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Mercedes-Benz E-Class Lease Questions

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Comments

  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Supply doesn't seem to be a problem here in Phoenix. One dealership has 8 E350 Bluetecs on the lot and another has 4, ranging from $56,156 - $60,xxx.

    We currently have a 2005 E320 that we owe $11k on but private sale according to KBB is around $15,300. We have it for sale on Autotrader right now and have a couple people who called and want to see it but I wonder if I could get the dealer to give me the same price we are asking privately, would definitely make it easier than dealing with selling it ourselves. I would apply the $4,300 "profit" toward multiple MSDs.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Couple of things if anyone could give some advice...

    First, should the Conquest incentive be mentioned up front or first negotiate the best price and then bring that up at the end? Or just go in and say "I'd like to pay $52,500 for the car minus $3,000 Conquest for a total of $49,500"?

    Second, should the fees and tags/title be rolled into the lease or is it better to pay them up front?
  • nyc_sethnyc_seth Member Posts: 7
    Just got word from my sales rep that (as of today) MBFS is offering a 6 month pull forward instead of the regular 4 month. Helps me get out of current benz and into new one while the 2012's are still around and have great incentives.

    Time to jump on a deal if you have less than 6 months left. Or in my case, still worth it with 9 months left rolling 3 months into new payment - I'll still be saving about $60/month and be in a new car.

    E350 4 matic, sport
    P1, Met Paint, AMG package, Lip, split seats
    12k/year, 33mo lease
    MSRP: $60,085
    Negotiated Price: $52,375
    Neg Equity ($2.235)
    COD: $900 (first month payment and DMV)
    Monthly $690

    Without neg equity, this car would be going off at $$610/month!
    Not bad...what do you think Car_man?

    Seth
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Does anyone know what price difference of doing 10k vs 12k vs 15k miles on the E350 Bluetec? I assume the price increase comes from a lower residual?
  • robertw477robertw477 Member Posts: 188
    I have seen some low prices advertised on this car with a 24 month lease. I have personally never owned a diesel car. Anyway the leases I see are low but they show a very low number of miles in the lease 7500. I dont know what the price is on a more normal 12K lease. One benefit of the 24 months is that maybe you dont need to replace any tires which are probably pricey. I
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Went to a few local dealerships today to look at a few E350 Bluetecs. None of them are exactly what we want (color combination wise or options) but we realize we need to compromises on some things as the inventory is pretty low.

    We only got into serious talks with one of the three dealerships on a $60,080 E350BT with P1, Parktronic & Lane Assist plus other misc. options). While at the dealership they offered us $55,000 plus $3,000 Conquest incentive for a total of $52,000 sale price (plus fees etc). We actually wanted $49,000...not on this specific vehicle, but based on a $57,000 car. Since they didn't have a $57k car, we still pushed for the same price. They said they couldn't and we left.

    10 minutes later they called and said the best they could do is $50,500. I countered at $50,000 plus maintenance and they said the manager had left for the day, that he didn't think they would do it but would ask tomorrow and follow up.

    I feel that would be a very good deal. The $50,500 is good too, but still more than we wanted to spend. I know it has more options but we don't really need those.

    Also, they offered us a fantastic deal on a $61,875 MSRP E350BT with P2, panorama roof & lane assist. They would do it for $51,000. We liked the interior and exterior colors but absolutely hate the panorama roof, so much so that it's a deal breaker. I've driven the GLK350 with the same roof and it kills here in Phoenix with the heat. You just feel it radiating down on you, that shade they have is useless, my forehead was sweaty the whole time I drove the GLK. Fantastic deal for anyone who would appreciate it though.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Sorry for all the questions, but one more...

    Does the residual on a vehicle change depending on the options? If a E350BT with P1 has a residual of 77%, should the residual on on with P1 + Parktronic + Lane assist + etc still be 77%?
  • dewarsandsodadewarsandsoda Member Posts: 207
    Hi hx_guy,
    The RV does not change based on options selected. It is solely dependent on car type, lease term (24 vs. 36, etc.), and miles per year. i.e., RV is fixed by MB financial.

    However, make sure that you know the base rate MF in advance of finalizing the deal as many unscrupulous dealers mark up the MF as an additional source of profit, preying on unsuspecting customers. As ghstudio and others (myself included) have evangilized, I would strongly encourage you to consider the 10 MSD's to reduce the MF as that should save ~$40-65/month, and you get the deposit back at the end of the lease.

