MarkD2017

2017 C300 Sport Sedan (RWD)
MSRP $51060
36M/12K
$0 down
$573/m + tax (maintenance not included)

Thank you!

Mike5215

Is there a trade?

MarkD2017

There is no trade. Thanks.

Mike5215

Can't tell for sure without knowing the residual % and money factor, and the discount off MSRP. 10% off ($5100) would be pretty typical. Also need state sales tax rate and I need to know what they're capitalizing into the lease. Should be Dealer Fee ($?)Acquisition Fee, ($?) Tag Fee ($?).

Standingoten

Horrible deal. That's only 5% off MSRP considering a 0.00124 money factor and 60% residual.

MarkD2017

I just realized $0 down is not the same as $0 drive off.

So I'm posting the deal again. This time for a similar car:

MSRP $51610
$591 drive off (basically just first month payment)
$0 down
$543.71 + Los Angeles tax 8.75%
This includes 3 year service contract.

I still don't know the negotiated price.

MarkD2017

What do you think about the second deal?

Mike5215

So when you do a lease it's important that you be able to run the numbers yourself. I take a laptop and a spreadsheet into the dealership with me and I build the deal simultaneously with the F&I guy. I need to verify that the deal they promised is the actual deal I'm getting. My payment and due at signing should be within a couple of dollars of the dealer's when all is said and done.

To build a deal you need the following hard numbers (presuming no trade).

MSRP
Discount
Lease Cash
Term/Miles
Residual
Money Factor
Dealer Fee
Acquisition Fee
State Sales Tax
Due At Signing

Don't work from the monthly payment number. Since money factor and residual is set by MBFS, the only number that matters in terms of negotiation is the discount off MSRP. 10% is the minimum I'd accept. On an inventory car, up to 15% is decent. Once the discount is pinned down, you can easily calculate the monthly payment and decide if the car is in your budget.

MarkD2017

Mike,

MSRP $51610
Discount $7000 (13.5%)
Lease Cash (?)
Terms 36M/12K
Dealer Fee (?)
Acquisition Fee (?)
Sales Tax 8.75%
Due At Signing $591
Monthly payment $591 including tax and 3 year service contract.

Mike5215

There's around $760 in unaccounted for costs. Using your numbers I get a monthly payment for rent and tax of $569.19, with $569.12 due at signing for the first month. They quoted $591. $591-$570=$21 x 36 payments = $756 over. It could be additional fees, a higher dealer fee than I used, etc.

Here's the break-down:

Standingoten

I recommend negotiating for at least 15% off MSRP.
Make sure you have the base tier 1 money factor. I think a C300 should be around $430-$480 a month with zero down.

Mike5215

He's at 13% discount now, which seems to be about average. Overall the deal looks fine but the variance in the dealers quoted rent and tax vs what the actual payment would be at those figures needs to be hunted down.

.

MarkD2017

OK I finally figured out how to use the lease calculator. I was able to negotiate the payment down a little.
14% + $2000 fleet discout = ~18% off MSRP
MSRP $51610
$0 down
$489 drive off
$489/m including tax 8.75%
No service contract.
Picking up the car tonight! Thanks for the help!

Mike5215

Nice job!

teksurv

Well done, enjoy your new ride!

Standingoten

Nice! You got a good deal. So glad you didn't get ripped off!!

Mike5215

Since leasing the C, I bought my kid a new Mazda 3, and last weekend I leased my wife a new Audi Q7. For all three deals, I had the terms I wanted and the numbers locked down before I ever stepped inside the dealership. Rather than letting the dealer propose a price, or a trade value or anything, I emailed them an offer. I let them know that as long as we were engaged in a deal, I would not shop their numbers against them at other dealers pitting one against the other.

This seems to let them relax and the numbers are much more forthcoming. I also let them know that if my conditions are met we have a deal, like send the car thru prep and I'll complete an online credit app and be by in an hour to take delivery.

The Mazda was a purchase with a trade involved so that happened over a weekend. On the Q, the time between me emailing my offer and taking delivery was under 4 hours.

It's a very relaxed way to buy a car, on both sides of the transaction, because the spreadsheet puts control of the deal in your corner. Here's the email;


<i>To: Thomas Rabe
Subject: Re: Message from Audi Gainesville about your automobile inquiry

Hi Thomas

My process is a little unusual, and I appreciate your patience.

Once I have your numbers I'll build out the deal myself and send it to you for review/acceptance. Generally I'll have everything but the appraisal... credit approved, monthly payment locked down... before I ever step foot in the dealership and it's a quick and fairly painless transaction. There's no back and forth and I won't shop your deal around to see if I can do better unless our deal somehow collapses.

The lease pull ahead is $1,000 if I'm not mistaken, which would pay off the remaining lease balance of $940. Whether it's handled as a lease pull-ahead or a straight trade/payoff as long as we're at a net zero on the 14 when all is said and done I'm fine. I'll base my numbers on the presumption we're walking away from the 14 clear (nothing owed and no equity). If the appraisal doesn't bear that out we can re-evaluate. (The 14 just had $2500 worth of brakes and tires and is in good shape so keeping it and buying out the lease is an option, but I'm sure she'd prefer the new car).

First and foremost I'll need those numbers from the prior email for residual and money factor along with the MSRP and options on the '17. (A pic or PDF of the Mulroney sticker is fine). I'll also build Wear & Tear into the deal so if you could get that number from your F&I dept that would be great.

Thanks!
Mike
</I>

MarkD2017

I knew I would get help here

glayfan40

May I ask if the $2000 fleet discount applies to anyone? Or just employees of certain companies which are MB's corporate partners?

Standingoten

The fleet discount amount changes slightly month to month I think. And it is available to employees of certain companies that are corporate partners. The list is a long list and chances are if you work for a Fortune 500 company you qualify.

flycaster

Hey guys, if you have some spare cash around that isn't doing anything, try multiple security deposits (MSD). MB may give up to 10 of them. Each MSD is valued at your monthly lease rounded to the nearest $50. So a lease of $478 would have a MSD of $500. For each MSD you fork over (temporarily,) your money factor will be reduced by 0.0007. Giving 10 MSDs will significantly reduce you monthly payments. Oh yeah, before I forget, the "temporarily" means that you get all you MSD back when the car's lease is over. Also, it may be worth $5-10/month off your lease if you do autopay=automatically take lease payment out of bank account each month.

MarkD2017

the list of companies is here:

https://leasehackr.com/blog/lease-an...fleet-discount