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Mercedes-Benz E-Class Lease Questions

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Comments

  • jobiejobie Member Posts: 47
    After about a year I've had my full of driving an SUV - while it's great when you actually need the space and ability - which is about 10% of time, I'm alone in it on dry pavement the other 90%. For this reason I'm considering terminating my lease early by buying it out and either trading it or selling it for an E350 or A6. I called the bank for the buyout value - but the woman wasn't able to explain how the value is determined. I'm sure it's a function of the residual and remaining payments, but I'm wondering exactly it's calculated. I'm not an attorney, so the lease language is anything but clear. Does anyone have experience in this? Thanks in advance.
  • pwasdpwasd Member Posts: 2
    Is this a good deal?

    (Los Angeles, California area dealer)
    2006 E350 Sedan
    Iridium Silver with Charcoal Leather Interior
    Premium Package with Panorama Sunroof
    Wood/Leather Steering Wheel

    MSRP: $57065
    SELLING PRICE: $49796.77
    39 Months
    10K miles per year
    $4294 Total Driveoff
    $549 + Tax = $572 Including Tax
    .00235 Money Factor
    $34,809 Residual for 10K miles
  • benzlover1benzlover1 Member Posts: 5
    Hello everyone!

    I am new to the forum and am seeking advice on a lease. I am looking for a Mercedes E350 or E500. I am in the L.A. area and here is the best deal I have received for an E350 from a dealer so far:

    E350
    MSRP: $53,575
    Total money down $5,500 incl. tax
    Monthly payment: $650 plus tax
    12,000 miles per year, 39 month lease

    Is this a good deal? How do I best negotiate with the dealer (what arguments do I use)?
  • pwasdpwasd Member Posts: 2
    I'm not a lease expert at all, but I did just finished negotiating/researching 6-8 different dealerships in LA, OC, and San Diego. Your deal doesn't sound good at all. The $5,500 is way too high, and so is the lease payment, esp. considering the MSRP. I just leased an E350 with a higher MSRP than yours (negotiated the selling price down to $49K), the total money down (including tags, tax, etc.) was $4294, and my monthly was $545 plus tax. Terms were the same as yours (mileage, length).

    I'm pretty sure my total down was too high but other dealers were trying to charge me $5300-5500, so I was fine with the $4295. I read afterwards on Edmunds.com leasing tips that you don't really want to put any down at all (see leasing tips page for reasons), but at least I've learned my lesson. You also want to know the residual, etc., so read the leasing tips page for all the reasons.

    What I did to get my final offer was ask different dealerships for prices via email and phone. Once I started getting pretty good quotes, then I asked other dealerships to match it. For ex., I got a pretty good lease deal in Beverly Hills (via email and the phone), then I emailed a San Diego dealership and asked if they could match it (because I live in San Diego).

    Hope that helps!
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Congrats on your new car, golfer71. It looks like you got a pretty good deal to me. Enjoy!

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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi jobie. I am sorry to say that it is usually fairly expensive to get out of leases well before their scheduled end dates. In order to do so, you need to purchase the vehicle that you are currently leasing from the bank that you are leasing it through. It often turns out that it costs more to do so than your vehicle is worth on the open market. Furthermore, many banks expect consumers who end their leases early to still make all, or at least the depreciation portion of their remaining lease payments. As you can see, this can get very expensive.

    You can determine approximately how much it will cost you to get out of your current lease by comparing its purchase price to its value on the open market at this time. You should place a call to the bank that you are leasing your vehicle through to find out its exact price. Once you know exactly how much money it is going to cost you to buy your leased vehicle you need to compare it to its current value on the open market. You can find out approximately what your vehicle is worth by looking up its Edmunds.com True Market Value in the Used Vehicle Pricing section of this site. You also may want to stop by the following discussion: "Real-World Trade-In Values". One of our most knowledgeable community members, Terry, frequents that discussion and he is often kind enough to give community members who give him an accurate description of their vehicles with his opinion on their value. Don't forget to check to see if you are still on the hook for your remaining lease payments. The difference between your leased vehicle's current value and how much it will cost you to buy it plus any remaining lease payments that you are obligated to pay will equal the cost of getting out of your lease right now. You may find that you are better off waiting until you are closer to the scheduled end of your lease to get another new vehicle.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi benzlover1. You don't need to argue with the dealer that you are working with, you just need to ask them what the selling price of the vehicle you are trying to lease is. If the price is reasonable, then have them calculate a lease payment on this car for you using Mercedes-Benz Finance's buy rate lease money factor of .00240. If the price is not attractive, negotiate a better one with them or comparison shop with another dealer or two. When negotiating the selling price of this car, make sure to take the fact that Mercedes is currently providing a $2,000 bonus on E350 Sedans that are leased through MBF. You may be able to get an idea of how much you should pay for this car by checking out the following discussion to see how much other community members have paid for similar cars lately: "Mercedes Benz E-Class: Prices Paid & Buying Experience".

