i leased a E500 briliant silver, charcoal w/sport, keyless go, pano, HK & rear shade Oct of 03. my payments are $730 including tax.

here's the story: I rec'd a call last week from the dealership where i purchased my car. the lady said she works with the 'loyalty program'. she asked me how would i like to trade my 03 for a brand new 04 e500 with the same payment and zero dollars out of my pocket. i said 'what's the catch'? she claims there's no catch, they just want more MB cars on the roads. i said fine, get me a car exactly as i have now and i'll think about it. of course she tried to get me into a diff color car or get me to accept a car w/out keyless go. so after going back and forth she said she found a similar car in bakersfield. the car doesn't have pano but it has all of the other equipment so i agreed. i told her to call me when it arrives.

she calls me back and said the destination fee is $500. i said split the difference and i'll take it. she says fine. the same day she calls me back and says your payment will be $738 a month w/tax. i said now now wait a minute? you said my payments would remain the same. plus i am paying $250 for delivery. she claims that this car has more options so it is a more expensive car. she says - i'll tell you what, why dont you accept 12k miles a year instead of 15k miles and i'll give it to you for $729 a month. i said fine. at this point i am pretty excited b/c my first major service is due, tires are next and the keyless go is dead in one of my remotes - so i thought this would be a good thing.

the next day i rec'd a call from the same gal and she's very apologetic and says she can't do the deal unless i come up with $1400. how could you make an oversite like that? this entire time she claimed no money out of pocket along w/the same payment. needless to say i rip her a new one and the deal is off.

(i am almost done) so today i get a call and she says, i don't know why i didn't ask you last week -but what if i can get the dealership to pay for the $1400? i said, are you kidding me? i told her don't call me back unless you give me the deal we strctured last week. if you can't provide me the deal you originally presented the don't waste my time anymore. so she calls me and says - it's a done deal...

2004 E500 Brilliant silver, Charcoal interior, ent. package, appearance package, glass sunroof and keyless go.
60 months, 12k miles / year, $0 out of pocket $728/month including tax.

the only diff is : No Pano, No Rear shade....

is this is no brainer? i've only had the car for 6 months and i am absolutley in love with it. i leased it with 12k miles and it now has 18k miles. i am thinking i need to request for my 15k miles a year.

if it seems to good to be true- it probably is...have any of you been presented with this offer? what are your thoughts?

thanks in advance,

the other bummer is my car is tinted, lowered and a hard
wired V-1 (which i will remove)

I'm not so sure it's such a great deal. The 3K extra a year in mileage is worth $900-1000 annually for the balance of your lease term. Yeah you get the Ent pkg w/command and that is very nice, but you lost out on the pano roof. $250.00 out of pocket, trivial at this point I guess compared to maint you will pay. However you are going to go hit with a mileage penalty when you give your current car in for being over 15K. Unless you absolutely have to have the 04, does not sound so great to me in my opinion.

keep your car, the new one is no better.

this sounds too good to be true. Buyer beware. I would never do a 60 month lease, but thats just me.

The deal sounds too good to be true. Last month I decided to ask the dealer to get me out of my current lease (2003 E320 only 8 months old). I will be replacing it with a 2004 E320 4 matic (scheduled for May delivery). The buyout price to break the lease was $12,500. Eventually, we got the buyout price down below my pain threshold, but needless to say it was not close to nothing. I know the salesman was fighting for me and trying to work out the best deal possible for me since this was the third car I purchased/leased from him (I also have a 2005 CLK Cabriolet on order for Aug delivery).

I do not want to say that it cannot be done, but the payment seems a little far fetched. If I am doing my math correct, then they are giving you payoff for your current lease and you did not lose a dime in depreciation! Does that not raise a "Red Flag" to you? Also, this dealership would not be located on Springs Street, would it? If am right, this is a car with the old pricing and the 322 Appearence, not the 422 pkg., but I still have a hard time believing that you will not have any negative equity from your current car. Hey, I would say that it is worth the trip!

marcus (i tried to pm but your mail box is full)

like everyone else, i appreciate you insight (not only with my situatuation- but all of your advice through out) so thank you.

as for spring st. you are correct. how did you know?
what do you mean by the old pricing and 322 vs 422 options?
what is the difference?

would i be out of line if i were to ask for my 15k miles a year back for the same payment of $730?

i love my car, period. obviously i would entertain a brand new 04 if it's zero out of pocket. can you advise me what i should be looking for? or ask for?

to all- thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

sakai73,

That is what I try to do on this site is assist people with their buying process. I would like to sell everyone on the board a vehicle, but I understand that will never happen. So, I try to help out where I can and the way I found out is through MB's central tracking system called Netstar.

The only difference between 322 & 422 is that 422 has the "Cornering" Bi-Xenon headlamps.

I don't think you would be out of line at all, the reason is that they called you, not the other way around. The way I see it is that you are happy with your current car, so if you are going to change & take a chance on getting a car that might give you problems, you might as well get more miles!

P.S.
I still have huge reservations that something is not right! I just sold a customer an '04 E500, that leased an '04 E320 from me 7 months ago. I made him a great deal on the E320 and he still had about $6000 of negative equity when it was time to pick up the V8. Whether you lease or finance, the biggest hit for depreciation will happen in the first year. So if you can get out of your current lease even, then I say you would be crazy to pass it up!

something is not right here. btw why did you do a 60 month lease on a car that only has a 48 month warrany?
I take it your lease is not through MBCC??
If that is the case, your residual value is probably lower as well which means that there would be even more of a depreciation loss???

