DC Dave

Hi all, long time lurker. I'm currently in a modified SQ5 and test drove a C43 recently and loved it. I'll be leasing this time as I put so few miles on the car-- first time leasing however.

Im talking to a dealer with a 2020 allocation currently and their initial offer is as follows;

$64,500~ MSRP
$6,000 discount



OR
This is inclusive of a 10.2% DC use tax on leased vehicles. I asked about the 39 month vs 36 month and was told 36 month would be ~$20 more. Does that track? Excited to pull the trigger soon- just want to know im getting a good deal. Thanks so much for your feedback! Dave

merlin3008

Congrats on the new order. The numbers seem plausible based on what you listed. I ran it through leasmatic and estimated a 57% residual since the current residual for 36 months in 58%. I also used the current money factor of .00145. Also ballparked fees at a $900 for initiation, $100 for registration and $100 for documentation. The payments came out within $10 of either scenario. There are a couple of things to keep in mind though. First, the dealer does not know what the residuals and money factors are going to be next month, much less next model year. The tend to change from month to month so any estimate of monthly payments now is really just conjecture. Second, I didn't think Mercedes Finance did a 39 month lease on these cars. I could be wrong, but I thought they offered 36, 42, and 48 month programs.

Edit: BTW a 9+% discount on the car is a good purchase price.

DC Dave

Wonderful thank you! Noob question - but do the residual and money factor get locked in when the order is placed or when you actually take delivery?

merlin3008

So I am so not the expert on this, but I always thought it was at delivery. Essentially it's when the bank finances the lease which is upon delivery.

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

seems high for such little usage of the vehicle. For instance - my purchase price is lower (61k MSRP with 7k discount) which would make my deal the same as yours before factoring in lease term and usage - but I am at 36 months/45,000 miles - which reduces residual value quite a bit in comparison - I think there is still close to 100/month in terms of negotiation left on the table for best case scenario. I'm kinda assuming you're talking sedan too - which might not be the case and would not allow as much movement.

I'd keep working it and try for a bit better terms.

merlin3008

It's really hard to compare anyone's deals to others without the residuals values and money factors. Alexasa, you are right that there may be some room here, but you paid over $2,000 less for your car which in and of itself could lower lease payments by $100. OP, it would be really helpful if you could get some specifics on the quote including residual, money factor and all of the fees that went in to it. Then we can really see if there is room to negotiate more. But again, remember that the only thing that is a constant is the purchase price as all other factors will change from month to month.

alexasa

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, you misunderstand. The lease rate would be comparable if lease term/mileage were identical - I factored in the difference in purchase price. Obviously my payment will be less because purchase price is lower - but it should not be more than the difference of the purchase price spread out over the term of the lease when my lease term/mileage is pretty much the least favorable variety you can negotiate and will lower my residual significantly in comparison to a very weak 39 month and 7.5/y mile agreement.

merlin3008

Totally understand...my point is that you can't just argue the payment down. An informed consumer should know exactly what factors are being used to calculate the monthly payment. There are really only a few things you can negotiate on a lease to drive down the payment. You can argue to purchase price with the dealer. You can also negotiate your way out of certain fees. But the residual and money factors are set by MB Finance. That doesn't mean that dealers don't like to artificially raise money factors and depress residuals to try to get more out of you. In fact that happens all the time. That's why it's important to see the actual numbers that went into calculating that payment.

DC Dave

Thanks so much guys. Ill get the residual, fees and MF being used out of the dealer and get back to you. I would also reiterate that this includes a seemingly absurd 10.2% DC use fee on leased vehicles so that might account for some of the difference.

Edit: and yes a sedan - special order but all standard options. Also, i have no use for a higher mileage amount but get that that should help somewhat in negotiating.

DC Dave

Dealer responded to say that the residual is 56% for 36 months and a MF of .00195. He indicated these are the April 2019 MB numbers.

merlin3008

I think those numbers are way off. I'm looking at the national program advertised online, and Mercedes' April residual for 36 month/10,000 miles per year is 59%. For 7,500 miles, you may even see 60%. The money factor quoted is also higher than I've seen. You should be able to get south of .00145. I would absolutely shop another dealer as I do not think those are Mercedes' numbers. Again, bear in mind that all of these factors will change. But the fact that they may be blatantly misleading you would cause me concern.

