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I have resisted purchasing the current crop of GT cars because I don't want to pay an ADM. I figured I would just wait until the cars showed up used, then buy at that point. So it was with that mentality that I ordered a 2019 G63 one year ago, for my wife.
The AMG G63 is totally redesigned and absolutely bonkers, a mailbox on wheels that will do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and my wife really wanted one. So we went to Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel and ordered one in March of 2018.
At first, no specs, no prices, nothing. Really no information on this car when we ordered a year ago, and we ordered so early we were #1 on the list to get it. Although the contract we signed when we paid the deposit stated that the price would be determined based upon market conditions when the car arrived, no mention of an ADM ever occurred. We were told numerous times verbally (stupid me) that the car was MSRP.
Fast forward to November, 2018. Our car was built, and we were provided with a build sheet showing the price: $165K out the door, again, no ADM. In fact, our salesman and his sales manager went out of their way to tell us we were the only ones getting a car at sticker because we ordered so early.
December comes, car arrives in port.
January rolls by, car is still in port.
January 30 shows up, BOOM - car is being released, salesman jumping for joy, says we will get our car today. We are literally about to get down to the dealership to see this new beast, one of the first on the West Coast.
I'm grabbing my checkbook when the phone rings again.
"Car is on the flatbed being unloaded, but I have bad news" says my salesman. I'm thinking what could possibly be wrong, maybe it was damaged?
"The dealership wants to charge you $20K over sticker"
Maybe I am not hearing this right. He repeats it again. I am floored. I ask to speak to the general manager, Pat Bolter, who apparently is the guy behind this. He is too busy to defend his actions, because he is probably in the middle of ripping someone else off. Instead, I get a call from his lackey, John Herrera, who is the general sales manager.
"The car has been stuck in port for over two months, and the demand is so great now that we thought this was an opportunity to make a little extra profit" Herrera says.
An opportunity to make a little extra profit????My jaw is hanging open. I have no response for a few seconds. Then I say,
"We are getting in the car to come pick up our vehicle which my wife custom ordered a year ago....the car is literally on the flatbed, and you are extorting me for $20K at the last minute????"
Well, that's exactly what Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel did, a last minute power play that left my salesman shocked and speechless. They held a 20K gun to my head at the 11th hour, and they were certain they were going to win this. They used my poor wife's built up emotion and excitement to get her dream SUV as a weapon.
So we did what many of you would. We told them to go F*ck themselves, and walked away. I wouldn't even give them the benefit of coming over to see the car, which they were begging me to do, thinking that seeing the car would perhaps trigger the urge to overpay.
The picture below is the closest I ever got to owning a G63.
At least with a Porsche dealership, you know right up front you'll pay an ADM.......
You did the right thing......I would go to another local dealer with different ownership ASAP and tell them to secure that exact car from Niguel if they want to make a sale at list price........dealers exchange cars all the time............then call Mercedes directly 50/50 chance they may intervene, but most likely will say dealer hold the cards.......
Probably too late for that, they are claiming it's "so hot" that they had 15 people waiting, which was a real bitch move on their part. In any case, we're over it, but I did send them a nasty email and copied the Mercedes USA leadership, and I got zero response.
Apparently MBUSA also condones a last minute ADM powerplay.......
Like I said, at lease the Porsche guys are up front. You want the car? 30K over sticker. You don't want to pay 30k over? Move on. It's right there up front. I can deal with that.
Out of pure naivety, I am still astonished that business is conducted in this manner. You were probably counting the days before the car arrived and you and your wife were super excited. I get it; I am the same way. And, I would have done the same thing you did - walk.
The worst part of this story is going through life for 11 months under an assumption that is completely inaccurate. What a mind F.
Also, there are countless stories of Porsche dealerships doing the exact same maneuver. So, this is not exclusive to MB.
Karma (and greed) is a bitch. I dont get all the fascination and hype re the G wagen, personally. Everyone wants one because everyone wants one. But then again, maybe its awesome - what do i know ..
I have resisted purchasing the current crop of GT cars because I don't want to pay an ADM. I figured I would just wait until the cars showed up used, then buy at that point. So it was with that mentality that I ordered a 2019 G63 one year ago, for my wife.