    Car_man
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  • fishbone1fishbone1 Member Posts: 5
    Hi PWSAD,

    Looks like you got a pretty good deal on your E350 Lease. Could you tell me which dealership you leased the car from? BTW, the residual of $34,809 that you listed came out to be about 69% of the selling price of $49796.77. Is this right? I thought the 39 month residual for the 06 E350 is about 59 to 61% right now. Am I wrong?

    Does anyone know what the current money factor is if leased through MBZ? I think there is a $2000 dealer kickback right now. Is this correct?

    I'll be curious to see what others are getting for their leases in the Los Angeles area. Thanks ahead of time for sharing your info.
  • cpeterson3cpeterson3 Member Posts: 51
    Hello Carman and as always, thank-you in advance for your assistance.

    Open observation for all: are you also assuming the fire-sale on the E-Class is due to the impending 07 upgrades now being showcased at the NY Auto Show??

    My questions:

    1)Can you advise for both the E350 and E500 sedans, the most favorable lease terms? (months/miles)

    2)Can you provide MB's residuals and money factors to go along with those terms?

    3)I have done BMW's Euro Delv and 2 of the most critical and beneficial components are the usage of the US based residual and MF as well as basing the residual on the US MSRP. Can you tell me if this is the same with MB?

    I would go to the Euro Delv section but it appears to have few experts monitoring it do to low activity.

    Thank-you Carman and anyone else who contributes.
  • ca_manca_man Member Posts: 23
    Car_Man

    I understand there is $2000 trunk money on the E350 this month. Is this also true for the E320 CDI Sedan ?

    Also, could you please provide the lease rates for Mercedes E350 and E320 CDI sedans for April 2006 ?

    Thanks !
  • joeyzazajoeyzaza Member Posts: 2
    Is leasing a used E Class a feasible option? I would like to get an E-Class on a company lease but would like to hold the price down as low as possible. One option would be to lease an 02 (last year of the old model) or 03 (the "new" model). What do you think? I would look at the local MB dealership and get a certified car.
  • msc5msc5 Member Posts: 25
    Could you please provide the money factors and residuals for May in regards to the lease of an E 350 and also an E500 for 36 months at 12,000 miles and 15,000 miles. Are they still offering good rates in May for a 27 month lease as they were in April??? If they are, what are the rates for a 24 or 27 month lease??? Are they still offering the $2000 cash in May that they were giving in April??? If not, are there any new incentives??? Thanks so much.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    Hi Carman,

    Can you tell me the following:

    1. The current money factor and residual value percentage for a 36 month E350 lease (or 39 month if Mercedes is still offering 39 months at the 36 month rates).

    2. On the edmunds.com basic lease calculator, if you include an acquisition fee, it adds that to the amount being financed, so if you pay the payment it shows, you should not pay the acquisition fee up front - correct?

    3. The edmunds.com basic lease calculator uses a default rate of 15,000 miles driven per year. If you alter this in the calculator, how does the calculator determine the change in the payment amount?

    4. Finally; I've seen an advertised lease deal from Mercedes, which gives all of the parameters used by the edmunds.com basic lease calculator except money factor. Since the ad gives the monthly payment amount, I can figure out what money factor they must be using to get to the advertised payment. My question is, if I want to buy a car with different options than advertised, should I expect to be able to lease it with the same money factor and the same residual value percentage as Mercedes used in its advertised lease, just applied against the selling price of the car I want; or, is there some reason they would not agree to this (like, for example, they have a lot of cars in the advertised configuration and would have to special order mine).

    Thanks for your great help in this forum, it has been extremely useful to me!
  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    Hello.
    Could you please give me advise ?
    I'm a new person to the lease process and don't know all those tricks, but this is the deal I have for 2006 E350 4MATIC.

