Mercedes-Benz R-Class Lease Questions

qkslvr

I couldn't get a good deal at that dealership, so I went to Sugarland. I do have stellar credit. They gave me $7K off the price, and also gave me a tax credit for leasing that saved me an additional $3000. I went through the internet guy on their website, tell him the "cargo net guy" from the Woodlands sent you. They were a lot more upfront than the other place you where you went.

Wayne

howard2dot0

Wayne,
Thanks for the info. I'll drive to Sugarland soon.
I am fairly new to leasing. I leased a $30,000 Nissan Quest for $410/month with no money down 3 years ago and I was looking to lease another minivan (Honda Odyssey) for $309/month with $3200 down until I saw this MB special. I couldn't believe I could lease a $55,000 car for just $90/month more! My question is: how often do these companies offer a lease deal like this on luxury cars? (There is even a $399/month lease on Volvo XC90.) If I pass this R350 deal up now, will I ever see something like this again in 2 or 3 years?

qkslvr

Howard,

we looked at the xc90 also, but we couldn't pass up this deal on the r350. This leasing deal is so attractive because the residual is high (70-73% depending on annual mileage ), discount is great ($5k-10K off MSRP), tax credit is available (pay 1% fee to eliminate 6.25% tax) and money factor is low (.00285). Our payments would have been $20 lower with 10k miles per year, but we went with 12k miles per year.

I did all my negotiations thru email, then went down to the dealership, had them find me the car I wanted, and signed the papers that day.

Whether things change in 2-3 years depends on the auto market in general. The R350 inventories have been high, hence the big discounts and lucrative lease deals.

fq1

qkslvr,

Please let me know how the tax credit works. I am in IL that also has the same unfair lease tax structure as TX and would like to know if that might apply here. What's the 1% fee on and how does it affect the saes tax?

Thanks!

howard2dot0

Wayne,
I just emailed Sugarland MB and told them that the "cargo net" guy from the Woodlands sent me.
Let me run something by you. If they can find a base R350 with no options at MSRP $48775, then should I offer them the following terms?
Sales Price: 48775-10000=38775
Sales Tax: 6.25%=2423
Cash Down Payment: 0
Lease Term: 27 months
Residual: 73%=35606
Money Factor: 0.00285
Miles/year: 10000
-------------------------------------
Monthly Payment: $371.13

Does this look right?

qkslvr

fq1,

From what I understand, the leasing companies in Tx are allowed to use any excess or unused trade-in credits against new car purchases. So they allow the dealers to apply the trade in against the leasing company's purchase. The dealer charges a 1% fee to give you the credit.

qkslvr

Howard,
my calculation on your offer would be $330+$90 tax=$420
you will still owe the acqusition fee of $795, 1st payment, 1% tax offset, plus registration. My down payment was $2340, $7k off sale price plus $3k tax credit. I doubt they will give you $10k off plus $2.5K for the tax reduction, but you can try.
A base car will be hard to find, you can check dealers' inventories online to see what they have. Almost every one I saw had at least $3k-5k in options.

The lowest payment I've seen on an r350 is about $450.

chint

I agree , it is hard to find a R350 with no options.My dealer searched all over the country to find my car with just sunroof package MSRP 50995.May be you can find white color with no options.

howard2dot0

I talked to MB Sugarland today and they said the same thing about the options. They made me a semi-offer of $500/month with $3000+ down for a silver one with a sunroof at MSRP of 52k. They said MB no longer offers the tax credit and they would have to ask for a MAJOR favor of MB to even see if they could get it.
I turned down the deal because although it is a good deal for a $50k car, I don't want to spend $500/month. If they offered me $420/month with $2500 at signing, I would have pulled the trigger.
Oh well, back to minivan shopping, I guess. I will wait to see if MB will have even better deal in coming years.

qkslvr

Howard,

sorry things didn't work out. I guess I caught them at the right time last month. The dealers had a $5k incentive back then from MB to move the R, don't know if that is still out there anymore. You might call them back near the end of the month, the 2007s will be out soon and they will need to make room for them.

a6_to_m35

kendi

I am thinking to buy a Brand New R350 with financing.

