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Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Mercedes Benz R-Class Prices Paid and Buying Experience
79 messages, Last post on Aug 15, 2008 at 7:49 PM
You are in the Prices Paid: Buying & Leasing Experiences Forum. Your Hosts are car_man & kyfdx
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I live in Jacksonville, FL, area. I was willing to travel up to 350 miles to pick up a vehicle. I had also decided that I was willing to buy Certified Pre Owned (CPO) because with MB, you will get a warranty up to one year after the original warranty expires (4 years, 50K miles) then add an additional 50,000 miles. So, keeping in mind of when the vehicle went into service, I kept excellent track of all vehicles available for sale in our area and surrounding areas. I checked several online sites for dealers, individuals, and even on eBay. Cars on eBay are 'leaders'. Call those dealers and work a phone deal. I was shooting for a R-320 CDI, low miles, newest year. I really wanted to keep any purchase I made under $40,000. I know this sounds unbelievable, but I promise you, what I am about to write is the absolute truth. IF you want a deal on an R-Class, now is the time to make them. It's the end of the year and the '09's are coming out. Just keep yourself flexible. On June 11, 2008, I went into our local MB dealer to test drive an R-350 and R-320 CDI. The salesman was from Europe and drove an R-Class, too. He "SOLD" me on buying diesel, so that was my preference. I was willing to buy the gas model R-350, but was not going to be impatient. I also looked at the price on the MSRP sticker and then the added dealer sticker. I read all of info about leasing and prices that were being promoted in the store. I believe the R-320 had a $55K + price tag. There was no way I was going to pay more than what I was willing to pay for an Odyssey Touring that had everything I wanted except for the style. So, price-wise, I was comparing dollar for dollar. We never sat down to discuss numbers, because I was on a mission that day: test drive the new Sienna, Odyssey, and R-Class vehicles. R-Class won hands down and I began my search. Bottom-line: when the local guy realized that I was actually a SERIOUS buyer AND serious about competing for the best price car; I seriously told him my WANTS. Do NOT expect to GET what you WANT unless you TELL someone. Tell God. Tell the salesman, but tell someone that can do something for you. It came down to timing. The local guy couldn't get below $41,200 (NOT including tag, 6% tax + $50, and title) for a R-350 on Thursday, 24 June 08. I had found online from a Pensacola MB dealer, a 2008 R-320 CDI, w/ 11,300 miles, Premium Pkg 1, heated seats, IPOD, Voice, glass moon roof, -pano roof, 6 CD, Harmon/K stereo, for $45,500. I got them down to $38,900 and had them add the blue tooth cradle ($500 gizmo) and had them make it CPO/100K warranty for another $795. So, out the door $42,200 and some change. PLUS, they guaranteed me a price on my van, sight unseen, which made me very happy. I got the tax advantage and didn't have to sell my van myself. Once I worked that deal, on Friday afternoon, 25 June 08, the local dealer called me back and said that he had worked a deal for a R-350 BRAND NEW, 0 miles, Premium Pkg 1, pano roof, center console, heated seats for $39,900 OUT THE DOOR! So that means that for a car that had a legitimate $52,000+ price tag, they were willing to drop it to at least $36,707. The dealer fees at this dealership are $549; add 6% +$50, and about $200 for tag and title. If you figured the tag, tax, and title on $52K, you'd be at about $55,919! So, literally saving you ABOUT $16,000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My numbers are accurate and honest. I really wanted the R-320, so I went with the more expensive deal; however, the diesel engine costs about $1,000 more, plus buying the extended warranty ($795), and the module/cradle and phone gizmos make up the difference in price. And I am so pleased. As for making the great deal on the R-350: I almost did it. We called the guy last Friday night after doing the math on whether the price difference on savings buying would offset the savings in gas mileage. Figuring we'd trade in a few years, I was going to go R-350. However, when I turned down the car in the afternoon, then thought better of it, he could not guarantee that the car would still be available. I HAD to know by the next morning, but no confirmation came. We were traveling to Pensacola to pick up my son and the R-320 if the call did not come in. And it did not. On Monday, 28 June 08, I got a call from the local dealership saying that "our car would be there in a few hours". So, if you're looking, tell your salesman what you want. Shop at the end of the month to get the best deal. The local guy was SHOCKED that we did not go for the $39,900 OUT THE DOOR PRICE, when I told him that I wanted a deal under $40K. He DID it. He came through, though unfortunately, not in the time frame that I had to have confirmation. As for getting the R-320 -Vs- R-350. I'm getting around 22 mpg around town and got 25.5 mpg when I recently went from Jax to Tallahassee and back and Jax to Pensacola and back. I do believe I can improve those numbers but I was just trying to see worse case how the car could perform traveling 75~80 mph on the Interstate. The R-320 has tremendous power and I love it. My 'disses' are that there are not enough storage places for 'stuff', blue tooth with new cradle is only picking up 1 bar (taking this in) and the voice controller gal isn't as good as the gal in our 2009 Hyundai Sonata. (The Hyundai Hands Free Voice/Blue Tooth gizmo is AWESOME and better than MB. Mercedes needs to check out this system!) Another 'dis' I have is that the "locking gas cap" is stupid. It locks while driving. When the car is parked, someone could siphon off your gas because the door just pops open with a slight push on the door. I'm not happy with paying $4.80/gal. for diesel and making this easy to have gas stolen. So, this is a concern. Anyone have any clues as to why this this gas door doesn' t lock all the time? Do I wish I did something different in my deal? Yes. I wish I went for the gusto and bought the P2 package. Then I would have felt like I was comparing to the Odyssey Touring package. I was trying to be frugal for my husband. ugh. This is my car. Why didn't I just splurge one more upgrade? Iknow... I could not justify the price difference for Nav. But I sure would love to have had the backup camera. I hope some of this information helps you get the best deal out there that you can. |