    My wife adores her E350BT (P1, sport, parktronic, spoiler pkg, split folding seats, and deep tinted windows).

    Cheers!
  • socal59socal59 Member Posts: 82
    Hi car man, I need to get the residual and MF for a 2012 blue tech wagon. 24 months seem to be the best at this time. Also for 15k miles per year. Thanks so much. You save us all collectively hundreds of thousands (all car makes). Your the bomb :)
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    edited May 2012
    Ok, deal is done...we got what we wanted but also didn't yet. I won't go into the whole day with what happened to dealer #1 where we left and ended up at dealer #2 but what we got was...

    MSRP: $57,575 (E350BT with P1, Spoiler Appearance Pkg & Lunar Blue paint)
    Purchase price: $48,650
    Residual: $42,605 (74% residual with 15k/year. 10k would have been 77%)
    Money factor: .0025
    Out of pocket: $2455 (first month, registration, $250 doc fee, $795 acquisition fee)
    Payment: $480 + $45 tax per month

    About the Multiple Security Deposits, of course the salesman had no idea what that was. He asked finance, which said they hadn't done on in at least 10 years and they had to call MB Financial, who apparently said that the person in charge had left for the day (it was 6pm local time, 9pm eastern). We drew up the contract and they said we can go back tomorrow and redo it after they talk to MB Financial. I hope that is true and they don't try and pull something because they seemed pretty pissed with us.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Went back to the dealership and redid the contract with 10 Mulpitle Security Deposits (10 x $500) and the monthly payment is now $416 + $38 sales tax for a total of $454 per month. :)

    Thanks you everyone for your help!
  • sdosajsdosaj Member Posts: 2
    edited May 2012
    Hello Car Man and Everyone,

    I just picked up my 2012 E350 sport yesterday. I always read your forums to give me an idea of what to ask. So the least i could do is share my deal. I was debating over a 2012 528i and E350.

    E350 sport P1 package Palladium silver
    MSRP 55985
    33 Mo lease
    12K per year or 1k per mo
    All Maintenance Included
    Monthly 645 incl tax
    Drive off 0$
    All I paid was 645$ which was my first mo payment.

    I thought it was a good. Thanks for all your help guys!
  • kvincekkvincek Member Posts: 21
    Looks like a great deal .... Which state/dealership did you buy this from?
  • kvincekkvincek Member Posts: 21
    How many months did you lease it for?
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    24 month lease.
  • kapkanimdkapkanimd Member Posts: 136
    Hey can you explain how you got to your negotiated price, I saw you mentioned a $3k conquest cash, but I cannot find that listed anywhere. All I can find is a $2k loyalty cash.. Looking to do a deal soon. Thanks in advance.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Sure, here is an article on it: http://daveknowscars.com/2012/03/03/mercedes-benz-competitor-conquest-program-sa- ve-up-to-4000-on-new-mercedes-vehicles-open-to-just-about-every-competing-make-d- uring-march-2012/

    It's still valid for May, not sure if it will extend into June, it probably will as it's been going for a while but it has to end sometime so who knows.

    As for how we got the actual price...just sort of happened. We initially figured it should be able to get invoice minus the $3k conquest cash. We based the invoice price on a base E350 Bluetec + P1 and nothing else, which would be around $52k - $3k incentive for a total of $49k. The thing is, none of the dealerships had just a base + P1, so the MSRP was higher but we told them that we didn't care about the extras and still wanted the car for $49k. Had one dealership come down to $50,500 from $60,080 but it didn't work out with them, so the second dealer we went to, we asked for the same $9580 off an MSRP $57,575 car. They couldn't go that low, but met us at $48,650...a $8,925 discount.
  • steffenreichsteffenreich Member Posts: 2
    I currently have the 2010 E350 4Matic. I previously has the 2008 E350 4 Matic and i am looking to get the 2012 E350 4Matic. I have purchased both cars from same dealer in CT.

    The new build I want is the following:

    2012 E350 Sedan

    MSRP $50,490
    COLOR
    Exterior: Black $0
    Interior: Black MB-Tex $0
    Trim: Black Ash Wood Trim $0
    PACKAGES
    4MATIC Package $2,500
    Premium 1 Package Included with package
    Premium 2 Package $6,450
    Wheel Package $760
    Sport Styling Package $0
    OPTIONS
    Rear Spoiler $300
    Panorama sunroof $1,090

    BASE MSRP $50,490
    ADDITIONAL COSTS $11,100
    TRANSPORTATION CHARGE $875

    TOTAL PRICE $62,465

    So I am obviously looking for the best lease price with only the min. required down payment.

