Manufacturer Sales Events vs. eBay Motors: 0-1

The real “event” is over @ eBay.

By Gunnar Heinrich | IMG MBUSA.com

EVERYONE is having a fire sale Stateside.

Mercedes-Benz is hosting its “Winter Event” now through the New Year, tempting would-be buyers with saucy 3.9% financing on C’s ‘n E’s.

GM, naturally, has its own “Red Tag” event; slashing MSRPs on every Cadillac, Saab, Hummer, Pontiac, Chevy, and Saturn and offering cash incentives.

Toyota (of “Saved By Zero” infamy) and its luxury subsidiary Lexus have their own year end blow out – or as Lexus more properly puts it: “The December to Remember Sales Event.”

And it just so happens that the Lexus “Event” carries on until January 5th -a full three days longer than the Mercedes-Benz “Event”.

Mere happenstance? Likely not.

Since there’s enough “tape” out there telling us that the economy’s tarter than a Sicilian blood orange, it’s a buyer’s market for luxury cars. But as tempting as all these factory-led discounts may seem, buying used online remains the better bet for those who really want to save ca$h.

Here are some illuminating examples of fluffy manufacturer incentives versus real online bargains.

MERCEDES-BENZ

According to MBUSA, $54,075 will put you behind the wheel of a base M.Y. ’09 E350 4-Matic.

If MB’s figure appears reasonable, consider then that Straightline Automotive Group of Dallas, TX is offering a M.Y. ’06 E350 4-Matic on eBay for a buy-it-now price of $19,770.

Just shy of 50K miles, the silver Benz is still under Stuttgart’s warranty umbah-rella.

CADILLAC

Shopping for an ’09 Cadillac SRX with a Northstar V8? Cadillac.com tells me that my Redtag price is $43,965.69 (down from the original $47,835). Nice discount.

Until we head back to eBay and see that Michigan based Gooley Cadillac offers a M.Y. ’08 SRX (V8) with 12K on the clock for a buy-it-now price of $34,990 (bidding’s up to $25,100 last time I checked). Again, original factory warranty applies.

LEXUS

Base MSRP on Lexus’ LS460 is a lofty $77,110 before we get out the door – Lexususa.com says.

“Redlinefun” – one of eBay’s “powersellers” – has a promising listing for a warrantied M.Y. ’08 LS460 that has only covered a scant 9,015 miles for a buy-it-now price of $54,700.

The best part of this and all eBay listings is that with sound credit, you too have as much chance of getting financed (if not at better rates) than you do at the dealer.

And yet nothing is ever fool proof. Scams, lemons, and bum deals can happen on eBay.

That said, scams, lemons, and bum deals can happen at the local dealer, too.

It seems that the real event is (for now at least) online. And what’s even better is that these incentives don’t appear to be disappearing anytime soon.

[Linked: eBay Motors | MBUSA | Cadillac.com | LexusUSA]