    Color : white
    Premium package with panoramic sunroof
    27 months lease, 10,000 miles a year
    payment - 657.00 a months including NY tax.
    Due at signing - first payment, bank fee and MV fee - total about $1,700.00

    Thank you for advise.
  • msc5msc5 Member Posts: 25
    Hi carman,
    I would really appreciate it if you could review post #115 above and reply as soon as possible. I need to go get a car by the end of May as my lease on my current car is up the first week of June. I do not want to go and negotiate without this data since the dealers in the area I live in are known to often increase the money factors to pad the deal. I have only avoided this in the past by knowing the money factor up front and refusing to accept the money factor they were offering. Thanks so much. You have always helped in all my past lease negotiations and saved me a bundle.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    And #116 too, thanks car_man!!
  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    Hi.
    I'm in the process to lease E350 4MATIC and spoke with my dealer yesterday and he told me, that they have some kind of incentive on 27 months lease and no on 36 months. This is strange, but to lease a car for 27 months cost at least $30 less than for 36.
  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    E350 4MATIC
    white, premium with Panorama sunroof
    MSRP - 56,825
    Selling price - $52,075
    total due at signing $1,845 ( first payment, bank fee, mv fee)
    $656.26 monthly payment including NY state tax.
    27 months, 10,000 miles a year.
    How is that ? Could I do any better ?
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    Not bad, aeggroup. By my calculations, you got a lease interest rate of 2.9%, which is pretty good, and you had no down payment (other than fees). I think you might have been able to negotiate the selling price down maybe another $750 to $1000 or so, and gotten the payment down by about $30 a month, in the absolute best case scenario. But I think you did better than almost anyone I've seen posting here!
  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    Thanks. BTW - you are totally correct, after I signed my deal I got a call from another dealer from NJ and he gave me the same deal, but payment $20 less, which is $636 a month. I refused it because this guy kept telling me there is no way I will get 656 a month deal for 2 weeks and gave me 20 less after saw my papers. I don't care about 20 less a month; I just want to be fair to the guy who did not give me any headache for $656. My whole conversation with him took about 20 minutes and I got fair service. I think some people deserve appreciation for good work.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    I agree with you 100%
  • turquoise_e1turquoise_e1 Member Posts: 18
    Does anyone know the current MF and residual for 12K/36 mon. in sounthern ca.? Thx.
  • beaver90beaver90 Member Posts: 3
    I have been following the deals on E350 and I finally closed the deal last week.

    This is what I got.

    Premimum w/ Siruis, Flynt Gray
    MSRP: $54,965
    Purchase price : $46,999
    Back Fee $795
    Drive off $6000 (including about $4000 cap reduction)
    436/month including Tax for 27 month, 15K/Y
    And $250 gas card, a key chain and a teddy bear for my daughter.

    I think I did OK. I was deciding between 525 and E350. Both are fine cars. But, with the current steep discounts available on E350, it was an easy decision.

    This is my third Mercedes. Hopefully I will not have any major quality issues in the next 27 months.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    I hate to tell you beaver90, and I hope I'm wrong, but I think you ended up being charged a very high rate of interest on the lease - putting all your data into the edmunds.com lease calculator shows that your money factor must have been roughly 0.002975, which equates to 7.14% interest. I've seen other people post on here 2.9% interest. Hopefully I'm wrong about this but that's what it looks like to me. Also, what were you charged for in the $6000 down payment? If $4000 is cap reduction, and assume $795 is the acquisition fee and about $700 is title, registration, etc., there's about $500 unaccounted for. I'm not trying to be obnoxious, just looking at your post and trying to sort through all this.
  • beaver90beaver90 Member Posts: 3
    lanebie:

    The money factor was 0.0024, which, I think, is the posted Mercedes money facor for E-Class for the month of May.

    The total drive off was $6000 which included the following

    1. $795- acquisitiong fee
    2. $436 - first payment including the sales tax
    3. $395 - sales tax (on the downpayment and the acquisition fee)
    4. $368 - registration
    5. $8.75 - California Tire Fee
    6. $3997 - cap cost reduction
    Total $6,000

    Thanks to all you guys who posted, I was able to get may car at $8000 off MSRP. This may not be the best price out there, but those of you who are shopping in So Cal, you are now armed with more information when shopping for E350.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    Thanks for the info on the drive off, that's helpful to see. I had not included the first month's payment; based on that, it makes sense. For me, I don't plan to make a down payment (cap cost reduction) but that's a matter of personal approach.

    Based on what you said, it looks like your purchase option was at 70% (38,476). Is that right? If it is, then I think I can finally confirm that I know how to do these calculations.

