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http://www.edmunds.com/mercedes-benz/m-class/2012/options.html?sub=suv&style=101- 327700&trim=ml350-4matic
The Dealership where I purchased my ML, has 250 sales per month, the Fleet Manager sold 150 with a team of two. The 14 salespeople on the floor sold the othe 100.
If you are a USAA member they treat you right.
It was 2012 ML350 with P1, Pre-wire kit, hitch, running board, heater streeting wheel, keyless-go, and lane tracking package in silver with black interior
MSRP - $57K
Discount before USAA - $6250
USAA Discount - $3000
$9250 off MSRP total
The trick is to not tell them you have USAA. Also dont tell them you have any other cars as they will tell you that you quality for conquest discount of $1000 (crap) off of list.
Negotiate best price with no promotions then when you agree on price tell them you get you USAA member and get your $3000 extra off. Most will try to use the USAA discount to minimize your inital price, thats why you dont tell them
The dealer gave me no problems and I was able to get car in a few hours after agreeing to price.
Also never buy any of the crap extras from the Finance guy - they are marked up super high. If you buy negotiate atleast 40% off
Good Luch
My wife is currently driving a Mazda CX-9 and although it's very versatile (probably even more so than the ML), it doesn't have anywhere near the family-hauling capability of the Odyssey. It also isn't much use at Home Depot when I want to haul plywood, sheetrock, pipes, plants, etc. When I had my Odysseys, I could haul all that stuff home without renting a trailer. I could also ferry around the kids and their friends, visiting relatives or my whole family and two week's worth of luggage. You can't do those things in an ML.
Bottomline: I love the ML but I wouldn't buy one for my primary family vehicle.
USAA is not that great. Their pricing should only be used as a starting point.
I am looking at an ML with the same specs as yours. Do you mind sharing the dealer info/person with me?
Thanks!
AB
1. getting internet quotes from various dealers are useless. at least for MB dealers in SoCal. I found it's somewhat useful for Acuras and BMWs. But for whatever reasons, these MB dealers seemed to be under some kind of directives from MB corporate not to provide any meaningful internet quotes that are close to real #s.
2. most dealers will 'reluctantly' agree on a price of around $4,000-$5,000 under MSRP and call it their last offer and won't go any further. I found this frustrating as I initially saw much lower prices from this forum (although most seem to be on the east coast and a few months earlier). My advice is don;t take the deal and walk away. They will give you the regular bulls**t of having to make a living and feed their children, yada, yada. I usually patiently listen, and answer back with "Ok, but, this is my offer price". They will make you feel like you are committing a robbery at the dealership and a great injustice has been committed by offering such ridiculous price on a fine automobile. I'd usually keep my calm and composure and tell them it's ok that we cannot do business and walk out. About half of the dealers will actually call back and lower their price a little bit, so I'd try not to make them feel like you are a hard case and won;t budge at all on your last offer.
3. The so-called invoice price actually varies from dealer to dealer. But they are roughly about $500 -$600 above the Edmunds.com or any most other invoice price you find on the web. It's just their way to show that they have a higher cost than you think. So negotiating from invoice is kind of waste of time IMO, and not a good benchmark. It's easier to communicate using MSRP of xx% off MSRP.
4. I wanted a specific color combination and Bluetec. It's not the most common, so your expectation of how much you can get off MSRP should be adjusted accordingly, probably. IMO. If I had been willing to settle for other colors and perhaps gasoline engine, I believe you can probably get a lower price than what I indicated above. But of course, like I said, I didn't think my purchase price was close to the lowest as I was pretty tired of playing the 'game', you should do your own adjustments on your price expectation and your own 'stamina' on the 'pursuit'.
5. Finally, this is just my anecdotal observation that it seems that ML350 is selling pretty good here in SoCal. I checked various dealers' inventory on the web to see whether they hold the car I wanted or if there's new arrivals, these cars seem to be selling well. This could be the reason some are unwilling to budge on price. But again, it;s just my ~2wks experiences so far, don't take it as something coming from the Fed economist. So be persistent on your pursuit of the lowest price you can get. I gave up after 2wks, but it doesn't mean you should! -:))
They could very well be telling you the truth. Mercedes adds anywhere from $250 to $750 per car on the invoice for their regional IRG charge. So it is an actual cost added to the invoice, which is not shown on Edmunds or any other sites, because it varies by region. The MB store I worked at for 11 years in sales and sales management had a $500 charge per car, and was part of our actual invoice. Other than this charge, all dealers have the same invoice price.
