mhj202

Definitely a great deal. I got a good deal but definitely not one of these "friends and family" deals. Luckily I love the car and am, like you, looking forward to MB working the kinks out of the W212 and tweaking the appearance just in time for my next car.

A few friends of mine got "friends and family" leases in the past couple years and they are incredible- unfortunately, their dealer connection left the business and the other folks there have not been offering the deals.

The residuals are not good-- but at least the money factor/interest rates and discounts compensate enough to still make the leases pretty attractive.

MAmendola

I am looking at an 09 350 w\PII & Spt PKG, 39 month lease, 12k\yr for 789\month. They are offering to let me out of my current lease on my ML350 which is up in May.

I thing this is a good deal. I just have to decide if I want to move away from the ML which I love.

Any thoughts?

Thanks Mark

beartrap

Where are you located and is does the payment include sales tax? Are you putting down any cap cost reduction? What's the dealer discounting the car for and what's the money factor? I'm getting an '09 E350 RWD with P2, pano roof and sport for 39 months, 10k miles with NO cap cost reduction for $577/month. Now this is a specially discounted deal I'm getting from my dealer but you should be able to get something better than what you stated. I'm sure they should be able to discount the car at least $6500 if you press them and the interest rate should be very low. The one factor they can't play with is the residual which is driving all leases up from what they traditionaly have been. To make up for that dealers are being forced to heavily discount the car and offer lower interest rates or people are having to pay more for the cars. Based on my research, you should be able to get a better deal. Good luck.

MAmendola

Thanks for the info. I will see how much the dealer will discount.

Appreciate the feedback.

ESC

Beartrap,

Thanks much for strating this thread as I'm almost considering the same car with slightly different options.

What is a cap cost reduction? Also, what will be the residual value of your car at the end of the term?

I'm brand new to leasing, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

AMGTTV8

cap cost = capitalized cost, or amount to be financed

therefore, any reduction in cap cost is essentially a reduction in msrp, or final sale price

beartrap

When you put money down your lowering the cost of the car which in effect lowers your monthly price. Its effectively as if your prepaying some of the rent or lease on the car. The best way to lease a car is no money down as your renting it for a specific term at a set interest rate. Key factors you need to be concerned with are the price of the car the leasing company is buying it for, so get that as low as possible. You also want the highest residual value which determines what the car will be worth after the lease. The differnce is the rent which you are paying for plus interest over the term of the lease. The other factor is the interest rate or money factor. The lower that number the lower the payment, like a mortage or any loan.

Residual values for all cars have tanked, but lhigh end cars have really been impacted. My 09 E350 for 39 months is around 48% or so. 18-24 months ago they were high 50's low 60's! The good thing for me is the huge discount on the car plus the low money factor. My lease is going to be about $580/ month and about $11 of that is interest! Amazingly low. The car is being heavily discounted as well, somthing like $10k+ or so. Combined these two factors help offset the negative impact of the low residual value.

Good luck and let us know what you do.

Kb

Krycek

Beartrap, even before the credit crunch, you could get a 05/06 C350 in 2008 for around 25k usd, that's due to the CLS, the financial crisis only made depreciation worse.

Keep in mind the first pictures of the really "new" W212 E-Class have leaked:

http://www.autoscoops.eu/nieuws/2008...e-eerste-fotos

It means the official release is likely to happen in January. Remember the W204 2008 C-Class was presented to the public on 01/18/07:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_VnGqVCZM4

It didn't wait for any major Auto Show. US sales started in July 2007. That means the 2011 E-Class is likely to be there in 6 to 12 months tops.

Therefore, if you buy one now you'll feel the depreciation hit from a descontinued generation. If you really want a brand new sedan go for the C350, two years from now it will be facelifted but unlikely to be anything major.

Shapeshifter08

I just traded in my 2007 e350 for a 2009; MB picked up my last 4 payments. My 2007 was a RWD w/Premium I. I was paying $502 a month and I had put about $3000 down.

The 2009 is a 4-Matic w/AMG and Premium I package. My payments went up to $612 a month and I didnt put a penny down. Just swapped cars and the new payment goes up $110 a month. Thats it. I think I did very well!

terp97

did you just swap on the spot with no inspection from MB usa for the 07 lease?

FIDDY-SEVEN

How much (on the average) is the penalty for each mile you go over when you lease a vehicle. I am thinking about doing it, but I commute and put on some hefty miles per year. I average about 20,000 miles per year...

I think my best option is to purchase...

mhj202

My understanding is that std over-mileage penalty is $0.25 per mile. It's cheaper if you pay for the miles upfront (I think it's $0.20 or less).

As you said, your best bet at that kind of mileage is probably to buy.

FIDDY-SEVEN

WOW !.. That does add up.... Thanks for the info -
I guess I am buying..

terp97

Just swapped the 07E350 for 09E350 w/ P2, Panny, Sport. Loyatly, ambassodor program. Pull forward on my 4 months left on the 07. Deal i got was 1st months, 15k a year, 43% residual. $625 a month. MSRP $61.325.00.

Dema

So you monthly payment decreased?

terp97

529 to 625 but if i had gotten the same car but 09 it would have been 569 still with 0 down plus first months and 15k as well the 09 are 3-4k more then my 07 was.

on another note.. not to happy with my bluetooth connectivity. basically the puck worked 100% times better if you have old phones/blackberry's. if not you almost have to upgrade your phone/blackberry to download address book. my phones only receive and dail out.

other than that love the ride..

plan on tinting 20%, clear markers, amg pedals, remove front plate and replace fog bulb to match the xenon headlights.

Dema

Sorry for off topic. I have a similar problem with BT. Calling and receiving only work. I have not so new phone. It is Windows Mobile based. I have no problem with the phone in BMW. I also tested the phone with Audi's BT and address book upload worked as well. I guess Benz over engineered BT giving multiple ways of loading addresses, so finally missed basic functionality. Interesting that I tried other phones with Mercedes BT as classic Motorola Razr V3, and some LG and although E class BT showed that contacts can be uploaded, they actually couldn't. So I am glad that my lease is only 2 years. I keep hope that W212 will have all these problems fixed; otherwise I have a strong intention to get 5series with new iDrive which works perfectly with wider range of phones. I also noticed that BMW navigation is really smart now and can show also tall buildings on 3D view maps. I do not mention point interests which are more useful in BMW.

Krycek

2010 Mercedes E-Class W212 presented at NAIAS 2009!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPuAFUiLP9s

Like I said on my previous poster... wait!

A C

Gave back the 2007 E350, couldn't reach a deal with MB fin.

Got into a new 2009. Super deal; $13k off msrp, dirt cheap money factor, $480 plus tax per month, 36 months, 2700 out the door which included 800 bank fee, tags, tax and a small cap reduction - 800.

Got the Iridium silver this time with the tan interior...... Electronics are so much improved vs. 2007.

K-A

Holy f'ing crap. That's a good deal. It makes me cry how much better it is than mine.