Mahzari

I'm looking at leasing a 2012 E350 BlueTEC sedan and was wondering what you guys thought of my deal

$58,200 MSRP
Leather
Premium 1

24 month lease
$5,000 due at signing
$430/month, including tax
12,000 miles a year

Any feedback would be appreciated

T.H.Carrera

try to get conquest discount and you should be getting that payment with no more than 2000$ drive off

Mahzari

That sounds like an amazing deal, thanks for the tip

hx_guy

Ok good deal but I think you can do better. What is the sales price they are giving you on the car?

I would just pay the registration/tags/title, doc fee and first month payment up front. Use the rest of the cash and apply it toward multiple security deposits to drop your money factor.

Alula03

i just got a 2012 e350 bluetec 60k msrp with 7500miles a year for 450 a month with $1500 out of pocket. i think i got a good deal if i did a 1 pay it would of came out to less the 400 a month

hx_guy

7,500 miles per year is VERY low though, I don't think most people could swing that.

My deal from about a month back was:

$57,575 MSRP
$2,250 up front (first month, registration/title/tags, doc fee) + $5,000 in multiple security deposits
$416 + $38 tax per month
15,000 miles/year

Mahzari

I could not drive 7,500 miles a year. If anything, this diesel sedan would be used for road trips as well as daily driving. I think 12,000 miles is perfect for me. The bump up to 15,000 miles was about $40-50/month more.

Your deal:

$2,250 + $5,000 = $7,250
$416 + 38 = $454/month
($454 x 24 months) + $7,250 = $18,146

My deal:

$5,000
$430/month
($430 x 24 months) + $5,000 = $15,320

You have 3,000 more miles a year (at $0.25 a mile), which would mean I would need to pay $750 a year to match your mileage. This is why I have never found a reason to buy security deposits, but I could be missing something.

troymir350

First off, MSDs are returned at lease end. They are used to reduce your interest rate (money factor). So your calc is off from the post. You have a lot of room to negotiate.

My deal at end of March was $480 per month including 6% tax. $800 due at sign. 24 months and 10k per year. MSRP almost $65k. You should do better.

hx_guy

The security deposit is returned at the end of the lease so the total out of pocket at the end of the lease is $13,146 and that is with 15,000 miles. The payment would of been $409/month including tax for 10,000 miles if I remember correctly. Security deposits make a lot of sense, the ROI is incredible.

beb

2500 down
390 + tax per mo
24 month lease, 10,000mi/yr
premium + sport

Mahzari

You're right, I forgot that the deposits are returned. I'll keep pushing.

That makes much more sense, and it definitely has me interested in using security deposits. Thank you for the suggestion.

Thanks for sharing.


I'll look into putting the minimum down and using security deposits, appreciate the numbers and help

YYZ-E55

I'd like to see your math on this - here in Canada, the rate reduction is so insignificant, you'd be better off putting that money into T-Bills for the duration of the lease.

What was the true delta in the rate based on $5k in security deposits?

hx_guy

Each MSD lowers the money factor by .00007 and they allow you to do up to 10 of them, which means a reduction of .0007 from the base .0025 money factor. In "real numbers", that means it dropped the interest rate from 6% to 4.32%.

That may not seem like a lot but pre-MSD, the monthly payment was $524 After MSDs applied, it's $454. A savings of $70/month over 24 months is $1680.

So, you are investing $5,000 over 2 years and "getting back" $1680 (plus your $5,000 returned).

T.H.Carrera

Keep in mind, even if your car gets totaled or stolen you still get the MSD back. But with down paments and one fee lease you do not get anything back if the car is totaled the next day.

Mahzari

Great explanation, thanks for the help. I'll crunch the numbers with my dealer soon

ghstudio

I agree with most everything said here. sweet spot on blutec is 24 months, no discounted money factor so use multiple security deposits to drop the rate down by .0007 (10 deposits).

To negotiate price....forget all that extra conquest/loyalty/etc which the dealer doesn't pay for. Negotiate the price he will sell you the car for without any of the additional discounts. Should be no more than $1000 over invoice. Then, and only then, deduct the conquest money (if you drive almost any other car, you are eligible if you are in the US), loyalty money from MF, usaa discount, mercedes car club discount, etc. Now you have a capitalized cost price that you understand.

