Hello fellow amg fans!

I have been seriously considering a cpo cls55. Although I love my M3 and everything it does. The AMG Merc is seducing me!! Does anyone have any tips on a near future purchase? Should I wait a little longer to let the price drop down? I went for a test drive and it was sensational!! They were asking $97,900 I got them down to $87,500, but i felt there was more room for a black on black with 4,800 miles. It has premium package, nav, dynamic seats, ventilated as well, keyless go, but not parktronic<<< Very dissaspointed. They tried to rob me on my car as well offering me much less then what the car is valued at kbb as a trade in. My M3 is immaculate and fully loaded. I know the 63's are coming and that should bring the prices down on the 55k's. But how long till they arrive? I want the car but I want to make a wise purchase and get the most value and try to buy at the right time. But I dont want to wait a year. Or should I? This is what uber cars to do you sometimes. Sorry for the long post. Someone help me!!

Max-

 

my advice on the kbb, forget it, no dealer uses that so you are wasting your time. kbb isnt worth the paper its written on, here is a way to get a good idea of what your car is worth on trade, call around to different dealers ask for the preowned buyer, tell him you want to sell the car, what is the number. then you will have a good idea of what they will offer give or take a few grand.

 

Actually the price they gave you on the cls55 is pretty decent. Regarding the cls63... If you can wait for a year or so, you probably can get it at msrp. I dont think any dealer will sell them at msrp during the first year.

To get top dollars for your trade in, without the hassle of selling it yourself. Bring it to a dealer that does consignment. I sold my CLK and E class this way and it was painless. I can tell you now that the m3 will move really quick if you're only asking low blue book. I actually tried to sell both of my previous cars on my own for 3 months and had nothing but joy riders and buyers who expect pricing to be below or at low blue book since i'm a private seller. So I end up taking them to a local dealer and do consigment. Both were sold within weeks.

Hope this helps and good luck with your CLS. I actually had mine only 2 months and loving every minute driving it. Very sexy and powerful car!

 

I paid 87k (not inc. tt&l) for one 1 month ago. Had everything you quoted plus the parktronic. The car had 3800 miles on it. It was not cpo'ed.
I guess i could of gotten 1-2k more off it if I tried, but I get tired of the BS haggling and just write the check.
-moldy

 

Thanks for the reply's. Spin I will start asking around.

They wanted to finance me for 72 month's. Sounds a bit long. Im considering a 3 year lease as well. I am unsure how im going to feel about keeping the cls55 after lease matures. I just wanted to get back as much of my down payment as possible, so I can put it towards the down payment.. If i lease and dont decide to keep the car when it matures, then I lose my 16k down for my M3 and whatever else I put down on the cls55. I would really like to keep my M3 and trade in my ls 430. But I have more equity in the M3 right now.

how many of you lease? and for how long? Im just curious.

 

I’m an X M3 owner who recently moved to a CLS55. At first I felt the AMG to be a bit on the soft side compared to the M3, but soon grew on me and I’m really lovin' the car. My recommendation is to sell your M3 asap before it looses more value due to the new M3 coming out within a year, and get yourself a CLS55 (more tunable than a 63.) and make it an 030 if possible!

 

Forget the CPO, that adds 1yr extra warrentee and cost the dealer $2000+ to certify. Hence, thats $2k you will not get off of your bottom line. The CLS55's are only a year old and pretty much bullet proof. So getting one without wont kill you. (check carfax for accidents though).

I picked up a silver/blk with <6000 mi: Lighting, Premium, Keyless, Truck closer, 2 remote, mats for $85k out the door. These cars are popping up more and more as leases are coming off.

A

 

Outlaw....you sound exactly like me man. I originally wanted to buy a CLS55 around last September. Basically the dealership was going to give me **** for my CLK55. Now almost a year later (almost ) I see alot of used CLS55's on Autotrader. My dilema is do I lease or finance? I hate the idea of puting the equity I have in my CLK55 towards a lease and never seeing that money again. I just don't have it in me to ever lease again. I leased my first benz...a 1999 CLK430....and I still regret every minute of it. I am still kicking myself for not buying that car. I think of all the money I wasted to basically rent that car when after just a few more years I could've owned it. So I vowed to never lease again. But here I am actualy contemplating leasing a CLS55. Thats how powerful the CLS55 is....it will make you do things you don't want to do!lol
So I figure.....if I wont lease then I will have to wait until the used prices come down even more. Only way to hope for that to happen is wait until the CLS63's come out. I figure by the end of this year they will be out and all these suckers on Autotrader will be dying to dump their CLS55s....of course only time will tell.

So I say wait......sure your M3 will depreciate a little more....but I guess not as much as the CLS55 will come down. If you plan on financing I can't imagine anything over 60 months will help. Won't the APR be higher for the 72 month?
Let us know how it goes. I still haven't given up on my dream of a CLS55!

 

Given the interest rates for a car loan, and depending on your local sales tax that is added to the purchase price at the beginning and any tax write offs you may be able to claim with a lease, you may well be better off doing a "lease to buy". Look at USBank and other private lendors that will give you essentially the same monthly payments as MBCredit with much lower residuals (i.e. you are paying more depreciation and less interest). At the end of the lease term you'll have a balloon payment, then the car is yours. There are ways to avoid the sales tax on the buyout too if you know someone in the business or are creative.

I compared several options for my CLS55 and this provided the lowest overall cost of ownership, thanks to some tax savings I could claim and a great MF from USBank. After four years the buyout of my car is only ~ $36000 which is $10-15k less than it would have been had I leased through MBCredit with the same monthly payment.

