MBFS leasing on GLS550 seems draconian...
 

Ok. We have a 13' GL450 that we bought CPO and its off warranty in a few months. We love the GL is so big and comfortable and competent. My wife and I feel our current car is too soft for our preferences (we used to drive BMW X6, X5) So we test drove a GLS550 last week. We both loved the ride in sport mode. I am considering leasing a 550 but I discovered this unpleasant fact - Mercedes doesn't want you to LOL :smash:

Seriously, the leasing is very unattractive on the 550 compared to the 450 and all other competitors. A $103k rover HSE V6 leases for $1,100/mo., an Escalade is about the same and a Q7 Audi is hundreds less. So now lets get to the GLS:

I seriously found a $102,880.00 GLS 450. I calculated the monthly payment on a $0 down 3yr/12k mile/yr lease with no taxes at March's figures as $1,224.83. The same exact MSRP on a GLS550 yields a monthly lease payment of $1,535.24. That is a a big number and more importantly its a big gap to a 450 with an identical MSRP.

So MBFS is extorting GLS550 buyers. I understand that mentality with a 63, but why the 550. Its a dressed up 450. The real killer is the buy rate - or money factor. Backed out to an interest rate its 1.7% on the 450 and 5.28% on the 550.

These figures discourage leasing. Maybe that's the point? I know about MSDs and auto pay discounts, but is there any other way to lease a GLS550 at a less unattractive rate? I wonder if private leasing companies could beat MBs numbers?

Thanks for any feedback.
DRP

you can wait till MY is over and they will drop the rate, otherwise the money factor is what kills the deal.

their regular money factor on 550 is the same as GL at 0.002 or so, that's very high. when we leased our gl550, gls was out already so they were unloading the older model. the money factor on 550 dropped to 0.00133 and ultimately i pretty much got the gl550 for gl450 payments

that's just how MB works on their v8 cars (outside the s550 which they put more incentives in), otherwise money factor stays at the same level as amg cars

You gace yourself your own out... lease a loaded/loade GL450.. it's all in the production qty vrs market demand... and frankly if MB made more 550's - then thats where you would see lower pirce/lease for 550's

2 things :


1. I'm sure a lot of people who opted for the 450 use the same argument for the 550, and
2. I don't know about your part of the world, but if I compare the price of the 550 to a 450 with the same options the price difference is around 15K that the 500 (as it is called here) is more expensive.


It's the privilege of driving a V8, probably.

Just to clarify, its not the MSRP but rather the lease financing figures that are the issue.

The 450 and 550 are very similar vehicles. There are plenty of options that come standard on a 550 that offset the price difference. But mechanically, from a cost perspective the cars are very similar: the 9 speed transmission is the same, the suspension is equivalent and the interior is the same.

Now, the 63 is a different story. The engine is totally different than any other GL. The brakes are significantly different. AMG tunes the suspension. The 7 speed transmission and 4matic are AMG tuned. And there are sport seats, special steering wheel etc.. In my opinion the price jump from 550 to 63 is more justified than from 450 to 550 (which was a smaller jump for the X164 if I'm not mistaken).

So my issue is the fact that MBFS has chosen to lease 550s like 63s, while they subsidize 450 leases (and conspicuously don't offer an AMG appearance kit for the 450 in the US).

A GLS550 is a solid $200.00 a month more to lease than a BMW X5M. That is ridiculous.

I contacted Premiere leasing to see how an open-ended lease compares to MBFS captive extortion lease.

I'll post my ultimate findings.

DRP

i wouldn't compare gls550 to x5m. outside of performance i think the x5m is distance away from gls550 on other stuff.

i think it is just what it is. 550 is just rare. when supply is low, then they have every reason to jack up the price. it's almost the same thing as asking why a comparable coupe is usually more expensive than the sedan version.

from calculation point of view, the high msrp + money factor makes the lease payment high, just high money factor alone is only part of the equation. but like i said, i got the gl550 for 460 price, you just need to time it

that MF is atrocious. gotta be able to beat that....

Just buy it, enjoy it and sell it when you're done with it. The economics are better and you have much more flexibility unless you're deducting depreciation for a business.

I am self-employed so the business deduction is significant.

I checked out a private lease. The residual is super low in contemplation of protecting you on an early exit. You can get out of the lease relatively easily, so apparently most leases are 60 month and never reach full term.

The associate I'm dealing with at Premiere is very knowledgable and professional. His name is Keith Neelans. Great guy.

We'll see what happens. I'm secretly wishing BMW would hurry up and introduce the X7 and end my headache. I love the X5 but its too small.

Regards,
DRP

with a very low residual, wouldn't it make the lease terms even more unattractive? are you saying with the leasing associates you are getting better deals?

i don't know about your region, but where i am in most of the lease are 36 months

Just leased an Exec Demo GLS550 - and with a one pay lease best I could beat them down to was .00148 - pretty poor. The initial rate they offered was .00281! MBFS cost to dealers is allegedly .00178 for 36/10 right now. We got there on the deal but took some creative wrangling on the other inputs. So, yeah, this is still going on and the lease rates are horrid on these. Oh, Residual - a paltry 54% - seems as if they've figured out how badly these things depreciate. I'd have to agree these are not great vehicles to lease in a general sense. Great 7 passenger SUV, with some actual real Sport, and having tried the alternatives, Audi Q7 - 3rd row too small, Japanese, Land Cruiser, Sequoia, nope, Suburban, nope - we're kind of stuck.

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