Luxury Car Prices Softening?

[Kevinc5a]

The latest Car and Driver has a story on the 2010 E Class. The new E350 will at dealers in June, with a $4,600 price drop from the 2009 E350. There will also be a new E Coupe. I wonder if this will indicate a softening of luxury car pricing due to increased competition from Genesis and the generally sour economy. It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers lighten up the pricing on the 2010s.

 

[Goose]

There certainly seems to be some softening, although manufacturers are doing all they can to maintain prices. Toyota, for example, has been reducing production for some time to decrease supply and many dealers are trimming their inventories.

Frankly, the "funny money" (financing) isn't flowing as readily as it once was. A local dealer near me has said that their finance sources - even their manufacturer's own financial division - has been very tough to get money out of; anything below 700 is struggling to get approval. Unfortunately, since most buyers don't pay cash, sales are a bit slower.

 

[ctrcbob]

The latest Car and Driver has a story on the 2010 E Class. The new E350 will at dealers in June, with a $4,600 price drop from the 2009 E350. There will also be a new E Coupe. I wonder if this will indicate a softening of luxury car pricing due to increased competition from Genesis and the generally sour economy. It will be interesting to see if other manufacturers lighten up the pricing on the 2010s.

Mercedes has done this before. What they do is to "remove" standard features, and make them optional. Then they advertise the lower price.

Also, when I tried to buy an E-Class, neither of the two Orlando dealers wanted to talk with me. I guess they thought I ask too many questions.

In addition, have you priced Mercedes service? (Check out the price of an oil change). Way out of line, and its not only Mercedes. BMW, VW and Audi are the same. The beauty of a Genesis is the low cost of service.

 

[ImInPA]

Mercedes has done this before. What they do is to "remove" standard features, and make them optional. Then they advertise the lower price.

Also, when I tried to buy an E-Class, neither of the two Orlando dealers wanted to talk with me. I guess they thought I ask too many questions.

In addition, have you priced Mercedes service? (Check out the price of an oil change). Way out of line, and its not only Mercedes. BMW, VW and Audi are the same. The beauty of a Genesis is the low cost of service.

I have see this before with Mercedes Benz. Actually in my area, they are actually taking almost $5k off the stickers on the E series. These are not de-contented vehicles, just lowering the price. I recently purchased a Volvo S80 and Volvo gave me $6500 and the dealer almost an additional $3K. I think the market is softening on some models and brands.

 

[muisui]

I had an Audi S4 and now own a BMW 335xi, both comes with free maintainence.

 

[Kevinc5a]

I have a 2000 E and am familiar with Mercedes' decontenting. Several of the features in the 2000 E model vanished in 2003. May happen again with the 2010.

There is an E coupe in 2010. I sure would like to see Hyundai produce a coupe similar in size and features to the sedan.

I think the price drop with the 2010 MBZ will result in much deeper discounts than usual on the 2009 leftovers. They may be very attractive option for the MBZ buyer who doesn't want the inevitable teething problems typical of the first year of a new model.

I've had most of my servicing done at the dealer. Prices are high, but probably typical of luxury imports. I've been satisfied with the quality of the work and the attitide of the service personnel. That's with 170K miles on my E. I haven't checked on Hyundai service pricing.

If I get a Genesis I'll trade a Passat. The E's a keeper.

 

[Mark_888]

I think the price drop with the 2010 MBZ will result in much deeper discounts than usual on the 2009 leftovers. They may be very attractive option for the MBZ buyer who doesn't want the inevitable teething problems typical of the first year of a new model.

The 2010 Mercedes E has some fairly nice styling updates. If someone was satisfied with the 2009 styling, I would have them look at a 2007 Certified Used Car coming off lease. The 2007 350E is going for about $33,000 with 25,000 miles on them (but prices do vary somewhat depending on mileage, options, etc.). And that is just the average asking price on various websites I have seen--they might be willing to negotiate.

It it wasn't for the lousy gas miliage of the 350E (and uses premium gas) I might consider a 2007 E instead of a Genesis if I were looking right now.