vpoms

I was driving by one of my local dealers on Saturday 3/2/02. They had two silver(?) SL500 LE available. The asking price was 85K over the MSRP!!!. I don't know if anybody bought those cars yet. The dealership is a walking distance from my house, but I bought all my other cars including G500 I got last month from a dealer about 8 miles away. I think asking 85K over MSRP is inexcusable. I have nothing against making money, but these type of practices untagonize other customers. As I mentioned before I bought 4 MBZ cars in the last three years. Everytime I shopped that dealer I didn't get a fair price and I bought four cars from a dealer a few miles away.

Wildbill

vpoms, which dealer is this?

amg55

This is the same old "newest hottest thing" frenzy that accompanies the release of every hyped limited new model.
We see the same thing over and over again.
Best example I've seen: a couple years back a guy in Newport just HAD to have the display BMW Z8 the dealer had just received and paid $225K (so I was told by the sales guy)....~$100K over sticker.

The economy will deflate demand for the SL in many areas, but in places like Florida and SoCal the wait will still be many months.
BUT: the phenomenon of people paying premiums over sticker will last only several weeks. Before June rolls around the supply of people who will pay whatever it takes will have been all but exhausted.

Same with the capacity to 'flip' a nearly new SL for sizeable profit. The supply of people willing to pony up will be gone by late summer.

sl55guy

the sl will have no downward pressure as the sl55 will be miniscule in QTY compared to demand. It is not like you can dump a 500 and get a 55 so easily. MB is well aware of the secondhand market and take pride in "making" their cars retain value. Though many will aspire to own a 55, most will end up owning a 500. as for discounts, try 4-6 years for when they are ready to launch an "update" or a little after that, when they phase these out as in the R129's fate these past two years. MB looks long term. They will not flood the market. they will tease. they will feed, just enough so as to leave you craving. IE...look at the 430cab clk. 135,000 clks produced. 25,000 of which are cabrios. less than 1/3 of the 25,000 are 430s and less than 10% of that 25,000 are amg55s. Any downward pressure on the 430 from the 55cab clk? No. Just no longer a ridiculous premium on 430s but value retention is still fabulous. How about downward pressure on the 320 cab from the 430cab? coceptually yes, but in practice no. The 320cabs have not been discounting new and the used car price is generally on the higher side of blue book if not premium on the blue book price. There are still waiting lists for a now 5 year old product.
I feel that the new sl would truly be in danger of upward pressure instead, if mb brings the 320/350 sl over. Making a lower price alternative for the same style and perhaps more gas efficient. Like a younger brother that is equally handsome and is more intelligent. That is danger to you!

sl55guy

marcus....no to be rude, as i can sometimes be with my forward and direct mannerism, but i have in my hand a deposit slip for a 55 from house of import. explain please .....

MarcusBenz

I'm not sure, how long have you had the reservation on that car. If you have had it for some time, you may have gotten in before they put that policy in place. Another angle is that, who is the saleperson who took the deposit. I will refer to an old saying the can be used in alot of different businesses "It's not what you know, it's who you know". Some of the salespeople at my dealership have enough pull to get anything done (Lucky them), but the norm is that we do not take reservation on the 55AMG. The only way I got one by the powers that be, is that the gentlemen put 4 deposits on the standard SL500.

P.S.
There is nothing wrong with being direct!

MarcusBenz
House of Imports, MBZ

Mr. Xristo

Hmmm... here, in south florida, there is a great demand for the new SL, and especially the SL55.. I see no diminishing in sight, as there is a great deal of wealth in this area, so I do not forsee anyone cancelling their orders.

Mac

What gets me is that, after putting deposits on the 55 at 5 dealerships, a few weeks later, I learn that, at 3 of them (Memphis Mercedes, Jones in Fayetteville, AR, and Elite in Springfield, MO), my salespersons have since left and, lo and behold, my position has dropped several clicks! At least I have a printed copy of my order at Riverside Motors in Little Rock, thanks to Stan Stull. This type of cronyism is really hard to swallow.

ibanez

In Southern California there will always be a demand because people pay thorugh their noses for "image" cars whether they can afford them or not. On the other hand, there tends to be a lot more used or near new cars available because of the image syndrome.

The whole wait list thing is always a mystery to me once a car has been out for a while. It may be true that there is a long wait to "order" a car, but you can almost always find cars sitting available on showroom floors (this was true of CLK 430, CLK 55, E55). Now its true that they are there sometimes because the dealers want ridicuous prices, but a lot of the time the cars are available at or near MSRP. I think a lot of people just get "blinders" about the car they want or they simply are not smart or creative enough to locate an available car (don't take this is an insult to anyone, this is just a general statement).

55 cabdriver

Ibanez:

I agree with you. I was able to pick up a CLK 55 cab this past January for about $6k under the MSRP of $82.8k from a MB/Honda dealer in Sioux Falls, SD. Saw the car advertised on Ebay but bidding didn't reach the $76k reserve he had on the car (bidding stalled at $72k). I understand that these relatively rare cars are being offered at $10-20k over list at some dealers on the coasts. Winter in the upper midwest is a great time to buy a cab. The dealer commented to me that he could make more selling six Hondas than the money he had tied up sitting on his showroom floor in the CLK I bought. It pays to shop around.

llakers

I stop at Keyes Van Nuys on Tuesday, and the saleman told me they asking 30,000 to 35,000 over the sticker, and it's up to the sales manager how much. I guess it depend how on your looks or how much money you have

sl55guy

sure adds to the you're somebody if you have a mercedes "myth" doesn't it?

-somebody

karl k

Private party car ad in Miami Herald today lists 2003 SL500 for $149,900.-! :o

ibanez

Anyone can ask whatever they want. It doesn't mean they can get it.

For example:

I have a Black/Charcoal SL500 with sport package coming in next month. The first $200k gets it!

victoryroad

My dealer is to get five SL's a month starting now. Ours should arrive in late July/early August. There is no talk of premium pricing. Moreover, it has been my understanding that MB prohibits the practice among its US dealers. I would bet that in the Northeast SL 500's will be, if not abundant, at least available at MSRP without more than a year wait. We ordered ours last June and have moved up on the list. I would be surprised if we do not move up further, as people drop out when told that they have to take delivery. This was the case with my '02 CL 500 Sport, which I will keep when the SL arrives. It arrived several months earlier than I had expected and the dealer got only about two a month. While waiting for the SL, we decided to buy a Carrera 4S from the dealer's showroom a couple of weeks ago. There are always limited production models available if one is willing to do a bit of research.

sl55guy

Dear victory road,

you must have a lot of time to spend on the road with so many cars. What you say is true about MB not allowing premiums, however, premium priced vehicles are sold as a second hand even with 27 miles or less on them, and the purchaser will usually find that the luxury tax has been paid. that is why there are few (if none) reports of a $2-5K premium. Pointless for the dealer to purchase the car to be premiumed as a private party and then sell it at a premium of less than the taxes to acquire it. On a big scale item, like an sl, that is taxes on almost $100K. Aside from all that, i envy (yes i know it is a sin) your car collection.

llakers

Well, in today's paper Keys advertises SL500 available immediately.

No Price

Mr. Xristo

When I was at the SL unveiling party at my local dealer there were a couple of people from MBUSA. I asked one of them about the premium rule, and was basically told this:

"Although we highly recommend that dealers sell at MSRP, there are no rules that bar them from selling a car over MSRP"