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Mercedes-Benz C-Class Sedans
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Comments
The trade in was for a beat-up '98 Sentra GXE with 67K miles that goes for about $2K in KBB.
The 230 sedan is aiming and missing the BMW 3 series.
The erratic pricing of the 230 vs 240 only causes confusion and people are choosing the 230 merely based on price. I have seen too many older people driving 230 sedans. It may actually turn that market off of MB's. I would think that most MB buyers are intelligent enough to realize this discrepancy and perhaps are annoyed at it. It is also bad business since they are giving away profits. Anyone who has a basic understanding of economics realizes that a lower price for higher volume does not necessarily result in higher overall profits especially in niche market.
There little doubt that the 230 is a better value than the 240, but whether it it the correct choice for all individuals is more cloudy. They really should have priced it the same with different transmissions to make up for equip diff. then customers would pick the car that they would be happier with and not try to save the $2k-3k price difference.
Your concerns about the cost of maintenance is short sighted and ludicrous. I hope you realize that you will probably spend more on tires than maintenance in the first couple years of the 230.
I am good. Yes, it makes a big difference in price but not in the actual car. If you like demos they are always a good deal escpecially at a MB dealer.
It is very hard to price them as a since a couple thousand miles makes a difference in price. It is technically a NEW car and the only people who know different is you and the dealer. The most important thing is that you given a complete inspection. A couple paint chips or even a dor ding is acceptable and will happen to all cars sooner or later. It seems that you were credited for about $1/mile which is very generous and it is an '05. I think it is a very good deal even as a demo.
A great price on a MB C-class would be $400-700 above dealer invoice adjusting for any money incentives. An average price is the edmunds TMV about $1400 above invoice.
The trade in where you really need to see the car to determine whethter it was a good deal. Most likely, the MB dealer is just going to sell it to a wholesaler and would be happy making $500 on it if anything at all. It was more of courtesy for them to take it. You said "beat-up". Poor condition vehicles have no value so it should be better. An average condition model of that car probably would get $3500, and then you deduct all the repairs that would be necessary to make your car average. Whether $1500 is fair, you will have to figure that out. It is not a lot for them to work with in any case.
Overall, I think it was a very good deal. I think it would be very hard for anyone to do better on an '05 except for a loaner car which would be considered used and have much higher mileage.
You have to read everything here with a grain of salt. If it is too good to be true, it usually is. There was someone who said people were getting $7700 below MSRP which is highly unlikely for a NEW current c-class with no damage. If a dealer discounts that much, there is always a reason.
Which came first etc....
What part of the country are you in?
>>> Went to the dealer looking for a new '05 C230 and got priced for a brilliant silver one with the "Love Merceces" coupon I got from an event 2 weeks ago. Came out to be about $32000 but they don't have the ash interior I want and will take 2-3 weeks to get one with ash interior in. My wife was insistent on the ash interior so they offered the demo unit with 2k miles on it but with ash interior at the same price. After another 20 mins of complaining about it being a demo and not a new one, they gave it to us for $31295.
Which came first etc....
>>> Then came the trade-in, we took the car to a BMW dealer before (was shopping for a 325i before, but now decided on an MB instead) and they offered only $500. So when the guy at MB appraised the car and came back offering $1500 we bite immediately.
What part of the country are you in?
>>> We live in the NorthEast Tri-State area. The car was brought at a NJ dealer.
Regards, Ken.
Also, I think you got a very low mileage demo and they wanted to make a sale. I think most demos are at least 4K.
What was the "Love Merceces" coupon good for? I missed the event. We are in the same area. Tri-state MB dealers.
Two things. I considered the Ash interior but sometimes you get a reflection off the speaker which is distracting. It is very common in many cars. I chose a charcoal interior for that reason. MB used to make all their dashes black.
Two, you might want to check into getting a set of snow tires or all season M+S tires for the winter.
All season M+S ties... what are those? Should I get them at MB dealer or from other retail store?
My wife want to put LoJack on the car so it is easier to recover if it is stolen, but the dealer does not offer installation. The dealer keep tell us how good the anti-theif features are and don't have to worry about it.
I had LoJack on my last car, a Nissan Sentra. It did not make any difference to me, but want to see if it is a good idea to put it on the new Benz.
Thanks.
They keep renaming it and the offer/coupon varies. Sometimes it is only on certain classes. I think I am want to get the new SLK and the coupon would come in handy.
Did you use it on your 230 for an additional discount to what was stated earlier? They usually are tied to MB financing.
M+S means mud and snow which most all season tires are. Since you are in NJ, you get a decent amount of snow for about four months. You can get them at any tire shop. A lot of people get another set of cheap rims so they can just swap them after the first snow. See how it handles after the first snow storm before deciding or even the rain.
I wasn't able to use the coupon because it is only good for a new vehicle and mine is considered as demo, not new. Besides they force you to finance through MB credit but I paid in full.
RE: the tires, do I need to change all 4 or just the 2 RWD ones?
That is the catch since it doesn't take much in financing to offset the coupon, but if you were financing or leasing anyway it is a good deal.
I guess it is different in NJ. In NY, I think the title still says it is a new vehicle since you are the first registered owner.
If you decide to get set of snow or all season tires you should definitely get a set of 4. Putting two only on the rear would be dangerous since it will cause oversteer.
See how it handles first. With the traction control and ESP, you may be fine. It is just somethig to consider.
