My dealer has an S63 arriving next week and at first offered 6k off sticker but i countered with 9k off and he is stuck at 8500. I have a feeling I should of asked for more. Is 10k or 11k off avail for these cars?? My dealer has 10 on the lot in inventory all with 100 or 150 miles from test drives. The funny thing is he lies and claims that they come from AMG with 100 miles...ya right i remember driving one of the S63s on their lot back in June and it had 12 miles. Anyway is 8500 good or can i do a whole lot better?

 

with 100-150 miles on it already? get more off

 

these cars are with less then 5k on the clock...

in less then 6 months these cars will be around $90k or less....now you can base your offer on that info

 

Wow. If your 6 months prediction is right then that's going to be steal for someone with a family who doesn't want to sacrafice speed or style.

 

Wishfull thinking..... Where do you come up with 90K from?

Perhaps in a year or so but not in 6 months.

Seriously, these cars are worth what ever we are willing to pay for them. Auction gives you an idea what dealers are willing to pay for them.

2008 Auction numbers for the last three:

10/18/07 MANHEIM Regular $128,000 4,195 Above BLACK 8G A Yes
10/11/07 RIVRSIDE Regular $132,000 665 Above BLACK 8G A Yes
09/26/07 NADE Regular $138,000 3,312 Above BLACK 8G Yes

Seem to be holding their values fairly well right now.

 

Interesting data....

Lots of new S/CL63/65 inventory all over US....?200-300 cars...
AMG-unfriendly weather in NYC/Chicago, etc for next 5mos....
Most of these new cars are 2-3yr-leased...

In SF, dealers seem to struggle to sell traded-in '08 S/CL63/65/600...and end up wholesaling 'em at loss/no profit....supposedly, repeat buyers are willing to wait for their new, bespoke-spec'd car to show up; don't want a used one while they wait (unlike in past eras of hot, scarce at-launch AMGs).....

Now, some 4mos post-launch, nearly all repeat buyers already have their new cars....and aspirational, used buyers seemingly aren't available to provide a bid to high-end used car mkt in SF region.....would doubt any other mkts in US are much different vs high-end used cars (ex-599/430) now....perhaps effects of real estate mkts, tighter credit upon aspirational, used buyers....

 

Ask for 12.25% off of MSRP.........they still have some incentive and hold-back money on top of that.

 

According to Edmunds, an '08 S63 base MSRP is $127,000 and dealer invoice is $118,110. The margin there is $8,890. A partially loaded '08 S63 with P03 ($2090), Distronics Plus ($2870), Pano Roof ($1010), Ipod ($425), destination ($775) and gas guzzler tax ($3000) has MSRP of $137,170 and an Invoice of $127,882. So in this case, dealer margin is $9,288, if Edmunds is to be believed. So your dealer's $8,500 off MSRP seems like a pretty good offer to me. My target is always $1K over invoice, especially in this type of buyer's market. It gives a fair incentive to both your salesman and the dealership, which is the necessary lubricating oil to move the wheels in our capitalist society. Additional dealer holdbacks are extremely secretive information and only known to dealer principal. I doubt even the General Manager knows for certain these exact amounts. Your salesman will be clueless. In any case, this 'holdbacks' are determined at end of fiscal year according to gross sales, # of units sold and what models sold (those that MB especially wanted to move) by the dealership. I doubt anyone here will be able to use the 'unknown' dollar hold-outs as an effective negotiating tool in your purchase. Currently, I don't believe there is any incentive, or trunk money, on a '08 S63. Usually, these will come into play when the '09 S63 arrive next fall and unsold '08 inventory needs to be 'moved'. However, keep your eyes on Mercedes Benz Financial's published monthly money factor rates, since these will be the first thing MBUSA will use to deplete growing inventory of unsold S63s/CL63s across the nation. For November '07, the 24 month money factor is .00390 which translates into a 9.3% APR. The 36 month money factor is .00355, which is 8.5% APR. These are not particular 'good' rates. They will need to come down (subvented, or subsidized, by MB) quite a bit to make a difference and truly motivate buyers if this economy continues as is. Good luck. Z356

 

Well summarized

Indeed, even jaded dealers in LA were surprised by how new CL/S63/65 just couldn't capture much/any premia, even at launch for 030 cars....so not surprising how dismal is the mkt for new/used CL/S63/65 some 4mos post-launch when novelty factor is long gone...and more recession-resistant buyers largely already have a copy (or more)/would rather wait for a new copy ordered to their specs....and both economic and physical climate are cooling....

Also would consider the inventory capital costs for dealers sitting on many allegedly new $150K+ cars (surely lovingly molested during their many joyride miles)....esp in era of tighter credit...

Will be interesting to see if wholesalers buying used 63/65s at auction will be able to earn much profit vs purch cost; transport costs; capital costs of holding cars; and poss lethargic (time is money) sales processes (sort of like houses in much of US today).....in any case, interesting datapoint re: resilience/behavior of high-end and less high-end, more aspirational consumers in US today....

 

Currently in Chicago:
7 CL65's in different colors begging to be taken home...

 

AMG Germany engineered/built a brilliant car in CL/S63/65....MBUSA did everything poss to bungle marketing w/poor choices of wheels/interior materials/steering wheels, etc.....and lack of a high-profit ?$15K+ leather/wheels/steering wheel upgrade option (if concerned re: achieving attractive base MSRP for the unwashed masses; hell, Ferrari and Porsche are all over the options pricing game)....

SiliconValley has a disproportionate no. of recession-resistant car nuts/tech nuts w/ample resources and near-ideal weather/topography/roads for perf cars, yet many repeat AMG customers have passed on their ordered CL65s and are "surviving" w/their CL63 030's, despite grumbling re: the botched interior leather....

Let's see if AMG US can figure out preferences of major mkts/major dealers/major repeat customers when they launch SLxx Blk.....aspirational/used buyers fade in more difficult economies anyway....