nbawla

I'm about to sign the deal for a 2011 Arctic White C300 4Matic. The car has the Panoramic Sunroof, Heated Seats, and the Walnut Trim. I'm a bit of a newb to the forums and couldn't find much in the way of pricing. All in all can you guys let me know if my deal is decent or should I bargain further.

MSRP - 40,500
Selling price - $35,327.

I'm debating whether I should prepay the maintenance or roll the dice. Any suggestions on that would be appreciated too.

Thanks!

nbawla

398 per month and 1200 total out of pocket.

33 month lease

IGB

How much is the maintenance?

And how many annual miles do you drive? (not a lease related question... more like a question to see if buying a maintenance plan is cost effective)

lamonsas

thats a good deal nbawia. id say go for it, u'll love it

nbawla

Its for 12,000 miles per year.

The maintenance package covers the 10k, 20k and 30k mile scheduled mandatory maintenance. It is $769.00. Mind you I'm not savvy enough to do any of the maintenance on my own, but I just want to know if its typically a lot cheaper to go to another shop that can do the same thing for less money. If its a difference of $100-$150 I'll likely just go to pre-paid MB rout.

balticgreen

On a car you're buying, it works out to somewhere pretty close to breaking even. It depends mostly on the regular prices of the maintenance at your dealership and whether they normally have specials or coupons that you could use.

However, a lease is a different story. The maintenance plan is residualized into the lease so you don't actually pay the full price of the plan. This makes it a good deal unless you have some really horrible lease terms. Exact savings will vary but when I did the math for myself, it came out to basically paying for the Service B (with a small discount) and getting the two Service As for free.

nbawla

Thats awesome. I didn't consider that it would be factored into the lease price and I'd only pay for roughly half of it. I think that seals the deal and I'll get it. Thanks

ulovemybenzo

not hating or anything on the 204 but u can get a cls500 with low miles for less than that... or a low mile cls55 AMG around 39-40

encoder

Apples and oranges, of course. One is used, the other new.

AskDrTodd

I leased a 2011 for nothing out of pocket, 475/month (33 months) with tax and maintenance included. Came with Multimedia, P1, heated seats, etc.

nbawla

Wow thats a great deal. So you did a sign and drive? Or did you have to pay DMV + 1st Month?

alexlev

How much more are they asking, to include maintenance?

Does the $1200 include the first month + fees, or is that just to lower the cost of the monthly payments?

$398 is pretty good - if it's zero down.

nbawla

The $1200 includes First Month/Fees. It is technicaly 0 down.

I am trying to get them to throw in the Ipod connection kit for free or tinted windows. Lets see how that goes.

covance

what is your definition of low miles just curious?

ulovemybenzo

under 35k miles

jimmythegreek

once you have a 300, you yurn for more power! I feel u Benzo, but hes leasing it so hes only spending 15grand or so. Big difference in payments and a new car to boot. Not everyone is into the power like some of us, the luxury of MB is enough, just havin the new car smell

AskDrTodd

benzo- power yep, but to me the 350 vs the 300 is not enough of a power jump to justify it (the 63 would be however, but it was over a grand a month to lease one). I like the car, the price, and the mileage. I think next time I'm going to go with a 335 or a 135 bimmer though, they can be leased for less than 600 if you look around. I just want a nice car that isn't going to cost 3 arms and a leg to maintain. If it were fast that'd be a bonus, but I have enough speeding tickets in my past that I think I've gotten the speed bug out of my system.

encoder

@DrTodd I think we all get biased by our daily driver but before I bought I test drove both for a good hour each. The salesman didn't seem to mind the joyride. I took it on a highway and then on the interstate and of course around town quite a bit. Sincerely, I felt there was a significant difference in the way these cars drove. I was coming from a 5cyl Turbo Volvo which isn't fast but it feels quick if you understand what I mean and the C350 gave me a far more satisfying experience than the C300. Of course, to each their own and we all have our own experiences and values.

But something I do chuckle at is people often say that the 40hp difference isn't that much, wouldn't be noticeable, etc... But many of the same people say that there shoulda been a 300hp W204 all along and how MB dropped the ball. Of course, 300hp would be only 32 more than the C350.

Anyhow, this has been talked over a thousand times here before.

But as to the "low mileage" 35k miles used CLS instead of a new C300... that's just silly talk IMO. When compared to the 150 to 200,000 miles that CLS will probably have a decade from now when its finally scrapped, 35k is low miles. But compared to the 100 miles you'd get on the odometer of your brand new C300, 35k is pretty well used indeed. The first year of ownership and you're looking at transmission flushes, new tires, perhaps new brakes, etc. None of the joys of a truly new car.