Buying a used car from a Main dealership queries

[7heGeneral]

Hi guys,

I'm interested in the following car at a Mercedes dealership. I've been to see the car, and all is well.

http://www.mercedes-benzretailgroup.co.uk/cars/797...

I'm just trying to work out what a fair offer to make on the car is. On initial discussion with the salesman, it doesn't sound like there is much room for a discount, but any tips or advice on what I should do and also perhaps what I should be aiming for (price wise / thrown in goodies etc) would be appreciated.

I'm just not sure putting nearly £13k into that is smart when I can buy one privately a lot closer to the £9k - £10k mark.

Thanks in advance!

[Truckosaurus]

Not sure about Mercedes, but BMW dealers can certainly extend the AUC warranty 'cheaply' so can offer a couple of grand's worth of value that way.

[KungFuPanda]

Personally, I'd buy private and stick the savings into the bank in case you need to pay for any repairs. There must be loads of those cars about at the moment and just after Xmas, private sellers will be more amenable to a cheeky bid!

[tgclowes]

An actual main dealer salesman may be able to confirm, but from what I understand more recently that all used cars are price very competitively and against recent sales of a similar vehicle, so usually there is no room or movement on price. Maybe I've been led astray with this one, which is perfectly believable for me, but I've often found value in extras being thrown in/at cost (warranty, service plans etc).

That's my experience, although the last 3 cars I bought used from a main dealer have been from Mercedes and Audi so potentially it's different at others?

[OverSteery]

Can't help, but I had a look at the advert and the "58.9 mpg" jumped out. Wow is that really what a modern diesel does? I am out of touch....

[anothernameitist]

Been at the dealers about a month.I think

have you extended your search to look for comparisons?

[Phil Dicky]

I'd be looking for extended warranty and a Becker unit thrown in.

[Phil Dicky]

I'd be looking for extended warranty and a Becker unit thrown in.

[anonymous-user]

ten grand cash... hold out your hand

[7heGeneral]

Thanks for the tips so far guys!

Ideally I'd rather avoid going completely private when spending around £10k just because of I like the idea having some sort of warranty and come back.

I've tried asking for a longer warranty (I know BMW can and do offer 2 years to sweeten the deal at times), but the salesman was adamant he was unable to do it.

I didn't think about asking for the Becker unit as Ebay seems to show them for ~£100-£200 so thought not really worth the hassle, but I'm willing to give it a go.

The car is due a service in 140 days too, and they couldn't even throw that in so I'm not entirely convinced.

[7heGeneral]

anothernameitist said:

Been at the dealers about a month.I think

have you extended your search to look for comparisons?

There's a few priced similarly, but this was the closest to me so I figured it'd be easier to do a deal / pay them a visit.

[cuprabob]

JPJPJP said:

ten grand cash... hold out your hand

Mike, is that you?

[7heGeneral]

tgclowes said:

An actual main dealer salesman may be able to confirm, but from what I understand more recently that all used cars are price very competitively and against recent sales of a similar vehicle, so usually there is no room or movement on price. Maybe I've been led astray with this one, which is perfectly believable for me, but I've often found value in extras being thrown in/at cost (warranty, service plans etc).

That's my experience, although the last 3 cars I bought used from a main dealer have been from Mercedes and Audi so potentially it's different at others?

Thanks for your experience. I'm getting a very similar feeling with this dealer/car too, but I'm not getting anything thrown in etc. I'd be grateful to know if there's any truth in this from a main dealer salesman too.

[7heGeneral]

JPJPJP said:

ten grand cash... hold out your hand

If only! lol

[Al U]

I think at that money I would expect it to not need a service for a year, especially from a Mercedes Main Dealer. That would put me off personally.

Are you part exchanging anything? This can be a good way to negotiate discount as you can discuss a "cost to change" target you have and then they can to try to massage whatever figures they like to do the deal by either "overpaying" for your part ex or reducing the price of the car against the low part ex price they give you or a combination of the two.