So far, the best offer I get,

MSRP $54740( Rear side airbag, sunroof, heated and entertainment package)
Selling price, $46362.
With 36month 2.9APR, 0 down payment, I will pay $1491 per month including all tax and fees.

I offer them $45K. But they turned down.

From this website, I saw a lot of people got $9K below MSRP last month, but I shopped several dealers,
this deal is so far the best I get.

I am thinking to wait till end of June, they might bring down the price further.
But the salesperson said, 2006 R350 will be sold out next month and the 2007 R class will come out in early Aug.
Is this true? Anyone knows that the R class is really near sold out. Any advice? Thanks.

qkslvr

I'm not sure about the current discounts, but if you search dealer inventories online, there seems to be plenty of R class inventories available. I think what the salesman is trying to say is that after July, new shipments will be 2007 models. If you are flexible in colors and options, you should find plenty of vehicles to choose from. Month of May sales results for the R class did not show a significant reduction in inventory.

Waiting until month end should not be a problem.

kendi

Thanks for your advice, may I know from where I can search dealer's inventories? Can I search it by myself?

cart126

I have found a R350 at MSRP of $55,095.00 with the following lease offer $1,519.00 out of pocket and $499.00 plus tax for 27 months. Lease includes 10K mileage per year or if I want to bump to 12K per year payments go to $519.00. How does this deal sound for the Ohio region?

mta

Cart - sounds pretty solid. Can you tell us what the Sale Price is on the vehicle?

Just to be sure...$1,519 is the amount of the check you'll write to the dealer?

qkslvr

kendi,

you can search inventories at most dealers' websites. Just look for new car "search" or "inventory".

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi cyberbro. Vehicles' residual values are always based upon a percentage of their full MSRPs. If you think it's bad that the discount that you negotiated is not being taken into account when your vehicle's lease-end purchase price is determined, think if you had paid a large down payment on your lease. Down payments on leases have absolutely no impact upon vehicles' end of term purchase prices either. This is one of the reasons why I always advise community members not to make down payments on leases. You probably will end up being better off just walking away from your lease rather than purchasing your vehicle at lease-end. I highly doubt that an R-Class will be worth anywhere near its residual value at the end of a lease.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hi maxxie. Mercedes-Benz's June lease program for the R-Class is basically the same as its May program was.

Car_man
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CarMan@Edmunds

Hey maxxie. Dealer invoice minus the $5,000 dealer cash is a good price for this model right now. I just ran some numbers and the lease payment that you were quoted looks right as well. Just make sure that you aren't making any sort of capitalized cost reduction and this is a good deal.

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CarMan@Edmunds

Hello mta. If I was in the market for an R-Class right now, I personally would shoot for dealer invoice minus the $5,000 dealer cash that Mercedes-Benz is currently providing on it. You can look up this vehicle's exact invoice price by visiting the following section of this site: Edmunds.com - New Vehicle Pricing. The .00285 money factor that you were quoted is Mercedes-Benz Credit's buy rate for the R-Class this month. You will not be able to get a lower factor than this.

You might be able to negotiate a similar discount on an '06 E500 Sedan, but you won't be able to get as large a discount on an E350. If you are already getting a great deal on the R-Class that you want there won't be any room for any sort of additional discount because you plan to get multiple vehicles. It wouldn't do a dealer any good to lose money lose money by providing below cost prices on multiple vehicles.

Car_man
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P.S. If you decide to trade your current vehicle in, make sure to have the dealer cut you a check for it rather than using the proceeds from your deal as a capitalized cost reduction for your lease.

CarMan@Edmunds

Hi howard2dot0. You never mentioned the selling price or MSRP of the vehicle that you are interested in leasing. These are important numbers for you as a consumer to know for two reasons. First, the selling prices of leased vehicles can be negotiated, just as if you were paying cash for them. Without knowing this model's selling price in relation to its MSRP you don't know how much of a discount you are getting on it. The second reason is that one needs the selling price and MSRP, including the destination charge, of a vehicle to calculate its lease payment. I would be more than happy to give you my opinion of this deal if you let me know what these numbers are.

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r350

I am getting the following lease deal in New Jersey under MVP (employee discount) program
R350
MSRP: 59889
Term: 27 months
Miles: 12k
$458/month and $1664 drive-off.
Is this the best deal considering the MVP and 5000 off provided by MB?

qkslvr

r350,

that's a smoking hot deal!

fq1

Please answer the following questions because I think you might be able to do better with MVP?

