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Mom Finally Finds Her New Perfect Car
Sep 30 2009 by Sara Lacey
My search for the perfect car hasn’t been smooth. I couldn’t find the car I wanted or a dealership eager to sell me something. After lots of frustration, I called my car broker and put him on the case. Between the dealerships and my broker, certainly my dream car — a Mercedes-Benz M-Class — would show up. I hoped it would pop up quickly because I was running out of time on my Nissan Murano’s lease.
My biggest problem in finding my perfect car is I want a tan — make that Macadamia — interior in a Mercedes ML350. People told me to be flexible about the color, but the interior is where I spend most of my time — I don’t often lounge on the car’s hood in a bikini — and I was reluctant to give in. Initially, my broker tried to get me to compromise, but he respected that I wasn’t going to because I’ve spent too many years cleaning dusty footprints off the back of black leather seats.
While I was working on managing my stress level, she came along. My beautiful car showed up on the listings at Cars.com. She was dark blue and a year newer than I’d planned. She was a little more than the right price. But guess what? She had a Macadamia interior! She was certified pre-owned and at a dealership. Most car brokers can’t work with dealerships, but in Colorado there are laws regarding commerce that enable brokers and dealerships to work together.
My broker set up a test drive for me for the next day. I tried all night to not be completely antsy. The next morning, the broker called just as we were getting ready to go test drive the car. He launched into a Texas-sized apology, saying something had gotten messed up and there were customers at the dealership right now test driving my car. My car! I had been on the fence about the car (I’d never even seen it in dark blue), but I wasn’t any longer after the phone call. I desperately wanted my shot at the car. I had been looking for this car all my life, and now some ruthless customer was elbowing me out of the deal. This proves that going through a broker isn’t always sunshine and rainbows.
The other customers decided they didn’t want the car (I was relieved and insulted at the same time), and it was brought to my broker’s office for a test drive. I was smitten when I saw it. We packed the kids in and went for a test drive.
At this point I felt pretty good about “my” ML350, but it cost more. It had tons of features (automatic tailgate, anyone?), and it was beautiful. But did I mention that it cost more? My husband and I took the kids to a park to let them play while we talked about our options.
We decided to buy the ML. While it was more money than we originally wanted to spend, we were extremely pleased with what we got for our money. I had a little heartburn and stress over our decision because it’s just what I do, but it was eclipsed by the joy of getting a new vehicle, the one I wanted.
User Comments
It’s actually a pretty common practice, DonB. Instead of going to a dealership and doing all the haggling, waiting, and game-playing, a customer pays a flat fee to the broker to get the car they want. This can result in the customer paying less for the car (more or less, depending on the car and the broker’s connections, etc.), but mostly it cuts down on the time and emotional ridiculousness that can arise at a dealership.
Anyone else out there used a broker?
i enjoy the process of researching a car, browsing at different dealers (people enjoy browsing comic books or clothing, but cars are so much more exciting!), test-driving, and the satisfaction of getting my own deal.
my wife would compare prices on a $200 bag across several retailers and never hesitates to walk out when there’s no sale. somehow people lose that confidence when it comes to cars, yet it costs so much ... hm ...
oh, and having an extra middleman that may be sleazy and trying to make an extra buck, when the dealer is already a sleazy middleman, just does not sit well with me. the article recommends doing your research to find a good broker; that’s more work. i don’t want to be too sarcastic, but maybe your broker made up the story of another potential buyer to heighten the “gotta-have-it” factor. after all, you bought one that’s more expensive than you planned on ... just saying that you probably shouldn’t trust anyone in the business.
i guess if dealing with dealers gives you angina, this is a great route. maybe i’m just masochistic and like the pain of grinding away at a deal. 
anyway, beautiful car! put some snow tires on and you would be unstoppable in the winter.
When I’m car shopping, I research the car and go make the best deal I can. There’s plenty of good info out there. I think a dealer will be more motivated to work with an actual car buyer than a broker who then will have to go and try and get the purchaser to accept the deal. Sounds like it adds way too much to the process, for very little potential gain.
Why buy a used one, especially a certified one? You don’t save much at all over a new one. And after being test driven and trashed. If you want a car like this and can’t afford a new one. Than buy it privately, certified used cars are not much more than a way to charge more for used car. You were better off buying new car even if is not a Mercedes.
That new car smell is nice, but you pay a price for it - especially with the large, immediate depreciation. Having said that, my wife and I opted for new over used for the warranty and peace of mind. And Certified Pre-Owned really don’t seem to cost much less than new cars - at least judging from what I see in ads. Sometimes they’re actually more than new!
Congratulations Sara, I think you made an excellent decision. Obviously some individuals don’t realize the value of a CPO. We purchased a 2008 MB S550 for a little over $77k (it’s my wife’s car and she loves it). We bought it as a CPO with right under 9k miles. Because it was CPO the warranty is extended to 100k miles which is great for my wife because she commutes approximately 400 or more miles a week between children’s schools and our home which is located 30 miles outside of the city. If we had purchased our S550 with the same packages a 2009 would have been over $94k and the warranty would’ve only been 50k miles. I think we made a great choice.
Thanks JayB! I am still very happy with our decision. And you are right, our CPO is the same, with warranty coverage to 100k so we feel very good about that. In addition, the savings from buying used were beyond substantial, despite the CPO.
Just to clarify a point on the broker. Not all brokers are the same. Ours is part of a firm, and has a great reputation. He doesn’t work with salespeople at the dealership, he works with the fleet managers. So it’s not adding a middleman between me and the salesman, but rather using his contacts to find the car, whatever dealership or auction it may be located. I did some research and told the broker what I wanted. While in this case he didn’t find it for me, he got the best price, and that included his fee. But no, it’s not for everyone.
You are right, DL. He might have made up the “other buyer,” I don’t know that for sure. But this is the fourth time I’ve used this broker and been very satisfied with the price I paid, the level of customer service I received, and of course, the car I got. Not many people can say that in hindsight about their car purchases.
It’s supposed to get icy and snowy here in the next week, I’ll let you all know how she does!
Sara
You bought the wrong M Class. You should have bought the DIESEL engine. Federal tax credit, better mileage, and better resale.
Who really uses a “car broker”?