A-class 180, options?

[heidtb]

Just make sure the SE does not want to push u to get the ready indented stock unless it's at some major discount.

Lesson learnt from me is get the car u want in the add on u want. As my experience with the SE is they only know default and most buyers just only want default. Imagine not 1 but 2 SE stopped me from trying to order out of the ready indent stock.

[oceanicmanta]

From what I am told, all A class models new stock coming in towards end Mar earliest ... There's no ready stock.

[ek7]

what i understood today if you order indent stock which arrive after july you will be charged the CEVS $5k
not sure if you had signed earlier whats the effect

[Tykl]

I stand corrected but I Don't think you Will be able to enjoy the price listed in C&C price list of you customize indent.

[sng28]

Haha no problem we do the pm-ing then

can you pm the pics too?

 

Im keen to learn more before I make my decision is yours a A180 style + amg line?

[sng28]

Hey bros, i'll be getting my new Merc A180 style this weekend, just before paying up, would like some ideas on what option(s) is good to have on A-class?

hello, may I know if your SE is good? what have you decided on? I'm still hesitant and my SE wasn't help, so I'm not rushing to change since I still have some time

[blackmercs]

can you pm the pics too?

Im keen to learn more before I make my decision is yours a A180 style + amg line?

PM SE pics?? I dont own a mercs now coz i m bor lui lang.

[heidtb]

The price to upgrade from a180 style to amg line will cost u almost the same price as a200 style.

A180 is the lowest tier of merc so SE prob can't be bothered also. They only want bigger fish and it's not helped when most ppl who buy a merc all go in with a cheque book and hardest decision to make is the colour.

[sng28]

what i understood today if you order indent stock which arrive after july you will be charged the CEVS $5k

not sure if you had signed earlier whats the effect

what is CEVS $5k?

[sng28]

PM SE pics?? I dont own a mercs now coz i m bor lui lang.

ahhaha sorry I might have misread your reply its oke I also bo lui lang!

[sng28]

The price to upgrade from a180 style to amg line will cost u almost the same price as a200 style.

A180 is the lowest tier of merc so SE prob can't be bothered also. They only want bigger fish and it's not helped when most ppl who buy a merc all go in with a cheque book and hardest decision to make is the colour.

Totally agree....the SE cannot be bothered with ppl enquiring abt A class....

[sng28]

I just committed to a A180 Style with the black leather & white fabric seats. 

 

Is the brown stain bcos the fabric has not completely dried ?  I am thinking of using those 3M fabric protection spray to prevent stains. Good to hear how others do it too.

 

The reverse camera (along with several other accessories & service credits) was offered as "free gifts" if I took up their car loan ($60k, 2.28%, 3yrs, 78% rule).

 

The price difference between Style & Urban was $9k.

 

Was disappointed the Style does not come with LED lights (was offered $3k to upgrade). They have a A4 list showing the price of each type of optional upgrades ... as mentioned above, pretty steep.

you mean the seats is a mixture of leather and fabric?

I last heard min loan is 50% and min tenure is 5 years...have they revised it?  would you know if there's any penalty for not taking a loan...

[sunroof180]

you mean the seats is a mixture of leather and fabric?

I last heard min loan is 50% and min tenure is 5 years...have they revised it?  would you know if there's any penalty for not taking a loan...

I believe the fabric + leather only applies to the AMG line. was told by multiple SEs that the fabric seat is actually much better. I agree to a certain extend after driving for 1 month, but obviously it gets dirty after awhile.

 

minimum loan is 50%, minimum tenure is 3yrs. you wont get some freebies if you don't take the loan, eg. reverse camera, financing discount, etc. and if you add the cost of those in, its more worth it to take the loan even after accounting for interest payment.

 

That said, the reverse camera that comes with the financing package is a local fitted one, that is really lousy. doesn't come with the parking assist lines

[oceanicmanta]

I believe the fabric + leather only applies to the AMG line. was told by multiple SEs that the fabric seat is actually much better. I agree to a certain extend after driving for 1 month, but obviously it gets dirty after awhile.

 

minimum loan is 50%, minimum tenure is 3yrs. you wont get some freebies if you don't take the loan, eg. reverse camera, financing discount, etc. and if you add the cost of those in, its more worth it to take the loan even after accounting for interest payment.

 

That said, the reverse camera that comes with the financing package is a local fitted one, that is really lousy. doesn't come with the parking assist lines

 

The A180 Style is also fabric + man-made leather (with 2 choices of colour scheme).

Default loan is 50% & 5years but was eventually offered 50% & 3years.

The freebies tagged to loan include $3k service credit, Huber Optik sun film, Merc floormats, Reverse Cam, 6x dents repair & some other stuff. All in valued at about $6k

I intend to pay off loan as soon as I am allowed - will incur the penalty under the 78% rule (which my SE explained). Interest Cost & Penalty is less than $1k if I stop after 3 months.

 

To Sng28 - CEVS refers to the carbon emission rebate which will drop by $5k across the board effective 1Jul15. This means the purchase price will increase by $5k (as the rebate is now lower, you pay more), but car's paper value at the end of COE will be higher by $5k.

[denwee]

Re: the loan part

I think can negotiate.

I was told it is 50% 5 yrs. I say dont want, they reduce to 50% 3 yrs.

Sign the dotted line but keep bugging SE.

