what was your experience with price negotiation

Well Edmunds.com list TMV (True Market Value) for new cars, which is somewhere between invoice and retail, for Mercedes vehicles TMV is the same as retail. As for my experience, they were not receptive at all to negotiating, though I kind of expected that. My dealer’s closest MB competition is over 170 miles away, if that had anything to do with it I don’t know. I can say the same dealer will move on price on used vehicles.

As far as making a decent deal, I think they see it as a decent deal for them is sticker and if you don't buy the car there is someone who will. Their not snobs, they just have a quality product and they know it as do the people whom wish to buy them. These are not Hondas or Toyotas, you don't find many end of year leftovers on the MB lot, if any.

Good Luck

negotiations

Well, I was actually surprised that the dealer did move on the price. The sticker was $33,600 and he knocked off $1000. Even gave me full blue book for my trade in. It was a holiday and business was very slow so I just lucked out I think.

If you got a C230K optioned up to $33,600, I guess the dealer may cut a grand off. They make a much bigger percentage on options than they do on the base vehicle. What was the trade-in vehicle :?:

I went in expecting them not to be flexible at all, but they ended up taking 1,000 off and adding the CD changer at no cost. The salesman said that because it was pretty close to the end of the year, they could be more "aggressive" in pricing. Then again, 2 weeks later that salesman wasn't working there anymore, so maybe he was giving people too much of a break :?:

Trade-in

What did I trade in? A 98 Mustang Convertible. I sure was sorry to let it go but I love my C230.

As for the sticker. It was interesting in that I'd gone to 3 dealerships before this one. None were willing to negotiate in the slightest. One salesman said the cars sold too well and they didn't have to. (And one dealership didn't seem to interested in being bothered much about the C230!) It wasn't until the 4th dealership that I found the one with all the options I wanted (everything but the phone which is too overpriced) and a very responsive salesman. It was weird but a lot of the cars had a lot of options but no leather seats. I guess I assumed leather was desireable but no?

Sticker was 26.6
Drove off @ 25.
No haggling or games. Very good salesman who gave me no BS.
I will e-mail his info to anyone interested.

Krikzil,
Enthusiastic drivers do not like leather because when you drive in a spiritted manner, your butt tends to slide on the low grip cow's hide.

I got the CD changer for free and got a great deal on my trade ($1000 more on my trade than Acura was going to give me for an RSX)

Well, sticker price was 31k and I paid 31k. Before I bought the C230K I was interested in the C320 SportWagon. The dealer had one in the showroom for 45k and offered me a 5k rebate because I was driving at the time a Ford Taurus Wagon.
In my area (50 miles) are only 2 MB dealer and the first one I visited gave me no chance of driving one for a test.... The second one I like very much - no problems, fixed the only problem (BAS/EPS) quick and they are just 1 minute from my office.

The price was agreed upon rather quickly. Eventually, though, there was a bit of negotiation on the value of my trade-in. Overall, I can't say I'm disappointed in the whole process. It was the easiest car buying experiences I've ever had.

I think the dealer was willing to dicker on the price as MB has a 3% dealer kickback.

My experience with my UK dealer was similar to all of yours. Sticker price wasn't discussed, but we negotiated hard on the value of my trade in. Felt I got a reasonable deal but wasn't delighted - until I took delivery of the beast itself![/b]

I kept my old car, and paid cash and as I said before they would not move on the price. It was an easy and pleasant experience, though I would have liked to spend less, I'm still happy.

craniusmaximus, nice car pic under your profile Looks like C240!

I just bought an off-lease C230k with ~9k on it.
For the record, I live in Denver. Sticker price was $26500.
It was stock, no CD, no leather. Had sunroof and premium sound, metallic Paprika.
Basically they told me, they are desparate for sales and overstocked..make an offer. So I lowballed them at 22k. Well we negotiated, and I got it for 24500 and they install a new 6-disc changer (~1000 bucks). So, depending on where you are, they may bargain. There is a 2003 230 in Colorado Springs, metallic silver, CD, auto (I believe) for 25500. Sticker was 26270.
Dont pay sticker..ever!

why are c230k sticker prices so much higher in the U.S.? - when I use the standard multiplier of (1USD buys 1.56 CAD) the prices seem much, much higher than in Canada
weird

Two reasons for the difference in price. We get several items, such as the alarm, as standard equipment but they are options in Canada. The biggest difference in price is due to the "free" 4 years of maintanece. It is not really free, but the cost is built into the purchase price.

Prices of the C230K are different all over the world and oddly enough quite a bit higher in Germany $28K USD. Ouch! I think Lynn is right, base car and included services vary with local base price.

I was politely but firmly told that sticker price was sticker price. In their defense, this same dealer got the only contract for the new MINI's for 500 miles around and didn't mark them up at all. The grease-free dealership was actually a huge part of my buying this car.

I got my 2002 C230 back in June. If memory serves me right, I got my car for invoice. I live in Chicago though where there are dealers aplenty. I called around and did internet quotes on all the dealers in the area. Still am not sure how I got it for invoice, most dealers were only willing to go 1000 off sticker.

I had pricing information printed out, the dealer showed me his pricing which matched, he stated he would give me the invoice price, we negotiated trade in value for less than 5 minutes, and the deal was done. It was a pleasant experience. If you are in the Chicago area and would like to try out the dealer I went to, send me an email.

I was looking at a 2002, Orion Blue, which is currently "promo" priced @ 27.999 I called the MB Dealer and asked for their bottom dollar, and I shot low.. to my surprise they offered me 25,950 and this has the C2 Pkg -- w/ heated seats. I felt it was good but i wanted more. SO I PLAYED the GAME! She called me 3 days later and said she got me in for 3% financing. Here is the best part, I thought I'd need a co-signer b.c i've never had a loan before!!!! Well.. this is when they need to clear the 2002's...

good luck!!