lamonsas

Hey all, i live in Chicago and i decided to trade in my c230 v6 which i own for 5 years now and lease a new 2011 c300 , the 230 is a great car but i had it for a couple of years now and i think its time to change u know.

So heres what im getting, im trading the 230 to the dealer and in return i get a 3 year lease on a new White with a Black interior 2011 C300 Sport sedan. im getting the black MB Tex interior with burl walnut wood trim, 4Matic , Heated front seats and thats about it.

I want the ipod integration kit and i asked them to throw it in for me but they said they dont have it im also a little confused about the "media interface plus" addon thats available too, will i be missing out if i dont have that "media interface plus" feature? im not sure what to do about the ipod intergration kit that i want.

But yea, am i getting a good deal here guys? im very excited, i think the car looks reallly nice.

one more question, im gonna have 8 speakers right? and the Audio system has RDS right?(the feature that shows which artist plays on fm stations)

I am Jeff

Are you getting a good deal? IMHO, I think you're getting a horrible deal. You have not stated the condition of your vehicle, so I'm going to assume it's in decent shape for the dealer to make this deal with you. You are taking a car which you own outright and giving it to the dealer for the right to borrow a new stripped out car for 3 years? You currently have equity in that C230. In 3 years, you will have nothing and will need to lease or buy another vehicle. The MIP or Media Interface Plus module will allow you to have ipod integration and allow you to display your ipod music on the little 4 inch display.

Good Luck with your decision!

lamonsas

My 230 is in decent shape but it's warranty is out and what not , I pretty much decided, I was wondering about the iPod integration kit really and if it's worth it, it also charges the iPod right?

wnunez89

if you own your 230 and your trading it for a lease i think your getting scammed. im sure you could sell your car now for 18k and with a few more thousand you could OWN a c300. but to each is there own, i would get the media package if i wereyou, and the ipod integration was a must for me.

jctevere

Wait, are you getting cash for your car and using that to pay the lease, or your just not having any lease payments. If the second one, RUN! Godforbid the vehicle gets stolen, totaled, or becomes undriveable Insurance does not cover any "down payment" on lease vehicles, will only payoff the remaining balance. Therefore, you will not be covered for the entire cost of your car.

Also, nobody ever makes on on bringing their car to the dealers to trade-in or sell besides for cash for clunkers. You would be better off selling your car yourself, keeping the money in a bank like ALLY and get 1.5% on your savings, and use it to pay off the payments.

Personally, what I would do is buy a used 2009 c-class. Sell yours and put it as a down payment on the finance, and then payoff the remaining balance (probably like $10-15k) over the next 3 years.

lm24

Do you think you can hold off for maybe 6 more months? By then the 2012 facelifted C will be out, and if you still want a 2011 model, it will probably be way cheaper then.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...u-paid-28.html

As mentioned already, take a look at some used ones, you can get them for quite cheap nowadays.

Scat01

The missing component here is the value of your current car...I will guess it is a 2006 since you stated it has the v6 and you said you have had it for 5 or so years...Lets also assume it has 75K miles - plug that into KBB with some options for a good condition, private sale, and you are only around $13-14K. Using very raw numbers, no interest etc... that is about 375 bucks a month for 36 months.

Since it sounds like you have made this deal already, and to make you you feel good about it, I would say you did alright - not a bad deal at all. (Now, I have no knowledge of how lease insurance works - but it sounds like jctevere does, and you need to look into buying up or something to protect yourself if he is correct..)

If you can swing it and since you have no monthly payment - start putting a few hundred bucks a month away in a interest bearing savings account, so at the end of 3 years you are not turning the car back in and starting from scratch.

Good luck with your new car - sounds like a beauty.

justthinking

We traded in a 4 1/2 yrs old 2006 c230 w/ about 60k miles for a RX350 a few month back and got $13,000 for it..could have gotten about 14k-15k for private sale but decide not to deal w/ the hassle..hopefully this will be helpful for you to determine your c230's value..

saucemang

jctevere is correct. It is never wise to put money down on a leased vehicle. It will be lost in any of the cases he described.

lamonsas

lol sure it will be cheaper but so will my c230 become even CHEAPER! im already loosing alot on it and if i wait till the 2012 model comes out my c230's value will drop even more, much more.

btw im trading it in because i dont want to deal with selling hassle and what not, besides, my c230 is NOT in perfect condition, it's windshield is alright, the paint is in alright condition, the weather here is not so forgiving and i park my car in a garage and still its not even near excellent condition, also my c230's interior has the wear and tear so yea, the car is not even close to "Excellent" condition..

I think this is a good opinion, besides u are forgetting one thing, if for whatever reason, i will like my C300 so much, i can purchase it at the end of the lease for its valued price in 3 years.

jctevere

Since I am on the mobile site, I don't know what state your in, but for some reason I think new York. In that case it would be better to go over to new jersey to trade in your car that way you will probably net zero extra tax paid.

While the 2012 will lower your c230 value, it won't take that much of a hit. The 2008-2011 c300 however will take a substantial hit in their value.

I used to lease vehicles ALL the time. Now, i find it better to just buy them (especially if slightly used) and keep them for a few years. It is much more economical. And you always have equity and an asset instead of an expense.

I am Jeff

Since you have brought up the topic of diminished value. Your C230 will lose a lot less money in the next 2 years than your new 2011 C300. Keep that in mind. My advice to anyone purchasing a vehicle is always to get what you want the way you want, because it will always be more expensive to upgrade it to the way you want. You will always end up regretting. You stated that you have lost a lot on the car, which means that you have lost the majority of the value of the car already as opposed to restarting this depreciation all over again.