mrmojom3

I'm looking to pickup an E350 before the end of August. All the local dealers are steering me into an 09 saying the price is the same as an 08. This doesnt make sense to me, obviously I was thinking an 08 would offer some nice deals.

Anybody have any info on this?

landru64

the party line is: 09s are good for leasing (money factor circa .00040) and some cap cost reductions offered my mb and dealers.

whereas, the 08s they say are good for buying. big discounts off msrp. but i was told nothing special on the lease rates (money factor in particular). but i think this deserves further scrutiny because i don't THINK the mf is like the typical .003xx crap rate you might get if you buy a c63. i think the mf is pretty good. it WAS .00085ish.

but maybe they simply won't offer the cash discount in a lease situation on an 08, so they incent you to buy....

kind of like infiniti right now --they'll give you cash off of invoice OR favorable loan & lease rates.

so all that said, i am simply amazed how far off msrp they're going on the E's. the latest ad i saw today was $12k off msrp!

Z356

I just leased an '09 E350 4Matic Sport. My base rate was .00030, which is almost nothing. Two year lease, 10K miles per year. Total financing charge for the 24 months was less than $700 - in total! Most of the monthly leasing expense is actual depreciation. And the residual Mercedes has calculated is pretty optimistic, so that combination (low financing rate and high residual) creates an incredible deal. Any leasing company, including MB Financial, will give you a better deal today on a '09. The left-over '08 are, in the trade, already one year old and have depreciated quite a bit (which kills residual values). So it is uneconomical to lease an '08. If you do your homework right, you can negotiate a hell of a deal and reduce the acquisition cost of a new '09 E350 from your MB dealer. And if you lease, MB Financial adds a kicker to the dealer, which they can pass on to you. It all depends on your knowledge of the market and your negotiating skills. My MSRP was over $62K (P2, Pano, Sport, Split Seats, Cognac Leather) and I paid much less than that. Check with your dealer (or call my sales guy at MB of Westminster, an MB World Sponsor. His name is Greg Weiler and you can reach him at (303) 618-8764). The posting for August rates by Lease Compare do not seem very accurate regarding the new '09 E350. I leased a 4Matic Sport and got the better rate (see above) from MB Financial, which is not what is listed in the August rate posted in this section. My residual was also higher, around 61% (vs the 58% listed in the post). And this is all from MB Financial, an arm of MBUSA. It was an awesome deal. It might get better next month (but I doubt it). Residual for the '09 E350 couldn't be set higher (not realistic in financial terms) and the money factor rate is already ridiculously low. Best of luck. Z356

kw2000

Hello Z356

What was the purchase price for this 09 E350?
Residual values in the August rate posted in this section are for 15K miles per year. Values are +2% for 12K and +3% for 10K miles per year.

Z356

kw2000: The 10k might explain the 61% residual I got on my 2009 Mercedes 350 Sport 4matic. That is the miles per year I can do on my 24 month lease. Remember that my rate was .00030 from MB Financial. How do you square the numbers (see below), which I just copied from the post on August Rates by Lease Compare?
2009 Mercedes E350 Sport 4matic
24 Month – Residual 52% of MSRP – .00385 Base Rate
36 Month – Residual 43% of MSRP – .00350 Base Rate
48 Month – Residual 39% of MSRP – .00350 Base Rate
60 Month – Residual 33% of MSRP – .00350 Base Rate

Z356

kw2000

Z356:
It could be that there is a typo in August Rates post. Another possibility is that MB gave you the rates of E350 Luxury 4Matic. In any case looks like you got an excellent deal on residual and money factor.

How much discount did you get off MSRP?

kw2000

It is true, dealers are pushing for 09. They have an additional incentive for the lease for 09s, but not on 08s. The reason I was given was that 09 are already in production and E350 is getting new model for 2010. Therefore, MB is anxious to lease ou 09s. I just ordered 09 E350 Luxury 4Matic (P 02 package, wood/leather steering, and parktronic) due to come in around mid Setember. While the dealer was giving $7,500 off on 08 model, he gave $9,300 off MSRP on 09. Money factor of 0.0003 and residual of 61% for a 24-month lease. I hope this gives you some guidance for pricing and discount. If you plan to purchase instead of buying then you can get a better discount on 08 model, may be upto $12,000 off MSRP. My choice would be 09, it has a better and user friendly navigation system, and it also has built-in bluetooth for cellular phone. 08 is already one year old and residual will be lower than that of 09.