First of all, welcome to the XF forum. There are incredibly great people here and an archive of information that is priceless for any Crossfire owner.

Without seeing the car up close, I believe you could talk them down to 12K. For a car that is a Mercedes wrapped in a Chrysler skin.

Here are some points you can make with the dealer to get some leverage. Note that these items are not a huge concern but I am presenting them as you might to them:

The largest pieces of leverage you have is to prove that the car isn't scarce and in high demand. And, that this particular car has problems or reasons why it should be less.

1. The XF is a discontinued car that was the love child of two companies that don't care about it. Parts can be hard to find as well as dealer service. Mercedes parts and labor can be expensive.

2. Look under the hood. The odds are very high that a little oil is seeping from around the valve cover gaskets or more likely the breathers on the covers. This is normal for this Mercedes engine but many of us resealed them if the leakage went beyond seepage. The dealer doesn't know this. When you pop the hood, swipe your finger and show them the oil leaking out of the engine "seams". It knocks them off balance. It is very easy to fix so don't ask them to fix it because then a mechanic gets involved ;-). Tell them you can deal with it yourself but it will consume a weekend which is worth something to you.

3. Look at the Carfax and see how long it has been on the lot. Anything over 45 days and the dealer starts to worry about inventory "carry". If it is over 60 or even 90 days they are defenseless about being told that the car isn't special or priced correctly.

4. Refer to the other XFs within 50-100 miles that you are aware of that are priced as good or better. They are close enough to make them feel threatened. Ebay doesn't scare dealers.

5. These have depreciated a great deal, tell them that. The bottom is unclear (it may have passed, hard to say)

Finally, there are a ton of options to find one and if they can't make you feel great about the buy there are many others.

Question: Does the car "move" you? Does it make your heart stir when you think about how fun it would be? If so then you won't need a poll to tell you....it will make sense.


R