    I need 12k per year and open to lease term but want best monthly price with lease no longer than 36 months.

    Any guidance on what I should be asking for that is realistic would be appreciated. Also if they do give the price, can they change the residual to make payments higher? Is the residual a locked figure based on the car model?

    Thanks in advance.
  • robertw477robertw477 Member Posts: 188
    That is a great deal. By the way who cares if the dealer likes you. You negotiated a great deal IMHO. My local dealer told me that MSDs wont matter because interest rates are so low. Getting your payment to 416 is a great deal with that. That saves you like a $2340 for that 5K. That is a a great savings. I assume you got 36 months (15K a yr)

    Rob
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    edited June 2012
    Thanks for the comments, I feel really good about the deal too. The lease is for 24 months.

    As for the MSDs, it's true that if you are getting a promotional money factor, then you can't also do the MSDs but if it's the standard .0025 money factor, you can do them. Some dealers may not want to deal with it (though the process was very simple) because they are not familiar with it. Ask what your money factor is on the deal and if it's .0025, then press them to do the MSDs.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Do you have another car registered to you (or your wife if married) where you can use the Conquest Incentive? You would get $3,000 off the price from that. If not, then you should be able to get the Owner Loyalty which I think is $2,000 but I'm not certain.

    The invoice on the car you mentioned is around $58,500 with the dealer cost being $56,578. If you press them enough, you should be able to get the car for dealer cost minus any incentives, such as the $3,000 Conquest, so around $53,500, if not better. Keep in mind I was able to get $8,925 off my car (which was only $57,575 MSRP), plus I had another dealer who offered $9,500 off a $60,080 car and also $10,500 off a $62,000 car...the more the car costs, the more they should be able to discount so on your car, I think it's completely possible to get at least $9,000 off if not $10,000.

    I would approach it this way...do everything over the phone (I assume you've already seen the car and test drove it?). First work on the price, tell them what price you want, go lower than you want as they will meet you in the middle. After you get the price locked in, ask what the residual value and money factors are for different least terms, I believe on the gasoline E350, 33 months is the sweet spot but you can ask for 33 and 36 months.

    Once you have all the figures, you can punch them into an online lease calculator and it will give you the monthly payment.

    When you go to the dealership, most likely their number won't match yours because they either inflated the money factor from what it should be (the money factor is set by Mercedes Financial, not by the dealer, but the dealer tries to add on to it to make money) or because they put in some other fees. The destination charge should be $875.

    It's all "simple" math once you have the price of the car, the money factor, the residual and the term you want to lease for so don't buy their story that your numbers don't add up (what they tried to tell me, saying my calculator was wrong). If they won't give you what you want, and what they should per your earlier conversation over the phone, then walk out. Most likely they will call you back a bit later to say they can do it, it's what happened to me. Or if you're happy with the numbers they give you and don't want to potentially lose the car, then go forward but for me, I just didn't feel right paying more than what my calculations came out to be, even if it was only $25 more per month. It wasn't about the $25 but I wanted to know WHY it didn't add up and they couldn't explain it. They finally gave in and gave me the price that my calculations came out to be.

    Good luck and keep us updated.
  • dewarsandsodadewarsandsoda Member Posts: 207
    The RV is a fixed percentage set by MBFS. It is solely based on the car model, lease term, and miles per year.

    Cheers!
  • chalkie1chalkie1 Member Posts: 17
    Hey Car Man: you have helped me in the past so quick question. I'm about lease a bluetec diesel, msrp $60391.00. What's a reasonable selling price including a $3000 conquest credit. I'm reading approximately $8000 off list. Is that reasonable without insulting the dealership. They deserve to make a few bucks too.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    You should be able to do a little better than that. When I was shopping recently, I got an offer for $9500 off a $60,080 MSRP Bluetec. I would push for that, don't worry about insulting them, they still make money or else they won't sell you the car...even if maybe they don't make that much up front, they will make it elsewhere on volume etc.
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi hx_guy. I personally don't like to play games. If I was in the market for this car, I'd go in and just say that I want to pay $X for the car and have the conquest cash deducted from that."

