In addition to all the good information that has been offered, sites like cars.com, cargurus, truecar, autotrader will show you offerings that are not on the mbusa website. Some dealers advertise their cars on just one of these, others will advertise on multiple websites.

cars.com has a feature that some of the other websites dont, they show you the price history on a given car and how long the dealer has been advertising the car. In some cases, you will see a pattern, how many days before you can expect a price drop and how much the dealer will probably drop the price the next revision. Some dealers are quite aggressive in lowering and you will revisions every 5-10 days. I saw one cpo 2020 s560 at a MB dealer, drop $6000 over a 30 day period. I have seen others that are unchanged or have less than a $200 change over 30 days.

In some cases, you will see the price has actually been increased, the lowest one in the price history is probably one that the dealer would accept.

i always look at the carfax report, which is usually part of the advertisement, to see the known service history, known accidents, if any factory warranty is still in effect, sometimes it will have a copy of the original window sticker, and when the dealer bought the car.

There is a cost for the dealer to have the unsold car on the lot, an explicit cost for the interest on the capital investment in the car, keeping the car clean, salespeople time showing the car, etc and implicit costs (usually larger) as the car depreciates in market value.

Larry

 

OP, my friend of over 30 years is the used car manager a Euro Motors in Devon, I'd call him. Oh I just bought Mercedes # 70 from them (an S Class coupe) earlier this year.

 

I bought an Endurance exclusionary coverage warranty (covers everything on the car except the components that are specifically mentioned as not covered (wear items, body panels, carpet, glass, etc) right after I bought my car in Dec, 2020. I paid $4224 for 7 years and 100k miles of which coverage began 1 mo/1k miles after policy date. So I'm covered until Jan, 2028 and 131k miles. So far I've had 2 claims, one of which was about 45 days after I purchased the policy. The claim process was seamless both times, with one at my local Benz dealer and another at my indy. Max payout is what the NADA retail value of the car was at the time I purchased, so around $51k. This is much more comprehensive coverage than you can get with CPO or MB extended warranties.

Do your due diligence before settling on Fidelity. Although I've heard good things about them, they are very expensive and may not be worth the cost of entry. Freedom is cheaper than Fidelity, but has a maximum lifetime claims payout of $20k. Also, be sure to get a sample policy of any company you consider and read it in its entirety so you know exactly what you're covered for, what the exclusions are, and what your responsibilities are in order to maintain coverage (usually following the manufacture recommended maintenance to a tee and saving all receipts). ALWAYS go with an exclusionary policy and not a named components policy as the named components are the least likely to fail.

 

Sir, you are not describing a Fidelity policy....

Trenton O. Gibson
tgibson@highline-autos.com
Highline Autos
Direct: 602.909.9216
Office: 480.348.0777

 

My bad. I was thinking of the Freedom policy that you peddle that has the $20k lifetime payout limit. I know the Fidelity policy is MUCH more expensive, especially with their Platinum exclusionary coverage and likely not worth the cost of admission on an S-Class.

 

Yes, Fidelity coverage on a Mercedes-Benz S-Class over 45K miles can get pricy... suprisingly cheaper coverage however than for a comparable Porsche Panamera and BMW 7-Series... you might as well trailer a Toyota Prius to the back of either of those at that point haha.

Trenton O. Gibson
tgibson@highline-autos.com
Highline Autos
Direct: 602.909.9216
Office: 480.348.0777

 

I'm at 44K miles. I guess I had better buy now...Couldn't be a worse time for me.

 

Post 45K miles will be a much worse time unfortunately. We do offer a little in house financing at no extra cost, split payment in half over 30 days, thirds over 3 months.

Trenton O. Gibson
tgibson@highline-autos.com
Highline Autos
Direct: 602.909.9216
Office: 480.348.0777

 

I’m having a difficult time, it doesn’t seem like is a good time to buy a good S560. I walked into one dealer and it was deserted except for a receptionist, the entire sales staff was in some back area watching a baseball game. Then some guy comes out and acts like he’s put out. When I ask a few questions he said we are going to close soon but I can come back tomorrow. He tells me I can ask for anyone because they don’t get paid commissions. The place has hours posted on the door and there was an hour to go. As I was walking out the receptionist tells me she’s sorry that guy is a dick!

Why do I have to pay a $999 for document prep fees? The bank doesn’t charge that much to buy a home! My comments may make me sound cheap but does Mercedes dealers train their people to think we toss hundred dollar bills out in front of us to walk and an keep our shoes clean? Before all these dealers collaborated to charge this fee we were even treated better in my opinion.

I got my rant in.

