Hello and thank you for allowing me to participate on MBWorld.org.

As an introduction I own and operate a national independent leasing company through LeaseCompare.com. I've been in the auto business working on behalf of the consumer since 1989.

In addition to president of Automobile Consumer Services, Inc. (ACS), I serve on the board of the Ohio Vehicle Leasing Association (OVLA), Vice President of the National Vehicle Leasing Association (NVLA) and Co-Chairperson on the Technology Committee of the International Automotive Remarketing Alliance (IARA).

As a Certified Lease Consultant my main goal here is to help answer leasing questions. I'll also provide information on the captive (manufacturer) lease programs and general news about the leasing industry.

I like sailing and cigars.

Thanks again and let's get started!

 

Do you serve Canadians or do you have any affiliates in Canada?

 

Canada is an area we will be expanding into later this year with LeaseCompare.ca. You can email any requests to me and I will see that they are taken care of.

 

Tarry:

I’m looking to buy an E55 this week. I really don’t want to lease but thought you could advise possibly??

My dilemma…do I buy a brand new E55 for $85k or do I buy a used ’04 with 8k miles for $75k…I’m thinking for an extra $10k I get a brand new car that seems to hold it’s value fairly well?!

I wouldn’t mind leasing but I don’t like being tied to anything for a long period of time…plus I buy a different car every year…and put on a fair amount of miles.

Should I do a brand new car over 6 years or do a buy a used car and finance it over 5 years.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

John

 

John-

Good question.

If you are going to "buy" it then I would go for the used car.

If you are going to finance it for 5-6 years but sell/trade it in a year or two and do the same thing again, then compare the finance payment (and negative equity you may have) to a lease payment for the term you will actually keep the car.

You may be better off leasing it and not having to deal with the trade/sell and the potential for negative equity. Pay the mileage penalty at the end to avoid tax and interest, plus, if the car is stolen or totalled insurance will pay off the lease leaving you with no mileage penalty.

 

If you have any questions about individual cars, please start a new thread as it'd be cleaner to keep this thread as an introductionary (sp?) thread only.

 

Tarry, Welcome!

You have a great website!

 

Whenever I would lease a vehicle, I would run the numbers myself, by obtaining the percentage residual, money factor and property tax factor. The MSRP, discount, trade, down payment and number of months would be used to calculate the payment.

Why not provide documentation on the lease calculation, to take that mystery out of the equation?

After leasing many vehicles, and walking away from several bad lease offers, it seems all to clear that the dealers play games with the numbers at the expense of the consumer.

One other set of numbers I would calculate was what I termed an “effective interest rate”. I looked at a lease as two loans. One loan was for the residual value of the vehicle. For example, I was using $20K of the lease company’s property, for 3 years, while paying only interest. The other was for capitalized cost. For that I was paying principal and interest, to pay off that amount in the three years.

My calculation would arrive at an interest rate that would cause the total of these two loans to equal my monthly payment. That rate could then be compared to standard new car loan rates.

 

This is the formula most lenders use to calculate a lease payment:

Capitalized Cost - Residual Value / Term = Monthly Depreciation
Capitalized Cost + Residual Value X Money Factor = Monthly Interest

Monthly Depreciation + Monthly Interest = Base Monthly Payment

 

ok question.

im planing on buying a E430 for 18k.

i'm planning on putting 1k down and paying 300 per month for 60 months.

is that a good idea?

 

Hard to say but a few things to consider.

1) Don't lease for a longer term than you normally keep the car as it can be costly to exit a lease early.

2) It's usually more cost effective to pay the mileage penalty at the end of the lease to avoid sales tax and interest when you include it in the lease up front.

 

I was going to pay cash for a 2007 S550 but now I think I will lease for 39 months with 0 down. How do I utilize your service? I haven't made my deal yet--they are looking for my car with other dealers. If not, I will order it. The MSRP will be approx $107-108k. I expect to get $4k or $5k off MSRP.

 

You can start by seeing our lease programs on this vehicle here:
http://www.leasecompare.com/quick_le...&DirectQuote=1

You will want to click on "edit vehicle/pricing" on that page so you can enter your own purchase price.

From there select a lease offer and apply for credit. We handle the lease contracts and paying the dealer for the car.

 

Tarry: Please bear with me, I normally pay cash for my cars. But I have decided to lease this time. I used your MB lease rates--58% residual and .00370 money factor and did the calculations as you suggest. For 39 months I get $1697 + tax. Then I clicked on your site, edited the vehicle/pricing as you suggested and see that the bank rates are higher because their residual value is (it seems) much less than the 58% posted on this forum for MB even though the money factor is less. Could it be that the residual is based on the "base" model or is there another explanation?

Also, interesting observation you make about paying the mileage penalty at the end. I was not sure if would need 12k or 15k miles per year.

Thanks.

 

What is cap cost and how do you find out what it is for a specific model? Thanks!

 

This is the amount your lease lease payment is based upon. It comprises of the vehicle purchase price, any bank fees, sales tax (if applicable) less any money you put down.

 

Hi, I have seen your website and thisnk its excellent. I have however found it after I have been dealing with a sales manager that I have known for 10 years.

I was wondering if the following was truly a great deal?

selling price 71900
doc fee 489
acq fee 995
cap fee 34
gross cap cost 73419

resid amount 45846
12k per year

33 month
rate/money factor 4.0
1312.61 out of pocket when I arrive
and payment will be 1312.61 per month

I live in Texas. Buying from dealler in Colorado.

I see MBUSA is giving dealers 5k in marketing money.

Any thoughts?

 

I'm not sure which model you are looking at but you need to confirm the money factor. A .00410 money factor is NOT good at all.

I think we can help you out with this lease and you can still get the vehicle from the dealer in CO.

Confirm the money factor with the dealer and send me a Private Message with that and the model you are looking at.

Thanks for the opportunity.

 

I have leased three MB vehicles from the same dealer, who closed and moved last year...to VERY far from where I am now. So I have been visiting the other MB dealers for the past few weeks, and I am truely disillusiond and disappointed at the lack of responsiveness by the dealers in the Chicago area to a 4 time MB owner that is desperately trying to finish a deal on a new vehicle. I am getting nothing but BS and no one wants to quote me a lease amount.

I am trying to lease a ML350, for 39-48 months, 12,000 miles per year. No down payment (folded into the lease), with a sticker price of about $53,000. This will be my fourth MB. All four have been leased in the same way, and had purchase prices of about this same amount. Yet I am now being quoted payment prices that are in the range of $975 or mor per month. My current 2004 E320 had a sticker price of $54,000, was leased for 48 months (same other conditions as above) and my payment is $781.00 I do not understand why the lease amonts are so much higher. Seems to me that I am simply not getting a very good deal. What do you think?

 

There are no "special" (subsidized) lease programs on this model right now so the payments are going to be higher than what you have seen in the past.

A bank lease may be the best option right now. You can compare these offers here:

http://www.leasecompare.com/quick_le...des+Benz+ML350

 

Take a look at your history of how you pay for cars.

If you always tend to have a car payment, you are better off leasing.

More info here: http://autoleaseinsider.blogspot.com...roduction.html

 

Does each of the bank that you deal with set their own Acquisition Fee and what is (if capitalized) mean?
I have just leased a 2008 S550 throuh Mercedes-Benz Financial and they charge me $1095 for the Acquisition Fee.

 

Yes, but $1095 is very high. Most are well under $1K.

 

Can you post November 2009 lease factors please?