So it sounds like you did pretty well. Some prices discussed in the forums here include loyalty, conquest, or USAA discounts given by Mercedes, and aren't available to everyone. So don't worry about the price. Just enjoy the car.
Was your previous car a luxury vehicle? Such as a Cadillac or BMW? I understand Mercedes gives dealers a certain amount of "conquest" money, usually one or two thousand dollars (changes each month) to give customers who move to Mercedes from another luxury brand, even if they don't trade that brand and keep the car. All these discounts put us that don't meet the criteria at a disadvantage. Many of the "deals" you see posted here are one or more of these discounts that apply only if you meet the criteria. In all cases, these can potentially get several thousand dollars off more than the rest of us. That is why I said that you did great, really great, by getting your car at $7500 under sticker without using these discounts.
The USAA discount is actually a "fleet" price like you might get if you work for a major company that has a relationship with Mercedes. Lots of companies get similar discounts.
S01 Premium / Running Board / Pre Wire Entertainment / Lane Tracking Package
MSRP: $54,825
Selling Price: $49,000
Financed about $25,000 @ 2.99% 36 months.
I was trying so hard to get it down to $48,500, but couldn't do it...I think these MLs are selling well in the LA area...
Hope this information helps.
Palladium Silver
P01
PARKTRONIC
Wood Steering Wheel
Trailer Hitch (can't get away from them up here)
Running Boards
Rear Seat Entertainment Pre-Wiring
Keyless GO
Lane Tracking
MSRP $58,705, Negotiated Price $53,859 using conquest plus Costco
Second negotiation with different dealership asking for same % discount as first dealership:
Steel Grey
P01
Trailer Hitch
Running Boards
Rear Seat Entertainment Pre-Wiring
Lane Tracking
MSRP $56,495, Negotiated Price $51,699
Leasing the vehicle for .0015 Money Factor, $795 application fee and 63% residual
On my last Mercedes purchase (a 2004 E500) I got 6.5% off MRSP plus a $1,500 Mercedes incentive. It would appear that 6.5% off MRSP plus $1,000 would be a good but not great deal, given some of the posts I have read. Thoughts from the master negotiators here?
Thanks for the great information provided on this board.
I assume doing it this way probably costs a little extra. I'm sure you could do better price wise if what you want is sitting right there on their lot. This is now end of the model year so you should be able to drive a hard bargain if the car you want is in stock. In my case, I ended up paying 9% under invoice. I might have been able to do better in person but the dealer was 140 miles from me and all my negotiations over a week long period was with the internet manager via emails. I test drove the ML350 a couple times before so I knew this was the vehicle I wanted but I never met the sales associate until the day I went in to pick it up and drive it home. In other words, I got this price without ever leaving my desk at home. Could I have done better going back and forth and negotiating in person? Probably, but I don't know that for a fact considering all that had to be done just to get the exact car I wanted. In any event, it was worth a little something extra to me to settle on a price without all the traveling and going back and forth. Overall I was pleased with the price and the internet buying experience. PS-the ML is magnificent!!
I've been unable to bring it down any further.
Any thoughts? Is this a good deal or should I run?
October/2011, MRSP $56,005.00 paid $50,000.00 and I got an addition $1,500.00 from MB Fin total paid $48,500. You should pay $47,000.00 not even a penny more.
Good Luck, its a great SUV you are buying!
I've been calling dealerships and no one seems to go below MSRP minus 3K
I can tell you, that the first offer I got was similar I think to what Leokadia1 has mentioned (and I got it in writing). This was for an ML350 (not BlueTec). MSRP: $56,540; "Selling Price" $51,843 plus an additional "conquest incentive" which if i remember correctly was either $1500 or $2000. this was a verbal after the $51.8 offer, as they asked me later what kind of car I drove and would I be trading in. I told them I would be trading in my convertible BMW, which is in pristine shape. But I always do this as they make a killing off of trade ins, and I knew this would drive a better selling price. This was the FIRST offer; My counteroffer would have been $48.
Here's one tip though- I would NEVER walk in and tell them you're paying cash until after you've negotiated the deal. Remember, these guys are incentivized to get you signed up for the MB line of credit. That's where they make the serious cash (and repairs). So it's one more area that the dealership can make up that "below invoice" walk out the door price. Just my 2 cents. Finally, I do believe we need to start demanding zero emissions on these models (not just BlueTec), and better gas mileage. It's not a cost thing- but a save the planet thing!