If you want to take a shot at it anyway (if your name is close enough to Ken Tang), I can mail it to you, no problem. just email me the address.
If you click on my ID, you should see me email address listed somewhere.
Thanks.
You can try the standard sources: Orbitz, Travelocity, SideStep [they require a download that builds some tools on your computer], or any of the online travel sources can get you started. For autorentals, my favorite place to start is AutoEurope.
There just isn't one best answer to the question, because air fares change by the hour. I'm sorry to say I know of no shortcuts beyond spending a couple of hours on the computer and noodling through the alternatives.
If you live in the Southeast, LTU flies regularly out of various FLA airports to Dusseldorf [in the northern part of Germany], and often has cheap connections to other German cities. LTU's fares are some of the cheapest around, but not if you have to travel far in the USA to get to them.
In 1968, when we did our first OSD, there was a German law that required MB to collect the VAT and hold it in escrow until the car was exported [a requirement that has long since been dropped] - so we avoided the problem by taking delivery in Zurich and slipping back over the border the next day. This was long before the new Delivery Center, and all of the nice side perks that go with the process today. I should mention that in those days, I worked for United Airlines, and we got a ridiculously cheap fare [$99 roundtrip] on SAS from any US city they served to any European destination....adusting for inflation, a lot of ordinary fares these days come very close to that offer in constant dollars.
As I've mentioned, for me that price difference includes not only the 7%, and the destination charge [which is actually another 2% these days], but also the useless options that I would just as soon live without. If you are looking for a car that matches what can be found on the typical dealer's lot, then it's very likely that you can do better with a good deal on a domestic delivery, especially if you live in a competitive market.
In our case, our last deal was $30k on a car with a $34.5k MSRP - 15%...but about $1500 of that, or 5%, was for options that I would have skipped if I had ordered the car for OSD....so I always say it boils down to how much you want the experience of actually driving the car in Europe, and how you value that.
There is a new forum in the Mercedes B Class area.
What do you think?
What's the approximate overall length of the A and B class cars?
For me, size is strictly about utilitarianism - it meets the safety standards and I want the smallest, most economical package that will actually hold 4 real adults. The back seat of the C [and all of its direct competitors] is too tight for anybody over 5'8" if a 6' person is occupying the front...I know, because we've tried it several times.
B's details are here:
http://www.whnet.com/4x4/w245.html
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I am looking at both, both 6 sp std . I believe the price will be about the same on th current 39/mo lease. I am leaning towards the '05 simply because of the improvements discussed on the board, but the 320 seems to have some nice upgrades, plus a v6.
any suggestions or input on pros / cons of each appreciated.
JK So California
How reliable are 2003 C class in general?
Your insight would be appreciated.
1. fly to Frankfurt - very busy place, easy to find competitive air connections
2. Take a train from the Frankfurt airport (there is a train terminal in the airport) to Stuttgart. The train tickets for two will be less than the cost of a rental and gas - I think we paid around $75 for two 2nd class express train tickets. It's also probably an hour faster than driving, unless you want to take your chances at high speed in a rental car. You may have to change trains once, in Manheim, but that is pretty easy to do. The ICE (inter city Express) trains leave every hour, take 1:14 to get to Stuttgart with no stops, and a first class seat is E73.
3 Use the voucher that the ED package includes for the taxi ride from train station to the delivery center. You are there with no rental to drop off, and they have a place to store your luggage while you have lunch in the dining room and take the factory tour prior to accepting delivery on your car.
It's easy - the train is comfortable and fast.
After you get the car you have to run over a mile or so to the EH Harms agents to schedule your drop-off of your car for return shipment to your dealer in the states. That took us around 45 minutes by the time all the papers for return shipping were signed. Harms has drop off agents all over Europe, so you could drop the car in Frankfurt and have a short cab or train ride back to the airport.
http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2050124.002/mercedes- /1.html
M
If so, start with the F & I Manager at the dealership in Chico, California [get the details from the MBUSA website]. She has traditionally offered rock-bottom prices on the factory extended warranty. Then, you can either buy from them or use the info to get your neighborhood dealer to match or better the price. ANY dealer can sell the factory extended warranty, for ANY price they see fit. Ours was discounted nearly 25% from "list".
If the car isn't eligible for the factory warranty, I can't help - have no opinions or insights about the various 3rd party warranties out there.
Also, I wonder what they were thinking. I've heard no one complain about the performance of the C320. I also find few people buying the C320 over the C240 because the C240s performance is "okay" and its not worth the extra money to most to upgrade to the larger engine. Now, it will presumably cost even more to upgrade to get unneeded power. This may force me into a C240.
M
Eventually, the family of V6s with the new heads will range from 2.4 to 3.0 to 3.5, with hp ratings from just under 200 to 350+ with turbocharging. But drivetrains have never been the problem with these cars - it was always the electronics.
Thanks,
postoak
Yes, for all practical purposes, it is impossible to get a sedan without the sunroof. Dealers are afraid to order them for stock, because they claim most customers won't buy them. Personally, I find the roof to be a useless option, and if I ordered a car from scratch [for overseas delivery, for example] I would not pay for it. BMW is about to make it standard on the new 3er - that at least is intellectually honest, if not a better solution.
If you waited until late summer, the kind of deal we got tends to be quite common....less so at this time of year. Right now, MBUSA might be offering some subvented financing, but their inventories on the C sedan are within reason, and it just isn't the time for big dealer incentives to be on the table.