DC Dave

Woof- thanks! Is there any place to find the Mercedes residual for a given month?

merlin3008

I found those numbers in two places. First, I just went to MBUSA.com to see what the advertsied program was for April. The deal they have posted shows a 36/10 lease on a car with an MSRP of $56,245 and a residual of $33,185. That works out to 59%. I also looked on some other forums like Edmunds and saw deals that people were getting to confirm that.

DC Dave

Great, really appreciate all of the help! Will see what other localish dealers can do and point this one to the residual discrepancy.

merlin3008

Cool...please post the results of your conversation with the current dealer. Just curious as to their reaction.

Tirgoman

Nothing matters until the dealer gets the official 2020 prices and then the residual, money factor, incentives are controlled by the month in which you buy the car. Very clearly ask the dealer to guarantee the deal in writing now and I bet they won't.

DC Dave

Hmm- if i get them to guarantee $6k off MSRP and using official MB residual and money factor in writing am I good ?

merlin3008

Technically yes. I think that’s a fair discount. But I’d be concerned. They tried to pull a fast one on you before. I’d find a dealer I could trust.

superswiss

You can agree with them on the discount, but that's about it. Just wanted to reiterate what others have been saying. Those lease numbers mean absolutely nothing. The 2020s aren't even getting built yet. There will be different residuals and money factors when your car is actually here. MFs tend to be higher at the beginning of a new model year, than the MF for the previous model year as an incentive to clear old inventory. Nobody has the residual and MF for your car at this point. I'm not sure why they are even given you lease numbers. Those numbers are for current 2019 models leased in April. Next month the numbers will be different and so on. They should be honest and telling you that they don't know what the lease looks like until the car is hear. It's not even known yet when the 2020s get released. Could be September or later. Production is supposed to start in June from what I heard, but each new model year has to be certified and released first before cars are allowed to be delivered to customers.

DC Dave

Thanks-- I should've been clear- the dealer im speaking to currently has been straightforward that these are ballpark figures but they should be close when they get 2020 pricing and MF and residual. I suppose the concern is that the MF and residual quoted for the ballpark is off what it currently should be- so need to make sure they are using official MB numbers at the time delivery.

This dealer has also been forthright that MB has been horribly uncommunicative about build and delivery times lately - which is something ive certainly seen in tracking the 2019 thread. I was shown the 2020 configure screen and for their currently available 2020 allocation it shows a build date targeted for 2nd decade of july with a hopeful delivery sometime in august- but was cautioned that given MBUSAs communication and performance lately its a bit of a who knows.

Ill be in touch tomorrow with the dealer to see why the ballpark/estimates are using MF and residual that doesn't track, even if its a bit academic at this point. Dave

merlin3008

I agree 100%. My main point is that it seems to me that the dealer is being dishonest. If I knew I’m being treated like that, I wouldn’t want to deal there period. My wife and I both tend to be brand loyalists. I’m at my dealer for trades every 18 months or so. I go there for service, warranty work, etc. I need someplace I can trust.

DC Dave

I just spoke to the dealer-- turns out my salesman was quoting residual and MF for a 15k lease his system was showing that didnt take into account current lease specials.

I spoke to the lease specialist and he confirmed 59% residual on a 10k lease and .00145 MF- and that it is actually 60% residual on a 7500 mile lease and a MF currently of .00145. He explained that the sales folks aren't always looking at the current specials when doing ballparks and he encourages them to come to him before trying to ballpark but they dont always do that.

Also confirmed they only use MBUSA residual and MF.

Frankly, that seems to all track as plugging in a 59% residual for a 10k lease on edmunds with a MF of .00145 on a sale price of 59k gives a no downpayment monthly of ~$850 which is in the ballpark of the ~$830 the dealer quoted on a 7500 mile lease (adding ~$20 to $810 for 36 mo instead of 39 month term quoted originally).

Edit: Certainly possible I was getting the run around before. Whatever the case, I greatly appreciate you pointing me to the proper MF and residual!!

hmmwv79

Which state you located in? I am looking for the first order c43 2020 in CA.

DC Dave

DC