FYI i picked up my 03 E500 in October. 39mos- 0 down -15K miles a year, Window Sticker was $59170 got the car for 51.8K
and i pay 764.00 including sales tax...however i dont have as many options as you do.. i only have E2, Moonroof, HK Logic7, CD Changer & Heated Seats - if i got out now id be upside down to the tune of 5Grand or more.

let me know how it works out...good luck either way

i am not enthused with a 60 month lease - call me naiv but i thought i would be able to roll it in to a new lease within the next 3 years or prior to the 48 month warranty expiration.

this is my first lease and while i understand the basics i am still at loss with what one should look for when structuring a lease deal. in regards to a 60 month lease- besides the obvious with the warranty expiring on the 48 month what are the other cons?

here's my current deal (i am afraid to share this)
Gross capitaized cost $51505.00
$3000 trade in
$5000 out of pocket
$360 disposition fee (if i do not purchase)
$730 a month with tax X 60 months = $43804
Total payments paid by the end of the lease $51,424.43

translation?

am i able to determine how much i am upside down if i were to trade it in today?



thanks for the help,

wow, the dealership must love you!

Total payments paid by the end of the lease $51,424.43

What was the stricker price on this car????

You seem to be paying for the car in full...seems to me that getting out of that lease deal would be a good idea.

These cars have like a 60% residual value meaning that you should be paying for 40% of the sticker plus "interest"

52,000 on a $62,000 car is alot more than 40%

Ill give you an example of my lease:

Cost of car: 61,105
Tax: 3203

Residual: 38505.10
(What the
car is worth
after 39 mos)
Depreciation: 26803.57
rent charge
(interest) 10121.00

Total payments 36,925.20

39 pymts of 946.80

So you can see why I was shocked to see what your total payments were

what exactly are you referring to regarding
$3000 trade in
$5000 out of pocket

Did you give them $8,000? was that your total drive off cost?

Did you pay any money upfront? Cap Cost Reduction?
I think you must have because your capitalized cost is almost the same as mine and im sure your car was much more money since you have more options..

Let me know how much money you gave them up front and for what. I would call your leasing company and ask them what the quote payoff amount is. If the amount is less than the current market value of the car i would be surprised. I do think that you paid down a lot of the cap cost when you signed the lease.. you will loose that money if you do this deal

michael,

to answer your question i traded in a vehicle in which i received $3k credit. the $5k was cash out of pocket.

here's my breakdown in detail:

gross cap cost: $51505
capitalized cost reduction: - $5676
adjusted capitalized cost: = $45829
residual value: - $20276
depreciation & any amortized amounts: = $25553
rent charge: + $14912.80
total base monthly payments (or single base payment): = $40465
lease payments: 60
base monthly payment (or base single payment) = $674.43
monthly tax: $55.64
total monthly payment: $730.07

so when this is all done and said, it looks to me like i just paid for the entire vehicle with nothing to show in the end. this was an expensive lesson. i hope so one else will learn from this....

silvr,
for clarification, you mention it would be a good idea to get out of the deal if i can. but wouldn't i be in the same situation again?

michael,
when you say i would lose my $8k if i do the deal- isn't it lost regardless?

is there anyway i can spin this in my favor? request a year or two less on the lease? if they offer the deal what it be in best interest to take it or pass? (assuming were comparing apples to apples)

i will be sure to let you know what the dealership says tomorrow. i am going to request a fax copy of the breakdown of their new proposal.

again, all of your advice, input and guidance is appreciated.

2004 e500 w/ent package, appearance, sunroof and keyless go
sales price: $59388
total tax: $5765
$0 out of pocket
trade in '03 w/ 18k miles

the proposal:
gross cap cost: $59388
cap cost reduction: - $2597
adjusted cap cost = $56790
residual value: - $24364
depreciation & any amortized amounts: $32426
rent charge: $8084
total base monthly payment: $40461
lease payments: 60
base monthly payment: $674
tax: $55
total monthly payment: $729

same options as i have now with the exception of pano and rear shade.

looks similar with the exception of 12k miles a year from 15k. $4500 swing?

thoughts?

It may be in your favor to cut that lease down to a 36 or 39 month if you can swing the higher payments.


What kills you with such a long lease is the low residual. In a lease, you basically pay for the depreciation of a car plus "interest" or "rent charge".

The longer you keep it, the more it depreciates

can you believe it? i actually had $4500 equity in the car...as it turned out the amount owed on my lease was around $42k. the dealership gave me $46,500 for the car. my cap cost on the new vehicle was $59388.

so i turned in an 03' with 18k+ miles and got an 04' with 100 miles the same options and payment.

tomorrow i am heading down to TWS to get it lowered - 1.5" in the front and 1" in the back.

thank you to those for the help and education. while i didn't cut my lease terms down to 39 months - i have a better understanding of what to do on my next lease.

ps- those in socal PM me for details on the dealership. the girls are hot and the service was superb. if you're sitting on an 03' you may be in a position to do the same. the inventory for the E class is extremely low, a lot of demand and interest rates on used cars is excellent. they want your car. also, my car came with pirelli pzero rosso's...my last car came with continentals.

it looks like you made out ok.. enjoy your new ride.....

post some pics of your 04-