Stiggs

My dealership is Carriage House of New London, Connecticut.
Long story short:

- I wanted to trade my CLK for a CLS about 6 months ago
- dealership wanted to give me crap for my car
- dealership said AMG and high end cars don't move
- I told dealership to shove it


So now My dealership just got in an SLR!!! So here I am ranting to you guys about how they won't give me crap on a trade in but they can let a $500K car sit on the lot. Heaven forbid my CLK sat on the lot!!!
They suck. I called to confirm they actually are selling the SLR. Girl on the phone said yes....selling it at sticker which she said was $476K (I believe it's what she said).


Don't want to sound like a whinner but I have to vent....and where better than here?

Thanks for letting me bend you ears.

benzmodz

Do you remember that episode of Seinfeld where Elaine wants to get revenge on a South American clothing outlet by buying from the one down the road.

Well I think you should buy your cars down the road and keep driving up in a different car each month (loaners) and keep telling them how much they missed out on.

Just hope that both dealerships are not owned by the same person. (as per Seinfeld)

Stiggs

LOL

I hear ya.

ClayJ

Work their punk butts, Stiggs!

What colors were the SLR, BTW?

I had heard yesterday that another shipload of them had come in.....

mjr24

Big difference between a SLR and a CLK. They are willing to let it sit there for a month because once it does sell it probably will make them 10x what they would have made off your CLK had it sold the day after they bought it from you. I have seen SLR's at every dealer in this area actually....they don't seem to be hard to find if you want one.

Stiggs

true...but don't cry the blues to me about how hard it is to sell AMG's and other high end cars. "there's no market right now for them"
So there's a market for a $500K car then?

I just need to b!tch about it!

benzmodz

Which is better ..... 52 transactions a year at 10% margin or 1 transaction at 5% with finance interest on the value of the car.

It is a huge mistake in business to go for the big kill to survive. 520% of 25K is a heck load more money than 1 SLR profit margin. Plus it keeps the workshop active and the staff employed.

Now consider that one of my clients does 10 cars a day using the same idea at a slightly lower margin .... no risk, no fuss, easy turnover of stock. Why is that worse than holding onto an SLR for an extended period of time with nothing more than drool marks on the glass to show for it.

mjr24

Again...it is an SLR. It brings people into the dealer.
The 03 CLK AMG is a good car....but not one I would go to a dealer looking for...meaning I would buy it private party because I know dealers want a premium for the AMG....which is why no one buys them from dealers and they sit.
I don't see how you can question why a dealer didn't take his CLK55 but has a $500k car in their window.

benzmodz

If you came into the dealership to look at the SLR would you buy a C230 or a CLK55 ?

BLK 300C

Ray Catena in Edison has 4 silver slr's for sale. I saw them last month, fckin sweeeeeeeett

mjr24

If I went in to seriously look at a SLR, I would possibly be in the market for a CL55 or SL55 once you compare stats.

Regardless, this argument is off point. I am not sure how you can blame a dealer for passing on a used AMG model that is not a CL55 or SL55.....but turning around and being honored enough to have the SLR in the showroom. Easy reasoning for me. I have a CL and they would not give me jack for my car, let alone if I tried trading it in for probably the hottest model in the lineup now...the CLS. Why would a dealer take a CLK55 as a trade-in and have to turn around and try to resell it when from what I have heard, people are lining up to pay cash for the CLS (not literally....but not having a trade in).

Stiggs

Don't forget this small detail:

I have leased one car and purchased two cars from this dealership. My mom has also purchased 3 cars from them.
I guess keeping me and my family's buisness doesn't mean squat these days.
I'm still pissed!

ano0oj

Theres one at the Sugar Land dealership too. Running for 440.

mjr24

Wouldn't you rather sell it private though? You are almost sure to get more than if you traded it in?

Remonster

Big diff between where you are and California then, my dad a few months back was looking into buying an SLR (not very seriously though ) and he had a friend who worked at the MB dealership near where I live and long story short, they basically had 3 guys wanting to buy it and they ended up selling it for $758,000!! My dad's like screw this car

HansBlix

The only reason Carriage House has an SLR, or S, CL, and SL class cars for that matter, is because of their huge client base in the Hamptons which is just a 30 minute ferry ride away. One of their employees openly admitted two weeks ago that the town of New London "doesn't have the best demographics" for their business. That makes sense, since hardly anyone in New London actually drives a M-B made in the past 20 years.

Stiggs

LOL
True
True
I had to go to Carriage House today to pick up my car. Saw my old dealer.....he actually let me sit in the SLR. It was sweet. He said they probably be getting rid of it ina month. I forgot to ask him if they sold it or they are just getting rid of it somewhere else.
What a car in person!
It smelled so nice inside....so fresh.I wish my car could smell like that again!!

ajf1

Stiggs dont mean to be a dick but why don't you sell your car privately?? i mean face the facts the car is a hard sell, i know some one trying to sell a 03 clk55 and I called a few dealers to see what they would offer in an outright buy. Do you want to know what most said?? They don't even want the car! I said just give me a number, they said they were really not interested for any money, basically indicating the car would just sit. Mind you this is in southern california, the biggest market for amg in the world! There is a reason why the clk 55 coupe was discontinued in the states.

benzmodz

The dealers are just lazy. The car can be put on a trailer and sold anywhere in North America. But that requires communication skills and the ability to deliver goods on time.

I remember that there was in the 80's a garage that kept every single owner on a register for Porsche. They researched high and low to get names and models. When a special order comes in they would know exactly which yard or private seller was offering the car if it was a match.

I think this dealership had something like 11,000 cars on record at any one time and knew the complete owner history of most of those cars. Sounds like a lot of work to me if you can do nothing and just go for the easy win.

ajf1

I don't think you get the point, of course it can be sold, but at what price? If dealers in the largest market for amgs were not interested why would they call around the country to find someone to buy the car? California would command the highest price, so it wouldn't make sense to get it sold for less somewhere else. dealers are not gonig to move cars for the hell of it, they do it to make money.

Jakpro1

My Stealer at least told the truth on one thing. Most SLR's are just showpieces for the stealership. It had an opposite effect on you Stiggs, but they told me (off the record of course), the if you are looking at an E 320, they walk you around the SLR and let you drool and then let you take a look at an E500. Somehow paying the extra few grand doesn't seem so bad after looking at a half mil.

Just coming from this cool guy I met at the Stealer.....he'll be gone soon. He's too nice to work at Benz.

Stiggs

I know you're not being a dick...I did try to sell my car privately without any luck. I've come to accept many truths in life. One of them is that cars depreciate, suck it up and be happy with what you got.

Stiggs

Funny update:

I was talking with my dealer yesterday about my CLK and he says to me "we still have that SLR for sale. If you know anyone looking for one we are willing to let it go for $360K."

First off who the hell would I know that can buy one of those?
I really had to contain my laughter. I love watching that $500K car sit and collect dust. Maybe when they drop the price to $100K it will sell.

Carl Lassiter

vindication!

Why are you selling your 55? I'm not in the market, just curious. Looks sweet and the coupe is far nicer than the convertible