New SLs going cheap from MB Dealers

[C240Sport97]

Wandered into an MB Dealer on Sunday and got chatting to a salesguy about SLs. They are being facelifted in June 06 or thereabouts.

Anyhow, I set him a task to come up with some deals, and this is what he came up with ...

1. SL350 Auto - Cubanite Silver, Black Leather
Walnut Wood
Panaromic Roof
18" 5 spoke alloys
BOSE
6CD changer
Parktronic
Telephone (Siemens)

On the road price of £55k against a list of £67.5k. However, the car, though currently unregistered, has to be registered in MB dealer's name first. It would be delivery miles and must be delivered by year end.

2. SL350 Auto - Cubanite Silver, Berry Red Leather
Panaromic Roof
18" AMG alloys
BOSE
6CD changer
Parktronic
Comfort ventilated seats
Telephone prewiring and cradle
Luggage restraints

On the road price of £58.4k against a list of £68.5k. Discount not as big as not in MB Dealer stock, but will not be pre-registered. Must be delivered by year end. Just priced this exact car on www.drivethedeal.com and it came out at £57.4k!!!

This is probably because the SL350 will get a new engine (the new V6 from the SLK) next year, so a bit of clearance sale.

Tempting, isn't it or is it??

 

[fuzzer]

got to be the first one

 

[gary350]

The old S class are going cheap as well there is a fully loaded one (new) going for £41 locally.

gary

 

[Brian WH]

Watch the Warranty, as if it is registered to Dealer first it is Secondhand. Then only ONE YEAR Warranty.

 

[aka$h]

The old S class are going cheap as well there is a fully loaded one (new) going for £41 locally.

gary

@£41 Ill take the lot!

 

[Flash]

I would rather have a face lift model as everyone wants the lastets up to date car that is "in"...

Staelers pull of enough "scams" to by pass the guideline set by MB as MB/DC pay them the differnce.

Off Topic: Just bought another new Sprinter for our business to add to the fleet. MB had a special offer on SWB Sprinter vans BUT the Stealer put the the order through for a MWB (same engine/spec) and it went through - Salesman is on good terms with myself (not a Southern Stealer) and DC will pay them the difference in price and it has already been authorised...

 

[Mambo]

Watch the Warranty, as if it is registered to Dealer first it is Secondhand. Then only ONE YEAR Warranty.

Surely its still covered by the three year manufacturers warranty?

 

[marcos]

Surely its still covered by the three years manufacturers warranty?

you would have thought so

 

[KillerHERTZ]

I would rather have a face lift model as everyone wants the lastets up to date car that is "in"...

From the exterior, the only difference appears to be the rear clusters:

Which you could change anyway, personally I prefer the AMG darker clusters.

 

[DC_insider]

From the exterior, the only difference appears to be the rear clusters:

Which you could change anyway, personally I prefer the AMG darker clusters.

I think that there is also a revised front end as well (nothing drastic, a 3 bar grille instead of 4 bars as per CLK facelift earlier this year).

The engines are new.

SL350 3.5 litre V6 from SLK, C, CLK, E, CLS, M etc replaces old 3.7 litre V6.
SL500 5.5 litre V8 with 382hp replaces 5.0 litre V8.
SL600 updated as per new S-Class (517hp off the top of my head).

SL55AMG I think continues until next year when it is replaced by SL63AMG.

Dealers have something like £5000 + VAT in support to help shift pre-facelift cars. Hence, the keen prices.


Regarding the original post:

However, the car, though currently unregistered, has to be registered in MB dealer's name first. It would be delivery miles and must be delivered by year end.

I imagine that the Dealer is also trying to get the Demonstrator bonus as well - a bit sneaky but as long as they are passing that bonus on to you....

Watch the Warranty, as if it is registered to Dealer first it is Secondhand. Then only ONE YEAR Warranty.

I am sure that the 3 years manufacturer warranty would still apply. Ask the dealer to be sure. If for any reason the manufacturer's warranty is not valid then insist on a 3 year warranty to be included in the deal.

Of the 2 deals C240Sport97 listed in the first post I would go for the 2nd one (unless Berry Red Leather is too much for your tastes).

 

[mobeyone]

saw a very nice sl350 today... opened up on the m62 and boy can they move- they look very quick.

