Main dealer new trick? £2.5k inflated price for a cash purchase.

Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
When i bought my latest Merc i paid the deposit and the day after it dropped by £1200 on the Mercedes used approved site , when i phoned to ask what was going on he replied with Sir has just got a belting deal !!! they had to honour the price on the used approve website
Had similar when I bought my BMW (spit) recently. After sitting down with the salesman and negotiating a £500 price reduction with him knowing it was a cash sale with no add ons and no part exchange, I signed on the dotted line, drove home, checked the website and found they had reduced the price by £1500 from the initial price whilst we were negotiating the deal.

They were quite happy to honour the lower price without question despite me signing the sales documents for the higher price.
 
Last edited:
If you take the finance option and pay it off in full the next day, does the smarmy git salesman still get his commission from the finance company?
Having dealt with a few different MB salesmen over the years, my understanding is that the finance commission is clawed back. Two of them actually pleaded with me not to do it.
 
There is virtually no stock of used cars at the moment for them to buy in, they are paying over clean CAP for anything.
That's consistent with a "We want your car" email I received from the Inchcape group a couple of weeks back offering "An exceptional competitive price" :rolleyes:
 
I
If it has a service missing it can’t be sold as approved.
I’ve come across several cars at main dealers without full service history.

The worst was a salesman who swore blind that a car had FMBSH. When I got there they were all late, one had been missed, and all were at a small “general” garage. I only drove 4 hours in each direction to find out 😡
 
I

I’ve come across several cars at main dealers without full service history.

The worst was a salesman who swore blind that a car had FMBSH. When I got there they were all late, one had been missed, and all were at a small “general” garage. I only drove 4 hours in each direction to find out 😡
Ouch! Hope you gave the salesman a piece o your mind!
 
My wife's uncle buys used car stock for a used car garage and getting stock has been difficult for some time.

We tried to buy a new sprinter at work a few years ago, it was £20k on finance, £24k cash. The finance was 2 years 0% and you didn't have to put the full amount on. It's a game that I really hate.

Ended up getting a citroen relay. Fwd so lower floor makes it easier to load and gives more headroom. Lighter so more payload (not as rigid either 🤣), headboard, ply lined, a/c, satnav, dab, tracker £13,995 delivered cash price. 6 years on still doing what a works van is supposed to do They can keep their games 🤷‍♂️
 
The used car market is so strong at the moment, we have had some cars we’ve taken in and then last minute decided to advertise them at a higher price because of what others are for sale for. We took an A35 last week, intending on putting it up at £36,490, which I offered to an existing customer. After looking at others advertised we put it up at £37,990 and it sold on the first day.

If someone has seen a car advertised as a lower price though, we’d always honour that, unless it’s a blatant mistake. I’d be shocked if this is anything about financing, I bet they’ve just looked at the market this week and realised they can sell it for more. I haven’t seen the used car market this strong in the last decade, prices are increasing dramatically each week.

We had a used A Class a few months ago where there was an issue with the online feed, which was taking the VAT off the price, making it 4K cheaper than any other in the country. In that case we had to take the ad down until the issue was sorted
 
Sorry, only just seen the explanation you got. I’d call BS on that, the feed to the MB site has a delay of about a day compared to Autotrader. There’s no way they’d have missed that discrepancy for a whole month 🤣
 
If it has a service missing it can’t be sold as approved.

I’ve come across several cars at main dealers without full service history.

The worst was a salesman who swore blind that a car had FMBSH. When I got there they were all late, one had been missed, and all were at a small “general” garage. I only drove 4 hours in each direction to find out 😡
You got to love the good old 'double standards' ruling haven't you?

If someone was to buy a factory order Mercedes and didn't service it to the recommended schedule they would loose the right to their warranty. I am guessing this would be due to the car not being satisfactorily cared for and therefore loosing the 'approved' status. On the other hand a dealership can buy in a car that hasn't been serviced to their own recommendations, but it can be sold as 'approved used' (with a warranty) :dk:.

I hear you say the dealership carry out vigorous checks before giving this car (with a missing service) the 'approved used' seal of approval. Then surely these checks can be carried out on the new car before they remove the rights to a warranty.

I would have liked to think that the seal of approval would only be issued to the cream of the used crop.............................I guess not.
I suppose it all boils down to Mercedes' financial interest/profit tipping the scales versus customer satisfaction. After all, it is a business isn't it.
 
“ “So you say” yes indeed so I say and so the relevant website states too. So it’s only you (salesperson) that is saying it has gone up in price, verbally, to me over the phone now… to which I must ask are you sitting in a pile of bull excrement or are you also going to hasten to amend the website price as we speak?”
 
To paraphrase Victor Borge: "It's your website. I'm just trying to use it."
 
I

I’ve come across several cars at main dealers without full service history.

The worst was a salesman who swore blind that a car had FMBSH. When I got there they were all late, one had been missed, and all were at a small “general” garage. I only drove 4 hours in each direction to find out 😡
When I was looking recently, I looked at 2 cla45's and 1 gla45 advertised as MB history. When I asked for details of the history, none had full MB history, 1 cla 2015 reg only had 2 services, 2nd cla45 2018 reg this had 3 services but hadn't had the rear axle oil or gearbox oil service. When I brought it up, the MB dealer said 'oh you've done your homework haven't you. The gla45 had only proof of 2 services but the dealer said that the owner's husband had changed the oil so no gearbox oil or rear axle oil done on that either. They said that they would 'catch up' with the service requirements and didn't know why I wasn't 100% happy about it.
I only found out recently on this forum via something someone posted (I think it was Markjay) that MB could 'stamp' the digital history without all of the items actually being completed. I would never had thought to check if I hadn't seen it on here :)
 
When I traded my previous CL, MB made a big deal of asking whether it had a full service history.

Seems a bit rich to me if history can be "full" without it actually being full.

Doesn't really surprise me though.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom