I think I just found out that one the dealerships I use for parts charges more than MSRP for parts. They call it 'retail', instead of 'list'. What's with that?

Does anyone know a way I can find out the normal MSRP of parts? (parts that are normal dealer only type parts)

All I really want is a fair shake. I sort of hate to have to price check two dealerships before pulling the trigger on a parts purchase.

What is your experience?

Each dealer sets his own prices. There is no "MSRP".

If you have the part number, I can find out the dealer cost........which is constant among all of them. A typical markup is 75-90% over dealer cost which explains why the parts cost so much at a dealer.

Not entirely true. I own an auto parts store, and there are many price lists. To make it simple, there is cost, wholesale, retail, and list.

Cost is what they pay.
Wholesale is garage pricing (usually 20-30% off retail).
Retail is walk-in or good customer type.
List is what you'd pay if they installed it (some dealers sell to walk-in at this level).

Wholesale gross profit would be around 30%.
Retail gross profit would be around 50%.
List gross profit would be around 70%.

If you can get wholesale pricing, MB dealer pricing is very reasonable. If you walk-in to buy a part, you'll pay a little higher. If you take your car in for service, they'll charge you labor and list because they have to deal with the liabilities of screwing it up or the part being defective. The price sheets they use are set by the manufacturer, but they dealer can tweak a price up or down depending upon their local market.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

Sorry, I meant to say typical retail pricing at the M/B dealer is 75-90% above dealer cost.

I agree, wholesale at the dealer has a markup of about 40-50% above cost.

MSRP is Manufacturer's SUGGESTED Retail Price which is the same as retail price usually. Nobody sets prices, that's illegal, but they can suggest what price things sell for. Typically markup on parts is 40%. Our dealer sells them for over MSRP, usually by 10%, then knocks 10% off for MBCA members so we get to pay full retail while the rest of the world pays 110% of retail...

But some dealers give as much as 25% off MSRP...that's pretty good.

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

I can be more specific....

It was an oil filter, I was charged $24.xx.

I thought that was 'a little high', so I checked my last invoice (10 months ago) from another dealer.

The other dealer showed a list price of $14.70, and discounted the filter to $13.00

So.... No MSRP? Really? Maybe a MB parts guy will chime in.

I worked in the automotive aftermarket over 15 years, so I think I have 'a clue'.

Charging more than MSRP isn't a really good idea, in my opinion.

Part number 1.... 606-180-00-09-67 paid $24.80
Part number 2.... 606-180-00-09 paid $13.00

Yes, I realize that the part number structure on one of these is probably wrong, but I'm reading right from the invoices, and this is all the numbers that there is. They were for genuine MB oil filters, in a sealed box.

The list price for PN 606-180-00-09-67 is $14.00. I can buy it for $10.50. Same for PN 606-180-00-09. Maybe they just made a mistake...have you asked them to explain it?

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz

Yup... they explained it. The service manager said that they charge above MSRP for some parts. I would guess it's most parts.

I worked it out with the parts guy before I saw the service manager (that's all that was there on a Saturday.) The parts guy basically said they charge more than list. He was pretty laid back. He offered to match the price on my old invoice. Which I accepted. He said to bring the competitors invoice in next time when I buy parts.

The whole thing makes my queasy. Since when is charging above MSRP the norm.

This is a dealership that used to special order parts without taking a deposit.

My trust in this dealership has sunk.

The price list Mercedes puts out has three prices, MSRP, wholesale and dealer cost. Typically wholesale is 20% less than MSRP and dealer cost is 25 to 30% less than wholesale. Some dealers sell at MSRP. A few like Caliber Motors, Park Place and Duvall sell at wholesale or less and unfortunately many of them sell at MSRP plus.

Len

They're basically telling you they don't want your business...they wouldn't have to tell me that twice...I'd be shopping elsewhere. There are several good dealers who will sell mail order at prices that are far below MSRP, why in the world would you go back to these jokers?

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Marty D.

2013 C300 4Matic
1984 BMW 733i
2013 Lincoln MKz