Tomorrow morning at the local Merc Naples Fl. dealer(here comes another sucker) viewing a new 07 SL550 absolutely fully loaded(apart from panorama roof) and including Designo Mystic White(nearly 8K!!).
They are asking the listed price of $118,215.00. Dealer is offering $3k off that price and told me that according to Kellys blue book, valuing my CLS500 17thousand miles(again virtually fully loaded apart from designo series,payed 80K from them in May 05) at $52.500, which according to my research lists for $54950 approx and thats without the Amg sports package which they seemed to forget about!!! So their offer of 3K discount may be a give to Peter and take away from Paul deal?
Anyway, if there is anybody up at this time of night who cares to comment before a.m.(I won't make a decision anyway until Monday) I would appreciate hearing from you. I would be interested in learning what is a fair price, as going over previous posts, many have said that one should be hard on the dealer, but I would prefer to offer a fair price and receive a fair price from them, as their service dept has really looked after me very well, although I understand that in this business, one tries to get the best deal possible.
Upmarket area here and they appear to have no problems in selling cars fast so I may not be able to get bargain basement prices, but I wouldn't want to drive off with the car and learn later how I could have made a better deal elsewhere. What do you think the net figure should be to me that would make me and them shake hands on Monday and give them a check??

 

Push for at least 5k+ off....there is no shortages of SL's....I would want 8k off or more to even consider the deal. But I guess since you have a trade which as a new car is being heavily dicounted its not such a bad deal. 06 CLS's are being blown out since everybody wants the 550.

 

3k off is too little. i was able to negotiate 5500 off.

 

I'm not positive, but I think I've read some bad things about a Merc dealer in Naples, FL on this forum. I could be wrong.

I know there's a new design this year, but I don't think you should have to pay anything more than $500 over invoice (car and option prices). Start at invoice and work your way up to $500 over invoice. If he tells you no, tell him your thank you for your time and find another MB dealer, even if you have to travel. Don't throw thousands away because you can't wait a few weeks.

 

IMHO, I would NOT pay $115k for these cars. I love my car....but for $115k I would buy a used Bentley GT or pay $25k more and get a Gallardo. These cars are not built nice enough to pay $115......I wouldn't even take a SL55 for that.

Negotiating money off the invoice is almost pointless. It's saying....do you want to have lost $20k once you drive off the lot....or $15k? You lose either way. You could find a used 07 for probably $90-95...with less than 5K miles too.

 

By the way, there is a 2007 SL550 (white, sports package) on Ebay from a dealer.....$97,000....0 miles. So yes, if you pay $110k for that one by you, you indeed are a sucker.

 

mine was 6k off as i remember in september.............you should have negotiated the price first then try your trade i would bet he is giving u more off and he is just subsidizing your trade about 2k...........go to one other dealer

 

3k is NOTHING...get atleast 5k off and see how you can get a little more from the CL

 

well i used to sell cars and wanted to chime in a bit about the trade-in vs discount issue...

you need to remember, it's all the same money. don't treat the trade-in amount separate from the purchase price of the new car. they are both parts of a single deal.

if they give you more for your trade-in, they charge you more for the new car. and you don't have to play games as far as negotiating the price of the new car THEN introducing the trade-in. that just reopens the negotiation. this is not a game, this is business. they have a minimum amount they are willing to sell the new car to your for and a maximum amount they are willing to buy your trade-in for.

the reason the dealerships need to play games, is because the customers do. they are pros and the office managers know exactly how high and how low they can go from the start. getting you up from your price on the new car and down from your price on the trade in is their job.

if you want that car from that dealership, this is what you do.

you tell them that you like this particular car and it would be great if i could get it here. i want X for my trade in and I'm willing to give you Y for your car. Here is my down payment check of $10k (or if you're paying cash, write that check in total or if you're leasing write a check for the drive off - maybe $5k, etc) make it out to the dealership and sign it! now they are turning away money if they can't do the deal.