    There's nothing wrong with rolling tax, title, etc... into your lease payment. In fact, I personally prefer to pay as little as possible at lease signing.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hi Seth. I can certainly see the logic of wanting to be in a new car right now and save $60 per month in the process, but if I was in your situation I personally wouldn't roll any negative equity into my new deal. I personally would rather wait a couple of months until I was closer to the scheduled end of my deal and Mercedes was willing to waive all of my remaining payments to get something new.

    Having said that, the selling price that you were quoted looks excellent. Just make sure that the dealer is using MB Finance's current buy rate lease money factor of .00126 (top credit tier) to calculate your payment and you're in business.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    You are correct, hx_guy. Mercedes-Benz Financial's residual values for a lease with 12,000 miles per year are 2% lower than its 15,000 mile per year residual values. The 10,000 mile per year residual values are 3% lower than the 15k residuals.

    The exact impact upon this car's payment will depend upon its MSRP and selling price.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Thanks socal59. Mercedes-Benz Financial's current residual value for a 24-month lease of a 2012 E350 Wagon with 15,000 miles per year is 62%. Mercedes is not currently providing any lease support on this model. If you want to lease one through MB Finance, you would have to use its standard lease money factors.

    Car_man
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  • socal59socal59 Member Posts: 82
    So what would the standard money factor be for the wagon? Would 36 month be bettering, there are no subsidies from MB financial? Thanks Carman.
  • kvincekkvincek Member Posts: 21
    This is probably a very stupid question but is it possible to lease a E350 for 48 or 60 months?
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    Hey socal59. The last time I checked, MB Finance's buy rate standard lease money factor for Tier 1 customers was .00210, but this number may vary some by region.

    Mercedes is not providing any lease support on any length lease of this car, so 36-months wouldn't be any better other than the fact that the payment would likely be lower as a result of spreading out the large initial depreciation hit out over a larger number of months.

    Car_man
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  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    That's not a stupid question at all, kvincek. Yes, one could indeed lease a Mercedes-Benz vehicle like the E350 for 48 or 60 months if they really wanted to. Having said that, it really doesn't make sense to lease this car for any longer than 48 months.

    First of all, Mercedes' lease support on it is only available for up to 48-months. So if you lease for any longer than that, your car's money factor would jump from .00150 to whatever the standard rate is.

    Also, Mercedes' bumper-to-bumper warranty coverage is only available for up to 4 years. So if you were to lease this car for five years you would have to pay to have anything that went wrong with it over the last year fixed out of your own pocket.

    Car_man
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  • ghstudioghstudio Member Posts: 972
    You could, however, reduce that standard rate which is roughly .00225 to .00155 by using multiple security deposits on the longer lease. It's an interesting option to financing. In both cases, the warranty runs out at the same time. To me, it depends on the financing rate and the residual. Leasing might actually be cheaper than buying....hmmm!
  • kvincekkvincek Member Posts: 21
    Thank you so much for your kind reply sir! Based on your response, it doesn't make sense to lease it for any longer than 48 months. So from your knowledge what would be the money factor and residual value for 48 months E350?

    Thank you ghstudio for your kind response as well.

    Vince
  • orthoresorthores Member Posts: 2
    edited June 2012
    I have read and read and read this forum, and found the car I am interested in.

    2012 e350, P2, Drivers Assist, Leather, Obsidian black, Spolier package, active driver seat, ventilated seats, etc.

    MRSP 66,125
    Money factor 0.0015 (They say that 0.0126 is only on 4 matic)
    Selling Price 62,900
    Acquisition Fee 1095
    Cap Tax 156
    Gross cap cost 64,494

    USAA Rebate 4,000 Cap cost reduction
    Net Cap Cost 60,494

    Residual 0.62 12,000 miles 33 months
    Residual 41,016

    Monthly payment pretax $750
    0 downpayment

    Anything I am missing?? Any advice.
  • ghstudioghstudio Member Posts: 972
    The capitalized cost should be about $2500 lower....the dealer isn't discounting enough, counting on the USAA price to make it seem like a good deal.

    If you are leasing, add the mercedes basic maintenance to the lease and make sure it's capitalized, not just charged in full over 33 months.