    At 0.0024 money factor, that's an interest rate of 5.76%, which is a bit high for 27 months, but probably is "on market" for what Mercedes quotes. I have seen several dealers offering 2.9% though, and some posters indicating the same. Based on that your payment would drop to $328 rather than $436, but it's probably illusory, because if you pushed that hard on the money factor you probably wouldn't have been able to do so well on the purchase price. All in all, I'd say not bad!
  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    Congrats on your new car.
    This deal looks good, the only thing I, personally, don't like is $4000 cap cost. I preffer as less as possible to put upfront ( in case the car is stolen you lose these money ). Other then this - just enjoy the car.
  • seeking3seeking3 Member Posts: 1
    Does anyone know if MB is offering the special leasing incentives (money factor) for used E320 or E500s? I figure if I purchase the extended warranty, it would actually work out and I wouldn't have to worry about every little scratch or door ding :)

    Any info would help.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    If you are still reading this message board, it would be great if you could answer two questions:

    1. What are the current residual and money factor for a Mercedes E350 for a 36 (or 39) month lease, 12K miles?

    2. Are you aware of people doing better than the published Mercedes money factors? It seems like that happened to several posters above but I'm not sure that those are right.

    Thanks car_man!
  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    You always can get better deal from the dealer. Don't pay attention what MB webside says. The only usefull information is payback from MB to the dealer. THis payback reduses your purchase price and lease payment.
    Good luck.
    I leased mine for 27 months E350 4MATIC premiuim with panoroof $656 a month no down, but bank fee ($795).
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi seeking3. Mercedes-Benz is currently providing special lease money factors plus $2,000 Mercedes-Benz Credit bonus cash on the 2006 E350 Sedan and no lease support but $5,000 dealer cash on the E500 Sedan. You definitely should not purchase an extended warranty for either of these cars if you choose to lease them. Mercedes' original factory warranty will most likely cover any repairs that you need to make during your lease. Besides, an extended warranty wouldn't cover scratches and door dings anyhow.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Here you go, lanewbie. If you were to lease a 2006 Mercedes-Benz E350 Sedan through Mercedes-Benz Credit right now for 39 months (it is more attractive than the 36 month term) with 12,000 miles per year, its buy rate lease money factor and residual value should be .00230 and 59%, respectively. This factor assumes that you pay a security deposit and acquisition fee and that you qualify for Mercedes-Benz Credit's top credit tier. It is impossible to get a lower money factor than Mercedes-Benz Credit's published buy rates unless they are leasing through an independent bank. I doubt that any independent banks have a lease program than the one that Mercedes has on this car right now. When negotiating your capitalized cost for this car, keep in mind that Mercedes is providing a $2,000 bonus for leases of it through Mercedes-Benz Credit.

    Car_man
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  • aeggroupaeggroup Member Posts: 133
    Hi Car_man.

    So, please explaine to me, because I still don;t understand the way you telling about lease process. Before I got my car I saw program on MB website
    about $2900 gap cost
    Aq. fee $800
    Total $4,200 due at singing and payment about $580 a month plus tax.

    I gor mine without any GAp Cost for 650 including tax.
    total due at signing was $1,800 including 1st payment and MV fees. How do they do this and could I get even better deal ?
    Thanks.
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    Thanks car_man. That's very helpful. I was offered a 2006 at $2000 under invoice, so that must be due to the $2000 bonus. Can you tell me whether the $2000 bonus will apply to the 2007s? If not, should I expect to use the invoice amount as the capitalized cost, or would I have to go more than that?

    Thanks!
  • whichluxurycarwhichluxurycar Member Posts: 54
    I'm considering the lease of a 2006 E320 CDI in Texas. Can anyone tell me what to expect in terms of residual (12k for 39 mos), lease factor, cash or other incentives on sales price? Thanks.
  • qkslvrqkslvr Member Posts: 34
    expect 60-62% residual, .00230 money factor for 39 months for tier 1 credit. You should be able to get at least $5k off of msrp, maybe better. The e350s have been discounting $7500-9000 off msrp, just not sure on the diesels.

    Also see if the local dealer will work out any tax credit for you. The Texas dealers sometimes have trade in credits from MB that allows them to offset the sales tax for a 1% fee. Since TX charges tax on the full purchase price, the tax credit can save you $3K or more.
  • venturacarguyventuracarguy Member Posts: 4
    I have negotiated a great deal on a new E350 wagon ($10,200 off of MSRP) at my local Souther California dealership. The dealer quoted me a payment of $620 per month on a 36-month lease. He gave me a residual of 52% and a money factor of .00219, and 12000 miles. This would include a $932 cap cost reduction. How can I find a leasing company that will give me a better residual of say 60-62%? I would actually prefer a 24 to 27-month lease at only 7500 miles. What residual could I expect with that term?