 

[glojo]

I can fully understand the reasons why the offer is being made, and is it with a competitive trade in? Go to a completely different Mercedes-Benz dealer and see what they would offer for your trade in against a CLS worth a similar figure.

Buying a new car is not just against the price of the new car, if you haven't got a trade in, then see what discounts you can get for a 2006 SL.

My advice is go for the car YOU like and NOT necessarily what the dealer wants you to like. If they are both the same, then good luck.

John

 

[C240Sport97]

Not talked trade in yet, but dealer knows that I will want to trade in the CLK55.

I asked him to look for Cubanite Silver and red leather .. not expecting him to find the damn thing!! The second car is perfect really except it's not a V8

And you can get a fully specced SLK55 for less ...

No rush anyway. I was just toying with the idea of changing; but it does make you wonder these sort of deals are doing to the already weak SL residuals

I can fully understand the reasons why the offer is being made, and is it with a competitive trade in? Go to a completely different Mercedes-Benz dealer and see what they would offer for your trade in against a CLS worth a similar figure.

Buying a new car is not just against the price of the new car, if you haven't got a trade in, then see what discounts you can get for a 2006 SL.

My advice is go for the car YOU like and NOT necessarily what the dealer wants you to like. If they are both the same, then good luck.

John

 

[glojo]

I suppose it is also interesting that Jeremy Clarkson used to have??? an SL55AMG but has now gone for the SLK55.

For me though the 55AMG is the only engine for either model. It actually sounds fast!! No blow it

John

 

[Tony M]

It seems that £10-12000 is the going discount for New SLs at the moment. This discounting is almost across the range. New shape ML500s are an easy £3,000 discount. C Class are a steal too.

This discounting comes as bit of a blow to people that paid full list as their cars value as a secondhand vehicle drops by a high proportion of the discounts being offered.

I sold my Feb 2004 SL55 last week. New price £108,279, discount at the time £1,000. Best shout from various Dealers £64,000. I also sold our 2 month old ML 500. New price £59,000, sold for £51,000.

I have bought Porsche who do not Discount and the residual values are at present as strong as MBs were 10 years ago.

 

[stats007]

Time to change your Avatar Mr Musgrave

 

[Tony M]

Time to change your Avatar Mr Musgrave

LOL

I will change it soon, but I am not collecting the 911 Turbo until this afternoon, so I will then take a Pic and change it. !

The Cayenne S is a real pleasure so far, but I feel a pic of that would not be appropriate after an SL Avatar.

 

[mobeyone]

Seems to me MBs strategy has gone to pot.

I agree, porsche are the benchmark here, spend very little on advertising yet every one knows what a porsche is and people always talk about the next gen porsche despite teething problems.

Discounting on rrp always leads to problems in any sector and to me signals alarm bells in mb at the lack of people buying new and the image of mb reliabilitly. Both have suffered due to poor build not normally associated with the brand. I bet some on here have never batted an eyelid when servicing thier pride and joy in the past but now question every item on the invoice due to the ridiculous and spiraling cost of owning an mb.

To me, offering discounts sums up problems with reliabilty and potential saving seem attractive when buying new but spreads itself over the 3-5 years of ownership through problems and high service bills. I know family members who have always bought new and are not considering upgrading now and instead buying second hand and servicing elsewhere.

Sign of the times.

 

[glojo]

I have bought Porsche who do not Discount and the residual values are at present as strong as MBs were 10 years ago.

I think that is the nitty gritty, but it then plays havoc with newish second-hand vehicles. Who wants a second-hand car for just a few thousand pounds less than a new vehicle? There needs to be a waiting list for the new product, which then forces the customer to buy the second-hand model, but to do this, you have to limit the amount of new vehicles that are produced!!!

Mercedes-Benz have only recently, relatively speaking started to cater to the masses and by flooding a market the second-hand price suffers. I suppose it only effects those folks that buy new vehicles they have to take the huge deflation.

John

 

[Tony M]

Secondhand prices can only get lower with the boss of MB UK making the following statements in an article in AM which is a Motor Trade Journal.

'We have switched our model production to the Corporate offer'

'We are also offering more cars below £30,000 so we can hit the fleet market on Price'

This year, MB new car sales were reported to be down 8% to date, so look out for some real bargains as they attempt to clear the stockpile of unsold cars.