If you're financing/leasing it, you also need to tell them how much you are going to spend per month. This is where most deals fall apart. If you are not going to spend more than $1800/mo. tell them. You want the salesman to go back to the sales manager with a done deal. A serious buyer ready to sign and drive off with that car at these terms in an hour. Done deal.

They know they have the car, let them know that you're serious about buying it. Not just running around town trying to steal a car and unload yours.

Once you do everything above you are in a better position. Now they know you are ready to buy and it's on them if they can't get you into that new car.

and you also need to remember that you may not be willing to pay what they are willing to sell if for. you can't go in with the mindset that you HAVE to have this car... Play it straight forward, 100% and if they say no, thank them for their time and go have a drink somewhere. you don't want to hang around going back and forth. that just shows that you're not serious about the parameters you set.

the office knows from the second they have the VIN number what they'll do. so as soon as you get a no (after doing everything above) get out of there.

if there's a deal, they'll call you. if not, now you know.

i hope this helps. i've told countless friends to do this over the years and it always works. they don't always get the car, but they never get f'd over trying.

best of luck!

mike

 

I find the last post comical.... No matter how you approach it you are getting F_ucked.. If it makes you feel better to do it your way then by all means do it.
DEALERS DONT LOSE MONEY.. how do you think they pay for that GRAND looking dealership sitting on prime real estate?!
Bottom line... you can get $10,000 off an SL.. If your dealer balks at that, find another one. The market on these cars is VERY VERY soft and you would be better off buying used. Plan on losing $20,000 in deprication in the first year alone, more if you buy an AMG car.
Their offer of $54,000 is average auction price... not to terrible since most dealers will offer below auction prices. I checked 2006 Sl500 prices and they are anywhere from $66,000 to $77000..
So.. You could off your car at auction for $54k and for roughly $15k more buy a nice 2006 SL. OR... buy @ $115k trade your car at $54K and have a car thats worth $80k or less by the middle of next year.. you stand to lose $35k-40K in the first year alone on the SL you are interested in.
Granted the Designo White is beautiful, but I dont thinks its $35K beautiful!
You would be much better off to sell your car outright and pick up a low mile 2006.
Unless of course you are like me and just dont give a rats_ass and want a new car <lol>

 

We'll be interested in your decision.

To put my 2-cents in, you sound like a perfect candidate for leasing. Just think, you have already paid about $1500/ month in depreciation with your current car.

With a lease, you still negotiate a purchase price (capitalized cost). I wouldn't tell them what you want to spend per month because they will make sure that you spend every bit of it and probably give you less discount in the process.

A closed-end lease also fixes the depreciation. You can review residuals by model on this site.

Good luck!

 

Thx for all your quick replies. So this morning I went to look at the car and had copied out the prices that ebay and others are offering...as much as 7K off!! Plus proof that Kelleys were listing my CLS500 at $58,250 at trade in value. The car is beautiful, however, I didn't realize the amount of black contrast in the desigo white edition which did put me off just slightly. regardless, the SL550 is gorgeous. Wife also liked the car and thought the seats were more padded out and comfortable than my CLS.
Went directly to the Sales Manager as I didn't want this car salesman "I'll be back in a second and talk to my finance guy" crap and layed my cards out on the table and told him that I am not here to play games but the price you are offering me on my CLS is too low and how come others were selling up to $7K off Msrp? He totally ignored me showing him the blue book quotes and said that they probably included the AMG sports package which they shouldn't, yada, yada, etc, etc and ended by saying that if I came to deal forget about it as he had already discounted the car by 3 grand.
I told him we would think about it this weekend and he would get back to me by Monday, perhaps. (He appeared to be quite confident and I already felt a decision not to deal with me on any negotiations that I had in mind was in his game plan).
Said goodbye to him and went to have another look at the car when a Salesperson appeared and told me that he would wager a bet with me that the SL550 would have been sold within 2 hours???????????? Good luck to you I said and promptly forgot about it. Within 1 hour the Sales Manager rang and said I have some very sad news for you(who died I thought). The car has already sold. I told him well done and he said another identical one is coming in 4 weeks, would I be interested? Wasn't sure I replied and we left it at that.

So I don't know what to make of it all apart from the fact that Naples is a booming area with too many rich fools or suckers(or both) but sometimes it's best to take a back seat, as there will always be a deal somewhere else, but I did want to try and continue our relationship as I have found their service to be excellent and wasn't sure how I would be treated by purchasing elsewhere and having my service there. To the poster who said lease....your figures make sense, but I don't want to lease, as I already have just 2 years lease left on My LMB C6(which I absolutely love, although she is a garage queen)
To others who say it makes no sense whatsoever to lose so much money through depreciation, you are also right..however, a bus could run me over tomorrow and I don't particularly want a used car and if so, I would need to meet somebody who is as fanatically obsessed as I am with even going through a car wash, who Zaino's his vette to perfection..in other words who has lovingly looked after it and with very low miles..difficult to find these days and I had one bad experience on a 2000 vette through ebay....................and sometimes as you know, all is not what it appears to be and when I had niggling problems on the CLS500 to begin with, my dealer always took care of me and even had Mercedes give me free new front set of tires as I felt that the car was sounding like a ***** on steroids.................however this was due to the service dept's prompting and help as they have good people there.................................Well, thats my story, so I will plod on and to the poster who said for that price I could get a used Bentley GT........................how used And to the poster who said for an extra 25K I can get a Gallardo..........................no way jose............. but I appreciate all your comments!!! I like mercedes, always have done. Might just get me another CLS but with the new engine...mind you, will still possibly have the same dealer problems, although I will shop about slightly further afield..........
Best to you all.........................

 

O dear god.. they will never make another one!! I hate when a dealer uses that tactic.. Geez.. these cars are not some rarity. I bet you could find five or six and get a much better deal at another dealer.

Come up to Tampa.. I bet you will get a MUCH better deal than down in Naples.
Too many people down there with more money than brains.

 

Sounds like you need to buy somewhere else but have the car sericed at your dealer....I would get at least 10k off that car and keep the trade within a couple of grand of what they quoted or make a drive to the next dealer and talk to the internet manager.

 

Take a ride up to tampa and take a look no?..............i think lorinserbenz is right........... they will keep making white sl's.........hundreds of them

 

Don't worry about the service department- they will take care of you regardless where you buy the car- it is a separate profit center. Actuallly, I've read that most of the money is made through service, not sales, anyway.

 

well, having the car serviced through the same dealership you bought it = better service and more freebies

 

FWIW, I bought my SL at dealer A (75 miles away), and I have had it serviced there as well as at dealer B in my local area. My SL has been treated very well at both dealerships. So, while your concern does have some merit, I would not let it be a major factor in determining where to buy the right car for the right price.

 

Uh.....I said that, and yes....you can. Maybe you wouldn't be taken advantage of by dealers if you actually had some knowledge about what the cars are going for.... . You indeed are a sucker walking right through the door for them.

 

Not to hijack this thread but mjr24 is correct about used Gallardo's being available for $25k more($140k range).

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2005-...QQcmdZViewItem

 

Better yet I will sell you a mint 2005 SL65 SIlver Arrow for 125k!! 9k miles, under warranty and the major depreciation is gone!

 

I have always been told that Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds etc is inaccurate and overvalues the car. They say that most dealers and wholesalers use the Galves guide.

 

Auction prices are down to the 115K range on 2004 Gallardos..

heck of a buy on a awesome looking car..

 

I think I might consider getting a Gallardo or GT next summer if things go according to planned with my businesses. The GT might be more practical as an everyday car but the Lambo is much classier. That really is a great price for those cars.....such is the problem with cars as a hobby....you always want to keep going up with your next purchase. How are Lambos qualitywise mechanically anyways?