[anjan_c2007]

Originally Posted by Shivjeet

What's wrong is that the dealer isn't ready to trade-in at all, unless he finds a buyer for my used car first. Keep in mind that he's the same dealer who I've bought all my mercs from, so it is wrong on so many levels according to me. This also shows that MB doesn't have confidence in their own product, but still go on to sell them.

After reading your post, I can only conclude that while doing business " the heart does not rule the head," whereas its the other way around. Maybe, one has been a loyal customer, buying such cars with fancy price tags. But when it comes to doing business, such loyalty is not of any consequence as the dealer blocks his capital (a substantial amount), in case your car / SUV is retained by him to "trade in" for a newer one. And such exclusive cars don't have a good liquidity. Maybe, he has to keep it for even a year to get a suitable customer.

The older Mercedes', Audis and BMW's depreciate to unbelievable levels ! For example, the cynosure of all eyes once, the W 124, whose brand new wheel covers used to cost Rs 25,000=00 for a set in the late 1990's, now sells for ( the car) as low as Rs 1.5 to 2 L (excellent examples are available).

Hence, in future buys, it would be better to plan to keep the car for at least 5 years or more. After five years of use and some 75 to 100 K on the odo, one will not feel hurt to see depreciated prices, whereas with just 19 K on the odo, this is hurting.
And as GTO and others have suggested, please try to sell it on your own rather than go for a "trade in" with the dealer. The teambhp classifieds/ OLX/ Quickr have a very good reach.

[sumukha]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Seems to be more of a rant thread - the way I read it - the core issue is that the the dealer is not ready to take the responsibility of finding a buyer for your car and is chosing to not go ahead with your trade-in transaction. And this is inspite of your history with the dealership.

But that is just a risk the dealer/executive in this case has decided not to take up. Legally, there is NOTHING wrong in his action. He's potentially losing a customer, but that's his call.

As for the depreciation on your car, you are free to get options elsewhere - no-one's limiting your hand to go only with what the dealer is offering you.

I agree. The dealer is not obliged, but can facilitate. If he is not doing, its his call.I am a beamer 5 series user since the last 18 years.Changed 6 cars. Not even once the dealer Navneet bought it back in exchange.When showed interest, offered a ridiculous price (End of the day he has to sell it someone else and make a decent profit). You will sell it for a better price if you wait.This is my experience.

[sudev]

After going through the thread one thing stands out. Even in your past exchanges dealer would have given you less than market price that you could have gotten on direct sales. Thinking.

[Shivjeet]

I don't know if I should be saying this, but I'll go ahead with this anyways as it's sick to see people posting pretty much the same thing again and again, without reading my post properly or caring to understand it, as they have lost track of the issue at hand because of influential replies that they've read (if that's not the case then I have no comments). While a handful have really understood the post and cared to help and have put some thought before replying, which I really appreciate, because that is what healthy discussion is all about! It's also sad to read about experiences of fellow AMG and other performance car owners.

It looks like most people have just assumed that I live under a rock and came out of my place for the first time just to sell my car, since I'm getting replies like " dealer will block his capital if he takes your car in as it isn't hot selling " etc.. Does it look like I don't know that? Also do people really think I'm unaware of the used car market outside the "official" Mercedes benz certified and trade in program?

Also, is it not evident that I'm blaming MBIL as well in my post and not just the dealer? (btw, the title has been edited by the mods according to their interpretation so not my fault since they've made it dealer centric) The reason for the post was only to share my experience , because MBIL is involved as well in my case and them not being supportive as a manufacturer of desirable machines is completely unacceptable. When they sell you the car, you're shown all the benefits like how smoothly you can trade in your car "because we have easy trade-in options and certified pre-owned for a hassle free experience". All of this is done by companies like MB, Audi, BMW etc. just to gain customer confidence which leads into a sale and then later when we need a trade-in they offer absurd quotes!! Is this ethical?

Now after being shown such a rosy picture about the AMG brand and MB's excellent after sales support, they do not show interest in trading-in your car and say "no one buys it because its petrol", you will obviously feel cheated. If MBIL and its dealers really feel that AMG's or specifically GL63 AMG don't have qualities to be easily sold in the pre-owned section, then they should just be ashamed of themselves for such claims. If this is the case then they shouldn't sell such cars in the country, and if they still choose to do so, rosy pictures should not be shown for such sales.

