|
Recently I have been very taken by the new Mercedes CLA.....I think it is a beautiful and very classy looking 4 door coupe both inside and out.
I done my research and originally decided on the CLA 35 in Premium trim. There are 3 trim levels - entry level, Premium and Premium Plus, but you need to choose at least Premium to get the 10.25" instrument display to match the 10.25" media display. However I found that this model breached the threshold for the rip off higher rate of VED at first renewal by only £50. Between the model being announced and going on sale there has been a Mercedes price increase and it now breaches the threshold by £130......but on a point of principle I cannot accept such a huge increase in VED over the standard rate for the sake of only £130.
I then decided on a CLA 250 in top spec Premium Plus trim. This model has a 224 bhp engine and is extremely well equipped at a price £4k less than the CLA 35 in lower Premium trim(almost £7k less in equivalent Premium Plus trim).
I got my 5 quotes from Carwow and was pleased to see Mercedes Glasgow as one of them. Although not the cheapest it was still a healthy 8.7% discount and only 60 miles from my home.
I decided to drop in while in the area attending a social event with my girlfriend....we were in her car leaving mine tucked up in its bed at home.
I spoke to the person who provided the Carwow quote and he searched dealer stock for my chosen car, but there was none...only 220 and 200 models(190 bhp and 163bhp respectively). Now my last 2 cars have been 300bhp so I would rather not go that low. He said in that case it would need to a factory order so the Carwow quote could not be honoured. I knew this was not right because Carwow quotes are for brand new factory ordered vehicles, but I played along and asked him for a price to change including my trade in. He was unwilling to value my car without seeing it, not even on a best price basis which could be adjusted later upon inspection if necessary. Having owned my present car from new 16 months ago and covered less than 6000 miles it is totally immaculate so I knew there was nothing it could be marked down for. His manager confirmed they would not be willing to offer any price at all without seeing my car, so I realised I was wasting my time and left.
Fast forward a week to yesterday and I visited Arnold Clark Mercedes in Dundee. They were having some kind of event and all salesmen were busy so I was speaking to a man who introduced himself as the manager. I told him I was wanting to buy a CLA 250, to which he replied "I've never seen of them". He had to look up the price list to confirm it existed, then searched stock to see if they had one, which they didn't.
He was quite dismissive to my choice of the 250 model saying that nobody wants them and they do not sell so he was not willing to stock them. If I wanted one it would need to be a factory order and that is likely to be around March 2020 because he said Mercedes will not build cars until they have enough orders for that model. Now bearing in mind the car I want has only the engine being different to say the 220 model, I found this hard to get my head round.
I mentioned that the 250 model is available with Mercedes 4matic AWD in Europe but not in the UK due to it being too close to the entry level CLA 35 but at a significantly cheaper price(a fact stated by the motoring press), but he said No it is because people in the UK do not care about 4matic AWD.
He went on to say that post Brexit they are expecting a 10% rise in car prices, to which I replied if that does happen it will have a significant impact on car buying in the UK, but he said No it will make no difference at all and people will continue to buy cars like they always have. I said maybe not on fleet sales but private buyers will be put off.....again he said it will make no difference.
He also derided my personal choice of buying cars with cash rather than PCP.
I found the man quite arrogant to be honest, and if he couldn't sell me a car there and then he wasn't interested.
I have one more Mercedes dealer group to try in Edinburgh, but based on my experience so far I have low expectations. |
|