Bonbon

Hi All! My wife and I are in the process of buying a GL450. It's our first MB and first SUV. We love the vehicle and can't wait!

As it happens, something always comes up during the process, and we'd like to hear your opinions and advice...

We have identified a car with the options we want, negotiated a one-payment lease deal and a price on our trade-in, and put down a deposit. The car is already produced and currently on a train, estimated to arrive at the dealership mid-week next week. The dealer will install an accessory item and expects delivery to happen next weekend.

Yesterday I received a voice-mail from my salesperson, saying that the deal we negotiated is for February delivery, and since the car is coming at the end of the month and delivered in March, we need to make full payments before month-end. Otherwise, in her words, "the residual value will drop once we cross into March and payments will be higher."

Now this strikes me as strange. I have ordered cars from BMW and Porsche months ahead of delivery and never once was I told that the residual value on the lease will drop with every month elapsed. I suspect it's just a ploy so that the dealership can book the sale for February? But I don't want to do this for my own protection; what if when I inspect the car I see big problems and need to decline delivery?

Any thoughts on this matter?

Cheers!

Nevada Jack

She is probably referring to the special lease deal that MB Credit has going for the GL's and it ends on February 28th. Any cars delivered after that date would mean any new lease rates MB uses would apply and apparently the residual used for those rates would be less.

Your call I think...if you are concerned about condition on delivery, then the lease rate may increase.

MBGLGuy

When purchasing mine, I was told that you can only take advantage of finance or lease deals that are valid when you take delivery. I find this a little bewildering because there is really no way to plan what deal you'll get on a special order. My order took nearly 5 months from order date to delivery.

oknish

Actaully what the dealer is saying is correct since to get a particular special you have to take delivery before the special ends. That is why Bonbon's dealer is asking for payment before Feb end. Of course, being a dealer they will not say that right out and are spinning the yarn about residual dropping in March which is a bunch of crock. The current special assumes a higher residual so your lease payments are low. The new special (if there is one) may assume even lower residuals and the payment could be even lower. Or there may not be a new special in which case the payment will depend on negotiated price and negotitated residual factor.

Bottom line - IMO, I would take the risk of higher payment but will not buy the vehicle unseen. CA laws actually don't allow that.

Abscam

BB;

Congrats. Not knowing your dealer it strikes me as someone trying to squeeze another sale in at the end of the month. You should shoot over to the leasing section and/or go over to leasecompare.com and post your questions to them over there. I've been browsing and you have a college professor that is a moderator as well as the owner, Terry, who appears to have some pretty strong credentials. The site offers independent 3rd party leasing and you can plug in numbers and get comparison lease quotes.

Too much pressure from the sales person? That's your call. Sounds like it to me.

-Abscam
00 Boxster S
07 GL450 (sometime in April)
99 EB Explorer (gone shortly thereafter)

boxboss

That's why they are offering those rates...so you will take one from dealer stock. My salesguy told me the majority of the ones he sells are custom orders. Very few are looking to drop $55k on an MB and not get real leather. All of the "on-the-lot" GL's my dealer had didn't even come with P1!

I think the dealer philosophy is to have those on hand with very few options so they will be more competitive with Navi's and Escalades.

oknish

I concur with that sentiment. When shopping for mine, in LA where there MB dealers are aplenty, I had to search high and low for one that was loaded. And, most dealers won't trade a loaded one since they figure that if someone wants a loaded car they will be willing to pay sticker.