be combined with the European delivery discount?
3) How much is it to drop it off in Italy versus Germany for shipping back to the US?
4) How much is the European discount for a 131K msrp S550?
5) What does Mercedes-Benz pay for?

 

I have used Mercedes Euro Delivery probably 10 times in the last 35 years. I was even able to fly one back on a different airline than I was ticketed on. It was beautiful to taxi to the gate and see my M/B being offloaded on the gate next to my flight. Customs, in this case, was easy and I drove the car home after a short wait.


There is no negotiation, flat 7% off the MSRP.


No second discounts, I tried once with a USAA discount.


The entire program is outlined on the Mercedes site with the included items annotated.
http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/european_delivery_program


If you choose a hotel package, they will roll that into the car price. I suggest you will not get better rates than M/B at the hotels they quote. All the hotels have been excellent.


M/B will quote the drop off charge in Italy, my guess is no more than $500.


Be careful when you place the order. All sales people are not conversant with the ED program. I recently had an S coupe order fall thru due to the sales person not understanding the program. I am now placing the order for a 2016 in August.


For me, I thoroughly enjoy the experience. I have never bought an M/B, BMW or other makes from stock on the floor. I always plan for the euro delivery for me and my family. My most recent delivery was for the S550. I took delivery on 10 September 2013 before the car was introduced in the US. It was the first US configured 550 delivered.


I do not think you will be disappointed if you choose to do a ED !

 

In case you haven't purchased your EDP MB yet, I'm available for accurate EDP information via PM.

 

They actually shipped your car to the U.S. on a passenger airline?!!! Are you delusional or did you just pay the oversize checked bag fee for an automobile???

 

Not delusional at all. I flew several cars back to the US to DFW in the 80's. I was an airline employee and we were offered discounts on several other airlines like British Airways, Lufthansa etc. The cost was about $600 USD at the time. But remember fuel costs were lower and planes were not quite as full as today. The cars flew standby, which meant it might sit at the port a few days. Most of the time I received the car within a day or two of dropping it off at the cargo port of the airline.
The cost today is about $3500 on a standby basis.