gekisai29

all of my experiences at mb sales have been first rate. service thpugh has been spotty. in nj the dealers at benzl-busch & prestige have my recommendation

Dozer42

Well, I did get my SC430 from Autohaus West in SoCal. =)

Got my Z4 from Claridge's BMW up here and got an awesome deal.

And no, I believe when you buy a $50k car and trade in a $50k car, you pay tax on the full $50k.

If not, heck I'll palm one of my vehicles off on the dealer! =)

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

After buying our MB at one dealership (House), their sales was fine but when I brought it back for service, it was hoooorible They were unorganized, service rep. was rude......... Never went back to them.
I went to another dealer (Fletcher JOnes) for service and they were very nice and professional, but be prepared to wait b/c there are loooooooots of car for service.

If you're still interested in that car, don't let that one idiot spoil your mood. Do like what sick said also, buy it another dealership, show up with it ,and have a talk with his manager. Tell him b/c he was being stupid, he lost a sale and future sales. This is not being childish, just so they don't keep having that arrogant attitude.
I never understand the arrogant attitudes in sales Don't be in sales then, get a job where you don't have to interact with people then.

mmarshall

Was this during an M-B free-service period? Maybe the reasoning at the dealership was that since you were getting something on the house that you'd normally be paying for, (and, of course, M-B service is very expensive to start with), they didn't exactly have to kiss your a - -.

ShadyJC

iTrader: (2)

My experience with Benzel-Busch service was pretty bad... pretty disorganized, never had a loaner car unless you wanted to wait 5 weeks.

jracerlmn

i've never had a problem with MB of Escondido.

They treat me really good, i get S-Class loaner vehicles everytime i come in for service.
For Sales there's the same person i go to everytime and she treats me really well too.

I think it's maybe just norcal? I hear horror stories from my friends up there.

But the thing i gotta say about Fletcher Jones is that they are beyond awesome. The wait is long because, well IMO every 7th car in irvine and OC is a MB. They are also the #1 volume dealership in the US. I hear they have two shifts of technicians working there (one day, one night) is it true?

ArmyofOne

no you arent crazy, and you have every right to be treated with the respect that you deserve, especially buying a car that costs as much as some houses (in tx anyway)


the fact of the matter is, the salespeople dont care. if you dont buy it, the next guy will. they dont have to bow down to you and they know that.

TMaxxTim

I know in TN you pay tax on the difference. There must be different laws in different states, but I thought that was one of the incentives of trading in your car in the first place, if not everybody would sell it privately and make the extra $2-3k on it.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

if anything that would be incentive for me to sell my car privately right now

TMaxxTim

Sorry I meant extra $2-3 k on cars I can afford, I forgot we're talking about cars 3x out of my price range.

You can do the math youself then and figure out how much you'd save.

lkirchner

In the wonderful state of California you do pay tax on the purchase price of the auto that you are purchasing not the difference. I have heard statistics on the taxes paid over the life cycle of a typical car here and it is mind boggling; it equals the value of the car when it was new. New name for the state should be Taxafornia.
As far as the dealerships are concerned, it truly depends on the ownership. I puchased a Benz last year at Von Housen Mercedes in Sacramento and swore that I would never go back. Von Hosen sold to a nationwide automotive group about 10 months ago, can't recall the name. I purchased my SL 55 from the new group and it was a night and day experience; probably the best purchase experience that I have ever encountered. What was truly amazing is the fact that almost all personnel are the same with the exception of the sales and general managers. When it's all said and done the leadership and ownership philosophy is what is going to dictate the levels of customer service. In my own business I have placed customer service at the very top of the goals for my employees and it shows in how we deliver our service to our clients. It is truly a matter culture and the committment to "treat the customer the way you would like to be treated"

lkirchner

I do not want to sound like a smart A**, but let me ask, have you ever driven an SL 55? The 55 is heavier than the SL 500, probably due to the heavier brake, suspension components, etc. but the difference is not significant. The 500 has a much less robust braking system than the 55. The 8 piston calipers plus the huge rotors are on this car to slow the beast down. I am truly amzed at the pure raw horsepower and torque that this thing has. I have a couple of other AMG's and this animal will leave the others in the dust even though the performance stat's are quoted by MB as the same. However boys will be boys, and I am going to ship it off to Renntech for a few minor mods; smaller pulley on the supercharger , different ECU and other minor mod's. They tell me that the horsepower increase will take it to approx. 560 HP with an equal increase in torque with a broader band. I wonder how long the 295-30-19 tires are going to last at $450 each. Hopefully someday I'll grow up but that is somewhat doubtful.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

damn that's nice man. so you have to ship the whole car there for the tuning, you can't get the parts and put it in yourself?

and i don't doubt the performance of the sl55

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

Yes, this was during the MB free service period. Still, we took it to another dealership, Fletcher Jones, and they were very good with their service.

Jracerlmn: Never have I gotten an S for a loaner, not even an E There were way too many cars being serviced there, so it was always your C class. However, it was better than a Chevrolet Cavalier at the other dealer.
This is why I LOVE Lexus. Never had a problem with getting loaners and never an
offbrand I've heard some people even get LS for a loaners

Armyofone: Regarding having to sell the car to the next guy, if he keeps his attitude like that how he can sell it to anyone? Yeah, he lost a sale at that moment, but people will take their business somewhere else, like "we" did (a friend also came along to buy with us).

ktiger

The worst I've experience believe it or not was with a Caddy/Hummer dealership in south Louisiana. I was on my way home from my daughters softball game when I saw an H2 on the lot and decided that I was going to look at it, maybe even take a test drive. So I pulled up in my 2000 maxima and asked one of the salesmen, whom I had to go find, if he could open up the vehicle. The guy took about 15 minutes to go get the keys, I guess he was hoping that I would just leave. After he got to the vehicle he began to talk to me as if I couldn't afford an H2 (this is when they were hot/ 3 months after they hit the showroom floors). This guy had the nerves to ask me, "you do realize that the H2 is almost $60,000?". I politely stepped out of the vehicle and drove off. A couple of weeks later I drove up in my 2001 M5 and asked for this guy. You should have seen the look on his face. By the way I still didn't test drive the H2.

To be honest with you all, there are not many vehicles out there that I can't afford but I refuse to have to dress a certain way or drive up in a particular type of car just to assure sales people that I can afford what they are selling.