K-A has some good points and so does GregTR, although one has better points than the other but that's entirely a subjective opinion

 

My dealer offered me 2014 E-350 4matic, MSRP $61,200.
Lease for 27 months, 12K a year. One pay lease - $13,200. If I would pay it monthly - it's about $490 a month sign and drive, everything in the payment. What do you guys think ?

 

27 month residual for 10k miles is 69% so I'm assuming a 67% for 12k/year. Money factor on the Winter deal lease terms is 0.00145 so I'll run with that.

Based on 67% residual and a 0.00145 money factor a 27 month lease (not including tax) would be 490/month with everything rolled in if the cap cost is $49.9K.

That is about 19% off sticker, $11.3K with a 0.00145 money factor, 3.48% interest equivalent. I'd say that is an awesome deal.

 

Thanks Greg.

 

You're simply complicating matters to rationalize your own purchase.

Here's keeping it simple:

No car high volume car gets blown out at higher discounts than the W212 generation E Class (other than perhaps the C Class). Myself and MANY people have reported discounts of almost to even well over 20%.

If you want to spend closer to MSRP for a car that the market is valued LARGELY under its Manufacturer Suggested Retail Pricing, than go be happy with 10% discounts.

Otherwise, the deals are out there, and getting an E Class for the Lease price of a well loaded Economy Car isn't far fetched. It all depends on what homework you do, what time of year you're shopping, the radius you search for these cars, and of course who's advices you choose to take when shopping prices on these cars.

 

You'll never get a 535i for the discount you will an E350. If you compare a very loaded E350 to a very bare bones 535i than maybe you can start to align Lease prices, but the essentials on a 535i, with the fact that you'll never see W212-like discounts on the 5 Series (i.e 20%+ possible), unless something dramatically changed this year, make that probably close to impossible.

That said, if you push at it, you might get close enough considering the 535i with the right essential options IMO is a lot more car.

 

K-A,

You're very liberal with the terms "never" "guarantee" and "norm". Regardless, I don't have to rationalize anything. Actually I kind of do just to get rid of some of the cognitive dissonance that comes with spending north of $70K on a vehicle. But quite honestly there is nothing rational about spending this kind of money on a vehicle, 20% discount or not. It is rather irrational to trade a perfectly fine and working 3 year old vehicle for another one just because my kid plays a sport that is equipment heavy. And I'd love to hear how anyone can rationalize Buying a car and trading out of it within a year.

Regardless, as I stated before, I did not purchase an E350 sedan with a myriad of substitutes and heavy competition. I ordered a wagon which they sell less than 2,000 in a year in the US, hardly the high volume commodity you're referring to with zero competition.

Second of all, I live in Texas where most people drive an SUV or a pick-up truck and not a luxury sedan. We might not get the best deals on BMW or Mercedes but I'm paying $0.40/gallon less at the pump and I can buy a very nice house for $100/sq ft. So anyone who spends more than $100/sq ft on a house is a total idiot. I hope you don't take offense at that generalizing statement but I'm pretty sure you spent way more than that on your casa in CA.

Third, threads like this will provide very skewed results. Most Mercedes buyers don't even know about the existence of a message board like this so the ones who end up looking here are the more savvy and more enthusiast customers who are also more likely to get better deals on their vehicles. But even if we accept the simple fact that the forum members largely get better deals than the general population it still doesn't cover the heavy bias that comes into play when people self report their deal. People who got a "better deal" are far more likely to participate and share their story than ones who "got suckered and payed closer to MSRP". This is the nature of the beast. Not everybody feels comfortable revealing that they "only" got 5% off MSRP when they see your arrogant and toxic posts about anything less than 20% is just lame.

I never disputed that deals can be had. I got deals on cars before, I never felt cheated on a deal but I can't say that I always felt I got every red cent out of a deal that I possibly could have. Sure, there will be always deals and sometimes it makes financial sense for the dealer to even sell a car at a loss. But to state categorically that 20% discount is the absolute norm is just ridiculous.

You changed your story from the beginning of 10-15% to 20% and now you're betting that people will get 30% on these cars within the next few weeks. I challenged you to put your money where your mouth is, I don't do BS gentlemen's bet with nothing on the line. I can assure you nobody will be buying E350s at 30% off MSRP this year in a straight sale, not in California not in Texas.

