Has anyone heard of this particular car discount?

[clh2]

I was at a Mercury dealer today, picking up DH's car. I talked to a salesperson for a few minutes, as we are starting to look at new cars, to replace our Villager, which has 135,000 miles on it.

In an ideal world, we would wait for Mercury to introduce the Mariner, which is comparable to Ford's Escape. This is anticipated in July.

Of course, from a trade-in perspective, the van is running just fine right now, however, we can't predict the car's future.

This sales person said, he can get us a great deal on a Mountaineer, and, the deal would be enhanced by a "model discontinuation" bonus. Their thought is they would prefer to have someone stay within the Mercury brand.

While I'm not sure I want something as big as the Mountaineer, I am curious if anyone else has heard of this type of discount!

Thanks much!

 

[mommytotwo]

I've never heard of that, but see what they are able to offer you. Have someone like a mechanic look at the vehicle first, cause it could be a catch for you to buy the car, you never know.

 

[Dan Murphy]

http://www.kbb.com/kb/ki.dll/kw.kc....Mountaineer&M24M8A12;M24M8&&Sport_Utility&&nc

 

[ToyStory Fan]

The Mountaineer is a fancier Explorer, so if the pricing works who cares what they call the discount. The Explorer is not going away, but the Mercury and Lincoln versions (Mountaineer and Aviator) are. It shouldn't be a concern, if the car is used/pre-owned I'd be a little more concerned.

You should also be able to get great financing on it as well. The one thing I would caution you on, if you are trading in is to run the numbers on your trade in and make sure you are getting a decent price for your old car....DON"T forget to factor in the sales tax savings you get on the trade versus selling on your own. The trade in is usually where dealerships make up the shortfall from the "metal"or front end part of the deal. Run a Kelley Blue Book on your Villager to estimate what you should get on a trade and remember to be fair in your assessment - dealers are entitled to a fair profit too.

 

[Dodie]

The Mountaineer *is* a Mercury, so I'm confused...

 

[ToyStory Fan]

Originally posted by Dodie
The Mountaineer *is* a Mercury, so I'm confused...

Ford has talked about shutting down the Mercury division for some time, but this doesn't impact the cars as much as most people fear...the Mercury vehicles are fully supported by an equivalent Ford counterpart that will remain. With the introduction of the Marauder last year this was Mercury's last ditch effort to float a car that will keep the brand alive, but it didn't, at least not in its original form. The concern seemed to me anyway, to be centered around the vehicle being a discontinued model...(which would happen every 4 years or so anyway with new generations of vehicles).

If it is disco'd then the fear would likely be around availability of parts and flexibility of service...hence my explanation that the Explorer (the Mountaineer's Ford counterpart) was still going to be around and therefore not cause me to be worried for availability of parts and/or servicing flexibility since they are, for the most part, the same vehicle.

Hope that clears things up.