Though I have cleared this out before but I'll say it one more time "buyback is different and trade-in is different, and I have not said anywhere that I have a buy back agreement". Also we do not flip our cars at all so lease options are not for us, and this is literally the first time we wanted to sell a car due to different reasons.

If the post is read properly, it shouldn't look like a "ranting thread" rather a thread about my terrible experience and dissatisfaction with a brand's practices. If anyone doesn't like such threads, no one is holding your hand to stick by and go through it. I have nothing more to add

[Akshay1234]

Shivjeet I can understand your frustration. And I agree with you that it is unethical. They do pretty much anything to make the sale, and then give you these kinds of replies.

Unfortunately this is the case with any niche car, of any brand in India. I am yet to see a dealer who offers a fair price for a trade in for any of these segments. Most of the time people accepting their offers don't know much about the cars and are not bothered about the depreciation.

And its not just MB. The kind of quotes I have heard being offered by my friendly neighbourhood BMW dealer for simple trade ins for fast moving vehicles like 320ds shock me.

What I would suggest is to try and sell it yourself, patience is the key. One must know when buying these cars that to get a fair price will take time. Do contact dealers in other cities too.

I have noticed that people in the South generally are willing to pay a fair price for the car, while in places like Delhi offers received are much lower.

[lazy]

Originally Posted by Shivjeet

I don't know if I should be saying this, but I'll go ahead with this anyways as it's sick to see people posting pretty much the same thing again and again, without reading my post properly or caring to understand it,...

... I'm getting replies like " dealer will block his capital if he takes your car in as it isn't hot selling " etc..

The above note from the OP is apt and was needed here.

Though I am not a luxury car owner, I was reading this thread out of interest.

Most of the responses assumed the OP has no idea of the real world out there, or the posters lacked basic comprehension of the OPs dilemma, or gave very generic gyaan.

I guess what he's looking for is pointers to make MBIL honour their pre-sale commitment of a hassle free trade-in OR probably options to address the core reason that's making him go for the switch.

[SmartCat]

Originally Posted by Shivjeet

When they sell you the car, you're shown all the benefits like how smoothly you can trade in your car "because we have easy trade-in options and certified pre-owned for a hassle free experience".

You did not mention this in your first two posts. If the sales guy explicitly mentioned that they will do a trade-in deal for your AMG at the time of sale, then yeah, you have a good reason to be upset. Even if it was just verbal and not written.

All of this is done by companies like MB, Audi, BMW etc. just to gain customer confidence which leads into a sale and then later when we need a trade-in they offer absurd quotes!! Is this ethical?

Absurd quotes is a standard operating procedure among all car brands, not just premium.

[ajmat]

Considering Mercedes are struggling to sell 2016 stock of GL400, I can understand the reluctance to take on the used GL 63. The low trade in price reflects the dealers risk, the lack of communication reflects the dealers fear!

As others suggested, use the GL63 for more time and/or find a niche target market for your car!

[ajay99]

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

...
The older Mercedes', Audis and BMW's depreciate to unbelievable levels ! For example, the cynosure of all eyes once, the W 124, whose brand new wheel covers used to cost Rs 25,000=00 for a set in the late 1990's, now sells for ( the car) as low as Rs 1.5 to 2 L (excellent examples are available).
....

Although to the main issue, older mercs especially W123 and W124 values(excellent low mileage ones) have appreciated in value in the past 2-3 years.
I know of at least 3 W123's which have sold for more than 6 lakh price.
And there are W124's (especially 220 and 250) which command values more than 5 lakhs in kerala.
But regarding old BMW's and Audis what you say is cent per cent correct

[libranof1987]

The way I look at it is, neither of you is right or wrong.

Given your immense (financial and quantitative) relationship with the dealer, you are justified in expecting them to be accommodating to your requests. Especially when it ensures a repeat business. When we expect the dealer selling a 5-lakh car to fulfill every whim and fancy, there's no denying you deserve to be coddled.

But thinking from the point of view of the dealer, this transaction may end up creating more liability (a white elephant no one wants to buy expensive) for them than generating assets (revenue from sale).

Furthermore, I'd assume they would have to adhere to a MB-recommended range for trade-ins.

