xavierx
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 16, 2009
- Messages
- 237
- Reaction score
- 0
- Your Mercedes
- 2004 W211 E320 CDi
Hello everyone.
As the small number of you who have spoken to me will know, I joined here reasonably recently in order to research my next car purchase, which is looking like it is going to be a W211 E-class Thankyou so far to the nice people of the forum who have helped to make me feel more comfortable about a used Mercedes purchase.
I have a fleet management background (so will hopefully be able to help forum members with some advice myself)
Anyway back to the point...... As an (ex) fleet manager, I have dealt with pretty much every popular car brand and have experience of many dealerships and independant garages in the North-West.
I have dealt with a small number of Mercedes in the past (2004 C220CDi's and a CLK320 and CLK500) I won't name the dealership in question, but in the past I found visiting the main dealer a nigthmare. They were always rude, looked down at me and denied that any faults I found existed. Funny really..... they were not aware that I had FULL purchasing authorisation for the fleet that I managed ..... and if they had been nicer to me, we may have had more Mercedes vehicles.
Fast forward to now..... and I quite fancy an E-class as my next car..... but I have only been looking in autotrader etc as I did not want to go through the whole main dealer experience .... which to me was rude behaviour and high prices. I practically live next door to a different Mercedes dealership so arriving home from work today... I thought ...... sod it .... why not had a look at what they have.
I cautiously wondered around the forecourt struggling to find anything in my price range ..... half expecting them to ask me to leave at any moment .. .followed by them releasing the gaurd dogs A sales guy spotted me and came running out to see if I needed any help. I told him what I was looking for and my budget ... and instead of being asked to leave, he pulled a list out of his pocket and then proceeded to show me around some suitable vehicles. I test drove a couple of cars including one from round the back that had not been inspected yet (which the sales guy took for a quick drive to check it was all working properly first)
Despite subjecting the sales guy to a test drive in a E270 that resulted in only 26mpg! he was very pleasant throughout and explained the benefits of buying a car from this particular main dealer.
Here was the shocker for me. Not only would I get a car at what appeared to be a sensible price (I unfortunately have not memorised the glasses price guide so would have to check later at home) but I would also get a fresh service plus a fresh MOT a 12 month unlimited mile Mercedes warranty ..... and THEY WOULD BEAT ANY PRICE, including refunding the difference after purchase if I found the same car cheaper elsewhere. It was not until I got home that I found that both of the cars I test drove were aprox £2000 less than book price.
So main dealer facilities and warranty and a cheapest price gaurantee. I would be silly not to take them up on their offer!
Thankyou to the dealer for restoring my perception of the brand!
As the small number of you who have spoken to me will know, I joined here reasonably recently in order to research my next car purchase, which is looking like it is going to be a W211 E-class Thankyou so far to the nice people of the forum who have helped to make me feel more comfortable about a used Mercedes purchase.
I have a fleet management background (so will hopefully be able to help forum members with some advice myself)
Anyway back to the point...... As an (ex) fleet manager, I have dealt with pretty much every popular car brand and have experience of many dealerships and independant garages in the North-West.
I have dealt with a small number of Mercedes in the past (2004 C220CDi's and a CLK320 and CLK500) I won't name the dealership in question, but in the past I found visiting the main dealer a nigthmare. They were always rude, looked down at me and denied that any faults I found existed. Funny really..... they were not aware that I had FULL purchasing authorisation for the fleet that I managed ..... and if they had been nicer to me, we may have had more Mercedes vehicles.
Fast forward to now..... and I quite fancy an E-class as my next car..... but I have only been looking in autotrader etc as I did not want to go through the whole main dealer experience .... which to me was rude behaviour and high prices. I practically live next door to a different Mercedes dealership so arriving home from work today... I thought ...... sod it .... why not had a look at what they have.
I cautiously wondered around the forecourt struggling to find anything in my price range ..... half expecting them to ask me to leave at any moment .. .followed by them releasing the gaurd dogs A sales guy spotted me and came running out to see if I needed any help. I told him what I was looking for and my budget ... and instead of being asked to leave, he pulled a list out of his pocket and then proceeded to show me around some suitable vehicles. I test drove a couple of cars including one from round the back that had not been inspected yet (which the sales guy took for a quick drive to check it was all working properly first)
Despite subjecting the sales guy to a test drive in a E270 that resulted in only 26mpg! he was very pleasant throughout and explained the benefits of buying a car from this particular main dealer.
Here was the shocker for me. Not only would I get a car at what appeared to be a sensible price (I unfortunately have not memorised the glasses price guide so would have to check later at home) but I would also get a fresh service plus a fresh MOT a 12 month unlimited mile Mercedes warranty ..... and THEY WOULD BEAT ANY PRICE, including refunding the difference after purchase if I found the same car cheaper elsewhere. It was not until I got home that I found that both of the cars I test drove were aprox £2000 less than book price.
So main dealer facilities and warranty and a cheapest price gaurantee. I would be silly not to take them up on their offer!
Thankyou to the dealer for restoring my perception of the brand!