 

I agreed the dealership experience is not great, I was at 3-4 dealerships before flying from SF to LA to buy from a LA Dealers, Calabsas MB which was a terrible dealership. The rep wasn't very happy, really that I wasn't buying a few S class and she made the comment that "it was "an older model" several times thinking she was going to shift me to spend $60,000 more than I planned to that day to get Android auto when I inquired. I saw severa S-Class cars in the Bay Area, unreal how poorly the cars were prepped and how uninterested they were in showing them to me (at the time I had a 1997 Q45 Touring that was i showroom condition). One car at Steven's Creek MB was dirty both inside and out and had a major dent in the rear passenger door. The guy said "that is why this is so cheap" which it wasn't.

I have to saw the expereince at Autobahn motors for service and parts IS what I expected from premium buying expectations. Funny now that I drive into the dealership in a S-Class (my car is in true showroom condition) that they notice me big time when I go in to get parts.

 

I have to wonder if this is a cultural thing varying with the location?
I have only dealt with one MB dealer, and while they are not perfect - who is - as they have gone through sales people, change of ownership, major remodeling, I have been pretty well satisfied with them. I have never encountered rudeness or lack of interest. I cannot help but wonder if it's just part of the way people grow up in this area?

 

Well not to racial profile the buying experience but am as white as you can get, granted I am a tech worker so I didn't show up in a suit and tie, more nice jeans and a polo but I think maybe part of it is the CPO vs. new. I don't know what the experience would be driving in and saying "I want to buy a brand new S-Class" but I am sure lots of folks do. But I know 100% when you drive up in one they notice you!!

 

Sorry you had such poor experiences. My experiences have varied wildy over the years. However, I can say I feel there's been a downward trend in the level of customer service. I don't look rich, and don't even look like I could be a software engineer...LOL.
In the past, salespeople would "curbside qualify" me, meaning they would try to figoure out what I could "afford" before showing me anything. But that was around 14 years ago. I sold my S600 and my Audi A8 around 2011, so I had to drive my mother in law's 15 year old Subaru Outback wagon to look at cars at different dealerships. When I evenrually found the Jaguar XFR I wanted to buy, the salesman at the dealership was surprised that I had arrived with the lease already approved by Jaguar, even before I drove that car. Then I had the car's first service performed at another dealer I had visited before buying and the sales guy saw me waiting in the showroom. His jaw almost fell to the floor when I told him what I had bought. I have more stories like that but I'll stop there.

The real problem is that Dealerships are looking for "fish" these days. Fish are people whose desire to acquire what they want outweigh value. In some ways I admire fish because they feel like their time is more important than trying to save a few dollars, even if it means several thousand dollars. My wife is a fish, as are some members on this forum, and this thread. Value shoppers, regardless of price point, aren't welcome. I understand that and respect it, even though I don't agree. Car dealers, just like any other business wants to maximize profits; that means buying cheap and selling high. Anybody trying to buy a car in today's climate is facing that. That's why Toyota has made significant production cuts, they feel like they can reduce supply and demand will remain high. I think they drank the post pandemic Kool-Aid, and will soon regret their decisions. Toyota isn't alone, that period when cars were in high demand has brainwashed a lot of people in the car business into thinking that would be the dynamic going forward. Feel free to Google search about it.

Point being: OP @MrMischief it's not about you. The best way to shop is to begin online, then make an appointment with the dealer to see the car. Dealerships track how many appointments a sales person has in a week, month, and other period. They use it as a gauge to determine how "good" a salesperson is, some even receive bonuses based on the number of appointments they get.. Walk-ins aren't valued nearly the same, in some casees frowned upon. Try making appointments first and I'll guarantee you'll receive better treatment. But...don't tell them you already have financing. By doing that, you're automatically reducing the amount of money a dealership can make on selling you that car. Just like mortgages, the dealership makes money on providing financing. You can simply say something like "I know what I'm looking at is within my budget so I'll decide about financing once I find the car I'm looking for". If the salesperson persists, then you can politely let him know that you're open to looking at what he has to offer, but only when you find the car you want. Then, once you find the car you want, and the price and conditions you like, tell them about your pre-arrenged financing. If you really like the car, act like you're livestreaming the event, that way they won't try to change any of the terms, like price, once you reveal you aren't going to use dealer financing. For me, car shopping consist of three things; the car, the deal, the money. without finding a grear car, nothing is moving forward. Then, I'll buy the car at a right price, or if concessions are given if the car isn't exactly what I want, or has some issues that will need to be addresses later. Then, when financing, the money has to be good. The money part mainly applied to when I leased new cars. When I bought my last car I set up financing ahead of time. It was a business purchase so I was limited to franchise only dealerships, but that was specific for me and my bank, probably has no bearing in your situation. Having said all that, you might actually get a better deal with dealer financing. Just my $.02 cents.

 

All interesting.
I do not anticipate having to buy another car for myself. Since I have always paid cash for my cars, I guess, if asked how I planned to pay for one, I should say, "I haven't decided yet."