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Replying to: heris (Jul 17, 2008 12:54 am) You will always find surprising deals for a pre-owned luxury vehicle especially like MB. They price it higher, on the other hand, they also deappreciate quicker in the first few years. A new car would loose immediate 10% of the purchased price the moment it leaves the dealership. So I am indeed not too surprised with the deal you got especially with 11k miles. I had pretty much gone through the same process you did. Without R350, Odyssey or Sienna is my only choice. But the Sienna is bold styling both interior and exterior except it has the AWD. R350 seems to give everything I need, 7 seats, luxury, AWD without the styling of minivan. I was initially considering the Certified Pre-Owned. I was offered $34k for a 2006 R350 with only 2K miles !!!, pretty much a brand new and I was almost sold for that deal. I wanted it for $33k but the dealer was quite firm on $34k. Later I found out this 6k incentives thing on the new one, so I was calling around for the brand new one, the best offer I got for a brand new R350 (msrp $53k) is $42.5k over the phone (P1, 7seats, ipod, heated seats, 6CD). I then started digging into this and figured why I paid $34k for a used car when I can get a brand new for $42.5k. Plus there is always a story behind with a low mileage or few months old used car, why take the risk. (Also there is always some issues with first generation car, so 2006 is out of my list) So I ordered the car over the phone with few hundred bucks for deposit (the dealership is 90 miles away). Just a few days before I picked up the car, I thought why not try some local MB dealers here. Also, I am thinking if I have to pay $43k, wouldn't it be a joke a luxury vehicle like MB without navigation in YEAR 2008!! So I decided, the nav is a must for this R350, and the P2 with additional 3k has the nav plus some other toys. So I started hunting for the R350 with P2, 7seats, ipods, heated seats...., and finally got a deal on June 30th, with $44.5k, just additional $1500 I got the P2 nav! Yes, you can get a portable nav like Garmin for a few hundreds bucks, but it's no way to compare with the vehicle integrated nav system. Plus it's a option you would use it pretty much everyday, so for the long term, it definitely worths it. I previously had a murano (paid $34k) and I regretted it that I didn't pay extra $6k for the infiniti fx35. Murano is great but fx35's styling is far more exotic, and everytime I see the fx35 on the road, I regret and hate myself to save those few grants. As far as Diesel, R320 cdi, with the current diesel price and its mpg doesn't seem to justify the additional 1000 bucks. The 2009 R-class just came out a couple of days ago, the R320 now is priced below R350 AWD because of the dropping sales of diesel. Anyway I think it's a great family car worths the money compared to Odyssey in everywhere.
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Replying to: joeslacker (Jul 17, 2008 11:10 pm) As for the 2009's coming out. Are you kidding me? I'm going to check this out. Who knows what deals may be out there? Last month, we bought an '08 Hyundai Elantra, too. Darling Husband was going to drive this to work for the next year and we would then pass it down to our 16 year old when he's able to drive alone. The Elantra was getting 32 mpg, which is a might bit better than the 15 mpg he was getting on our Tundra. (Gotta' keep the truck for the boat! It's a shame this R-Class couldn't pull a boat.) Anyway, two weeks after the deal, the rebates came out for the '09 Sonata, a step up in size (like the Accord) and much better looking. I got a deal on the '09 Sonata and had worked such a great deal on the Elantra, that trading up cost us only $2,800 out the door. DH did it because this car has a power package, blue tooth, and some other gizmos that the Elantra did not. Considering it all, we ended up buying a brand new Sonata '09, with popular equipment group, mud guards, blue tooth for $16,700 out the door!!!!! I told you this because I'm just 'wondering' if a deal could be worked on an '09 if it would be worth it. You're right about the cost of diesel and the extra $1,000 bucks. I've done the math and for what I drive and knowing when we'd trade, I should have gone with the R-350, I do believe. Plus, it would have been quieter. I just don't know if it would have the same pick up as the R-320, which is awesome on the Interstate to drive. I know it's no sports car, but it has more power than the Sienna I was driving. I hate to jerk DH around, but I'm going to check out the '09's and see if they'd be worth the hassel to trade this year. DH told me that he would take this one next year.... so, we shall see.
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Replying to: heris (Jul 18, 2008 3:28 am) All the MB dealers I have visited all have those, so called manager or executive vehicles or loaner, untitled but high mileage. I am not sure if I should say "abused" but it's for sure no way to compare with a brand new one. My best offer for this R320 might be around $36k or $37k out of the door given a brand new one is possible to get around $41k. Yes, for 2009 version they dropped the R350 RWD (was priced start around $42k) and increase the R350 AWD from $44k to $47k, and the diesel stays the same at $46k. That again means the 2008 R350 $39.9k offer you got now might have a sticker price of $56k plus tax (~$59k out of the door). There are slightly different between 09 and 08, but mechanical wise, they are all the same. |
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Hi, Edmunds indicates that there is an $8000 Marketing Support (cash from manufacturer to dealer) on the 2008 R350 AWD. However I can find no information on this on any other website. Anyone know if this is correct? Thanks.
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Replying to: heris (Jul 18, 2008 3:28 am) Which dealer gave you the $39,900 OTD? Thanks. |
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Replying to: p2potter (Aug 11, 2008 7:17 am) regards, kyfdx |
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Just picked up the car on Aug 14th. The MSRP is also $56,170, AWD, P2, ipod interface, front heats, 6-CD, 7-Seats, I got the final deal for $43K
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Replying to: drattan (Aug 15, 2008 3:32 am) |
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