The AMG G63 is totally redesigned and absolutely bonkers, a mailbox on wheels that will do 0-60 in 3.9 seconds and my wife really wanted one. So we went to Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel and ordered one in March of 2018.
At first, no specs, no prices, nothing. Really no information on this car when we ordered a year ago, and we ordered so early we were #1 on the list to get it. Although the contract we signed when we paid the deposit stated that the price would be determined based upon market conditions when the car arrived, no mention of an ADM ever occurred. We were told numerous times verbally (stupid me) that the car was MSRP.
Fast forward to November, 2018. Our car was built, and we were provided with a build sheet showing the price: $165K out the door, again, no ADM. In fact, our salesman and his sales manager went out of their way to tell us we were the only ones getting a car at sticker because we ordered so early.
December comes, car arrives in port.
January rolls by, car is still in port.
January 30 shows up, BOOM - car is being released, salesman jumping for joy, says we will get our car today. We are literally about to get down to the dealership to see this new beast, one of the first on the West Coast.
I'm grabbing my checkbook when the phone rings again.
"Car is on the flatbed being unloaded, but I have bad news" says my salesman. I'm thinking what could possibly be wrong, maybe it was damaged?
"The dealership wants to charge you $20K over sticker"
Maybe I am not hearing this right. He repeats it again. I am floored. I ask to speak to the general manager, Pat Bolter, who apparently is the guy behind this. He is too busy to defend his actions, because he is probably in the middle of ripping someone else off. Instead, I get a call from his lackey, John Herrera, who is the general sales manager.
"The car has been stuck in port for over two months, and the demand is so great now that we thought this was an opportunity to make a little extra profit" Herrera says.
An opportunity to make a little extra profit????My jaw is hanging open. I have no response for a few seconds. Then I say,
"We are getting in the car to come pick up our vehicle which my wife custom ordered a year ago....the car is literally on the flatbed, and you are extorting me for $20K at the last minute????"
Well, that's exactly what Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel did, a last minute power play that left my salesman shocked and speechless. They held a 20K gun to my head at the 11th hour, and they were certain they were going to win this. They used my poor wife's built up emotion and excitement to get her dream SUV as a weapon.
So we did what many of you would. We told them to go F*ck themselves, and walked away. I wouldn't even give them the benefit of coming over to see the car, which they were begging me to do, thinking that seeing the car would perhaps trigger the urge to overpay.
The picture below is the closest I ever got to owning a G63.
At least with a Porsche dealership, you know right up front you'll pay an ADM.......
CARLSEN porsche did just that to me in 2010 on 991.2GT3RS
the ADM was last min
now you know why I am so bitter with that store.
if u want to ream me, whip out the stick early, don't PRETEND
good that you walked away like I did.
G wagon drop value quickly.
Karma (and greed) is a bitch. I dont get all the fascination and hype re the G wagen, personally. Everyone wants one because everyone wants one. But then again, maybe its awesome - what do i know ..
Agree. Get a Jeep or even a Range Rover for a lot less.
Horror story, Sorry this happened to you.
Benz dealers sound so desperate to spring this Gouge on you at the last minute.
It is difficult to build brand loyalty, so easy to destroy it.
You need a flat rate Broker who will seek out the car you spec, eliminate the hassle, get the best dealer-to-dealer rate on a new car, and charge you a flat rate.
I used Allen Faulkner allenfaulkner@msn.com 602.363-5616 and he charged me only a $3k flat rate broker fee to find my brand new car at a dealership.He negotiated everything, even shipping and saved me time and hassle. The total discount was far greater than his fees and he got me exactly what I wanted. He is also very knowledgable regarding State sales tax laws and also minimized my registration fees.
OP, you need to do everything you can to report, expose, and basically destroy that dealer. That is beyond unacceptable. With this said, they did you a favor, really, as those G wagons depreciate like anchors. But yeah, that's absolutely horrible.
Well, the depreciation on these bad boys is huge... which you probably already knew. But thanks for the feedback on Laguna Niguel. I'll never buy from them; what asshats.
02-02-2019, 12:23 PM
An ADM Story - You think Porsche is bad?
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