Eventually got approval for 40k 3 yrs .. all freebies in tact

But please dont quote me cos SE fight very hard to get the approval .. maybe aso due to year end book closing.

[oceanicmanta]

For down payment, you can charge up to $10.7k to credit cards.

I think best combination is to use AMEX Cashback card for $5k (saving $250) then SCB Manhattan card for the remainder $5.7k (saving $171 assuming you have not reached the card's rebate cap)

Total savings of $421.

[oceanicmanta]

Prices for A180 Style increased by $4k, from $137k to $141k

[oceanicmanta]

I placed my order before the new CEV rebate was announced. I have yet to hear from my SE what will happen if the stock only arrives in Jul15 when the new CEVs rebate takes effect. Will C&C keep to the agreed price or will they ask me to top-up ? What do you think ?

 

As an update, C&C said that if my car could only be registered after 30Jun15, C&C will foot $2k out of the $5k CEVS rebate reduction. The $2k is reflected in an increase in the trade-in value of my existing car. So I would have to fork out $3k more if that happens. I think that's a fair outcome.

 

C&C is still working to get the car registered by 3rd week of Jun.

 

The listed price of the A180 Style is now $149.8k (up $13k due to COE increase & $5k CEVS rebate) as stocks are only coming in Jul15. COE rebate is set at $51k ($4k lower).

 

I was told there are still a few CLA available (limited colours) in Jun15 stock if anyone is interested to avoid the new CEVS rebate.

[zigg]

Hi oceanicmanta, have ur COE been successfully bidded already? Mercedes's COE bidding is 6 bids not guaranteed ya? Just curious as I have also ordered an A180 style which is estimated to be delivered in Jul/Aug, what will happen if the COE continue to go up?

I saw someone mentioned the decrease in CEV rebate will result in the higher paper (PARF) at the end of the day as CEV is rebate from the ARF. So $5k decrease, after 10yrs u get back $2.5k more?

Am a bit disappointed with Mercedes's decision to use halogen headlight and hidden exhaust pipe for the style line :/

So tempted to upgrade to urban but read many reviews about the poor ride quality.(poorest in class)

The twin exhaust is purely aesthetic and does not affect the performance at all as both have 0-100 in 9.1s? Does it sound different?

For the style line comfort suspension, is it noticeably higher? I didn't really pay attention to the height of style vs urban when test driving.

Any advice is welcome thanks!

[oceanicmanta]

hi zigg

No, I have not gotten my COE yet. C&C has not submitted bid for my order yet bcos the stock is only coming in mid-Jun/Jul15. I think C&C wld start bidding around 2 months prior to delivery date, so probably bid from the 2nd round in Apr15. According to SE, at the last Mar bidding, C&C had secured COEs for all their car orders with Apr delivery, which means they are working on May/Jun delivery at next bid.

 

You are correct about the revised lower CEVS rebate. (Still, I prefer to pay lower total cost upfront (ie higher CEVs rebate) instead of receiving more PARF value 10yrs later)

 

I didnt upgrade to Urban purely for cost reason - $9k could pay for a few holidays. I dint test drive Urban but probably wont be able tell the difference in the ride anyways. Yah, halogen lights are a big big let down but have accepted it.

 

C&C dont employ the same bidding arrangements with 6 or 4 non-G or G COE packages. Theirs is a best effort basis and C&C is confident of securing COE for its car orders (bcos of the big profit margin estimated at around $35k for A180) unless COE sky-rocket through the roof. My SE said in the last round of bidding, only 1 out of 7 of his orders did not get COE despite the rise and another COE was secured using 'Open' category. C&C do not ask clients to 'top up' too as is common with other brands. So if COE rises, C&C just make less profit. I did have similar concerns but after checking with SE, I trust C&C being a reputable firm will act professionally. Time will tell.

 

I think not having G or non-G packages within C&C benefits clients, as they would view all orders equally (rather than trying to secure G-packages first).

 

Do have a chat with your SE to hear his explanations.

 

I estimate it wld take 2 rounds to clear the 'genuine' back-log in CatA & believe a large proportion of unsuccessful CatA bids in the last 2 rounds are from other dealers' orders with lower profit margin & not many would top-up the difference. At current car prices, new orders will be much fewer compared to around CNY. So I expect COE to continue to rise (at slower rate) next 2 rounds, then level off to a point which I think(hope) would still be within C&C's reach to secure COE while maintaining a decent profit margin.

 

Care to share details of your purchase order (eg loan amount & tenor, Service credits, freebies, overtrade, rebate level etc) ?

[heidtb]

The style line is not obviously higher than the urban if on 17". The moment swap to 18" looks like a halfway to gla as the ride becomes rather high for some reason

[zigg]

Thanks for the replies!

Good to know the height not much diff, I'm planning to keep the stock 17" rims, prefer it than the 18" urban rims.

I find the xenon headlamp of the A class is not as nice as some other maker's xenon light. The back led taillight is very nice.

Not many post pics of A class here :/

[oceanicmanta]

just saw from C&C website that the price of A180 Style has dropped by $5k to $144.8k, from 2 weeks ago

[zigg]

Gov just announced increase of COE quota, looks like prices gonna drop

[MGA180S]

Hi, anyone just collected the A180 style. Is the speedometer clusters background in black or white? Can share some pics of the front halogens and rear lights switched on for the style model? What is the feedbacks on the ride so far? Forum here seems relatively quiet... Thanks...