jprescott

Guys, I'm getting ready to negotiate with MB Finance. ML 350 2007 with 34k miles in bad shape. I know they will come down off residual but I need a goal. Does anyone out there have access to recent auction prices? Thanks in advance.

bfeng

If you are getting an 07? ML350 for $25k-$26k from a dealership, buy the car immediately! You can?t buy an 07? ML350 at any auction nationwide for that amount. Here are the latest Manheim results:

01/14/09
W PALM
Lease
$27,750
31,840
Above
ALB WHT
6D
A
Yes
01/14/09
SAN ANTO
Regular
$33,000
25,294
Above
BLACK
6D
A
No
01/08/09
MANHEIM
Regular
$33,100
32,157
Above
WHITE
6D
A
No
01/07/09
ATLANTA
Lease
$27,000
43,604
Above
ALP RAN
6D
A
Yes
12/30/08
FAAO
Lease
$27,400
40,411
Above
PEWTR
6D
A
Yes
12/23/08
SKYLINE
Regular
$25,700
62,560
Avg
WHITE
6D
A
Yes
12/17/08
W PALM
Lease
$25,000
41,477
Avg
ALB WHT
6D
A
No

sosh

From my recent experience I can tell you that at the present time there is very little negotiating with MB Finance. My E Class lease was up and I wanted to extend for a year to purchase a new W212 when they come out. They agreed to extend but would not reduce the lease cost or eliminate the mileage factor as they had done for me in the past with other MB's. I attempted to purchase the car (an 05) for a fair market price which my dealer told me was 22 to 23 K (if that) My residual was 28K and some change. They agreed to reduce the purchase price a thousand bucks which still made it a bad deal for me. They were rigid and not flexable at all. Did not make sense to me as they will come out better. Did not matter to them. Quite frankly I was very dissatisfied with their attitude. They are behaving like a company that is really in bad shape or is trying to be sold. They forget that their main purpose in life is to support the sales of new MB products.

jprescott

bfeng, if you don't mind could you give me a sample of 06' auction prices?

So here was my experience with our R500 in 11/08. $42k resid. Got it down to 25.5k without a fight but could tell the lease end rep had power to move. I think that explains sosh's bad experience.

I plan to give a "take or leave" as I did with R500 and see what happens. If they moved in november I would hope they move now. If not, it really is their problem not mine. They can take a bath and I'll buy the same car in better shape for less. Takes an extra 4 hours out of my life.

ml3500

2007 ML350 with P1, appearance, navigation, voice control msrp 52000
leased for 2 and a half years for $480 a month with just startup costs down
mileage was 23000
just bought it out for 29k after tax

is that a good deal

Gadom

I have had similar experiences with the Car companies no longer negotiating on lease return price. There seem to be 3 reasons:
1- They are undercutting their dealers on used car sales
2- They may be missing a opprotunity to sell you a new car (you might lease again if the residual is too high)
3- They get close to auction whether the give the sale to you or a dealer so why deprive the dealer or themselves of the profit

I have also been told by an insider that the major automakers are now buying insurance on the residual value of all lease vehicles. He told me in the next round of lease returns there will be no dealing at all thanks to this insurance. He also said they roll the insurance premium into the lease price so we are actually paying to screw ourselves at leas end. Nice.

sosh

MB has been insured against residual losses for many years. Who is the insurer?? MB themselves!! As for undercutting dealers on used car sales, thats not an issue here as most all cars go to dealers and/or a dealer auction where they are purchased by used car non MB dealers. The residual is not designed to be a wholesale number but a quasi retail number. MB dealers get first pick and thus the cream of the crop.