You also sated that you never seen any other car being discounted as much as the E-class. When someone posted up a C-class claim you adjusted your story to include the C-class. Well I'm sure you ignored the massive discounts GM and Ford gives on their trucks which is approaching your claim if not surpasses it.

I never changed my story and I will stick to it. Some will get amazing one-off deals on any vehicle but it does not mean everyone should and will get those deals.

 

20+% might not be the NORM to the average Joe/Jane, but it IS the norm when speaking in context of those who do research to get the best deals possible (i.e especially someone who comes on a Message Board).

Fact is, it's M-B as a whole who's doing the biggest discounts of any manufacturer I've ever seen (namely on mass selling models), including BMW, etc. However, the biggest discounted cars are the E and C Classes (who tend to get similar % discounts to each other). The W212 as a PREMIUM Sedan is discounted more than anything I've seen within its "territory". I doubt even GM discounts reach what W212 discounts do.

It is WITHOUT QUESTION that people have already gotten 30% off on W212's. We have numerous members here who have posted around 25%. It is without question that 30% will happen again.

20% is an average deal for a W212 during holiday time, proof by how it's the front page sale by most aggressive dealers. Push harder and you can get 25% or more.

Point being, I've been around the W212 enough to know that you should never underestimate how discounted these cars will get. Back in 2011 (when I got 18% off in middle of summer with no heavy incentives) I thought we'd never see W212's in the $400's to lease. Then last year that happened. Now I'm getting quotes for low $300's, just after M-B did an uncharacteristic reconstructive surgery to try and market the car as prematurely "all new" again. See a trend? They are doing whatever they can to keep sales high on the car not to mention to finally regain the sales "title" in the U.S, which is something the consumer can take great advantage of.

Again, if I were shopping for a W212, I wouldn't settle for less than 25% as someone who's not set on the car. If I AM certain this is the car I want, I wouldn't settle for less than 20%, or at least I'd want right at 20%. But that's just me. And it's all attainable as we aren't even in December yet and you have lots of people already claiming 20% deals.

 

Well I had a funny thing happen to me today. My dealer called to say that he had a MB executive driven (the MB headquarters is in NJ) and said that they are getting a 2014 E350 wagon with a $65,830 sticker price which included a P! package and Lane Assist package but it had about 6k miles. They are looking to give it to me for $58k if I want it. If I didn't want the extra space I would get another E350 and be able to take advantage of the incentives but everything I am reading seems to be that it just doesn't happen on the wagons. Again, the old supply and demand issue. I am looking for thoughts on the pricing and any suggestions. I had some friends who worked for MB and recently retired and they used to always have new cars about every four months and when they got 5-6k on them they gave them back. I am somewhat concerned about getting a "used although never titled" but I would expect that any issues with the car would have already have been taken care of by MB. Based on the discussions here, I am not sure that the deal is great it just seems to be ok. Yes I realize that spending this much money on a "used" car is crazy in particular when I can pick up a MDX for substantially less or order a new one for about $2k off sticker. Any thoughts would be appreciated

 

If you'd like a wagon with those two options and it's the right color then go for it. When I started looking for wagons there were two used ones on-line, one had an MSRP of $69.5K that sold for $61K with 1,300 miles and there was another one with an MSRP of $73.2K that was asking $67K with only 900 miles on it so close to $8K off sticker for 6,000 miles might not be as hot of a deal.

 

The discount talk has me thinking...I wonder what the most discounted mainstream car is? I bet there are others that can put the W212 price cuts to shame. MB discounts are nothing new, just not the 20%+ stuff - shows how nice the margins are as prices climb.

I think 8K off sticker for that "executive" (that might not be a good thing) demo wagon is not enough of a discount. If MB execs are anything like those where I work, it might not have been babied.

 

Sleeping on it last night I has similar thoughts. When we first started looking at E's last year, the "executive driven" ones that were two years old only had 5-6k miles and the discounts were about the same. When I look at the numbers, all I am getting is 2k off invoice for a "semi used" car. My friends who worked for MB never drove their cars into the ground but he was a real car nut even having a lift and turntable in his garage because he restored cars......However, I rather have something that I put the first 6k miles on. With winter approaching and my car staying outside, I might as well just hold on to my current car for the winter and see what pops up in the spring. I know I am going to pay the premium for the wagon no matter when I pick it up

 

I got one back in early November (2013).