    That origination fee should be $795 which is what mercedes charges. The dealer is marking it up for extra profit.
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Also, do you own any other cars to where you could also get the $3,000 Conquest cash?
  • socal59socal59 Member Posts: 82
    I'm interested in possibly leasing the wagon, but apparently there is no lease subsidies for this model. Multiple security deposits sound interesting, how much do each one consist of dollar wise? 10 is the limit? What's the catch? I mean you put money down in this form and you get it back at the end of the lease? What if the car is totalled in an accident? Do you lose your deposit(s)? Thanks for your help :)
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    Each MSD is calculated off the monthly payment (per-MSD) rounded to the next $50. So if the lease payment comes out to $642, then each MSD is equal to $650. If the payment is $657 lets say, then each MSD would be $700. The max you can do is 10 MSDs. Each MSD lowers the money factor by 0.0007.

    If the car is totaled, then it is paid off to the dealer by insurance so you do get your MSDs back. Security deposits are usually only kept if the car has some sort of damage or excessive wear and tear at the end of the lease, but it would be no different than if you didn't do the MSDs and then they would just send you a bill for those items.
  • ghstudioghstudio Member Posts: 972
    each msd reduces the mf by .00007 not .0007. My lease deal included 10 MSD's and they used the actual monthly payment including tax as the value for the MSD. I asked if that was correct and the delivery agent insisted that they understood the mercedes lease perfectly :) In any case, Mercedes Finance accepted the deal (I assume).

    The proper way is to take the calculated monthly payment without tax and then round it up to the nearest $50.
  • ghstudioghstudio Member Posts: 972
    I believe that you can't stack USAA and conquest money....it's one or the other.
  • orthoresorthores Member Posts: 2
    I cannot stack conquest on USAA.

    Renegotiated, got what I am happy with.

    thanks for the input!
  • hx_guyhx_guy Member Posts: 41
    So...what was the deal? You have to share! :D
  • datunludatunlu Member Posts: 13
    edited June 2012
    Hope this would help. I just leased a new E350 with P2 and bunch of other smaller options that totals to a MSRP of a little bit above 60k. the 33 month residual value is 63% with the money factor of 0.0015, note, if you go with a 36 month, the residual drops to 54%, really a rip-off. We want only 10k miles per year and after the pre-paid maintenance, the final monthly is just a couple of bucks above 600. This monthly number includes all fees and taxes with a 2k drive off. Best luck, guys, it is a great car, I am glad I did not go with the BMW.
  • aijaij Member Posts: 3
    Hi guys, just got a quote from dealer on E-350 below.

    "We can put you in a E350 4matic with an MSRP of $60035 for $698.59 for 33 months with 12000 miles per year. The money factor is .00116, the residual is $37221.70 and due at delivery is $1078.98 including 1st pymt with acq fee of $795 rolled in. "

    Is it a good deal? Never had a lease before so need some help please. I need to close out a deal by Saturday.

    Thanks much!
  • dewarsandsodadewarsandsoda Member Posts: 207
    Hi aij,
    Its hard to assess the deal as the dealer is not providing you with the final sales price. I also don't know if the MF quoted is indeed the base rate MF for a 33/12 lease on 2012 E350 4matic.

    Nonetheless, assuming a sales tax of 7.75% and that monthly payment (698.59) includes tax, I roughly calculated a final sales price of $54289 (includes the 795 acquisition fee). Given the incentives that may be available such as Conquest, USAA, etc., I think you can push for a better sales price.

    Cheers!
  • CarMan@EdmundsCarMan@Edmunds Member Posts: 38,514
    You're very welcome Vince. Mercedes-Benz Finance's June buy rate lease money factor and residual value for a 48-month lease of a 2012 E350 Sedan with 15,000 miles per year would be .00150 and 46%, respectively for consumers who qualify for its top credit tier.

    Car_man
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  • rravinrravin Member Posts: 37
    Hi Car man,
    Want to know the MF(tier 1), residual%, and sweet spot for lease (Iv'e read 33mo for the gas vehicle).Not sure but from what I'm reading it sounds like 33mo is better than 36mo and that 15k miles is better than 12k. Is this right?. I live in Los Angeles, CA. Does the competive conquest program apply here? Is origination charge $795 correct? Can the conquest program be combined with the MSD's. and does each MSD lower the MF by .0007 or .00007. Seems to be some discrepency between posts from others on this thread.
    Thanks in advance for your help both now and in the past.
    rravinmd :)
  • rravinrravin Member Posts: 37
    Does California allow MSD"s :)
  • rravinrravin Member Posts: 37
    This may be a silly question but when you say the maintence should be capitalized not just charged in full over the 33mo. Do you mean that it should be part of the residual value of the car so that instead of paying 100% for the maintance you pay 100%-61% (estimated residual value of car)?
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