Maine Mercedes-Benz Car Dealers

Hi all - I'm trying to find if there was a forum to share my recent experience with Keyes European (Van Nuys, Calfiornia). I figured the forum title is also about "buying experience" so here it goes. I was in the market for a 2010 C300 and started communicating with them via email last week. I was up front and honest about my recent credit situation. I was a Tier 1 rated customer with excellent credit, up until I had to give up one of my properties in March 2010, which led to a decline in my credit score. When they ran my credit, acc. to them, MBZ financial won't finance it due to my recent short sale activity with my property (I was not surprised). I was okay with that. The back-up plan was to have my mom either get the car on my behalf or co-sign with me. Just a little bit of a background, my mom has been legally living with us for over 10 years now. She is authorized to drive any one of my cars, and is a part of our auto insurance. Anyway, they ran her credit, and as expected, she was approved ( credit score over 800). After 2 days of emailing and phone calls, we settled on a deal, the C300 sport will be under my mom's name. We picked it up from Keyes European on Wednesday, my mom signed the papers, the whole contract was under her name, my name excluded. The next morning, Thursday, I got a phone call from Keyes stating that I have to return the car, that MBZ financial put 2 and 2 together, that I am involved in the vehicle....well - DUH !!! I'm sorry...the dealer knew that all along!!! They were dealing with ME the whole time, my mom was there just to sign, and have her name be used for "credit purposes". In any case, I am so upset because from the get go, I told the dealer my situation, I did not hide anything, I did not make anything up. My mom was approved fair and square, and now, they want the car back. It is now 5 days since we picked up the car. I still have it in my garage, have not driven it in over 3 days. I don't want to get attached to it. I haven't even played around with the gadgets. I am ready to return it. At this time, when I spoke to the salesman today, he said, they are "fighting" for me to keep the car. The dealership once again reviewed my my credit history, and aside from the recent short sale activity, records show that I have a very clean credit record, everything else is or was paid on time. So they're going to try and use that as angle to keep my car. The dealer has made contact with me for 3-4 days now, either asking me to return the car, or telling me they're still working things out. They have asked me not to drive it around so as not to accrue more miles. I have around 150 miles right now after 2 days of driving. I'm not really sure who to blame here. I don't know how the dealer could allow us to drive off that car last Wednesday - my mom was obviously approved. And please, I am sure that this is NOT the first time that a "relative" has stepped in to purchase or lease something for someone else. Why NOT my mom? She clearly lives with us, on top it all, she has an excellent credit rating (over 800). It just didn't make sense. I want the car sooo badly, and returning this to Keyes and getting a C300 sport from another MBZ dealership is not the solution since the whole transaction will end up at MBZ financial. My mom and I are pre-approved to co-sign at Lexus, and I am also approved at BMW. Sorry for venting.

The disposition fee is what MBZ charges. Standard. No way around it unless you can negotiate it away. Maybe if you lease another from them at the end, but do it up front. The acq fee seems quite high. the dealer can jack this up to make extra profit. Call a couple other dealers to talk leases and ask them. If it's a mercedes financial lease they have a floor amount, but dealers can go above that. You need to know what the selling price is of the car. That's called the "capitalized cost" and is a crucial number in a lease calculation. Also, the dealer can increase the "money factor" (what the interest rate is called in a lease) to make extra dough over the term of the lease. Make sure the dealer is using the same money factor that MBZ Financial is giving him. The residual value is set by MBZ for length of lease and mileage and the dealer cannot mess with that.

I want to do this right and pay the right price so i have read and learned a lot here. Here is the best offer i got. Term=39 months Base Payment=440.89 MSRP=39,910.00 Miles Per Year= 15,000 Disposition Fee= 595.00 (is this a neccessary fee) MONEY DUE AT INCEPTION= 1st month=440.48 security deposit=0 Aquisition fee= 1,095.00 (IS THIS FEE RIGHT? SEEMS HIGH!) Fees and Ins.- 305.00 Upfront taxes= 1361.37 cap reduction=0 total out of pocket=3202.26 PLEASE A LITTLE HELP. I am trying to learn. I think this is a good deal but not 100% sure. What can i do to make it better?

I AM LOOKING TO PURCHASE A NEW R350 AND WANTED TO SEE IF THERE ARE ANY DEALER INCENTIVES IN MAY TO BE AWARE OF. THE DEALER IS ONLY WANTING TO COME OFF 3% MSRP OF $56295. IT HAS THE PO1 PACKAGE, TELE AID, PANARAMA SUNROOF, AND HEATED SEATS. PLEASE LET ME KNOW. THANKS.

I JUST GOT A QUOTE FOR A 2009 C300 SPORTS WITH P2 PKG, IPOD, STEEL GRAY,AUTOMATIC,12K MILES/YR FOR $493 or $539/ month INCLUDING TAX WITH 0 DOWN AND 27 MONTHS LEASE.. LET ME KNOW IF THATS A GOOD DEAL OR ANY MORE ROOM TO WORK ON..I LIVE IN THE BAY AREA CA. BTW....THANKS!