..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell outright' any new MB.. Finance or Lease the only option ?!*

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fcp
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Talking to one of the service guys at Tony Purslow on Friday, he relayed a story of a lady customer a few weeks ago who wanted to replace her broken SL with a brand new one to be paid for outright in cash/ bank transfer or credit card as the dealer wished (Guildford!), only to be told that it was not possible to do so as it was no longer company policy to offer new vehicles on any basis other than finance/ lease etc.

The lady in question then tried another dealer in Portsmouth only to be told the same.

This guy seemed to think that this 'directive' had come down from MB themselves...

So what is the word on the street? I absolutely am staggered if this is true - anyone here able to confirm?

 

 

Mountain Goat 7
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Sounds very unlikely to me.

I've recently ordered new ML to replace our well used and abused current ML from our local MB dealer in Scotland - salesman knows I'll be paying cash (bank transfer) and absolutely no issue. Wasn't even offered finance or lease options ......

Maybe the dealers are just trying it on as finance/lease deals rather than cash will no doubt benefit them?

fcp
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Maybe - as I say it was uncorroberated and I posted it here for comment. 

gav.helme
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Hi

Depending on the circumstances i doubt it...

MB will not tell their dealers how to do much after recent issues around the globe...

Maybe it was a mix of....

Not many automotive dealers will let you pay for vehicles on a credit card due to the 3% or so managment fee, a tidy sum on a £50k plus transaction.

As for cash that is not much better as any cash transaction over a certain limit, circa £10k has to be reported to the authorities for money laundering purposes.

There are obviously exceptions to these rules but in the main they are adheared to

Gav

fcp
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Hi Gav,

Having spent a number of years in retail and distribution myself, your thinking was the line I pursued with him. But he claimed that it was nothing to do with either the handling of the tranaction of transaction costs, but rather a commercial decision based on  profitability and that the company line had changed to this some months ago with MB's (tacit?) approval.

As I think other are, I must say I am skeptical too.. on the other hand I know this guy reasonably well and I'd say he wouln't be deliberately mis-representing the situation.

BTW, I now have VIN - will PM :-)

phileas
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Can not believe this like the others. I was talking about buying a new e-class earlier this year to our local MB dealership. They knew I didn't want to look at financing options and would be paying via a bank transfer, essentially cash. Simply can not believe that ANY business would ever say no to money in the bank!

Something is not right there. Just go to another dealership.

IanA2
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Some years ago I tried to pay for an SLK 320 with an Amex card. That will not do nicely said the good folks at MB MKsurprise

gav.helme
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

We have never and will never take AMEX, the fees are unreal...

IanA2
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

angrynobroken heart

mark
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

My local dealer was more then happy to accept cash for my new G63 6x6. smileycheeky

fredecosse
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Why would any business accept amex ... cost is horendous ... stopped amex long time ago in my restaurant 

prwales
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

They are desparate to sell their G-Wagens but struggle because of the inflated price

bigblock
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Why is the price inflated ?

prwales
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Ok, wrong term to use, excessively expensive given the chassis, the body pressings are nearly 40 years old and that most of the running gear is re-cycled from cars. Why does it cost the same in $ as it does in £.

Spider1V
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

Becasue they know that the UK will take it. Was having this discussion with MB back in 2010 when they were bringing the G back in. I alomst fell off my chair when they told me the price, and I when I asked why, given the points PRW raised, the answer? Well our Market research shows.......

Bearing in mind this is alos the home of their biggest rival - tata.. sorry Land Rover, you would have thought they would have come in at more realistic numbers. Orginally it was only going to be MB Brooklands who were going to sell them, but when, after 8 months, they had only sold 8 out of the orginal 210 they were bringing in, thats when they were farmed out to the dealers.

My advice was if you wanted to sell them the following would be good price points:

460/Pure's  - Starting at £38K and not the £58K

463 350 - Starting at £62K and not the £80K+

463 55AMG - Starting at £80K and not the £110K+

And why no G500? (the answer - Mkt research showed us it would not sell due to the high cost of fuel....and most definitly NOT the fact it would eat into the GL500 and AMG markets)

As ever, its depressing to see MB make exectly the same errors they made when ever they try and launch the G in the UK (third or fourth time now?). I suppose when you have a vehicle that is 35 years old and most of the development has been paid off, is supplying and vehicle of choice for a number of the worlds army's, parts etc there is nothing wrong in being greedy? I mean look at the success of the R Class, the SLS and the first A class, the joining of Chrysler fiasco..... the G has had to absorb a lot of knocks, in more ways than one! wink

 

Spider1V

prwales
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

if the Chinese G ever arrives it could undercut the Austrian by tens of thousands of £'s

http://www.carnewschina.com/2012/02/15/patent-applied-beijing-auto-b80v-goes-for-the-mercedes-benz-g-class/

mark
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Re: ..And another thing - MB Dealers will not 'Sell ...

G's aren't any cheaper in Europe, and while the initial development cost are probably long covered, the development cost of the various luxurious upgrades over the last 10 years must have been a fortune.