While most seem to suggest that you hold on to the car, if you absolutely want to sell it off:

1) Look for a non-MB dealer and deal with a different set of problems (documentation, repayment)
2) Work with the dealer, involve a battery of senior officials from the dealer, possibly even MB and MB's used-car business to reach common ground

[stanjohn123]

With MBIL's over inflated prices for their luxury car's, they should feel blessed and lucky OP has purchased so many car's from them.
Even if they are going to take a loss with the GL63, so what ? They made fat profits from all his other previous purchases right ?
Also there really is no proper resale pricing for these super luxury vehicle's in India. It's what the seller wants to let it go for.

Assuming someone in some part of the country wants to buy the GL63 and has just 1 crore. OP's car would be the perfect fit as the new owner saves 1 crore from OP's depreciation hit.
So if MBIL really want's they can help him out. But to be realistic, OP must not be hurry with this sale. You have to wait till a new customer get's your vehicle at your desired pricing so then you can purchase another car from MBIL.
MBIL please stop being so greedy and stupid. You want to buy his car for 65 Lakhs and then post on your pre-certified website for 1 crore. Not going to happen. It's not wrong even if you don't make a single penny out of this sale but you're in the prospect of loosing a very loyal customer, so think about that first.

Also all people telling OP to sell it privately or to dealer's. No one in this segment likes to deal with all the hassles of unsuspecting shady buyer's. The onus is on MBIL to help sell his car, else they might need to rename luxury customer treatment to something else.

[yash2424]

Originally Posted by ajmat

Considering Mercedes are struggling to sell 2016 stock of GL400, I can understand the reluctance to take on the used GL 63. The low trade in price reflects the dealers risk, the lack of communication reflects the dealers fear!

As others suggested, use the GL63 for more time and/or find a niche target market for your car!

AFAIK all the GLS400 stock from 2016 were sold a long time back. My car is 2017 and I searched everywhere since the 2016 had a harmon kardon sound system but no dealer had it.

[sandeepmohan]

Our market isn't mature enough to understand what an AMG or an an M badge means. Only a handful of sales representatives and individual folks (Probably limited to this very forum) know the value of the badge and what it is about.

We are a diesel market in the high end segment too. You could say that petrol does not even exist. To a buyer, paying so much for a gas guzzling petrol SUV makes no sense. You could argue by saying how can the cost of fuel be a concern at all. Sadly; we do not understand these things.

Sharing an example from another part of the world. A 2011 E350 Elegance with a 3.5l V6 petrol has next to no resale. I saw one listed for NZ $20,000. That is just 9,00,000 lac. Heck; you could double the price, import it to India and its still super cheap.

Depreciation is a given with almost any high end car. Some tumble down faster than you can think.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by yash2424

AFAIK all the GLS400 stock from 2016 were sold a long time back. My car is 2017 and I searched everywhere since the 2016 had a harmon kardon sound system but no dealer had it.

I beg to differ, a friend of mine bought during Oct/Nov last year. It came directly from the factory yard

[ksameer1234]

Originally Posted by Shivjeet

All of this is done by companies like MB, Audi, BMW etc. just to gain customer confidence which leads into a sale and then later when we need a trade-in they offer absurd quotes!! Is this ethical?

As some have already mentioned, this is a standard practice across the industry. Dealers are going to low-ball even if one tempts them with business offer by willing to buy from them through trade-in. I tried this with my Bajaj Discover when I was very interested to buy NS200 and was offered near scrap value for a bike that had ran just 18k kms.

Like you, I wanted to trade-in my 2 year old RC390 for Dominar just for the pillion comfort and the value offered for KTM left me fuming. The logic was that no one buys RC390!! Had the dealer quoted sensibly, I would have probably closed the deal then and there itself.

That and your experience really makes me wonder why dealers are happy to let go of business opportunity so easily. Even surprising for such a long-term customer as you. Maybe dealers absolutely don't give two hoots about the relationship part. There are so many people who upgrade within the brand for the only reason of having good relationship with dealer, but this feeling is not reciprocated at all.

May be we customers shouldn't really bother to build relationship with dealers in hope that they will not treat us like just-another-guy in future. None of those sweets and gifts for RM during delivery and those tips after service, I guess.