I am working on a GLC 300 4matic deal 36 months, 10K miles per year. I found a loaner model that is well equipped with premium package, multimedia package, driver assistance package, and more additional optional features. Only has 2046 miles on it. MSRP is 55,055. I obtained the MF (.00058), RV (54%), and incentives (none) from Edmunds. Dealer is honoring the 54% RV (29,729.70) even though it is a loaner model. I was able to negotiate to a sales price of 47,956 (12.89% discount). I can get an additional 500 off since I am an AMA member. Dealer has not been open about the MF even though I told them I know what the base should be for our area. I also told them I would do MSD to lower MF. All he told me was that he “gave up rate as well”, whatever that means. Here is the LH calculator with the above numbers and using base MF with MSD.
I have also attached a screenshot of what the dealer gave as a run down with fees added in. When I asked for a breakdown of the fees I was told they include acquisition fee, registration, plate, tire tax, online reg, title, lien fee.
Dealer told me it would be 688 per month. I think he has rolled in the fees to the monthly payment even though I would likely pay them upfront. Even with the fees removed from the monthly, the dealer is quite a bit higher than the LH calculator. Not sure why the difference in price. My only thoughts are that they are marking up the MF. Any advice on how to go about continued negotiation? Any of these fees I can negotiate to lower or remove? Good deal if I can get them to match base MF? Any advice is appreciated.
Once you nail down all the other inputs in the calculator you can easily back into the MF the dealer is using.
Understanding what your target deal is at base MF is important, but you need to focus on the entire deal, don’t get too wrapped up in whether the MF is marked up or not.
If you try to beat the dealer up over the MF or keep pestering them about it or keep telling them you know what base MF should be etc. etc. they’re just going to tell you to go pound sand. Rookie mistake.
Instead just focus on the $688/mo with $1k DAS, how does that compare with your target deal?
At first glance an almost 13% discount seems very strong; if we keep MF at base and fix the other calc inputs this deal translates to around 9% pre-incentive discount at base MF, again that seems pretty dang good in today’s market.
Yes that makes sense about focusing on the entire deal.
I thought the fees were a little extra as well but either way I was planning on paying fees upfront and not integrated in the monthly, so the dealers offer of 688/month would actually be down to 641/month with the fees as is taken out and I would have to have more DAS (which would match the amount on the LH calculator better). I would like to lower the fees somewhat but not sure how best to go about this. I know certain things are unavoidable like title and registration etc. I can look up the prices of those on the PA DMV website and see if there is any markup there. The Doc fee and acquisition fee not sure how best to bring that down or if it is possible to bring those down. Other things he mentioned like the tire tax and lien fee, not sure if these can be brought down or taken out?
I still think the MF is marked up contributing to the difference compared to the LH calculator. Any strategies to get that lower. I already told the dealer I would do MSD but that is not configured into the price yet. But I would like to get as close to base MF as possible prior to doing the MSD. Anybody have any advice on how to go about this?
Ok got some more info. Dealer revealed the money factor they were using was .0011. I negotiated with them and got them down to .00099. They were allowing up to 7 MSD to bring down the MF to a minimum of .0005. Here is what the deal looks like now:
The 1% rule is a useless metric for determining if something is a good deal or not, but even if it was, $647/mo, which this deal actually is, is a far cry from 1% of $55k
Yes I know the 1% metric is not the best way to evaluate the deal. I’ve seen people do it different ways. Some do pretax amount others do post tax. Some people include the fees and some people don’t. So the pretax monthly without the fees included satisfies it but you’re right, including everything is definitely not 1% MSRP. LH score seems decent though. And given current market I think the deal is workable for me and comparable to what I’ve seen for this model on the forum.
The LH score and the 1% rule are two sides of the same coin. A 1% deal is an LH score of 8.33. They’re both comparisons between msrp and the monthly payment.
None of that is to say if this is or isn’t a good deal, just that there are actual ways to evaluate if it is or not.
There’s also no reason why you shouldn’t have been able to do max msds. Limiting you to 7 here doesn’t make sense.
Yea I was planning to do a full 10 MSD but was surprised when the dealer said the max they would allow was 7 for a minimum MF of .0005. Probably a way for them to ensure some profit margin. I still think the deal is decent for me especially given the current climate. I think it would be very tough to get a score of 8.33 at the current time. I even checked out several brokers while I was doing my research for the deal and don’t think I saw a score above 8. Thanks for the input.
ok thanks for letting me know. I’ll check with them and see if they are willing to accept the full 10 MSD. That would lower the monthly by almost 20.
Decent deal in today’s market. Granted the car is due for refresh, but glc300 is actually solid with good balance of luxury, rwd dynamics, good ergonomics (tactile buttons) and classy look. It’ll age well and feel up to today’s standard with apple carplay. I miss my glc.
Yup! The manager today gave me the printed lease information screen. The MF says 0.00002 (after 8 MSDs). I’m in NorCal, not sure if all dealerships/states would be the same.