 

Is this ballon payment at the end of the lease basically the "buyout"? Can you then go on to finance that amount?

 

[QUOTE=ekovalsky]Given the interest rates for a car loan, and depending on your local sales tax that is added to the purchase price at the beginning and any tax write offs you may be able to claim with a lease, you may well be better off doing a "lease to buy". Look at USBank and other private lendors that will give you essentially the same monthly payments as MBCredit with much lower residuals (i.e. you are paying more depreciation and less interest). At the end of the lease term you'll have a balloon payment, then the car is yours. There are ways to avoid the sales tax on the buyout too if you know someone in the business or are creative.QUOTE]


I have heard there are tax benifits. Is it true if you lease you dont have to pay the sales tax right away but over the lease term? I own a business and I live in Orange County Ca. Can anyone confirm if this is true?

I am thinking about selling my M3 private party. But I am not too jazzed about the idea of a bunch of joy riders coming down. Anyone know what the best place to sell your car private party is? I know of autotrader. I will also look into selling on consignment. Is there anthing else?

If anyone doesnt mind me asking, how much % is the average down on a cls55, and monthly payments? (I have excellent credit) I would like to compare what I have gotten so far.

Thanks for all the great info guys!

 

I think it may depend on the state. Here in Arizona (and most other states too, I think) sales tax is added to the monthly payment; there is no capitalization of sales tax on the entire purchase / finance price.

I am conservative and claim 40% business use of my vehicle. I could claim more but my accountant would want extensive documentation above that level which is something I'm not willing to do. So basically 40% of my monthly lease payment comes from pre-tax dollars, which translates into a 40% or so savings on this amount (35% fed + 5% state). Actual $ savings end up at 16% of the lease payment (40% of 40%).

Yes, the balloon payment is the buy out. You could pay cash or finance it for whatever term you want. Extending the lease would be another option but I cannot see any good reason to do that. Sales tax may apply to the buy out price, but if you have a buddy in the business or have a close relationship with a private dealer they will probably be willing to get the title for you tax free. I paid a dealer friend $1k to do this on a former Lexus I owned, then sold it private party for about $4k more than the lease buyout.

Something you'll need to consider is that your trade-in can be used to offset sales tax on a purchased/financed vehicle obtained through a dealer. Generally private party sales are not subject to sales tax. Definitely consider this when making a lease versus purchase decision. My wife wants a new SUV (Supercharged Range Rover, trying to talk her into waiting for a GL63 though) and we may purchase it, and use the trade-in of my Lexus SC430 and her Infiniti QX56 to offset the sales tax.

If your credit is excellent, you can probably choose how much to put down. I would thin most do 10% on a purchase. If you lease don't put anything down, other than the necessary fees and first month's payment. There are plenty of online calculators that will figure your monthly payment based on loan amount, interest rate, and term. Don't forget to add sales taxes to the loan amount or your numbers will be way too low.

Good luck!

 

I think there was a whole discussion on this issue before. I've always thought even if you where planning on keeping the car becuase leases provided better interest rates and the tax benefit it was still better to lease the car and then do the buy out.

As far as getting a deal on a used 55. I have a friend that was considering purchasing one. he found one with all the options that I had only difference was I have obsidian black. The car had 2800 miles and they wanted 94,000. I couldn't believe it.

When he asked me if he should get it I didn't think twice about the answer. What ever you pay for it you are going to love the car!

Good luck

 

Does it matter how many months you lease? 36 month,48 months or more? Which is better? I have the means to buy one now and keep the M3. But I plan to purchase my first home this winter so I am trying to make a wise decision. My other option is to wait it out. Or wait for the 63 and see if that tickles my fancy. Am I for wanting a new car after 1.5 years behind the wheel of a brand new 68k car?

 

As great as the CLS55 probably is......the house is your smart move. Focus on that now. A house is a great asset. A car is a not so great (depreciating) asset. So buy the house first and then worry about the car.

Of course you could always sleep in your car!

 

I remember a guy saying...you can sleep in your car but you can't drive a house I second the idea of getting a house first. My friend was in the position to get a 996 Turbo a few years ago but decided to get his house first. With the money he made on the house he can easily pick up a Porsche and then some. I say go for the house first and pick up a used CLS55 in a few years and save about 30k in depreciation.

Scott

 

house first... nice to have a dream car, but you'll eventually get bored with it within the first on second year. Cars are basically toys

 

I definetly will be purchasing a home. I would also like to be able to enjoy the cls55 while its still current. Looks like I got some more thinking to do. Thanks for all the great replys. Im glad I came here to ask my questions.

Cheers

 

I tell you....you sound like me more and more......I hate the idea of waiting for a CLS because by the time it depreciates enough for me to purchase one the body style will be outdated!
It kills me!

 

Get the car after you purchase the home. Unless you are paying cash for the car, don't tack on additional debt before you applying for financing for the new home.

John

 

Thanks johnAMG. I was thinking about buying a home, and the cls55 in the same week. So I can use the same credit score for both.

Will it lower my fico score that much, if I lease or purchase a car within 6-7 months of a home purchase?

stiggs I guess were on the same boat.

 

fico does matter, but when you apply for your home loan. They also look at how much dept you have. They will run that dept against your income. If your income in way up there, then you have nothing to worry.

 

The Fair Isaac (the FI in FICO) site has good information on how FICO is computed.

http://www.myfico.com/CreditEducatio...YourScore.aspx