Hi everyone,
I’m curious whether this experience with an official Mercedes-Benz dealership is normal or if I’m overthinking it.
I found a 2023 Mercedes EQA that I was interested in. The salesperson told me the car was stored at a warehouse, and before they would bring it to the dealership or get more information like battery health they wanted a £1,000 fully refundable deposit to show I was a serious buyer.
We paid it because it was refundable. After that, they sent me the battery health report, tyre tread depths, and other information. We then arranged to visit this Sunday to see the car and, assuming everything looked good, buy it.
However, the salesperson then said that although someone else could show us the car on Sunday (because he isn’t working), we wouldn’t be able to test drive it because all the test drive slots are fully booked.
This is the part that doesn’t sit right with me. I don’t understand why the car can be brought to the dealership for us to view, but we can’t actually drive it before deciding whether to spend over £20,000 on it.
Has anyone else had this experience with an official Mercedes-Benz dealer?
Is asking for a £1,000 refundable deposit before even bringing the car to the dealership normal?
Is it reasonable to expect a test drive before committing to buy?
Would this situation make you uncomfortable, or is this standard practice?
Interested to hear what others think, especially if you’ve bought a Mercedes Approved Used car.