What Money Factor are they using?
Does the payment include taxes?
What are they using as the residual?

r350

This payment includes taxes.

Most of the dealers are not willing to give more details as soon as I mention MVP :mad:

Only one dealer gave me details on a R500, but his quote turned out to be lot higher than any other dealer. They all say that the dealer is not making any money on a MVP deal (which I know cannot be true), that they are quoting what MB has asked them to quote. But, I got different MVP quotes from different dealers some as high as 535/month for the above car. Is there anyway to coax them to give me more details like MF, residual etc.

Thanks

fq1

I don't know if there might be a way to coax them into showing you the nos. I probably just got a really honest salesperson who showed me the the official MB handout. The MF for MVP this month is .00235 and the residual for the 350 for 27 mo and 12k miles is 72%. The MVP price is coded on the car's invoice which the dealer is obligated to show you. My understanding is that there is not much room to negotiate beyond that. With all those nos. you should be able to compute your payment. Pls let us know how you do or if you are able to uncover any more details on the MVP.

howard2dot0

carman,
thanks for your help. i decided not to get a r350 for now.
maybe in about 3 years...

bisedogg

What is MVP and how can one take advantage of it? Thanks.

vpatla

How much should I pay for an R 350 with premium package, rearseat entertainment, heated seats, bluetooth, and ipod integration? I live in NJ (ny metro area). I would like an OTD price I can expect to pay? I am planning to buy in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks a lot in advance.

mbmaster

Car_guy says you can go to edmunds and the invoice is the same as at the dealers, it isn't. What they don't have is the regional advertising cost that are added to every car of $500.00. So always add $500.00 and then you'll get it right.

mah4546

Picking up an R350 on Friday. I'm going to pay $527 a month for 27 months for a black/beige with Premium Package, Parktronic, Sat radio, 18" wheels. I think it is a great deal, but anyone done better?

I wish I could get the comfort package, but this is the best combination of features they had on the lot in a colour I like. COMAND and the panorama sunroof were my must-haves. Still annoyed memory seats are not standard, though.

I was going to trade in my '02 G500 for an R500, but the lease deal, and settling for the R350, means I can afford to keep both.

mta

Mah - sounds like a very good deal, but could you tell us what you're paying out of pocket? Is there a Cap reduction or just first payment, taxes, etc.?

(I felt the same way on the memory seats)

dorismom

Is it too risky to wait until then to get the lease deal available now? Does anyone know if it's possible to negotiate with the dealer early but start the lease a few weeks later? Thanks in advance.

carnaught

is offering a new R350 for a 27 mos. lease 10000 mi. per year, for a one payment price of just under $12,700. I'm not sure about the mrsp but the car is loaded and even has Nav.and power tailgate (is this standard?).

a6_to_m35

After much agonizing on which vehicle would be right for the wife and 2 little kids, I finally bought the "R".

I'm in Northern NJ--and went to all the local dealers to check inventory. I found a loaded car that I was ready to buy--but the manager was not interested in matching my best price that I was able to get at other dealerships. I was ready to buy! and he wouldn't match other dealers!

It just shows that you must be ready to shop around because it can really pay off...

I ended up buying the car at the busiest dealership in Northern NJ. They wanted to sell a car--and I wanted to buy one.

Anyone who is ready to buy must be armed with pricing knowledge. Most Dealers are ready to sell cars in inventory for invoice minus $5k. THAT IS YOUR STARTING POINT--AND YOU CAN STILL DO BETTER.

I bought a fully loaded vehicle for $8k under invoice. Anyone should be able to buy at $7 under invoice. If you cannot, then email me and I will give you a referral.

A not-so-loaded R350 can lease in the mid-$400 range with MB finance. Nobody should pay a penny more than AT LEAST $10k off MSRP

I've had the car for a week and its better than any SUV you can think of. It has all the room in the world. They could have installed power fold-down rear seats on this vehicle--but other than that, there is not much to complain about.

