2005E500

We have 4 more months to go on our 39 month lease 08 S550 w/ AMG Sport, P2, wood steering, rear camera, iPod, bluetooth, etc., a $100K sticker car and 31K on the odometer. Since the car was heavily discounted, $20K, the buyout is $39,500. Not sure what to get next since we love this car, but will consider the following:

1. buy car at end of lease since 08s are going for $50K so more
2. get into a 2012 S550 (if it gets the 4.6 turbo engine)
3. extend lease for another year or so and see what the W222 looks like.

Don't like the BMW 750Li or Audi A8. Is there such a thing as "equity" since the car is worth more than trade-in (perhaps can negotiate with dealer)? Any input? Thanks.

AMGTTV8

With your position, my decision?

Buy the car, keep on driving it, order a 2012...use the car as a trade on the new one - make about 7-10k there...

2012 will have bi-turbo

can only extend lease by max of 6 mo's.

hope this helps!

AMGTTV8

what you should do is have an appraisal done at carmax to see what the spread is between asset value and your payoff...that'll tell you your net position.

2005E500

Thanks for the input. I was leaning towards purchasing at the end of the lease but also trying to minimize the dreaded sales tax hit, in CA it is almost 10%.

AMGTTV8

oooh...good call

hadn't considered that!

used to live in Chicago - 10.25% - know how you feel

RevTekniques

FYI - as of July 1st, sales tax in CA dropped 1%.

emin.mak

if you decide to return the lease I would buy out the car from you for 40k.

nav792

It depends on if you plan to get the w222. I was just faced with the same dilemma. Although my 2008 was not leased, i had about 60k miles on mine and was significantly upside down. It was either I take a loss now or take a much bigger loss when the body style changes.

I traded it in and did a 27month lease on a 2011 s550. The w222 should be out before my lease is up. At which point I can negotiate a new lease on a w222 or just wait till my lease ends and then get the w222.

2005E500

My dealer offered me a $125K 2011 S550 4matic for $100/mo more than what I am paying now for a 27 month lease. It's loaded with Sport +1, pano, $7K B&O stereo, $2K rear entertainment system, designo leather with black piano wood. Based on my estimate, they must have discounted the car by $30K or more or are just trying to get rid of it to get another allocation for the incoming 2012. It drives about the same as my 08 with 30K miles which still smells new. I crunched the numbers and figured I just can't pass up a $39K buyout on my current lease. Can't even get a loaded E350 for that price!

I'll decide after the W222 has been out a year or two (2013 or 2014) to make sure MB gets all the kinks out. It'll have the 4.6TT engine but I'll have to see if I warm up to the new style, which is probably going to be an amalgamation of the E and CLS front look with coffee cup light on the dash, Magic Control, etc., etc.

Drove a 2012 CLS550 to get a feel of the engine but like the adage goes, once you've been spoiled by an S, there's just no going back. Beautiful car but the back seat feels like economy class when compared to the S....

hyperion667

[ Beautiful car but the back seat feels like economy class when compared to the S....[/quote]


lol

Quadcammer

lol[/QUOTE]

you seem to have a problem with the s-class. First its boring, now you seem to disagree that a CLS (which has probably the smallest rear seat short of a c-class) is economy car like compared to a cavernous S-class.

Do you just want to start ****?

hyperion667

you seem to have a problem with the s-class. First its boring, now you seem to disagree that a CLS (which has probably the smallest rear seat short of a c-class) is economy car like compared to a cavernous S-class.

Do you just want to start ****?[/quote]

me???
who are you typing to?

Quadcammer

of course you

nitromilt

i will have on '08 S550 4MATIC SPORT for sale.It has 39000 miles..perfect,comes with an extra set of 20" Chrome Avarus wheels and Perilli tires.Its off lease in January,can sell now if intrested,or wait till January

K-A

WOW, that is a SUPER low residual buy out. I'd buy it for sure.

My 2011 E-Class with 33 month lease has a $38K buyout. Does M-B really think that the S will be worth as much as the E350 after both have 3 year depreciation? Lol.

CharlyE500

2008 AMG sport P2 pakg with 30K miles buyout $39500 ???
The deal is too good to not buy it. This is an incredible deal ! You can still drive for 1 more year and sell for that price !

2005E500

Bought the car early, 2 months before end of lease. Somehow it didn't feel as "exciting" as getting a new car since we've been driving it already for the past 3 years.

Of course, both dealer and US Bank tried to talk me into a 2012. My dealer's offer was forgoing 4 months of lease payments and getting into a 2012 for the same lease payment on our 08; i.e. "just swapping cars". Very tempting but in the end, I figured the major difference is the new engine. US Bank kept persuading me to get into a 2012 since I've already paid x% on the car plus another $40K on it, so why not drive a 2012?

My conclusion is that the $39.5K residual is low given the 32K mileage and US Bank can sell it to any dealer for more than that. My dealer told me the $39.5K is what they would offer as a trade-in since they need to prep the car, Starmark it and sell it for $52K-$55K.

My final analysis is that I bought the car for $20K off in 08. Buying the car now means taking the entire sales tax hit. I'll drive the car for another year or two and see what the W222 looks like; if I hate the look I'll go for a W221 S65 or V8 TT S63.