Then add in mercedes basic maintenance as a FEATURE on the car. You do this because features are residualized...you don't pay the full cost of any feature...just the difference between 100% and the residual.

Now you have the true capitalized cost....but wait....origination fee should be $795 but dealers have a habit of marking it up....so hold out for $795 which is what mercedes charges. Any dealer prep/administrative fee should already be in that agreed upon price...if not, tell them you assumed it was and see if you can get it taken off because they will undoubtably try to add it in.

Then calculate the lease without MSD's......and with MSD's. total up all the payments you make and don't forget that the MSD money comes back to you. That will tell you how much those MSD's saved you over the 2 years.

If you aren't in the US, your numbers may change, but this is my suggested way of working the deal. If there is a trade in, just handle it as a cash deal...they give you a check....don't confuse the purchase deal with the trade in deal. Yes, you may use part of that check for MSD's, but just keep them a completely separate transactions.

Ignore any statements by your dealer that the MSD's don't save you enough to do it...they say that because in 99% of the cases, they have never done a deal with MSD's and they don't understand how it works.

Good luck....great car.....should be under $500 a month including taxes when you're all done with nothing down up front, just the loan of the MSD amount.

K-A

The E Bluetec is undoubtedly the "steal of the century". I don't think I've ever heard of a better deal on a car, in any way shape or form. It introduces a whole new chapter in "artificially high residual value's to push a Lease waaaay down".

markemarkee

Hi everyone, i am a long time follower, but first time poster. I too am in the market for a e-350, but currently leaning towards gas model. Appreciate any thoughts or opinions on the below:

ghstudio...I like the technique that you mentioned. So for example, if I am looking at 2012 e350, P1 ($4k) + folding seats ($440), ,multi contour seats($660), rear deck spoiler( $300) and AMG wheel option ($780) ..this brings this car to an MSRP of $57,525.

Can I expect to pay close to invoice...per Edmunds the TMV for this particular build is $51747...(below invoice) then to minus out the $3K conquest cash discount offer for a price of somewhere close to $48,747?

If I need to move this to the E350 gas thread, please advise.

Thanks
Mark

aeggroup

This is not true. One pay lease - you get your money back if something happens with the car. Also, you still can return your car 3-6 months earlier and use left over money, which MBF brakes up like payments, towards your new lease. I just got my car 2 months ago using one pay lease and though I paid it in full - lease contract still has something like payment - about $485 or something ( sorry no contract infront of me) for MSRP $59K and 24Months/10K miles a year.
Here in NY we can't use MSD - so One pay lease is the only option for us.

ghstudio

Some in NYC actually buy their cars in NJ so they can take advantage of MSD's.

raylee177

Mahzari
You did pretty good so now enjoy your car. Forget about how good of a deal you got!

Mahzari

Thanks for the very informative post. Why does it not surprise me that stealerships mark up the destination charges? When I am ready to buy, I will definitely use this course of action. I hope you are right about the $500/month and nothing down.

I completely agree, but it works to my benefit. You pay $13,000-14,000 to drive a brand new car for 2 years. That means I could lease 4 back-to-back E350 BlueTECs for 24 months and still not pay the full $60,000 the car costs. Not to mention the money you save not performing any service, never buying tires, never leaving the warranty, etc.

Getting a new car with new tech every 2 year is just a bonus.

Pretty good isn't good enough :p

I haven't bought the car yet, I was asking for advice on my deal prior to purchasing it in. I'll probably head to 1-2 more dealers and negotiate how ghstudio recommended.

ghstudio

It's not the destination charge they mark up, it's the loan origination fee.



Actually, you do have to do the required maintenance (part of the mercedes lease) and you are responsible for tire wear so you may have to buy tire(s)...of course you should just include the required maintenance in the lease.

Mahzari

After two years, the car would only need 2 oil changes, as opposed to a 6-7 year old car which would need brakes, tires, (maybe) battery, etc.