[HTP99]

7heGeneral said:

tgclowes said:

An actual main dealer salesman may be able to confirm, but from what I understand more recently that all used cars are price very competitively and against recent sales of a similar vehicle, so usually there is no room or movement on price. Maybe I've been led astray with this one, which is perfectly believable for me, but I've often found value in extras being thrown in/at cost (warranty, service plans etc).

That's my experience, although the last 3 cars I bought used from a main dealer have been from Mercedes and Audi so potentially it's different at others?

Thanks for your experience. I'm getting a very similar feeling with this dealer/car too, but I'm not getting anything thrown in etc. I'd be grateful to know if there's any truth in this from a main dealer salesman too.

If you are talking about pricing then there is truth in that; cars have to be priced competitively as the vast majority (pretty all) are advertised on the net somewhere, if yours is too expensive then it won't get a look in so it has to be priced in line with similar cars, that is why you will rarely get any kind of discount now or if you do it will be small; more of a token gesture.

We had someone in before Christmas wanting £800 off a £8000 car, haven't a clue what he was smoking, the correct colour, spec, mileage, condition etc; hence why the guy wanted it and the correct price, why discount it, if it is too expensive look at something cheaper.

There are people out there who still "want a deal", these people will walk away from a well priced car to save face, the car will be sold at full price to the next person who walks in.

[MalcolmSmith]

If its priced in line with other MB approved used cars (check on the MB approved site) there may be little room for haggle, but give it a try and ensure its fully up to date, got MB approved tyres, solid warranty etc. To justify the extra outlay, and remember there is no residual value in it being MB approved, so how much is your peace of mind worth.....

[Eddie Twadds]

HTP99 said:

7heGeneral said:

tgclowes said:

An actual main dealer salesman may be able to confirm, but from what I understand more recently that all used cars are price very competitively and against recent sales of a similar vehicle, so usually there is no room or movement on price. Maybe I've been led astray with this one, which is perfectly believable for me, but I've often found value in extras being thrown in/at cost (warranty, service plans etc).

That's my experience, although the last 3 cars I bought used from a main dealer have been from Mercedes and Audi so potentially it's different at others?

Thanks for your experience. I'm getting a very similar feeling with this dealer/car too, but I'm not getting anything thrown in etc. I'd be grateful to know if there's any truth in this from a main dealer salesman too.

If you are talking about pricing then there is truth in that; cars have to be priced competitively as the vast majority (pretty all) are advertised on the net somewhere, if yours is too expensive then it won't get a look in so it has to be priced in line with similar cars, that is why you will rarely get any kind of discount now or if you do it will be small; more of a token gesture.

We had someone in before Christmas wanting £800 off a £8000 car, haven't a clue what he was smoking, the correct colour, spec, mileage, condition etc; hence why the guy wanted it and the correct price, why discount it, if it is too expensive look at something cheaper.

There are people out there who still "want a deal", these people will walk away from a well priced car to save face, the car will be sold at full price to the next person who walks in.

Purchased a Peugeot 208 runabout in December for Mrs ET for £6,500. Managed to get the princely sum of £250 off with loads of paint correction and scratches sorted and a 1 year warranty. I thought I'd done well considering it was approved used and cars were walking out the door while we waited. If something is well priced and the right spec etc it will sell; maybe not to you but to the next punter!

[Lester H]

Consider side stepping main dealer and looking at so called supermarket once car is 18 months old.Yes, it will be Ex-lease, ex daily rental or ex- executive loan car ( I.e. if your Merc is being mended, you don’t want a Micra. But... where do main dealers get their stock? There are really very few posh old ladies or rich gits trading in almost new cars with minuscule mileage. Voice of experience, as you guessed. In fact, the ladies will have impeccable Daihatsu Charades and the county - type gits, Merc E class estates.

Edited by Lester H on Thursday 4th January 22:59

Edited by Lester H on Thursday 4th January 23:00

Edited by Lester H on Thursday 4th January 23:01

[lol64]

they are going to fix the wheels right? The one they show in close up looks kerbed over 50% of the rim & part of the face. That's RETAIL stock?