Hey Mercedes - you have just lost another customer!

[Altamar]

I recently started the thread about MB trying to increase margin through a "no haggling allowed" policy and here I am just a few months later taking the plunge to order a brand new....Audi Q5.

I looked at the new GLC but wasn't massively impressed and at £58k for the Premium 220d I was considering, the no haggle policy was the final nail in the deal. I have managed to get £9000 off the price of a brand new Q5.

So, as I said in my other thread, I suspect more and more potential customers, faced with MB's approach of take it or leave it, will, like me, decide to leave it thanks and take our hard earned elsewhere.

FOOTNOTE - that means my cherished and pampered W212 on a 64 plate will be coming up for sale later in the year - I will post it in the classifieds when I have a confirmed delivery date for my new car

 

[mioba]

Well done to you.

I am becoming more the same. Infact nearly every time I go to store (car parts, electrical, plumbing) you name it, I find the same price online for cheaper and ask for discount or to at least match the price. If no discount then I tell them no thanks and I leave it.

A penny saved is a penny earned and 9k is not small change.

This no haggle policy is essentially price fixing by MB and surely against competition law as franchises are "independent" businesses.

 

[Ron240]

Make no mistake about it, and regardless of how they word it a no haggle pricing policy 100% benefits the seller!
It remains to be seen how this works out for Mercedes, but if sales go down I wouldnt be at all surprised if they scrap it.

Regarding your new Audi Q5, getting a discount of £9k is massive! Assuming a list price of £55k that would be over 16%
I have never had quite as big a discount as that on any new car.

 

[5w155t0ny]

I recently started the thread about MB trying to increase margin through a "no haggling allowed" policy and here I am just a few months later taking the plunge to order a brand new....Audi Q5.

I looked at the new GLC but wasn't massively impressed and at £58k for the Premium 220d I was considering, the no haggle policy was the final nail in the deal. I have managed to get £9000 off the price of a brand new Q5.

So, as I said in my other thread, I suspect more and more potential customers, faced with MB's approach of take it or leave it, will, like me, decide to leave it thanks and take our hard earned elsewhere.

FOOTNOTE - that means my cherished and pampered W212 on a 64 plate will be coming up for sale later in the year - I will post it in the classifieds when I have a confirmed delivery date for my new car

Might be a while. Last I heard Audi were quoting 2 year delivery for some models

 

[ajlsl600]

Well done to you.

I am becoming more the same. Infact nearly every time I go to store (car parts, electrical, plumbing) you name it, I find the same price online for cheaper and ask for discount or to at least match the price. If no discount then I tell them no thanks and I leave it.

A penny saved is a penny earned and 9k is not small change.

This no haggle policy is essentially price fixing by MB and surely against competition law as franchises are "independent" businesses.

Dead easy vote with ur feet. I am sure the audi is as good as benz, my last was the old quattro 84 or 85 if memory correct wiish had kept it . Sold around 4750 in the day!!!

 

[Altamar]

Might be a while. Last I heard Audi were quoting 2 year delivery for some models

Six month lead time but TBH I am in no rush and for that level of discount I am prepared to wait

 

[rorywquin]

Make no mistake about it, and regardless of how they word it a no haggle pricing policy 100% benefits the seller!
It remains to be seen how this works out for Mercedes, but if sales go down I wouldnt be at all surprised if they scrap it.

Regarding your new Audi Q5, getting a discount of £9k is massive! Assuming a list price of £55k that would be over 16%
I have never had quite as big a discount as that on any new car.

IIRC I got about 15% on my SL when I ordered it. I effectively got all my “extras" for free and when I sold it, got about 60% of what I’d paid for the car after 6 years (excluding the services & a set of rear tyres) so was very happy.

 

[Ron240]

IIRC I got about 15% on my SL when I ordered it. I effectively got all my “extras" for free and when I sold it, got about 60% of what I’d paid for the car after 6 years (excluding the services & a set of rear tyres) so was very happy.

Retaining 60% of the purchase price at 6 years old is exceptional, so I am not surprised you were happy!

 

[Ron240]

Speaking of new car discounts...I have just been looking at What Car's top 20 list and the biggest savings are currently to be had on the BMW M5 and 8 series at around 14%, which works out to a discount of over £19k.

The biggest new car discounts revealed

Our Target Price mystery shoppers reveal the biggest new car discounts available right now. And the best news is you don't have to haggle to secure them

www.whatcar.com

 

[ajlsl600]

I paid 19k for my 23k miles r230 Vdoz, on 2003 plate sold it 5+yr later at 38k miles for pretty much wot I paid for it too 1 St buyer.

 

[BillyBoy]

My Allterrain is just coming to the end of the three years, and MB have been calling to ask if I want to "upgrade" to a new car. I politely but firmly told the salesman not a chance with your current policy, and to feed that back to MB UK. I also pointed out the other thing that annoys me which is the total lack of choice in the UK. Go on the Irish MB site and I get all sorts of choices of trim and options to build the car I want, but in the UK there is NO choice. I don't even know why they bother with the car configurator on their website. You get to choose the colour, then every other page has a single pre-selected choice.
When I bought my current car, I got £14k off the list price via CarWow. Given MB have not changed their list prices one bit with their new policy, that basically means they are milking current customers for another £14k on the sale.