I installed a Motorola Bluetooth setup in the car and it works perfectly. It cost $350 installed--as opposed to the almost $1500 MB built-in solution--plus I take it with me when the lease ends.

fq1

Could you please provide details of your lease: term, miles/year, monthly payment (with or without tax), any down payment and the MSRP of the vehicle. Also, did you lease under the June program or the July program?

Thanks for any help!

kendi

Hi A6, I live in Northern NJ as well. So for, the best deal I got is 5K below invoice. Your deal is great. If I can get your deal, I definitely will go for it. May I know which dealer you got your car? and how to contact you directly?

a6_to_m35

My email is now public...feel free to contact me...

desgnconcpts

Dear Car_Man,

Can you post the July rate information -- have incentives ($5,000 cash to dealer) increased over June?

MF -- can you post July rate
Residuals -- what are the incented plans (27 mos?) (36 mos?)
for 12,000 mi and 15,000 mi per year.

Thank you in advance.
Kind Regards,
Desgnconcpts

need2lease1car

Car_Man:

Current lease expiring (MB C240 4Matic Wagon) and thinking of leasing the R350. Went down to my current dealer, and this is the offer that was given to us. Question, is it a good deal?

MSRP/Invoice: $55,555/$47,800 (Premium & Heating Pack incl)
Residual Value: 73%
Money Factor: 0.00285
Down Payment: $2,500
Lease Term/Mileage: 27 mos/12K
Monthly payment: $429

Deal or No Deal? Also, is MB the only manufacturer with disposition fee? Can that be waived if you are a returning/loyal customer? BTW, how does this loyal customer thing works at MB, sort of confusing of which class you can go from current to future. R class is not a part of C class, etc.

Thanks in advance.

desgnconcpts

Dear Car_Man,

Can you post the info (July lease info) for the R350? See message #143 -- is the cash-to-dealer still $5,000?

Thank You!

greensha

I either want to lease or buy a mercedes r350 (was hoping to do it prior to Saturday when the sales tax increase goes into effect in NJ). I am in central NJ, will travel. Many on here seem to be getting much better deals than I have found locally, can anyone help with referals?

need2lease1car and a6 to m35 (I couldn't seem to find your e mail address) in particular.
Also if I don't care about buying the leased car at the end of the lease then I shouldn't worry about residuals right - all I care about is the upfront payment and monthly payment.
And for a car purchase a6 to m35 you mentioned that the price could be up to 10k below invoice, NOT MSRP - correct?

roger25

I have a new R350 and love it. I was thinking about getting the Dealer installed MB Bluetooth phone system. But your installation sounds more affordable. Can you shed anylight on exactly what Motorla Bluetooth system you had installed and and where it can be purchased and does your system use the 350's dial pad or do you use the cell phones dial pad? Any help or information is appreciated.

a6_to_m35

I paid 8k off INVOICE. 7k is more realistic...

a6_to_m35

I installed the Motorola bluetooth car kit. it is the IHF1000 and it works nicely--but it IS NOT integrated into the command system....

fq1

Greensha: What is the sales tax being increased to in NJ? Are they also changing how sales tax is computed on auto leases or are they only changing the percentage rate?

Thanks.

greensha

sales tax goes from 6 to 7% will affect outright purchases and leases. My dealer was also talking about an increase in the luxury tax by 0.4% but I thought that wouldn't go into effect until October - he said Saturday

maxxie

Have been putting this off for a month. Now unexpected situations forced me to close a deal. I am now getting the following from my dealer, still same $5000 off invoice deal but now dealer is throwing in a little bit more:

1st car:

Black + Black, Premium package + power lift gate + trim package + heated front seats + 18" wheels

MSRP $58,205 Invoice (forgot) Priced given $49,xxx

12k/year $2614.49 due at signing $526/mo for 27 months

2nd car:

Black + Black, Premium package + trim package, + heated front AND REAR seats + wood steering wheel + Airmatic suspension + 18" wheels

MSRP $60860 Invoice (forgot) Price given $50749

12k per year $546/mo x 27 $28xx at signing.

Can anyone please tell me if the airmatic is really good?

Hoping to get the car before next week.

glipper

I am looking to purchase an R350 in the next week. The MSRP for what I want is $61k with an invoice of $57k

What should I expect to be paying for a down payment and a month for the 27 month deal they are running.

Please help.