    Thanks
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    The money factor is not bad, the best I saw was a May rate of .0023. Maybe 0.00219 is the June rate. car_man, can you confirm?

    As far as residual, it should be up around 59% for a 39 month lease at 12000 miles, or 57% for 7500 miles. If you dropped to a 27 month lease, the 7500 mile residual should be 72%.
  • venturacarguyventuracarguy Member Posts: 4
    I agree that the money factor is great, but the question is, where do I get a lessor that has the higher residual? Is it MB Credit?
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    Yes. Those numbers are straight from the Mercedes credit book.
  • bsedrishbsedrish Member Posts: 26
    Car_man,

    I have just begun my research on buying a car and found your posts quite helpful. Two questions:

    1. Where can you find the manufacturer's (in this case let's say MB, but also will want it for a few other car manufacturers) current specials (rebates, etc) and MF offerings for the month so I am prepared when I go in? Is there a posting somewhere that makes it easy to pull it off? Is it done monthly, so that if I walk into the dealer that month I know they have that MF and dealer discounts available to them to play ball with such that the only real decision on their part is how desperate they are to move the car which translates, for me, into how close I can get him/her to go to the invoice price (taking into account that with a dealer rebate this gives them more cushion)?

    2. Any suggestions on cars if this is what I am looking for:

    My wife and I have a big sedan, so looking for more of a sporty car (need a small back seat), possibly a convertible. With little to no money down I would like to stay under $700/month (it would be great to be in the 6s, but we'll see). Just don't know if I want to get the BMW (so common), and I do like the CLK (also the E-Class). However, I am not set on a convertible and if I can get a lot more of my buck on a hard top deal I would do it.

    3. Lastly, and really continuing on #2 above, what about A) buying a pre-owned (used), certified car from the dealership as long as the body has not changed? Does this make sense (rather lease and not finance) so I can get more bang for my buck?

    B) taking over someones lease on a car that may have only 24 months remaining (i like that so I can switch out sooner)? Any downside to doing that?

    Thanks a lot.
  • mrtrancemrtrance Member Posts: 190
    I just completed a lease deal this weekend in SoCal for the following:

    06 E350
    Premium Pkg w/ Metallic Paint
    MSRP: 54425
    Purchase Price: $46850
    39months/12K
    Residual: 59%
    Money Factor: 0.00230
    Total Drive off Cost: $2400(Bank fee, 1st month payment, DMV fees, $650 Cap cost reduction)
    Monthly: $587 (includes 7.75% tax)

    What do you guys think of this deal? Did I do pretty good?
  • lanewbielanewbie Member Posts: 25
    Yes, you made an excellent deal. Great purchase price, and "straight from the book" Mercedes credit residual and money factor. I believe someone on here posted doing better than the book, by a lot, but other than that I've seen no one who has done better than you.
  • bsedrishbsedrish Member Posts: 26
    sounds like a great deal. can you tell me what options you got on the car?

    thanks

    Have you heard that MB is trying to move these E350s? Did you hear anything on the CLK, hard-tops also?
  • mrtrancemrtrance Member Posts: 190
    Just the Premium Package and $700 for the Metallic Pewter color. Ya I knew that they were trying to move these cars was expecting at least a 2K under invoice price, but I managed to do pretty good. Don't know about the CLk hardtops.
  • myerslawmyerslaw Member Posts: 21
    venturacarguy,
    please post name of dealership. offers in my area of socal are NOTHING like those you were able to get! And I'm ready to go forward with leasing on an immediate basis.
  • myerslawmyerslaw Member Posts: 21
    MrTrance, I asked venturacarguy for the name of what was, I guess, the dealership where you leased your E350. Haven't heard back yet, and really want to contact that dealer (here in my area - Inland Empire - dealer is offering double the driveoff and 100+ more per month. I'd be happy to drive farther to get a deal so much better.
  • chunglauchunglau Member Posts: 48
    That's a great deal, Mr. Trance. Can you tell me which dealer? Thanks.

    C. Lau.
  • myerslawmyerslaw Member Posts: 21
    Please, please, please mrtrance, show your Patriotism and generous nature by posting the identity of your dealership!!!!! My own area's dealers are clearly unwilling to work from the same position as yours. JPM
  • bsedrishbsedrish Member Posts: 26
    Can someone pls tell me the difference b/n the E320 CDI and the E350?

    Thanks
This discussion has been closed.