 

[rorywquin]

My Allterrain is just coming to the end of the three years, and MB have been calling to ask if I want to "upgrade" to a new car. I politely but firmly told the salesman not a chance with your current policy, and to feed that back to MB UK. I also pointed out the other thing that annoys me which is the total lack of choice in the UK. Go on the Irish MB site and I get all sorts of choices of trim and options to build the car I want, but in the UK there is NO choice. I don't even know why they bother with the car configurator on their website. You get to choose the colour, then every other page has a single pre-selected choice.
When I bought my current car, I got £14k off the list price via CarWow. Given MB have not changed their list prices one bit with their new policy, that basically means they are milking current customers for another £14k on the sale.

It may have changed now but when I lived in Australia you basically had to take what they had on the floor or wait upto a year. Because of long lead times they usually fully specified the cars going into their stock so they were expensive and over $40k (IIRC) cars attracted a “luxury car tax”.

My 2017 SL (UK car) took 7 months to deliver from my order.

 

[harrye500]

I recently started the thread about MB trying to increase margin through a "no haggling allowed" policy and here I am just a few months later taking the plunge to order a brand new....Audi Q5.

I looked at the new GLC but wasn't massively impressed and at £58k for the Premium 220d I was considering, the no haggle policy was the final nail in the deal. I have managed to get £9000 off the price of a brand new Q5.

So, as I said in my other thread, I suspect more and more potential customers, faced with MB's approach of take it or leave it, will, like me, decide to leave it thanks and take our hard earned elsewhere.

FOOTNOTE - that means my cherished and pampered W212 on a 64 plate will be coming up for sale later in the year - I will post it in the classifieds when I have a confirmed delivery date for my new car

That is a disappointment. Yes, interesting to see how this works out for them. Perhaps they think an MB buyer will give in and pay up. I'm not in a position of being able to afford to buy new. But, for used buyers, the future choice of MBs will certainly be a dull affair if all one can get is those bought off the shelf round about now! Those that bought and ticked options will certainly be a rare car. Corporate greed? Possibly all they really want is the Leasing Revenue. Enjoy your new Q5!!

 

[DSK]

It’s an intentional strategy to further exploit the ‘keep them poor’ strategy, for which which, the vast majority of consumers will always fall into based on habit and manipulation. It’s not restricted to MB but has been the in the making for years but, punters are generally blind/ignorant to it. Other manufacturers and dealers are also doing it. The product lines will be simplified and supply (or the illusion of it), deliberately kept below that of the demand.


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[Larkone]

It’s an intentional strategy to further exploit the ‘keep them poor’ strategy, for which which, the vast majority of consumers will always fall into based on habit and manipulation. It’s not restricted to MB but has been the in the making for years but, punters are generally blind/ignorant to it. Other manufacturers and dealers are also doing it. The product lines will be simplified and supply (or the illusion of it), deliberately kept below that of the demand.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But there will always be some company that decides to grab a bigger market share and starts a choice/price war - market forces

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Germany has just entered recession so MB et al will milk prices as much as they can while keeping volumes low, blame it on Putin’s folly we are all paying in one way or another, prices will only come down when they ramp up production due to energy prices returning to normal levels - Germany is an energy hungry beast

 

[Srdl]

It’s a fairly common business strategy to go for margin rather than volume. I have seen some small business do it very successfully and make more money for less effort. Whether that will work for Mercedes, I have my doubts. For a start, as has already been pointed out, they have a lot of competition who may still compete on price. And, with their worldwide business, they have a lot of fixed costs and you need volume to pay for that

 

[sonic]

I recently started the thread about MB trying to increase margin through a "no haggling allowed" policy and here I am just a few months later taking the plunge to order a brand new....Audi Q5.

I looked at the new GLC but wasn't massively impressed and at £58k for the Premium 220d I was considering, the no haggle policy was the final nail in the deal. I have managed to get £9000 off the price of a brand new Q5.

So, as I said in my other thread, I suspect more and more potential customers, faced with MB's approach of take it or leave it, will, like me, decide to leave it thanks and take our hard earned elsewhere.

FOOTNOTE - that means my cherished and pampered W212 on a 64 plate will be coming up for sale later in the year - I will post it in the classifieds when I have a confirmed delivery date for my new car

Nice cars the Q5, a mate of mine has one & is very pleased. In the meantime enjoy the 212, I have had mine 11 years now & still like it.

 

[v3burn]

visited my local dealer to ask about lead times on new C class estate, current build time quoted as 12 weeks...
when i got around to prices they too stayed firm, even though my car is a fleet vehicle and purchased outright by my company, they were still not willing to do a better deal.
its not for change right away so i still have some time, but if they keep to thier stance, my next car will not be a MB sadly.

 

[oigle]

It may have changed now but when I lived in Australia you basically had to take what they had on the floor or wait upto a year. Because of long lead times they usually fully specified the cars going into their stock so they were expensive and over $40k (IIRC) cars attracted a “luxury car tax”.

My 2017 SL (UK car) took 7 months to deliver from my order.

Up until Covid and the shortage of chips, most dealers here in Oz would look at discounts. MB for a while did not but changed their ways. Since the advent of chip shortages, most popular cars are on a longish wait list and, as such, discounts have gone away. There are more buyers than cars so why would they discount them? Luxury car tax now starts at around $84000 so most cars come in under the limit. Luxury cars like Benz, BMW etc and upmarket Jap are certainly above the limit and attract the tax. 1 tonne and above light trucks avoid the tax, as they are supposedly for business use (yeah right) and have become the vehicle of choice for many buyers, particularly the dual cab versions. Our top selling vehicles by quite a margin are the Toyota HiLux and the Ford Ranger dual cabs. Prices sure have escalated in the last couple of years.