2014 E350 4matic Luxury
Leather
Heated and Cooled seats
Heated Steering wheel
Surround View and Parktronic
Lane Departure
MSRP $63,680

27 months / 27K miles
Single pay lease
Prepaid Maintentance
4 month pull forward on old lease (2011 E350 4M)
Acquisition and damages waived on old lease

$18,000 all in (taxes, titling, doc, etc.)

Equivalent monthly lease payments
$637 before lease pull forward (car had exceeded mileage and not being used)
$633 after lease pull forward
$539 including $1095 waived in disposition fee and damages (extensive curb gashes and front spoiler damage)

 

If you are saying that everything rolled into cap cost would be $49.9K then wouldn't that mean the actual selling price of car would be close to $48K when u factor in the $1095 bank fee, $490 first month, and another $500 in dmv fees, taxes, doc fee, etc. So it would mean he got a discount close to $13K off MSRP if u roll all those to selling price to get final cap cost with just sign and drive and nothing out of pocket.

 

Is ny tax included? Is your 13,200 including your first months payment and any up front costs?

What dealer is this? U can pm me if u need to

 

Question. How was it 637 before lease pull forward and 633 after? Didnt that money (over mileage / curb rash, etc) have to get rolled in?

 

I'm a USAA member and qualify for the $4000 cash. But when I get a price for the car the dealers don't ask for the certificate and say the discount is bundled in the price already. I sort of doubt this as I've gotten the same discount at two different dealers, one who knew I had USAA and one who didn't know. So should I get a certificate from USAA and try to get another $4000 off?

I believe there may be additional savings for active duty military but I'm not sure if Mercedes offers that as well.

Fletch

 

I say a solid YES

 

The Winter sale event's $4,000 cannot be combined with the USAA discount. Since the Winter sale cash is more than the USAA cash they gave you that one. On a C class or an E - wagon the USAA discount would be the way to go.

 

OK, I'm getting approximately 16% off MSRP. I see posts referring to 20% or more so i was hoping for a tangible device to get a lower price. I guess if I want to pay less I need to push harder in the negotiation. I think there's more room. One of the cars lacked some options I would like to have and the salesman alluded he could lower the price some more to compensate.

 

FWIW I just got another Email with multiple E350's for low-mid $300's and about $2,500 drive off. We're literally talking well equipped Accord/Camry pricing at this point. Deals should be getting VERY aggressive on this particular car (E350 Sedan) right about now.

 

No we're not.... but keep thinking that...

 

Yes we (at least almost) are, but I'd deny it too if I paid up for the most discounted car in history.

 

You're just trolling but I'll entertain your jackassery...

"at least almost" is not the same as "literally". And it's not even close to being "at least almost".

You can lease an accord for $199 just as much as you can lease an E-class for mid $300. http://www.hondafinancialservices.co...nal-new-offers

If $200 is "at least almost" $350 then you're an ignorant pompous moron living in a fantasy world. To me it sounds like the MB leases for at least 75% more than an Accord which sound about right considering they also have an MSRP about that much higher.

And the E-class is far from the most discounted car ever: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimgorze...earance-deals/

Quit posting opinion pieces with little sidenotes, you're wrong and remain as such. I'll keep calling you out on every single one of your BS rants because you're just annoying as hell.

I hate to remind you I did not "pay up" as I didn't buy the "most discounted car in history". How much is your mortgage again? That's what i thought!

 

LOADED, LOADED Camry. And yes, it does lease for as much as you can get an E350 nowadays.

No, the OFFICIAL figures from M-B don't ever show much discount, but it's the "street price" of the E350 that makes it the most discounted car I've ever seen. The car is seen as uncompetitive enough that the market place itself has forced prices to discount levels never before seen in this segment. M-B has modest official pricing but once you actually go to dealers and get their "street" pricing, you see how nobody can compete with the E350 discount level. It's simply the truth. This is further proven by M-B's own regard for the car when they had to do practically the most reconstructive facelift in history on it. The car hasn't been well received in its original intention to meet the MSRP and volume quota M-B needed, so they resort to MASSIVE discounts that are akin to cars fundamentally segments below it, and do crazy about-facelifts.